Before she started her own business in Downtown Squamish, Rose Agbazan had over a decade of experience as an aesthetician in luxury hotels.
Agbazan had worked as an aesthetician at the Le Bristol in France. She had helped set up a parlour in a luxury hotel in Angola. After she migrated to Canada, she worked at the Fairmont in Whistler for some time.
But her desire to be an entrepreneur drove her to Squamish, where she started the Sugaring Beauty Boudoir in two rooms behind another business on Pemberton Avenue.
While browsing the internet one day, she chanced upon the Futurpreneur Canada website, a resource of loans and support that many local entrepreneurs may not be aware of.
With a loan and mentorship from a local expert, she has since expanded the Sugaring Beauty Boudoir into a bigger location on Pemberton Avenue, adding more rooms and renovating the space for a better guest experience.
Futurpreneur has also helped her connect with local groups and events where she can connect with other businesses.
“Sometimes you just don’t have the experience of setting up or running a business, and it was good for me to have mentor and other support from the experts at Futurpreneur,” she said.
Futurpreneur, a national non-profit that helps entrepreneurs with loans and expert advice, has been helping entrepreneurs in the Sea to Sky region for well over a decade.
Known earlier as the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, Futurpreneur Canada has helped more than 50 entrepreneurs in the Sea to Sky region.
From a dog ranch in Pemberton to a shared office space and a vegan bakery in Whistler, Futurpreneur helps bring business ideas to reality or supports entrepreneurs with expansion.
“We provide financing and mentorship to businesses. The business loan can range anywhere from a minimum of $500 to up to $60,000, and we match businesses with a local mentor,” says Nicola Jones-Crossley, the business development manager.
One such local mentor who helped guide Rose Agbazan was Ken Tanner, the former president of the local West Coast Railway Heritage Association.
Tanner helped Rose in dealing with taxes, signing the lease with the landlord, business registration with various government bodies and filling out important forms.
Tanner has helped several entrepreneurs through Futurpreneur Canada, guiding them on financial and operational sides of the business. The dynamics of business are a passion for Tanner, and he finds the experience of working with new entrepreneurs quite enjoyable and satisfying.
The mentorship is different from asking for help from a friend or a relative, Tanner says. “Working with a mentor who knows the organisational side of business gives them the confidence to work on their business,” he says.
For a business to access loans and expert help from mentors like Ken Tanner, the business needs to be at the stage where it is ready to be launched, says Jones-Crossley, the business development manager.
The business need not be doing sales, but they need to prove that their concept is feasible and there is a market for the product or service. An existing business operating for less than one year is also eligible to apply.
The entrepreneur will have to prepare an application, a business plan and cash-flow projections. Futurpreneur has templates available to help with that.
If you are interested, contact Jones-Crossley at njcrossley@futurpreneur.ca or on phone at 604 598 2923 extension 4128.
