Thinking Of Starting A Small Business? Get To Know blogTO!
The personal stories of people who have set up their own businesses can be very interesting, and there are many places in the media to find them. As just one example, Financial Post has a Young Entrepreneur's Spotlight that covers some of Canada's new business owners.
I also like blogTO – it's is a great place to find interviews with real businesspeople in Toronto.
BlogTo is "a web site about Toronto written by a group of obsessed artists, musicians, photographers, politicos, advertising and media types, dancers, tech geeks, food lovers, aspiring film directors, fashionistas and people for the ethical treatment of animals." Whew!
The blog often runs series based on particular themes. In the series Get To Know A Baker, pastry chefs and bakers are interviewed about their products and about their personal experiences in owning and running a bakery or pastry shop. Shops covered run the gamut from the very new (Bunner's Bakeshop) to the well-established (Wanda's Pie in the Sky).
What can you learn? Ashley Wittig, co-owner of Bunner's Bakeshop, talks a bit about the road that brought her to baking for a living. Jessica Smith, co-owner of Cake Opera, describes her first bakery, "opened" when she was just seven years old! If you are dreaming of starting a small business, as you read the stories you begin to understand that small business owners are real people just like you. Let yourself be inspired by their success!
Another great series at blogTO is Get To Know A Startup. This series includes startups of all kinds. One of the companies showcased is Uniiverse, founded by Ben Raffi, Craig Follett and Adam Meghji. They talk about the biggest challenge in getting their site (which they describe a platform for collaborative living) off the ground, and where they see themselves and their site a year from now.
These posts are short but fascinating. They, and others like them on blogTO, will give you a glimpse into the hearts of entrepreneurs. There is a lot you can learn from the experience of others!
Speaking of getting to know small businesspeople, don't forget that you can meet small businesspeople at the Toronto Reference Library's Small Business Network.
Christine Steiger, owner of Christine's Fitness & Personal Training, will be the guest speaker at our July meeting. Christine will speak for about 15 minutes, and then will take your questions.
The session will take place Tuesday, July 9th, 6-7pm, at the Toronto Reference Library. Meet on the 3rd floor at the Business, Science and Technology Department reference desk.
See you then!
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