In May, 2016, I officially launched my company, Oneiric Hockey, a hockey tech startup that had initially begun as a passion project. We develop and sell an innovative type of protective pants for youth hockey players.
The company launch was the culmination of some very hard work by my co-founder Kayla Nezon and I – we worked for four years to get our product to market; moving our concept from ideation, to prototyping, to finally placing our first order of inventory in December, 2015.
Over the last six months, we've won multiple pitch competitions, signed up some retailers as distributors, filmed a segment on Dragons' Den, and have generally received a great response from the Canadian hockey community. We're even seeing orders coming in online from the United States. Exciting times for any young company and, from an outsider's perspective, you'd think we were on top of the world.
But Kayla and I were also going through one of the most challenging parts of our lives – a breakup of our four-year relationship. Full story.
As Vancouver's housing market cools, commercial property sales soar
Claire Wyrostok, owner of popular Vancouver vegetarian restaurant Black Lodge, wonders how long it will be until Vancouver's hot real estate market pushes her out of business. In the four years that Ms. Wyrostok has been at her current location, on Kingsway just off Fraser Street, many of the buildings in her strip have been sold and property values have more than doubled. Since Ms. Wyrostok's three-year lease came up for renewal in March, she says the landlord is allowing her to rent only month to month. "Every day I don't know if I am going to get a notice with 30 days to get out," Ms. Wyrostok says. " Full story.
Podcasting is the new blogging
Call it the Serial Effect – named for the true crime podcast that went viral in 2014 – but podcasting seems to have reached a tipping point in popular culture. According to The Infinite Dial 2016, a study by Edison Research and Triton Digital, an estimated 21 per cent of Americans (57 million people) listen to podcasts at least once a month, and those numbers are growing. Canadian statistics are harder to come by, but anecdotal data indicate a rise in Canadian listenership as well. Full story.
What's the best way to pay yourself when you're your own boss?
Small-business editor Sarah Efron talks with Tony Maiorino head of RBC wealth management services about how entrepreneurs should pay themselves Watch the video
Montreal DJ spins his passion into music-markup app
Construed as a sort of Google Docs-meets-SoundCloud, the software serves those who regularly work with audio. Students can use it to break down and understand songs. Dancers can use it to choreograph. Producers can use it to collaborate on tracks remotely. Full story.
More small business news from around the web
Dual entrepreneurship isn't for every couple, but it does have its rewards
One night after the children were in bed, a year and a half after launching the story-sharing startup Wattpad, Allen and Eva Lau were staring despondently at a plate of oranges. The couple had agreed to put their finances on the line for at least two years while Allen pursued his dream. With only a few months to go, things weren't looking good. Wattpad signed up just 1,000 users its first year, earning a check from Google for a measly $2 that Allen and his co-founder spent on a shared cup of coffee. Full story.
What you can learn about modern business from Loblaw
This August, Loblaw announced its $170-million purchase of QHR Corp., an electronic medical records firm based in Kelowna, B.C. Judged against the company's $12-billion acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart in 2014, this year's deal seems puny. Full story.
'This might be our moment' to attract top talent to Vancouver in Trump's wake
Within days of this month's U.S. presidential election, Cody Green's Vancouver-based financial tech startup was facing "an influx of literally dozens of resumés coming in from the States." Green, the founder and co-CEO of Canada Drives, says it's too early to say if the flood of American applicants is a knee-jerk reaction from some skilled workers unhappy with the ascendancy of president-elect Donald Trump. Full story.
Seeds of a fintech start-up sometimes come from the trenches
Who says the most useful start-up ideas come from millennials fresh from dropping out of Stanford? Some recent tech-based financial innovations haven't come from venture capitalists or young hotshots but rather from professionals who have toiled away in their industry for decades. Full story.
Insure this business? Start-ups face challenges
When Josh York, a 33-year-old fitness buff, decided to create a mobile personal training company, called GymGuyz, in 2008, he knew he would need insurance. His company, based in Plainview, N.Y., offers a "gym on wheels": a personal trainer loads up a van with more than 300 pieces of fitness equipment — like dumbbells and resistance bands — and travels to a client's home, workplace, school or park to give a personal workout session. But getting insurers on board wasn't easy. He contacted five companies before finding one that would sign him on. Mr. York had to demonstrate that he could strap down the equipment in the van to reduce the risk of road accidents and that his certification as a personal trainer reduced the chance that clients would be injured. Full story.
Compiled by Sarah Efron