Attention GTA folks looking to escape the rat race: Your next venture starts here.
That’s the message Chatham-Kent’s Business Ventures Program (BVP) is sending out. The program connects business investors with small business opportunities in Chatham-Kent. The idea is to match an investor with the right opportunity.
BVP spokesperson Katrina Moir said a big starting point for interested outside parties is the new website, ckbvp.ca.
Investors can browse listings and community profiles on the site to learn more about Chatham-Kent.
C-K sellers can find potential buyers for their business.
Moir said the program launched in February, but is just getting up to speed. She said the BVP is an excellent way to bring fresh entrepreneurs into Chatham-Kent while helping to keep the doors open at local businesses.
“The best case for a business owner is that your child wants to take it over, or a long-standing employee, but that’s not always the case,” Moir said. “The value to businesses in Chatham-Kent is that there is a great need to plan ahead about what you are going to do when it’s time to sell that business.”
Moir said the BVP can put business owners in touch with opportunities to sell even a portion of this business.
She said it doesn’t take much to perk the interest of people in the Greater Toronto Area either
“We don’t really need anything flashy to get people from the Toronto area interested. Once they see sample numbers of what a business costs in Chatham-Kent, they are already interested,” Moir said. “Tons of people who are living in the GTA would like to live in a smaller community. They just don’t know how to get there and what opportunities are available.”
She added the quality of life, lower cost of living and lack of stress here are huge attractors.
Moir said the loss of a unique business that has served a community for many years can impact the entire community.
“We have so many small business centres – hubs in smaller communities – where the businesses are a such good fit for their communities. If these owners come to retirement – these businesses need to keep going,” she said. “There is more to lose than a long-standing business. The community loses out too.”
