This year has been tough for small businesses. The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected and closed many of them permanently. Businesses have been struggling to pay rent, wages and other costs while revenues continue to decline.
This has motivated a group of entrepreneurs in Delta to band together and offer solutions that can help local businesses survive and thrive by combining their purchasing power with national suppliers to receive the best rates, services and products.
The Delta Optimist spoke with a spokesperson of Small Business in Canada (SBIC) to find out more how their company can help businesses.
What are you looking to achieve with ?
Small businesses are the core of our economy and have been hit hard by the pandemic. We have developed an online platform that allows businesses to better position themselves to reopen, adjust their business models and accomplish growth in trying times. We want to do more than offer information; we want to take small businesses beyond just surviving in the “new normal.”
What are the key elements of the business?
Our platform has three elements. We want to provide entrepreneurs with an opportunity to connect with experts and other businesses within and outside of their communities. Secondly, we want to provide businesses with access to savings from national and local companies. Finally, we want to provide marketingtools to help these businesses grow and sustain themselves through such times we are experiencing today.
Is it available to any business?
Yes. Our goal is to have interested and qualified businesses sign up and become members of our SBIC community. Members can support and interact with our contributors, suppliers and sponsors, and communicate with other businesses.
Tell us more about the community.
Members will use the SBIC Community to search the industry for answers from SBIC contributors, connect within their local communities or with businesses across the country, and increase their profiles.
We are launching a platform that will allow SBIC to be an online network where business owners across Canada will gather to drive leads, generate referrals, create new business prospects, build relationships and share advice. SBIC is geared towards helping businesses with savings but also includes a plan for individuals who can join as an associate member and receive savings on items, such as cellular phone rates, travel deals, benefit and health plans, insurance, mortgage assistance and more.
Sounds great. What about the savings component?
We have secured both national and local companies as affiliates. Some of these include travel agents, law firms, marketing companies, merchant services, cellular providers, real estate companies and many more. These companies will help businesses by introducing services at reduced prices. Our members can access their savings at any time. Whether you are a business owner or an individual, becoming a member is simple.
What does marketing entail?
We want to offer marketing and programs that will give businesses access to new customers and revenue, so we have created a system that resembles an online gift certificate—the SBIC Voucher. In efforts to support our local businesses, the voucher system provides both members and non-members an opportunity to save by purchasing an unlimited amount of vouchers online for $75 per voucher, which can be redeemed at any of the listed SBIC outsets for a value of $100 for the same voucher. A mutually beneficial system is created as the small business receives cash flow as well as builds its customer base, and the consumer receives a deal and an immediate opportunity to support a local business. See smallbusinessincanada.com for details.
A final note, why Delta?
Delta is our home. The market has been hit hard by the pandemic. We have watched our friends and neighbours suffer, and we wanted to help. By starting here, we support Delta first, before we expand across the country in 2021.
