REGINA – REAL District was the scene this past Friday and Saturday for a show aimed at small businesses and entrepreneurs.
It was the SME Show, SME standing for Small Medium Enterprise. It was cohosted along with the SaskUp Startup Festival, aimed at entrepreneurs, running on Sept. 19 and 20.
Steve Ike is event director for the SME Show, and he described what it is about.
“We basically have three objectives for this show. The first is to celebrate entrepreneurs in Saskatchewan. The second will be to encourage entrepreneurs, founders. And the third is for us to showcase Saskatchewan, particularly Regina, as a hub for business. We're doing this show to try to also encourage people to come into this province and this city to set up business and have their businesses thrive, even within the city.”
Ike said the show attracts two sets of people. “We have those who are new in business, and then for those who hope to get into business but haven't quite started.
For those who are already in business, the aim is to provide them resources on how to grow, how to scale and grow bigger. The other group are for those who intend to start business but have not quite started. We want to empower them, encourage them, so they can actually demystify entrepreneurship, and have them get into businesses and grow from there.”
Ike said they don’t nearly have enough of these sorts of events in the province. The inspiration for it “actually came from having people ask so many questions about how to start business, how to grow business.
“We just felt we should create an event where all questions can be answered. We hope others will also use this as an example to create more events, because like I said, we don't have nearly enough of such events here.”
For this year's SME Show, Ike said they had over 50 exhibitors showcasing their products and services. There was also a big lineup of speakers.
“One of the highlights for this event is the seminars. We have a very good lineup of speakers who are going to speak about different aspects of business. How to start a business, how to grow a business, and also providing resources for people to thrive in their businesses.”
Beyond that, he said, they also “have business experts, life coaches, people who have huge experience in business, coming to share their experiences about starting and running businesses here.”
The show offers a wide range of booths from businesses seeking to help the small business owner or entrepreneur.
“A whole range of businesses are actually here. We try to make sure that every component of business is represented here. From legal, to tax, to accounting, even down to security, and so much more.”
Among those with a booth there was immigration lawyer Harjinder Singh Sandersal.
"It's really good to connect to professsionals and small business entrepreneurs," he said. "I meet with a lot of persons, employers, who are looking for legal services or immigration services for their potential employees or their team, so we provide those kind of services for them."
Another was Colleen Hala of Art Tech Graphics Ltd., who said she was there "to connect with people who need services for signs, decals, business cards, posters, and just about anything. Magnets, magnetic signs, graphics and decals for your vehicles which is a great way to promote your business. And we also develop websites for people."
There was a lengthy list of presenters. Among them, said Ike, was Alecia Ewanchuk on the power of using yoga in business.
“That's going to be one of my favorites,” said Ike.
“Most people feel it's all about accounting and legal, but businesses go beyond that. So we're having somebody come to speak about the power of yoga in business, for business owners and leaders.”
He also pointed to Chris Rothecker from Mpowered Technologies coming to talk about the Art of the Startup.
“He's going to talk about how business is actually an art, and how to approach business as an art,” he said.
“A lot of people have that misconception about business. Sometimes it even has to do with the frame of mind. It's half technical, but also half psychological. That's what some presenters are out here to let people know.”
This is the first such SME Show and Ike said a lot of planning went into it.
“It's something we've planned for the past nine months. We've spent nine months planning this event, and we're here to stay. This is the first, and certainly not the last. We hope to make it an annual event, so it's going to (be held) every year.”
Ike said they also hope to move it around different cities within Saskatchewan.
“So the next edition is going to hold in Saskatoon. We’ll probably move it to Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, just to make sure we capture every business person within the province.”
