Organised by Okanagan College, this event is free of charge in partnership with WeBC, funded by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy.

More info can be found here

Register here

The post Women in Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE) Summit appeared first on WeBC.

Make sure you join us and Ange Quinn from The Ops Builder who is going to show you how to Delegate, so you can Elevate! This presentation will be followed by lunch and networking!

⏳When: Wednesday March 12th
????Where: Fernie Senior Citizens Drop-In Center
????Cost: A free event with registration required at loom.ly/iGIJO3Y

Presented in partnership with WeBC.

The post She Means Business: Delegate to Elevate appeared first on WeBC.

eDiscovery is a dynamic 8-week program delivered on a set of foundational workshops designed for UBCO students, faculty, staff, alumni, researchers and the broader Okanagan community to transform their innovative ideas into sustainable impact.

Whether you’re envisioning a new service, delivering a program, starting a business, creating a not-for-profit, or anything in between, eDiscovery provides the essential tools and resources to build toward sustainability. 

In partnership with WeBC, this no-cost program is delivered through a series of core workshops from Accelerate Okanagan and supplemented with tailored online training from Impact Toolbox. 

Starts Feb 27th and runs through Apr 24th, 2025. All sessions will happen on Thursdays from 5pm to 7:30pm at UBCO Campus.

Registration Deadline: Thurs, Feb 20th

Register here

Supported by @thewebc, eDiscovery aims to support problem-solvers, creators, innovators and researchers who want to develop and assess their ideas towards a viable business while considering social impact ????????

The post eDiscovery | Application Deadline appeared first on WeBC.

Join me on Thursday, February 13 at 4 PM ET for a timely panel discussion featuring some of Canada’s most influential voices on women’s economic status and equality issues, including LGBTQIA+ and immigrant and BIPOC women. Our expert panellists will delve into the far-reaching effects of Trump’s tariffs on Canadian women entrepreneurs and women in the workforce in general.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insights from these ​fierce, trailblazing thought leaders as they discuss actionable solutions and share their expertise on empowering women in Canada’s evolving economy.

RSVP Here

The post BEYOND BORDERS: Fighting for Rights in a Shifting World appeared first on WeBC.

How can entrepreneurs succeed amid all this uncertainty?

Many things are working in your favour. Better credit and economic conditions are easing financial pressure. And a strong “Buy Canadian” sentiment is sweeping the country, creating new markets and potential customers.

The key to making the most of these positives is to build your resilience in the face of change. You have more power than you think, and it starts inside your business.

Register for our free webinar to hear BDC’s Chief Economist, Pierre Cléroux, provide an update on today’s economic conditions and how they could affect entrepreneurs in 2025. Then, get expert strategies for building your company’s resilience to economic ups and downs, and finding opportunities in a changing world.

Register Now!

The post Running your business in 2025: Building resilience in a changing world appeared first on WeBC.

In this webinar, you’ll learn about the industry-leading technology that’s changing the way shoppers, retailers, and brands think about outdoor footwear. Volumental, based in Sweden, is a global innovation leader in footwear-sizing research and technology. The company matches shoppers to shoes using 3D foot scanning. It also maintains an extensive dataset of more than 60 million scans collected from 3,000+ footwear brands and retailers worldwide including Fleet Feet, New Balance, and The Athlete’s Foot.

Register Here>>>

The post KORE Outdoors Speaker Series: Ales Jurca | Volumental appeared first on WeBC.

Before you start your business, ensure you have a well-crafted customer acquisition plan that outlines the strategies and tactics needed to bring in more paying customers to your business. It should have the following:

1. Target Market Definition

• Identify your ideal customer: Get as specific as possible on who your ideal customer is. Use age, socio-economic, geography, gender, lifestyle, etc. as parameters to describe your customer. Go forward and even give them names! 
• Understand their needs and desires: What drives them? What are their pain points? What are they passionate about? What do they hate?

2. Customer Journey Mapping

• Visualize the customer’s path: Track the steps your customers take from the minute they get to know your business till the time they purchase from you.
• Identify touchpoints: List all the channels and points where your brand interacts with customers at each stage.

3. Value Proposition

• Define your unique selling proposition (USP): How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? What are you doing different and better than them?  
• Communicate your value: Clearly articulate the benefits your product or service offers to customers. Why will a customer choose to buy from you?

4. Marketing Channels

• Choose the right channels: Select the platforms and channels that best reach your target audience (e.g., social media, paid advertising, physical/brick-and-mortar places).
• Optimize your presence: Make sure your brand is visible and engaging on these channels.

5. Content Strategy

• Create valuable content: Develop relevant content that resonates with your target market. It should fulfil their needs or solve their problems or address their fears. Your messaging must be on point!
• Optimize for SEO: Ensure your content is easily discoverable through search engines. You cannot sell a secret.

