SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
One hundred per cent client retention might be too much to ask of any business start-up, but one new Yellowknife business has done just that, winning a nation-wide small business contest along the way.

Kate Gilbert's Yearn to Learn Yellowknife was recently awarded a $10,000 grant, as well as payroll management for a year, through ADP Inc.'s small business contest. Gilbert is the first Northwest Territories winner of the annual contest. The funding will allow Gilbert to expand into a downtown office, and to hire a new employee. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo

Yearn to Learn Yellowknife, a one-on-one tutoring business started by Kate Gilbert last April, has been a runaway success, growing from four clients to 17, about her maximum capacity.

“My schedule is full,” Gilbert said. “All of my clients have signed up for additional sessions. I haven’t had anyone sign up for an eight-week session and not return.”

Payroll management and human resource company ADP Inc., has offices across the country.

“We’re in the business of human capital management and working with small business owners to help them run their businesses,” said Eric Hachman, ADP senior vice-president of sales and marketing.

“Kate’s [business] is a great example of bridging these two things. She’s a young entrepreneur trying to grow, and one of the biggest challenges we see with our entrepreneurs is funding that growth.”

The contest runs six times per year. Contestants receive online votes which determine finalists. A selection board of small business experts then make the final choice for a contest winner from the finalists.

Gilbert’s business, the first winner from the Northwest Territories, stood out from the other finalists.

“She’s doing the thing we admire most; focusing on talent and the entrepreneurial spirit which drives the overall Canadian economy.”

Along with the $10,000 cash prize Gilbert, she will also receive a year of payroll management through ADP.

This fits perfectly with her plans for Yearn to Learn Yellowknife.

Gilbert recently hired a part-time, fully-qualified teacher to help with her tutoring workload. The contest cash will soon let her open the doors at a downtown Yellowknife location.

Expanding her business from a home-based affair to leasing downtown space is an important step in her growth plans.

“There’s a number of programs I want to offer, but I can’t do them here [at home],” Gilbert said.

“I’d like to have a school-readiness program for next fall. It would be a pre-school half-day format for a small group of students during the day. Evenings would continue to be tutoring and hopefully some after-school programs as well.”

Gilbert taught Grade 3 last year at Range Lake North elementary school. She could have pursued a comfortable career and the steady paycheque that comes with teaching, but she can’t resist the call of self-employment.

“I’ve always been very entrepreneurial. I’ve always tried to create my own source of income, whether it was running a lemonade stand when I was six, babysitting or coaching,” Gilbert said. “This is definitely my niche, I enjoy running my own business.”