Self-employment
College reaches out to entrepreneursThe restaurant business is notoriously fickle, as Charles Ho knows. DAVID CHILTON -- Special to the Toronto Sun |
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Simpson: George Brown College
But rather than use intuition or trial and error to make his new establishment a success he turned to George Brown College.
Not because he wanted to hire a chef from the college's justly renowned culinary school, but because he wanted small business advice at a modest cost.
That advice came from the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation, a new venture for George Brown that is just starting to accept clients. In fact, Ho's downtown restaurant is the first for profit enterprise of what Mark Simpson, the institute's driving force and co-ordinator, hopes will be a steady stream of small business and startup cases looking for the sort of expertise he can supply.
RECOMMENDATIONS
So far, Ho says, the students and faculty who work at the institute have advised him to change his restaurant's colour scheme, to differentiate it from its previous incarnation; to put in some sofas and TVs, to encourage the sale of liquor and thus achieve the greater profitability Ho wants; and to install some chandeliers -- all of which he's done. Now they're working on a new menu, ways to create a buzz with a low budget and getting the restaurant recognized for one item -- in this case its burgers. Ho expects to hear back from the institute in December.
A George Brown business management graduate, Ho ran into Simpson, his former instructor, at a restaurant he used to own before selling it and starting anew, and learned how the institute could help him.
Discussion about the institute, housed in renovated premises at 230 Richmond St. E. in Toronto, began in October 2007 and Simpson estimates he will have about five to seven cases ready for students and faculty to sink their teeth into next January. He also expects all manner of small entrepreneurs and non-profits to use the institute's expertise, although service industries are likely to form the bulk of his clients.
"We will get the smaller entrepreneur to come in," Simpson says, "(and) the mom and pop shops or companies that are plateaued."
Simpson, who's putting together an advisory committee for the institute, is also establishing a rate card for its services and the meeting rooms, teleconferencing and other facilities it has for rent. "The goal is not to be wildly profitable but (to) cover costs," Simpson says. Student entrepreneurs at George Brown won't be charged for the institute's advice.
The students and faculty working at the institute come from many disciplines taught at George Brown, although some, obviously, will be more heavily represented than others given the nature its services. Simpson says one of the larger contingents will be from the hospitality programs at the college. Working at the institute will be either mandatory or voluntary for students depending on their programs.
FILL A NEED
Greg MacLeod, president of corporate management consultants Aim Performance Management in Burlington,Ont., who advised Simpson on the development of the institute, says it's going to fill a need. "The whole concept of entrepreneurship is something the college and university system has been struggling with for years," he says. And with the credit crunch still a threat, MacLeod says small entrepreneurs looking for seed capital will find the business environment difficult, so here, too, the institute will provide a useful service advising clients where to look for money.
davidchilton@rogers.com
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