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From idea to income: ‘How to Start a Small Business’ workshop coming to Orangeville

February 5, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes

A local event geared towards small business owners or individuals looking to start a business is coming to Orangeville.

The ‘How to Start a Small Business’ workshop will be running on Feb. 17, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Orangeville and Area Small Business Enterprise Centre (200 Lakeview Ct.).

Starting a small business can be a monumental challenge. It takes a long time to formulate the idea of what that business is going to be. Then owners have to worry about turning it into a real, working enterprise while keeping it profitable and up to date.

Thankfully, there’s a group that’s here to help – the Orangeville and Area Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC). Katrina Lemire, manager of economic development and culture at the Town of Orangeville, said the SBEC is a jack-of-all-trades organization for small business owners to use.

“We’re a provincially funded program that really supports anyone that’s looking to start, expand, or even sell a small business,” she said. “Our team is able to provide a really broad range of services that really is tailored to what small business owners need.”

The ‘How to Start a Small Business’ workshop offered by the SBEC is an introductory session designed to guide aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs through the fundamentals of launching a business.

Led by small business officer and entrepreneur Mark Jameson, the workshop walks participants through key elements of the business planning process, including competitive analysis, choosing a legal structure such as a sole proprietorship or corporation, understanding financial basics, and considering essential requirements, such as insurance.

It is intended for anyone who is thinking about starting a business, has a new idea they want to test, or is in the early stages of setting up their venture.

Beyond the pure information to be learned at the workshop, Lemire said that it’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people.

“It’s also a great way to network with other potential entrepreneurs in the community,” she said. “It can be a lonely thing being an entrepreneur, so it’s great when we can help them connect with others who have, you know, similar interests and ambitions.”

Following the workshop, the SBEC plans to build on it with subsequent workshops that will go deeper and deeper into operating and managing small businesses.

“This is the first one for 2026, and we tend to start off every year with this one, because it’s kind of just a good introduction to entrepreneurship,” Lemire said. “Then the rest of our workshops will cover a range of topics that would be helpful to other entrepreneurs going forward.”

The goal is to offer continual support to small business owners every step of the way, from initial setup to a successful business, and even selling the business later.

These follow-up workshops are also designed to meet market needs and respond to societal changes. While the year-over-year workshop schedule remains similar, the contents can change dramatically.

“We tend to start with ‘How to Start a Small Business’, because it gives everybody that good base,” Lemire said. “But then we build into different ones. It’s often based on what interests and needs we’re seeing from the clients of the time. So for example, in March we have once called ‘How to Create an Online Store’, because we’re seeing a lot of clients who are looking for e-commerce websites and how to set them up properly.”

Additional monthly workshops are available to view online, including ‘Create an Online Store’ on Wednesday, March 25 and ‘Workplace Safety Essentials’ on Wednesday, April 15.

For more information about the SBEC and its workshops, visit https://www.orangeville.ca/en/economic-development/events.aspx.

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