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The economic power of small to medium-sized businesses in Canada should never be underestimated. 

According to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), of the 1.10 million employer businesses in this country close to 1.8 million (approximately 98%) of those are SMEs. As well, nearly 60% of Canadian businesses employee only one to four people. Close to home, approximately 94% of the 3,539 businesses in Cambridge are SMEs and employ nearly 35,000 people.  

But despite their size, in the past year small businesses nationally generated roughly 47% to 50% of Canada’s private-sector gross domestic product (GDP), making them the backbone of employment and providing a substantial contribution to production, exports, and regional economic activity. They drive community success, which is why they are being recognized during Small Business Week (Oct. 19-25).

In fall edition of our INSIGHT Magazine, several local small business owners shared their stories in recognition of October as Small Business Month:

‘You get to be creative and the sky’s the limit’ - CINIS MARKETING

Ashley Gould’s journey from insurance analyst to entrepreneur and digital marketing expert began in 2007, when she launched Cinis Marketing from her home in Ayr.

Her transition was sparked when she was introduced to emerging platforms such as Facebook and Kijiji as potential advertising tools. With an English degree from the University of Waterloo, Ashley quickly discovered she enjoyed digital marketing more than her corporate role.

“They (company) put these ‘new’ things called Facebook and Kijiji on the side of my plate as potential advertising tools and since I had an English degree thought I could probably figure them out,” she laughs. “In the end, I liked doing that more than my job.”

After having her two daughters, Ashley returned to school to study marketing. At a time when formal digital marketing programs were scarce, she turned to Hootsuite Academy, earning her Hootsuite Certified Professional designation. Encouraged by her husband, she decided to turn her growing knowledge and passion into a business.

It was through a connection she made while still in university and working at a Waterloo shoe store that helped kickstart this new venture. 

“My best friend Becky (Collins) worked there with me. Then she went into the footwear industry, and I went into insurance,” recalls Ashley. “She was very aware of what was happening with digital marketing since the fashion industry took to it very early on, and because she wanted her products to get in front of people, she became my first client.”

This provided Ashley with inspiration to take her career to new levels and helped her grow Cinis Marketing, a name derived from the Latin word for “ash,” her long-time nickname.

Ashley says support from the Cambridge Small Business Centre helped her identify and address gaps in her business knowledge and encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to create a flexible five-year outline and take advantage of community business resources, including the Chamber of Commerce. 

“Without a plan, you can really end up floundering,” she says.

The Cinis Marketing team specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses nationwide develop effective marketing strategies and choose the social media platforms that best reach their target audiences. As well, since AI continues to reshape marketing, Ashley has expanded into website development and written a book about the subject, emphasizing that technology should support - not replace - human creativity.

“I use AI a ton, but it can’t be that final product. It just helps that brainstorming process,” she says. 

While entrepreneurship can be tough, Ashley values the freedom and creativity it provides and remains excited about Cinis Marketing’s future.

“The pro is you get to be creative and the sky’s the limit. Whereas if I worked from nine to five, and my job was very structured, that creativity wouldn’t be able to turn into things,” she says.

‘I want our reputation to be built on doing good work’ - RMS GLASS

Sean Davidson’s mission to ensure RMS Glass remains a respected, long-lasting family business developed from a piece of advice he received early on: to succeed in business, you need to understand every aspect of it.

“That’s kind of been my focus,” he says, referring to his work as Customer Liaison at RMS Glass, which provides precision installations.

Founded by his father, Tim, in 2008, RMS Glass began operating from the family home before expanding into several industrial units over the years at 385 Dundas St. N. in Cambridge. 

“I was helping him whenever I could,” says Sean, recalling those early days of RMS and whose title incorporates the first initials of his name and those of his siblings – Rebecca and Matthew.

Sean says his experience working as a valet at Langdon Hall helped him develop valuable communication and people skills, and while studying Business Administration Management at Conestoga College, he deliberately took on presentation roles in class to improve his confidence.

“That really increased my communication skills,” he laughs. “But I was never really a ‘school’ guy and always felt that I learned more outside of school by talking to others and learning to do things on my own.”

He joined RMS full time in 2018, followed by his sister in 2020. Rebecca manages bids, scheduling and invoicing, while Sean and his father focused on installations and glazing. His brother, Matthew, eventually became the lead installer before leaving to pursue an opportunity in Alberta. His departure pushed Sean into a larger leadership and installation role.

“That was a big hit for me because he (Matthew) was leading the installs and I was helping him and also doing all the business stuff,” says Sean. “But then I had to gravitate towards being the lead installer so that’s what I’ve kind of been juggling.”

More recently, Sean hired two installers who have helped strengthen the company and believes finding employees who share the company’s vision is critical to small-business success.

“It’s all about finding just the right people who believe in the vision and believe in you as a leader and want to be there and want to learn and get better and that is exactly what these guys have been doing,” he says.

