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Entrepreneurs attend expo
Razor Creative co-founder Rich Gould says in the almost six years the marketing agency has existed, it hasn't spent a dime on advertising.
"It's been 100 per cent networking and word of mouth," said Gould.
As he spoke yesterday, Gould was standing at Razor's booth at the Delta Beausejour, taking a break from chatting up fellow business owners and possible future clients for his company. Razor was one of the many local businesses to participate in yesterday's Greater Moncton Entrepreneurship Expo and he said the new contacts he'd met easily made the event worth his time.
"I think this is a great event and I've seen a lot of keen attendees taking notes," said Gould, as his partner at the booth spoke to a pair of expo participants about advertising.
This is exactly what Brad LeBlanc had in mind when he planned the expo. The Riverview entrepreneur and event chairman said yesterday he was delighted with the fact more than 150 people showed up to take part in the first of what will become an annual event. He said it was such a success he plans to hold several expos throughout Atlantic Canada in 2010 to fill the need that exists.
"We've got a really good mix of people here, from those already established in the corporate world to business students to people thinking about becoming entrepreneurs," said LeBlanc, in between shaking hands and talking to participants.
LeBlanc said the expo will mean different things to different people. For example, students might make crucial contacts that help them enter the business world when they graduate, while established business people can network with other businesses and form partnerships. There were also government agencies represented, so people can learn about the financing help available to entrepreneurs, which is key to getting a business off the ground. "Starting a business can be really scary at first," said LeBlanc.
Companies represented at the expo included young ones such as Razor Creative, which has been around since 2003, to larger, more established companies, such as Medavie Blue Cross, NBCC and RBC. The day's schedule of events included a trade show, sessions on topics such as branding and taxes and a talk from local businessman David Hawkins.
"The fact we brought all these people together makes it a success, and there's no better place to launch this, because there's no place better than Moncton to do business," said LeBlanc. Enterprise Greater Moncton director of business development Denis Melanson said LeBlanc approached the business organization about holding the expo and EGM was eager to help out.
"Large or small, there's always something you can learn from other businesses," said Melanson.
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