The Aspire Youth Self Employment Program was launched on Sept. 28, and they are still looking for three more candidates.
Aspire is an opportunity for youth on the Sunshine Coast to put together a business plan with all the things it takes to start a business. Participants will be paid $10.25 an hour to participate. The group meets in the Pink House in Gibsons.
“They need to come with an idea and they will see whether the concept that they have is feasible and whether they want to pursue it,” organizer Marilyn Magas said.
“Often things sound like a great idea, but when you look at the financials, and the work it takes or your competition and the skills you need – often you go, OK, didn’t look at it from that perspective. And it allows them to move on to something else,” Magas said.
The program is funded through Service Canada by the federal government.
Eight years ago Magas was involved with a program similar to Aspire, called Ecotech, that was based around permaculture.
“Everyone who took that program came out certified in permaculture and could advance and go into that,” Magas said. “It’s been a long time coming, so I’m thrilled the federal government has looked at us on the Coast again and given us the OK.”
Magas said this program is a kind of trial run, but she’s hoping that it will go well and they will receive the funding to turn it into a full-length course. As it stands, the course is 16 weeks, but some of these programs can run up to 50 weeks.
“Basically we’re going to have lots of fun with it,” Magas said. “There’s going to be workshops on business fundamentals, coaching, mentorship and getting your business out there.”
The program is open to eight candidates from 15 to 30 years old – as long as they are not attending school – and they need to show up with a concrete business idea.
They still have three openings left.
Dylan Banks, 20, is one of the candidates. He discovered the Aspire program online.
“I have been doing a little of my own self employment, nothing too big. I just have a couple clients,” Banks said. “I figured that it’s been going well so far, so why not grow it? I figured this would be a good opportunity to expand.”
Banks is building a business as a virtual assistant.
“A virtual assistant is someone who assists a business or an individual with any tasks that a regular in-office assistant would,” Banks said. “However, the virtual assistant can work remotely from their own workspace.”
Aspire students will develop their business plans by work-shopping their ideas with the group and through research and instructor feedback.
After that they move into marketing strategies and how to get their business out to the rest of the world.
The program runs from Sept. 28 to Jan. 16, Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. To apply, call Magas at 604-740-4893.
