Up-and-coming Coast Salish entrepreneurs learned some tips about what it takes to start a business during a weekend training session in late August.

Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council’s event in Tsawwassen saw about a dozen people sit in on sessions with experts, discuss business ideas and take part in group exercises.

The seminar was led by Jay Silverberg from Synergy Management Group and Chris Cathers of Evolution Business Group, who run a regular 12-week Indigenous entrepreneurship program our of the Victoria Native Friendship Centre.

Silverberg said the point of the weekend event was to get people thinking in the right direction. Of course, there are some things that can’t be taught. Sometimes, entrepreneurs have to learn some lessons as they try to develop their own businesses. However, one of the most important things that an entrepreneur can learn is that they shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help if they need it. Running a business can be difficult as there are so many jobs that need doing. A lot of business owners have found that using cfo services for startups can be particularly useful. This gives entrepreneurs time to focus on other aspects of the business, whilst their finances are dealt with by another company. Things like that can be beneficial for businesses.

“This weekend is really all about a boot camp on Indigenous entrepreneurship,” he said. “We cover as much as we can. It gives people an idea of where to take it from here.”

Participants in the workshop percolated business ideas that stemmed from their experiences and skills and heard from successful entrepreneur Erik Blaney, who runs the Tla’amin Convenience Store and a tourism business along with his job at Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council.

Cathers said many successful businesses are extensions of people’s interests and skillsets. For many businesses like this, they do require start-up money so they are able to get their business moving. If they are not sure which banks can help them with a loan, they may look at the usda qualifying map to see if their location is eligible for this. It can help immensely with new businesses to be a part of the community and get them starting off in a secure financial place to do what they have passion for. Loans can help companies to get going until they start making their own money. Of course, when creating a business at first, it does cost a lot of money. This means that a lot of companies will rely on loans at first. As your business begins to grow, you’ll want to try and make use of social media to continue this growth to a larger audience. Platforms like Instagram are particularly useful for businesses, so it might be worth trying to create an online following on that application. To kickstart your new Instagram business page, you might want to purchase some followers from companies like Nitreo. Before you do, you might want to read a nitreo review article to make sure you understand how the company works and what the benefits will be like. From there, your business should continue to grow on social media, hopefully making you more money. Pay attention to social media marketing when starting a business, it can be extremely helpful.

“It’s amazing what drives businesses,” he said. “You want to do something that you are comfortable with and that’s fun as well, hopefully.”

A second Indigenous entrepreneur session will be held from Oct. 20 to 22 at Tigh-Na-Mara Resort in Parksville. For more information Erik Blaney can be contacted at erikb@nautsamawt.com.