Taking the little guys to the big show

On June 12 I leave Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and begin my journey to Moscow, Russia for the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (YEA) Summit. Being the owner of a small business, this is a big adventure, however, I hope to bring to the event some creative perspectives and open discussion on the subject of small business entrepreneurship in Canada.

So far, the lead up to the Summit has been a worthy experience. I have had the opportunity to meet with other delegates in person, participate in organized delegate conference calls and work with our group on preparing for the Summit. It has been quite the process of booking flights and hotels, scheduling for events and wading through the often arduous task of applying for a Russian Visa. The other delegates and I have also participated in interviews with news media and engage in event social media campaigns. Personally, I launched a successful crowd funding campaign to both create event awareness and generate funding to attend the event. All in all, the buildup to departing for the Summit has been a huge success.

One of the big topics of discussion I look forward to bringing to light is the hurdles presented to small business start-ups in Canada. Particularly, other small business entrepreneurs and I have found there is a significant amount of support and resources available for entrepreneurial endeavors in the Oil and Gas sector, Natural Resource extraction industry, Bio-technology and other big money sectors of the Canadian economy. However, we have found that the small business sector is often overlooked. I would like to gauge the pulse of the other G20 YEA Summit delegates representing small business and determine if this is a common trend across all nations, and discover what useful resources their home nations employ to encourage small business growth.

Attending the G20 YEA Summit is sure to be both and eye-opening experience and a great opportunity for learning!

By Frank Collins, G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit Canadian Delegate and owner of DangerDynamite