SBEC-IAL People

This posting was authored by Brian Baker, Brampton SBEC's new Small Business Assistant

Thirty years ago the government offered grants to entrepreneurs to help start their business. Unfortunately all it did was give businesses the fish and they only ate for a day. In comes the idea of The Small Business Enterprise Centre, small centres located in towns and cities across Ontario with one purpose… to help others help themselves. They cropped up out of the need for small businesses to gain the knowledge to successfully start, strengthen and succeed. According to Statistics Canada’s 2011 Business Register, small businesses under 50 employees account for 95% of businesses across Ontario.


Each Enterprise Centre is filled with knowledgeable, like-minded individuals who are there for the greater good: to support business creation and job growth in our community. My five years of experience in franchising brings with it a vast knowledge of what to expect when opening and running a small business. The two key questions always on my mind are, “What are going to be possible road blocks?” and “What proactive steps can the entrepreneur take now to avoid them in the future?” Industry Canada states that about 49% of new businesses fail within the first 5 years. Throughout my years I’ve seen what barriers have led to this statistic. Fortunately the Brampton SBEC is working with clients to beat the odds and drop that number.

Located in Brampton City Hall, we are part of the City’s Economic Development Office and have links throughout the City to get you the answers you need or connect you with the right people. We all work together to see that aspiring entrepreneurs and local businesses get every advantage possible to succeed. We offer guidance, consultations, business plan reviews, seminars and a referral service to name a few. Best part is… it’s almost all free. Our jobs are to work with you to provide the resources, answer your questions and overall, just to help with removing the training wheels.

So to openly dispel the myth: No, we do not have bags of money available for people, but yes, we are here to help you. So don’t be afraid to come to us with all the fish you want to catch because we’ll teach you how to eat for life.

~ brian.baker@brampton.ca

Brian works with aspiring entrepreneurs in Brampton to help them understand the full scope of business start-up so that they can prepare for a successful launch and early growth.  If you're thinking about launching a business venture, be sure to connect with Brian early in your exploration and planning for a wealth of knowledge and free resources.