A business trade show for immigrant women entrepreneurs that debuted last year in Toronto is coming to Ottawa this weekend, offering a chance for local residents aspiring to run their own company to see what the city has to offer.
Dwania Peele, 34, founder and organizer of the expo, is the Jamaican-born creator of Canadian Small Business Women, a website and blog aiming to provide women in Canada with the necessary advice and resources to start a business.
The blog portion of her site includes a special feature called the Canadian Small Business Woman of the Month, which profiles women carving their niche in the marketplace.
“This business got started because I saw a need for it when I tried to start my first business,” says Peele, whose first venture was Tiny Delights Cupcakes and Pies Inc.
“I had an idea but I struggled to find the resources necessary to go from idea to reality.”
Peele says business was slow. She did not know how to go about making a proper marketing plan and she did not have the basic knowledge of how to start a business.
The first expo in Toronto, which attracted over 500 attendees, took place in November 2013. It showcased business-building tools for women immigrants with entrepreneurial goals but little experience.
“I would meet a lot of women who had great business ideas and no direction. As immigrants, there are a lot of obstacles that women face: language barriers, education barriers and cultural barriers,” she says.
With these barriers in mind, Peele says she wanted to start an event for immigrant women that focused on highlighting existing support systems in their communities and promoting the creation of successful self-owned businesses.
The event aims to encourage and teach immigrant women about the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship, connecting them with others pursuing the same goal.
Ottawa’s event will provide workshops, networking opportunities and access to educational start-up services in the city.
“It is a great way to ask questions in a form that you probably could not ask some…ladies one-on-one,” she says. “It is also a great way to address some of the problems that people in the community are facing.”
This year, Peele says she is excited to add a panel of experts to the expo, which will showcase businesswomen from the Ottawa area.
One of them, local resident Praveeni Perera, is a Sri Lankan-born immigrant and the CEO and co-founder of Professional Edge Consulting. Her company specializes in providing training and consulting in three main areas: cultural intelligence, international protocol and business etiquette.
“I am so honoured and I am so pleased to be a part of this panel,” she says, adding that she will run a workshop focusing on how to be a polite professional.
“I will give an overview of basic business etiquette,” says Perera. “For example, how to give a proper handshake…and what message it can send. I just want to open women’s eyes to what business etiquette really is and why it is important, because it is all about how you are perceived.”
A few Ottawa-based businesses and organizations, such as the Ottawa Community Loan Fund, will provide information about various services they offer.
The OCLF offers funding to immigrant women who may otherwise not qualify for loans from banks or other traditional lending institutions, explains Colette Pépin, head of the organization’s immigrant partner program.
“We feel the visitors will benefit from seeing what services are available to them right here at home,” Pépin says.
The Ottawa edition of the expo takes place Oct. 4 at the Canadian Museum of Nature. The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Peele offers some advice to immigrant women entrepreneurs: “Don’t quit. There are a lot of resources out there; you just have to look for them.” And, she adds, “once you have that good idea stick to it…find ways to make it happen.”