Every year, the editors of this section gather round the computer monitor and pick their favourite small businesses of the year. In no particular order, here are what we consider the nine most memorable businesses of 2014.
VANCOUVER ISLAND SALT CO.
Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island is well known for its wineries and cheese makers. These days, it’s also getting noticed for a simple seasoning that’s far from basic: artisanal sea salt produced by Vancouver Island Salt Co.
Launched four years ago by Andrew Shepherd – a chef who has worked in restaurants and catering companies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand – Vancouver Island Salt is one of the country’s first commercial harvesters and makers of artisanal sea salt. Mr. Shepherd traces the company’s origin to a casual comment he made to a friend.
Read full story: Chef started salt-harvesting business ‘on a bet’
LIGHTHOUSE PICNICS
Jill Curran is the owner and founder of Lighthouse Picnics, a business that specializes in gourmet lunches, sourced from local suppliers along the coast. Meals are prepared, packed in baskets and brought to people perched on the cliffs taking in the views.
Read full story: East coast entrepreneur runs business out of 130-year-old lighthouse
INES DI SANTO INC.
Each of her handmade wedding gowns is like a sculpture, says Veronica Di Santo, director of marketing for Ines Di Santo Inc., a mother-daughter company that makes luxury wedding dresses in Woodbridge, Ont. Ms. Di Santo roundly rejects streamlining production. “We work in the French tradition of couture. The seamstress doing the hand work takes a certain pride in creating it. You can’t do the bottom and I do the top and then we put them together. If something isn’t right, you need to see it in its entirety to know.”
Read full story: Say yes to a made-in-Canada wedding dress
VANHAWKS
One of the year's most funded projects in Canada is the Vanhawks Valour, a connected bike that tracks performance and safety as you ride, including Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone for directions. The Toronto-based engineers who invented the bike set out to raise $100,000, but received more than $820,000 from 802 backers.
Read full story: High-tech bike is Kickstarter Canada’s most funded project to date
SMALL JOBS PLUMBING
As a woman with eight years of experience in the plumbing trade, Tammy Buchanan faced challenges getting job placements and fair pay in a male-dominated industry. So the 44-year-old launched Small Jobs Plumbing in Halifax this past December. Now her gender – the logo is a pink faucet – along with her certified plumbing skills, customer service and partner’s social media savvy are really helping this business take off. Small Jobs Plumbing is the first female owned and operated plumbing company in Nova Scotia, as well as the only local plumbing business in Halifax with a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter.
Read full story: Female plumber can’t find enough women to hire
VETS TO GO INC.
Vets To Go Inc. believes house calls are the best way to delivery veterinary care. The mobile veterinary company provides a full range of non-emergency veterinary services at competitive prices in Alberta, mainly for cats and dogs, including vaccinations, nose-to-tail checkups, blood and allergy testing and in-home euthanasia, in the Calgary, Medicine Hat and Edmonton areas.
Read full story: Some Alberta pets don’t need to visit the vet
RL SOLUTIONS
When you walk off the elevator, the office looks"very traditional," says Sanjay Malaviya, president and CEO of RL Solutions."But as you walk around, it feels more like home." But how many 'homes' have a full-size gym, ping pong stadium and Irish pub? RL Solutions is a Toronto-based company that designs healthcare software for patient feedback, incident reporting and risk management, infection surveillance and claims management. Its office is located on the 22nd and 23rd floors of the Toronto Star building downtown.
Read full story: This office has a secret door, Scotch lounge and 'real' Irish pub
INTERAXON
InteraXon’s Ariel Garten made a bet that existing EEG technology could be used for a sleek consumer device that has a myriad potential applications, from turning on lights to mental health.
Read full story: Mind-controlled computing: Look, Ma, no hands
CLEAN MY SPACE
For many entrepreneurs, going into business for themselves is a chance to turn a passion into a career. Melissa Maker, founder of Clean My Space, isn’t one of these people. Instead, she’s built a business around something she utterly despises: cleaning.
Read full story: Entrepreneur builds successful business by doing something she hates: cleaning