Recently we had the opportunity to be part of an exciting pilot program to work with indigenous youth in northern communities to become entrepreneurs. The pilot program was launched in Lac Seul with the help of Lac Seul First Nation, Lac Seul Training Centre of Excellence, Northern Community Solutions, 807 Empire, and the NWO Innovation Centre. Through the unique hands-on program, the youth learned the stages of starting a t-shirt business.
The NWO Innovation Centre was asked to teach the business fundamentals aspect of the program. Over 2 weeks, we covered topics such as What Does it Take to be an Entrepreneur, Customer Validation, Forecasting Financials, What’s in a Good Design, Marketing to Your Customer, and more. Each educational lesson was paired with a fun activity to practice different scenarios. It was a lot of information for the youth to learn in a short period of time, but they became more comfortable with the different aspects of business as we continued working together.
For most of the youth, the exciting part was learning how to create and edit their physical art into a digital design using graphic design software and then transferring the designs onto t-shirts. During this stage, we continued to work with the youth on the business including, market research, talking to potential customers, and how to pitch their ideas. We had a lot of fun watching pitches on Dragons Den and role-playing different customer/owner scenarios.
By the end of the second week, I felt a great sense of pride in the youth that participated. I saw firsthand how the youth become more comfortable with what they were learning and how they started to see the possibilities of creating a business within their home community. They worked hard on their pitches and presented in front of a panel of judges, where the winner was awarded equipment that would allow them to continue making t-shirts and running their business. It was great to see the instant self-confidence the youth gained by completing their pitch.
At the very end of the program, the youth participated in the Blueberry Festival in Sioux Lookout where they had a booth and sold their t-shirts. The youth who participated practiced their customer service skills, and even made some money. One of the youths even made a large t-shirt sale to another community.
Thanks to Northern Community Solutions and Lac Seul First Nation for inviting the NWO Innovation Centre to be a part of The First Nation Youth Entrepreneurship Program, it was a success and hopefully, we can continue to inspire entrepreneurship in youth in Northern Communities.
Carole Long
Business Advisor
NWO Innovation Centre