Entrepreneurship for Trades program is the first of its kind

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Entrepreneurs are abundant in Saskatchewan, starting businesses that contribute significantly to the economy.

In fact, small businesses with fewer than 50 employees make up 98.8 per cent of the approximately 147,000 businesses operating in Saskatchewan, and employ 31 per cent of its workers, according to the government’s 2023 Small Business Profile.

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Now a new program at Southeast College is helping tradespeople acquire the necessary skills to start their own businesses.

Dr. Vicky Roy, Southeast College CEO and president, says the Entrepreneurship for Trades program consists of four 20-hour courses delivered online with three live sessions per course.

Roy says students will learn finance skills, marketing, operations and management skills, and then create their own business plans, with the ultimate goal for many being to start their own business.

She says when planning the program, the college sought input from many communities where the college has campuses, such as Estevan, Weyburn, Assiniboia, Whitewood, Indian Head and Moosomin.

They heard from local chambers of commerce of the need for an entrepreneurship program aimed at the trades, as the region needs more trade service companies to support important industries like agriculture and energy.

“We wanted to serve the southeast area of the province, and the trades — the people who may have got their ticket and want to start their own business.”

Roy says there are many people coming out of a trade or polytechnical school who complete their apprenticeship and want to start up their own company as an electrical, plumbing, construction or even culinary services.

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She says they have the skills needed for their line of work, but may lack the necessary entrepreneurial skills to do so.

While having conversations with stakeholders, Roy says she heard many times from local business people the things they didn’t know when they started their own business. These skills could include marketing, dealing with social media, getting a loan, doing a financial forecast, supply chain management, costing and more.

Roy says while the original focus of the program was aimed at tradespeople, the college has already found it generating interest from other sectors.

She talked to one prospective student who was hoping to start a fitness club, and wondered if the program would be of value to him.

Since most of the skills learned are not specific to a certain profession, Roy says they could benefit someone wanting to perhaps open a clothing boutique, a flower shop or a trucking company.

“We want to have a really big focus on people in the trades looking to start their own business. But if we have someone who wants to start a company in another kind of business, we can teach (those skills) to anyone.”

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Roy says entrepreneurship is alive and flourishing in Saskatchewan.

“I see these small, remote companies in southeast Saskatchewan, and they are growing.”

And it’s not just trade companies starting up to support the large oil and gas sector or the region’s potash companies.

“I see small companies starting up, from dealership owners to a newcomer coming here and wanting to start an East Indian kitchen, or someone wanting to establish as a dentist. Those aren’t trades, but all of them are really about the art of making a difference in a community and contributing to the local economy.”

While entrepreneurs have been starting businesses in Saskatchewan for generations, mostly they did so without a lot of fanfare. Nowadays there are TV shows where people pitch business ideas to a panel of successful entrepreneurs in hopes of having them invest, and people like Elon Musk are business celebrities.

Roy says today’s generation is definitely more in tune with the idea that not everyone has to go find a job after school.

She says her own son started a successful business while still in high school and has already told her he doesn’t want to work for someone else.

“This is the new generation — from high school many are entrepreneurial, they don’t want to work for someone, they want to start their own business.

“So for people (choosing) the trades, we do need to develop those entrepreneurship skills.”

THIS STORY WAS CREATED BY CONTENT WORKS, POSTMEDIA’S COMMERCIAL CONTENT DIVISION.

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