Ingenious resources for savvy entrepreneurs

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4 minute read  

It’s Global Entrepreneurship week, and Canada has been taking notice. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened the week on Monday with an informative statement, highlighting how entrepreneurs across the country have played a vital role in growing Canada’s economy and creating jobs for fellow Canadians.

Bardish Chagger, our Minister of Small Business and Tourism, expanded on these sentiments with her own statement, emphasizing, “99% of all firms in Canada are SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], and they employ 10.5 million Canadians.” Wow, that’s a lot of people!

There are many great resources for entrepreneurs like yourself that you can use to help manage and grow your business. The Business Development Bank of Canada has an online knowledge centre with in-depth articles, financial tools, and comprehensive e-books on building a business strategy, cash flow management, and more. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has a great resource centre with information on employee management, taxes, and health and safety, to name a few areas.

These are just a couple of examples of well-known resources for entrepreneurs, but what about resources that aren’t so obvious? Don’t worry: we’ve got the one-two punch for you. Here are two out-of-the-box resources for entrepreneurs that you can use to learn more about growing your business.

Reddit

Now, you might think that Reddit wouldn’t be a very useful resource for Canadian entrepreneurs, but it’s actually an extremely handy website. Not only is it “the front page of the internet”, where top news stories from around the world are aggregated, it’s also a site where millions of people create online communities, called subreddits, to discuss and share ideas on a variety of topics.

There are subreddits for everything, from obvious topics like movies and music, to more niche topics like vinyl records and slowcooking. Members of these subreddits often post tutorials, share things that they’ve created, ask questions, and share ideas. As an entrepreneur, you can use subreddits to learn new skills, conduct market research, and even share examples of your product. Here are some effective ways to use subreddits to your advantage:

  • Share pictures of your work to generate interest in your products. For example: If you run a woodworking business, share pictures of that awesome table you just built on r/woodworking to get feedback, generate buzz, and gain referrals.
  • Find tips, tricks and tutorials to learn new skills or improve existing ones. For example: If you’re a graphic designer, find some tutorials on r/graphic_design to learn how to create eye-popping infographics.
  • Join subreddits such as r/startups, r/smallbusiness, and r/small_business_ideas to gain feedback on new product ideas, get recommendations on marketing software, and ask questions about market trends

Some subreddit communities may have their own guidelines on what you’re allowed to post (i.e. “don’t spam us every day with your new product”), so be mindful of the communities that you are interacting with. When used effectively, Reddit can be a powerful network that you can leverage to learn more about entrepreneurship, develop more skills, discover new markets, and grow your business overall.

Podcasts

You may be familiar with popular podcast giants such as Serial and This American Life, but there are many podcasts that solely focus on business and entrepreneurship. These podcasts are a treasure chest full of valuable information, actionable insights, and inspiring stories that can help you take your business to the next level, or help you launch your own business in the first place! Here’s a list of some of our favorites:

Startup Canada Podcast

Startup Canada is one of the largest entrepreneurship organizations in Canada, with 80,000 members in 20 startup communities from coast to coast. Aside from various events and community engagement opportunities, Startup Canada also has its very own weekly podcast, where host Rivers Corbett speaks with key players in Canada’s entrepreneurship community to explore lessons, trends, and opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs across the country.

How I Built This

A popular podcast on NPR, How I Built This is a weekly show about innovators and their stories. Every week, Guy Raz speaks with successful founders of some of the most well-known companies and brands in the world to learn about their triumphs and, more importantly, their failures. Learn how to overcome adversity from the creators of Instagram, Airbnb, Warby Parker, and other global brands.

Entrepreneurs on Fire

If you’re a young entrepreneur, this podcast may be the one for you. Entrepreneurs on Fire is a laid-back affair geared towards a younger crowd. John Lee Dumas hosts daily interviews with entrepreneurs from all walks of life, honing in on a variety of issues that young entrepreneurs face in their journey.

Each episode has common elements, including the guest’s worst entrepreneurial moment and their “ah-ha moment”. These podcasts also have time-stamped notes, which are quite handy for quick key takeaways. Check out this episode with Jordan Scheltgen as an example.

Beyond the To-Do List

If you’re looking for quick tips and tricks on how to be more productive while balancing work and leisure, then look no further. Beyond the To-Do List is a great podcast for tips on how to be a more effective small business owner.

Every week, Erik Fisher talks with guests about daily productivity, getting good work done, and living a good life. You’ll learn that most entrepreneurs get better at certain skills by failing first, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes!

Don’t forget about us!

You can tap into podcasts and Reddit to help grow your business, but what resources can you use to protect your business? Well, how about TruShield Insurance?

No matter what kind of small business you operate, you need insurance to protect your business against all kinds of risk. TruShield offers comprehensive small business insurance coverage for many kinds of businesses, including retailers, consultants, and contractors. Our insurance policies can help shield you from property damage, costly lawsuits and more. The TruShield Blog also has the latest and greatest information you need to help you protect your business. Don’t forget to subscribe!

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