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Youth get boost for business
University of Ottawa students bring entrepreneurship boot camp to Iqaluit

Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Monday, February 23, 2015

IQALUIT
"Let's create a Facebook page so people can reach out to you more easily," business student Corey Ellis tells entrepreneur Liam Robertson, a Grade 8 student hoping to launch a tutoring business.

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Inuksuk High School students Sadie Pinksen, left, and Hope Carpenter discuss their business idea with Enactus uOttawa leader Kathleen Kemp Feb. 18. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

Robertson is one of about 10 youth who joined Ellis and two other University of Ottawa students, who operate Enactus uOttawa, at an entrepreneurship boot camp in Iqaluit Feb. 16 to 18.

The free workshop introduced the youth to concepts that will hopefully help them start new businesses.

"I had thought about doing some small business things before, but they just inspired me to do this kind of thing and do my own business," Robertson said, noting he thinks his business can launch quickly. "It's pretty simple to start a tutoring service. You don't need any loans or anything. The knowledge in your head is what's giving you the power to do it."

He has the right attitude, so Ellis, Kathleen Kemp and Ajmal Sataar set out to turn that energy into a business plan and marketing strategy.

"We take all the aspiring entrepreneurs through a series of steps in thinking about your business, right from how to create an idea, through financial planning, marketing and sales, branding, stuff like that," said Kemp. "We take them through the process of, 'How are you going to make money,' 'If you need a loan, how are you going to pay that back?' 'How are you going to tell people about what you are doing?' "

Kemp helped Inuksuk High School students Sadie Pinksen and Hope Carpenter craft an identity for their new book rental service, which they hope to launch soon.

"I came here because it sounded like it would be fun and then the next thing you know we're starting a book renting service," Carpenter said, noting she did not come with a business in mind. "The library, we feel, has many outdated books and not many books that teens want to read. This is a problem our friends all feel is prominent in Iqaluit. Our goal is to create a place where teens can buy new books, modern books that they're interested in."

She and Pinksen surveyed their friends, and found a demand for the Divergent series, Maze Runner, and John Green books. They hope to work with publishers to get a copy of each book and rent them for a reasonable weekly rate.

"We're hoping to give easy access, affordable books to teens in high school," Pinksen said. "They helped us figure out what we wanted to do exactly, and helped us a lot along the way."

Enactus uOttawa has had plenty of success in Ottawa, helping thousands of students start their own small businesses, with mentorship after startup offered to all, including the Iqaluit youth.

The team also aims to bring programs that can help to the attention of Iqaluit entrepreneurs.

"There's lots of things available to young people in the community who want to start a business, but the problem is that young people don't know about them," Kemp said. "There's one in particular, the entrepreneurship initiative, where people can get $5,000 to start a business, they just need a business plan and to connect with the Baffin Business Development Corporation and Family Services. It's a great initiative for young people who want to start a business and need that seed funding to start it up."

For Ellis, profit is not the only reason to start a business.

"We're trying to show the youth that as a business owner you can help the community, and as your business grows, you can help more people and grow the business further," he said.

And for budding tutor Liam Robertson, there is more to learn than marketing and branding.

"The most important thing is to stay loyal to what you do," he said. "If people are doubting you, believe in what you do."

Enactus will be back in the summer to check in and run a yet-to-be-determined program, Kemp said.

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