www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday August 8, 2007 - 9 Students earn and learn from summer jobs By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Five Halton students have refused to put their studies on hold this summer, opting instead to participate in a program to give them a chance to learn about business by running one of their own. The 2007 Summer Company Program is an initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship intended to give young people a chance to experience self-employment first hand. "Summer Company is about so much more than simply getting a part-time job for a few months," said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, whose Business Development Centre delivers the program. "Students will learn valuable business skills, interact with volunteers in our business community, receive training in starting and running a business, and network with their peers in an inspiring and supportive environment. The lessons from this experience will last a lifetime." This year five students made it through the application process during which ministry officials closely judged their ideas for effective businesses. "They have to write a business plan that has to be accepted by the province. Once it's accepted, they are given $1,500 to start their business," said Ed Foster of Incorporators/the Tax Advisory/the Business Advisory. Foster is one of four mentors using their business, marketing and legal knowledge to give the students advice. "There are certain parameters the students have to adhere to. They have to put in a certain number of hours in per week, per month, over an eight-week period and they have to attend meetings. If they do all the things they are supposed to do by the end of August then they get a second $1,500," he said. The student businesses include landscaping, pool maintenance and power washing. "I had wanted to be my own boss for a while," said Bill MacDonald, the 21-year-old Oakville resident/owner and operator of Augusta Masters Lawn Service. "I had worked for a company that was a lot like the one I'm running now, the past couple of summers. It just seemed like the right time." While the work of fertilizing, mowing lawns and seeding remains the same, MacDonald says being your own boss brings its own set of challenges. "The hours are a lot different. Nobody is going to tell you when to work, so you have to motivate yourself," he said. "The work day usually doesn't end at 5 p.m. because there is always something I can do for my business." Attracting customers is another task the students had to tackle as business owners. "The hardest part for me was marketing every day. The importance of hanging flyers, going door to door, how hard it is to actually book a client, these are the things I definitely learned from this experience," said Dan Mandic, the 20-year-old Oakville resident/owner and operator of Up `N' Running Pool Service. "At the beginning of the summer I was going out and knocking on doors for at least three hours every weekday and maybe five hours on a weekend day because it was pool opening season." Fortunately for Mandic he was able to hire employees to help him in his advertising endeavors as well as with other aspects of his business. "They were people I knew so I didn't have to go through the whole interviewing process," he said. In a further act of good fortune Mandic never had a reason to fire any of his employ- ees, but if he had the program's watchful mentors would have been on hand to help him iron out the details. "Every two weeks we get together with the kids at the Halton Region's Business Development Centre. We go over what has happened in the last two weeks, we review their progress, we review their cash flow statements, we make sure their journals are all up to date," said Foster. "We get together to see if they're having any problems. We go over their promotional campaigns, their marketing campaigns and provide them with suggestions, directions as to how they may better drum up business." Besides Foster, the mentoring team includes Pat Hutton of Royal Bank of Canada, Jan van der Hoop of Hiring Smart Canada Inc. and lawyer Grant Buchan-Terrell. Buchan-Terrell's legal advice has been particularly useful in helping the students deal with legal contracts as well as areas involving copy See Good page 10 New ! ocation L Decorating a bedroom can be expensive BUT not at Halton Linen Halton Linen where your decorating dollar goes further HL HALTON LINEN OUTLET WAREHO U OPEN SE EVERY SATURD AY TUITION FEES KEEP RISING, BUT PLANNING OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND Back to school used to m of sneakers. 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