Arrive early, grab a coffee and network in-person with fellow attendees.

Small Business BC CEO, Tom Conway, and BDC’s Senior Vice President, British Columbia and North, and Client Diversity, Jean-Philippe Ménard deliver the opening remarks of the day.

Canadian business owners need to act fast and decisively to maintain a competitive edge in the current context marked by rising prices, supply chain disruptions and persistent labour shortages.

In this session we will speak about the simple, yet efficient strategies companies can use to eliminate waste and build efficiencies in their operations. You will also hear the results of BDC’s most recent research looking at the performance of Canada’s most productive companies and what they do to achieve 6X higher sales and 5X higher profits.

Join us to learn:

• What your most productive competitors do differently
• The four strategies that can make your business more profitable
• The tools and resources that you can use to keep more money in your business

Presented by Nick Fry and Matthew Gillis from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)

A business plan is your roadmap to business success. This vital document allows entrepreneurs to focus on the short-term steps needed to succeed, while also keeping an eye on long-term objectives. Presented by Yvonne Bayer-Cheung, Client Services Manager, Small Business BC, this informative session covers the basics of the business planning process, and how this simple document can act as your reference point for building a resilient and sustainable business.

Grab a snack and discuss what you’ve learned so far.

Are you one of the 90% of small business owners* struggling with hiring staff? At Build. Grow. Thrive. we’ve gathered an all-star panel of entrepreneurs and leading business educators to share new ways of looking at recruitment and retention.

Join us for this fascinating panel discussion where we’ll be covering social purpose planning and activation, diversifying your own beliefs and approaches to hiring and staff engagement, hiring more diversely, building workplace culture, and examples from those succeeding in their fields.

*Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey.

Grab a bite to eat, chat with fellow attendees and discuss your takeaways from our morning’s education.

For businesses starting up, educating yourself on the opportunities and threats that exist in your market is vital to your success. In this day and age of rapid technological change it’s important to stay connected.

Some of the topics we’ll discuss include:

• How to use Google for market research
• Automate your research with Google Alerts
• Using Google Trends
• Market research company reports
• Business Directories in combination with Statistics Canada
• Use of Psychographic resources to help you define your target market
• Use of surveys in collecting primary data on your target market.

As small business owners, we need our digital marketing to attract and convert dream customers. But how do you create marketing that actually works… without coming off as inauthentic?

In this session Ami Sanyal, The Uncommoners Club, will share his simple framework for creating effective content — faster. Producing effective marketing content and ads doesn’t have to be time consuming, boring, or risky. Attend this session to discover a new approach to your digital marketing.