Starter Company: grants available for young entrepreneurs/artists/dreamers

Want to know why I quit my job to start my full time jewelry practice? 

Honestly, it's because of Starter Company.

No, I am not getting paid to write this. More accurately, I already got paid, and now out of gratefulness I can't help but to share this. 

Starter Company is a province-wide grant program which provides start-up funds and mentorship to young people ages 18-29 to begin (or grow) their own full-time business. Each municipality runs their own Starter Company program, so I attended the courses here in Hamilton, Ontario - but the program is widely available throughout the province. This program is what helped me to start Wild Blue. 

The process: 

1. Attend an orientation session. At this point you can decide whether or not you are a good fit for the program (you have the chance to ask, if you're not sure). 

2. Take the required courses - these are jam-packed seminar style courses which give the basics of registering a business, marketing 101, taxes, and more. 

3. Write a business plan, with the help of the lovely Starter Company mentors, staff & peers. It's not a long plan, but does require careful thought about various parts of your business. You also need to have a specific plan for how you will spend the grant money. 

4. Present that business to a panel of local business experts. They will ask questions about your plan, so be prepared for this. The panel decides whether or not to fund your business proposal, and you'll receive a phone call letting you know the outcome by the end of the day. 

5. You get a cheque! Spend it the way you said you would, and get your company rolling. You'll be required to give regular updates via email and in person to the Starter Company staff and peers, so be sure to plan your work week around that. 

Ta-da! It is genuinely that simple. And it's amazing how many local start-ups have come about because of that. Take a look at this list!