Homemade chocolates, soaps, works of art, plants, lemonade, goodie bags, you could find everything in the kiosks that were set up on site. The Big Day for Small Businesses really encouraged participants to compete in ingenuity in order to stand out.
Young people aged 5 to 17 with an entrepreneurial spirit were invited to create their own business and participate in markets across the province on Saturday. In Trois-Rivières, they were grouped together at the Les Rivières center, while in Shawinigan, it was possible to find them at the Plaza de la Mauricie. (Sylvain Mayer, Le Nouvelliste)
Partner of the event on the Shawinigan side, the Shawinigan Entrepreneurial Community managed to bring together around thirty exhibitors at the Plaza de la Mauricie. “We want to develop, to inspire a taste for entrepreneurship. We want this to happen at all ages. We want them to feel capable of doing it in other circumstances once they have this experience,” explains director Véronique Buisson.
“It takes courage to undertake, so just the fact that they are here, that they thought of an idea, that they materialized it, that they come to sell and promote themselves, for me, this are essential steps. It allows them to experience success. It allows them to leave satisfied, to be proud.”
— Véronique Buisson, director of the Shawinigan Entrepreneurial Community
Véronique Buisson, director of the Shawinigan Entrepreneurial Community, and Nancy Lefebvre, marketing coordinator for the Plaza de la Mauricie and the Les Rivières center.
(Sylvain Mayer/Le Nouvelliste)
As preparation for the day, the young Shawinigan residents were previously treated to a video clip produced by the local Carrefour Jeunesse providing three pieces of advice to budding merchants on customer relations. A preliminary meeting was also organized to address marketing issues, such as the presentation of the kiosks.
When imagination is the only limit
It seems that the advice to which they were entitled bore fruit, since most of the exhibitors sought to innovate, both in the variety of products offered and in their presentation.
Emma and Oli Lalongé, as well as their drinks kiosk. (Sylvain Mayer/Le Nouvelliste)
Thus, the traditional lemonade stand was reinvented by the brother and sister duo formed by Emma and Oli Lalongé from Trois-Rivières. “We have three kinds of drinks, one with berries, one with coconut and the other is lemonade,” explains the first, which already demonstrates the interest in one day having your own business.
“We mainly do this for the fun», she continues, emphasizing that they also plan to participate in the activity next year. They hope to be able to use the profits generated to reinvest them for this purpose.
Floriane Gagnon-Déry offered both syrup and taffy cones produced in the family’s maple grove, but also propagated plants such as cacti and aloe. (Sylvain Mayer/Le Nouvelliste)
Already demonstrating apparent qualities in customer service, Floriane Gagnon-Déry offered both syrup and taffy cones produced from the family’s maple grove, but also propagated plants such as cacti and aloe. .
“It was our first year that we had a sugar bush and it was a lot, a lot, a lot. We had about 90 liters of maple syrup. I find maple really good, and I told myself that I was certainly not the only one, so I was going to let other people taste our products.”
— Floriane Gagnon-Déry, young entrepreneur from Shawinigan
At eleven and a half years old, the young trader has a good idea of the profession she would like to pursue later and “it’s not too much in that field”, she points out. “It’s a bit for fun, because I like selling small businesses, maple products and plants.”
Cédric Gagnon offered to produce personalized works in the style of graffiti, all live. (Sylvain Mayer/Le Nouvelliste)
For his part, Cédric Gagnon already knows that he would like to move towards the sphere of visual arts. This is why he offered to produce personalized works in the style of graffiti, all live. It also seems that his order book was full.
“I started to develop this because of my father who was good at drawing too. I developed this gradually, I practiced,” explains the fifth-year student while continuing his creation.
“I’m in a bit of a hurry. I have made ten and I have two others waiting at the moment,” he says. The eleven-year-old boy wants to use the money collected during the activity to buy books or pencils.
