It’s Small Business Month in Canada! Every year during the month of October, organizations across the nation pull together to celebrate small businesses and entrepreneurs who contribute to their local communities and the economy. Did you know that in 2018 there were 1,079,000 self-employed women in Canada, which accounts for 37% of all self-employed persons?? That’s a lot of women! (Though we’d love to see that percentage rise up!) 

There are a ton of fantastic resources available this month to help women building business and we wanted to share them with you! Some of these are specific to Small Business Month and others are just ongoing awesome programs.  

Resources for Your Small Business 

BDC Small Business Week has listed a ton of events across Canada on their website, with topics such as digital marketing, employee engagement, financial management, networking, and workplace safety. Check them out here.  

Laurier’s Women Entrepreneurship Centre has become one of our go-to sources to for information. They are currently accepting new applicants into their Start My Business Bootcamp for their next quarter intake. Later this month they are partnering with What the Finances for a workshop ‘What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Money’, hosted by Chantal Chapman, which you can register for here. 

This month on Behind the Mompire, we are celebrating Small Business Month with 4 fabulous women who we believe can offer our listeners some great insight around building their business. We kicked off with Paula Wilimek to talk finances, followed up by Andrea Henry to talk about legally protecting your business, and later this month we’ll feature Sara Bingham the Associate Director of Laurier’s Women Entrepreneurship Centre to talk about community and resources, and Denise Christie from Inner Talents Consulting to talk about making that first hire. 

Applications for a $30,000 grand prize with Canada’s Total Mom Pitch are now open. This looks like an amazing opportunity to connect with other mom entrepreneurs and experts who can provide advice and guidance. Definitely worth checking out! 

Start Up Canada Women Entrepreneur’s Program offers a ton of resources to help you start and scale your biz. 

Digital Main Street is featuring several of their highly requested workshops this month for Small Business Month. You can check out their events here. They include topics around Ecommerce, shipping during the holidays, why you need an online store, and reimagining your biz digitally. Aside from the workshops they also have great ongoing programming you will want to check out. 

We are still running our Collective Learning Series in our Define + Design Tribe community on Facebook. This month member Paula Wilimek is hosting the session to talk about why women need to take control of their finances In business on Oct 20 at 11am. You can register for it within the group events. 

Create Your Own Event 

There is one more thing we want to mention, but it’s totally on YOU to do! Create your own virtual networking event!! Send out a message to at least a dozen women entrepreneurs that you know to get together online for an hour to network, share what challenges you are facing, and problem solve together. Learn from each other and deepen your connection to your entrepreneurial community! 

We love being part of this community and helping out our fellow female entrepreneurs! It’s such a strong community that can raise each other up. As Melinda Gates said, “When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else.” 

PS Hustle + Flow Business Mentorship is currently enrolling new members! If you are ready to ditch the frustration of no one listening to you and trying to figure out what the heck to do with your social media, let’s talk! We’d love to tell you how our 6 month online group program can help your business grow and get those sales rolling in. Email us at [email protected] or book a call with us.