The presentation by Steve Pellarin from London Small Business Centre at the February 2016 London Bridge Network event.

2. Our Mission:
"To stimulate, promote and support the
entrepreneurial spirit, start-up and early growth
of small business to actively contribute to the
economic development of London."

3. Three Service Streams
• Entrepreneurial Services
• Entrepreneurial Programs
• Community Engagement

4. Entrepreneurial Services
Small Business Centres offer a full array of services
designed to assist entrepreneurs in the planning,
start up and early growth stages of business:
• Free consultations
• Seminars and workshops
• Networking opportunities
• Information Resources

5. Entrepreneurial Programs
• Structured training and mentoring with a high level
of accountability and possibility of financial support.
• Individual must meet gov’t eligibility requirements
to participate, often based on demographic criteria
and unemployment status.
• Individual must meet SBC criteria, based on
suitability and business viability.
• Collectively 125-150 businesses will launch each
year, with the assistance of government sponsored
programs. More than 400 will apply.

6. Community Engagement
• Promote entrepreneurship within our schools
and community organizations. >30 outreach
presentations per year.
• Actively engage the business community as
mentors to new business owners.
• We connect people!
Each year we engage over 70 volunteers and
leverage more than 800 volunteer hours!

7. Community Capacity Building
• Entrepreneurial Climate Study – contacted 1500
random households to better understand
people’s attitudes and propensity towards
entrepreneurship; motivators and barriers. Led
by SBC it included 8 regional partners.
• Entrepreneur Insight Panel – A private sector
partnership to create a “consumer panel” for
ongoing research.

8. Our Clients
• 33% are in the “investigation” stage
• 54% are in the start-up stage
• 12% are existing businesses
• 31% are under the age of 30
• 51% are between the ages of 30-50
* Based on status at point of initial contact

9. By the numbers…annually
• Conduct more than 2500 consultations
• Facilitate over 800 hours of workshops
• Assist in the development of 400 feasibility plans

10. Annual Economic Impact
• Assist over 200 unemployed individuals to find
work through self employment.
• Actively contribute to the start-up or growth of
300 businesses.
• Directly impact the creation of more than 380
jobs.