london bridge network - london small business centre

Our Mission: "To stimulate, promote and support the

entrepreneurial spirit, start-up and early growth of small business to actively contribute to the

economic development of London."

Three Service Streams

• Entrepreneurial Services• Entrepreneurial Programs• Community Engagement

Entrepreneurial ServicesSmall Business Centres offer a full array of services designed to assist entrepreneurs in the planning, start up and early growth stages of business:

• Free consultations• Seminars and workshops• Networking opportunities• Information Resources

Entrepreneurial Programs• Structured training and mentoring with a high level

of accountability and possibility of financial support.• Individual must meet gov’t eligibility requirements

to participate, often based on demographic criteria and unemployment status.

• Individual must meet SBC criteria, based on suitability and business viability.

• Collectively 125-150 businesses will launch each year, with the assistance of government sponsored programs. More than 400 will apply.

Community Engagement• Promote entrepreneurship within our schools

and community organizations. >30 outreach presentations per year.

• Actively engage the business community as mentors to new business owners.

• We connect people! Each year we engage over 70 volunteers and

leverage more than 800 volunteer hours!

Community Capacity Building• Entrepreneurial Climate Study – contacted 1500

random households to better understand people’s attitudes and propensity towards entrepreneurship; motivators and barriers. Led by SBC it included 8 regional partners.

• Entrepreneur Insight Panel – A private sector partnership to create a “consumer panel” for ongoing research.

Our Clients

• 33% are in the “investigation” stage• 54% are in the start-up stage• 12% are existing businesses• 31% are under the age of 30• 51% are between the ages of 30-50* Based on status at point of initial contact

By the numbers…annually

• Conduct more than 2500 consultations• Facilitate over 800 hours of workshops• Assist in the development of 400 feasibility plans

Annual Economic Impact

• Assist over 200 unemployed individuals to find work through self employment.

• Actively contribute to the start-up or growth of 300 businesses.

• Directly impact the creation of more than 380 jobs.