4 Four Friday: Are you a Startup or Small Business, Government Grants, COP 26 and Resources to Build Resilience
I took a couple days off to recharge, so I skipped last week’s 4 for Friday but I’m back this week, refuelled on leftover Halloween candy and up to my eyeballs in information!
Our newsletter is also coming out next week, so if you haven’t had a chance to sign up for it, please do! Each month we send out a summary of the programs and events happening around the ecosystem, as well as the odd update or invitation to our events!
Are you a Startup or a Small Business?
This article caught my eye in a MentorWorks newsletter shared with me this week. I’m guilty of often referring to startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses as if they are all the same, when in reality, there are differences and it typically matters when you’re looking for financing.
This article does a great job of explaining the differences and also why government funding requires you to be a few years established typically.
Often when we speak to entrepreneurs in search of funding, we learn they are actually in need of other support. Finding the right resources to help clarify your business model, put together a sales forecast or a lead generation strategy aren’t always the easiest to find though. That’s where we hope we can come in, and maybe even point you to some people who can help.Government Funding Resources
On the topic of MentorWorks, I thought it worth share another government funding resource to keep tabs on if this is something you’re interested in. We’re commonly asked about funding opportunities, and while I try to keep an eye on them, honestly they change so frequently it’s not possible to keep up.
Often times, government programs also require a level of accountability that can be tricky to manage on your own, which is something to also consider. There is both the time required to pursue a government program as well as the time required to do reporting afterwards. Being able to hire someone with this experience or a grant writing agency, like MentorWorks, can be really worth the cost if they can secure you more funds and reduce the headaches in the process..
There is also this website that is worth bookmarking. It’s super easy to use. You fill in your business information and what you’re needing and it will provide some potential supports, if any are available. It’s updated with the latest information too, so it saves you time reading through outdated government websites.
3. Bringing COP 26 Home to Grey Bruce
The UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow this week may seem pretty far away, but from the snippets I caught, there was plenty that’s relevant to entrepreneurs in Grey Bruce.
From energy to agriculture, solutions to cutting emissions can be found right here in our backyard. As it’s been stated many times, the true test will be the actions post-summit, and we’re excited to help link local entrepreneurs up to one another and opportunities that will lead to a cleaner future not just in Grey Bruce, but for our planet.
One of those areas we are excited about is carbon sequestration. You can read more about what it is here and some of the conversations we’ve been involved in over here. Many in agriculture have long known about the importance of healthy soil, but measuring this and putting a dollar value on it has been extremely difficult. Technology is making this easier, and you only have to look to the number of agtech startups out there to see there’s a lot of people expecting the crop produced on top of the ground will be secondary in value to the carbon being captured beneath.
More so and also relevant to Grey Bruce as Ontario’s largest cattle producing region, is that livestock are increasingly being understood as one part of a solution. I was delighted to see Fawn Jackson, from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and formerly the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, speaking on the COP 26 stage with a group of global farmers. Canada has led the world in developing a measurable model for sustainable beef production, and this bodes well for local farmers, especially when we combine it with the leading edge research coming out of our institutions. Fun fact: when I was in university, I produced a short commercial about a University of Guelph research that was reducing the emissions out of the rear end of a dairy cow by slightly changing her diet.
Anyway, I’m off track. All this is to say, the fight against climate change is intensifying and there are great opportunities in Grey Bruce to play an active role. Whether its in hydrogen fuel and clean energy or rotational grazing on pasture lands, there’s some exciting projects with potential for so much more. Interested to know more? Reach out and let’s chat!
4. Invest in Your Mental Health
We continue to share resources related to mental health, because while we may be seeing the end of the pandemic, the strain of it hasn’t stopped.
Later this month, we are hosting our first Lunch & Learn, in partnership with BDC and Startup Canada: Resilience in Uncertain Times: tangible tools for awareness, self care and business.
This one-hour session will be interactive and provide you with some tangible tools. I wrote about some of these tools earlier this fall, when I was feeling particularly stuck. They have been invaluable for me to find some sense of control around my very hectic schedule.
The event is free and we hope you’ll reserve this time to join us and learn some tips that may help you as we head into a new year in 2022.
We’re also delighted to share the “Mental Resilience for Entrepreneurs Workshop Series” from Innovation Guelph with you. These free workshops will run November to February, and directly address mental health challenges entrepreneurs face. They are geared towards CEOs and organization leaders and will provide a chance to share stories and experiences, followed by a facilitated workshop.
Being an organizational leader can be lonely, and sometimes just having a group like this you can go too who understands the challenges is what we need. Learn more & Register here.