The 2018 SMARTstart program only wrapped up in Airdrie a couple of weeks back but already organizers are making plans for the 2019 program.  

Tonight (November 21), an information session to let would be entrepreneurs and owners of businesses less than three years old find out if the program is right for them will be held at the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce office from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Sara Chamberlain of Airdrie Economic Development is a Community Organizer of the SMARTstart program says the eight-month entrepreneur training program is becoming increasingly popular because it gives new business people real-world skills.

"Each year the SMARTstart program accepts up to 20 entrepreneurs into it.  We are oversubscribed, which means we get about twice as many applicants as there are spots.  It is a non-profit program and we offer it at quite a low-cost thanks to the support of the business community, so it is quite popular.   What the information will do is help people understand if the program is right for them and if they do in fact want to apply to the program and potentially start with us in February of 2019."

The SMARTstart program provides people with mentorship, business planning and training which Chamberlain says are items that are needed to prepare you to go into the business world.   Unfortunately, she also explains that up to 50 percent of new businesses fail within the first five years of starting."

"What we're trying to do with SMARTstart is provide them with the tools, information and the support they need to ensure that they make it in those first few hard years in business and that they're successful going forward."

The program also lets people research their business idea and spend some time doing a feasibility analysis and determine whether or not business ownership is actually the right thing for them.

Chamberlain says, "We certainly do have people who take the program and at the end of it decide that owning a business isn't right for them at this time of their lives, and that's perfectly okay with us because we know we've saved them a lot of heartache and hardship by taking the program." 

The program relies heavily on business mentors that are paired with the entrepreneurs through the eight months.  Chamberlain says SMARTstart is actively seeking mentors to be involved in the program.

There is no need to register in advance for tonight's information session. 

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