Today, RMS Glass primarily serves Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo, while also taking on larger projects in other areas, including Toronto. 

“I want our reputation to be built on doing good work and treating people properly and standing by the work we do,” says Sean, who advises aspiring entrepreneurs to keep learning, improving and, above all, never quit. “You have to realize that it takes a couple of years or a handful of years to get to the point where you want to be.”

‘Who doesn’t love a grilled cheese sandwich?’ – FO'CHEEZY FOOD TRUCK 

Tim Macpherson has taken a very different road to entrepreneurship.

The Hespeler resident, who now drives a bright orange and yellow Fo’Cheezy Food Truck, spent several decades working in banking before becoming a transport truck driver. 

But after nearly a decade on the road, he decided to make another career change and joined the Fo’Cheezy business earlier this year.

“I worked in banking for twenty-five years for the Bank of Montreal and was downsized as a branch manager in Brantford,” he says, explaining joining the transportation industry was exactly the change he needed. “I just got tired of the whole corporate rat race, and I needed something that was radically different. Driving gave me that.”

Fo’Cheezy has operated food trucks throughout Waterloo Region for more than a decade and is now expanding through franchising. Tim’s territory covers Cambridge and Hamilton, although most of his work takes place in Cambridge.

With support from his girlfriend and business partner, his two children and several employees, he spent his first summer behind the wheel serving grilled cheese sandwiches at festivals, corporate events, and community gatherings.

“I’ve really been working hard at it this past summer and learning some lessons and having fun with it most of the time,” says Tim, noting his favourite sandwich is the pulled pork grilled cheese (Fo’Smoke). 

He says the goal is to offer comfort food while accommodating a wide range of dietary needs, including gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and Halal choices.

“Who doesn’t love a grilled cheese sandwich?” laughs Tim.

Running a food truck, however, involves much more than preparing sandwiches. Besides driving the truck and serving customers, Tim also manages the staffing, accounting, food ordering, licensing, event applications and logistics.

The truck’s streamlined operation allows ingredients to be prepared in a commercial kitchen, vacuum sealed and then grilled and assembled on-site which allows the Fo’Cheezy team to serve large crowds efficiently and avoid running out of food. The work can involve extremely long days, with events sometimes running until midnight, followed by cleanup and preparation for the next day. 

“There’s are a lot of little pieces to deal with, but that’s what I find interesting because there is always something to be thinking about, an issue to solve,” he says. “I think if I was simply standing there just making sandwiches all day I would be bored.”

Tim credits his former banking career for giving him the skills needed to run his own business and encourages other entrepreneurs to take the risk.

“I spent months looking at numbers, slicing and dicing them,” he says. “At the end of the day, I was way off on almost all of them but I’m still glad I stepped in and did this.”

‘It’s the fear that’s going to hold you back’ - THE PAINT RIOT

Amy O’Brien-Gulka, the architect behind The Paint Riot, has turned her love of art, customer service and recreation into a thriving creative business where making a mess is encouraged.

Opened for just over a year in Cambridge’s south end, The Paint Riot offers glow-in-the-dark splatter paint parties for people of all ages.

Amy says the experience is less about artistic ability and more about letting go, having fun and being comfortable making a mess.

“It doesn’t require any real creativity,” she jokes, describing the spaces where clients don protective goggles and gear to cover canvases in fluorescent paints using their hands, squirt bottles, reusable balloons, and even water guns. “The only thing they require in there is the ability to let go and just get messy and know that it’s okay to make a mess.”

Amy, who holds college degrees in journalism and media arts, has built a career in retail and customer service, holding management positions with several major companies. After moving to Cambridge with her husband, Brad, 11 years ago, she continued exploring different career paths while raising their son.

“I have raging ADHD so usually after about a year or two, it becomes time to move on and I need to find something fresh and new,” she says.

During the pandemic, she turned her attention to art, creating splatter watercolours and selling her work on Etsy. She later returned to the recreation industry but eventually decided to pursue her own business idea centred on creative self-expression through paint.

Encouraged by Brad, Amy developed The Paint Riot and found the ideal location in a former flooring store on Oxford Street.

“Even though I had other places willing to rent to me, there was something about this place,” says Amy, who enlisted the assistance of her father to personally transform the space into the colourful world she had envisioned. 

Since opening, the business has expanded beyond splatter parties to include guided painting and craft nights, children’s painting classes, local artist consignment space and Amy’s own paint-by-number kits. 

“There are some people who do not want to get messy and would rather paint a picture, or do crafts,” she says, noting the importance for entrepreneurs to have the ability to adjust when needed. “Don’t be so married to your plan that it becomes detrimental to the business’ success. Try new things and if those don’t work, try something else.”

Despite the challenges of running a business, Amy says she would not trade entrepreneurship for anything. 

“Anybody who has started a business knows how much work it takes. But you must keep going until the business becomes something,” she says. “It’s the fear that’s going to hold you back. You can’t have a successful business if you’re afraid to start that business.”