6. Lead Generation

• Generate leads: Design resources to gather contact information from potential customers (e.g., landing pages, forms).
• Nurture leads: Build relationships with leads through email marketing, personalized content, and targeted promotional offers.

7. Sales Process

• Define your sales funnel: Outline the steps customers take from initial contact to purchase.
• Train your sales team: Equip your sales team with the skills and knowledge to effectively engage with potential customers. If you have an AI bot, then feed it adequate information to help customers navigate more efficiently.

8. Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)

• Calculate your CAC: Calculate the average cost of acquiring a new customer. This is often overlooked but can help optimize ad-spend.
• Track and optimize: Monitor your CAC and adjust improve efficiency.

9. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

• Estimate CLTV: Calculate how much a single customer is likely to spend with you for as long as you serve/engage with them.
• Prioritize high-value customers: Focus on acquiring and retaining customers with a high CLTV.

10. Analytics and Measurement

• Track key metrics: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your customer acquisition efforts.
• Make data-driven decisions: Use analytics to identify areas for improvement and optimize your strategies.

Whether you’re a startup looking to make your mark, or an established business seeking to revitalize your customer base, understanding and executing a well-crafted customer acquisition plan is vital. By carefully planning and executing your customer acquisition plan, you can effectively attract new customers, drive revenue growth, and build a sustainable business.

The post How to Write a Customer Acquisition Plan appeared first on WeBC.

Join Erika Doehring, Gwich’in granddaughter, Sandlanee Gid, Daughter of the Dawn, and Mya Bordeau for an interactive workshop to reflect on our relationship to our location while we strengthen our connections to the land, ourselves, and each other. Acknowledging the land where we live, play, and work is crucial to establishing a relationship of trust for your business within the community.

What Will I Learn?

• Discover ways to learn about the nations that have cared for the land since time immemorial
• Identify a pathway forward to create transformative and actionable Land Acknowledgements

The post Land Acknowledgements Workshop appeared first on WeBC.

Join Sxwpilemaát Siyám (Chief Leanne Joe, Squamish Nation) for a session where she will discuss the learnings and content of the Economic Reconciliation Framework in BC, based on convenings with Indigenous thought leaders and community economic development practitioners from across the province. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of what transformative economic reconciliation looks like and invitations for how businesses and individuals can commit to this journey of economic reconciliation.

What Will I Learn?

• Deeper understanding of what transformative economic reconciiliation looks like
• How businesses and individuals can commit to the journey of economic reconciliation

The post Step into the River: An Economic Reconciliation Framework appeared first on WeBC.

In this course, you will discover the compelling business case for diverse hiring, such as lower turnover rates, increased creativity, and enhanced business image. You’ll delve into the ethical aspects of human rights in the workplace emphasizing the duty to accommodate. Finally, you’ll gain practical insights into crafting inclusive job ads, adapting interview processes, and leveraging employment service providers for effective job coaching.

Don’t miss this opportunity to transform your workplace culture and drive positive change. Presented by the Inclusive Employers Hiring HUB, you’ll receive access to 70+ HR toolkits, including how to start your own peer mentorship program to support the onboarding process.

What Will I Learn?

• Explore the business benefits of inclusive hiring
• Learn about the difference between apparent and non-apparent disabilities
• Master the use of person-first and identity-first language
• Craft inclusive job ads to reach more candidates
• Tips to adapt an interview
• Understand the fundamentals of human rights in the workplace

Register Free >>>

The post Disability and Inclusion Training for Small Business Employers appeared first on WeBC.

What Will I Learn?

• Understand the importance of small business insurance
• Familiarize yourself with relevant small business coverages
• Understand the claims process
• Recognize the next steps to getting your business properly insured

The post Business Insurance Basics for Busy Entrepreneurs appeared first on WeBC.

For 15 years, WeBC has offered an award-winning mentorship program for new women business owners in BC. Now, we’re expanding our proven Peer Mentoring Model™ to support women entrepreneurs across Canada who have their sights set on business growth!

Thanks to funding from the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, we’re collaborating with The Forum, Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique (SDECB), and the Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC) to offer Growth Peer Mentoring Groups across Canada in both English and French, starting in 2024.

BC English-Speaking Group, hosted by WeBC

• 2024 Winter/Spring Cohort | 7 Sessions | 11am to 12:30 pm PT
  • March 14 |Introduction: Getting to Know You
  • March 21st| Marketing: Make Your Marketing Matter
  • March 28 | Financial: Beyond the Numbers
  • April 4 | Operations: Inputs to Outputs
  • April 11 | Human Resources: The Key to Business Success
  • April 18 | Negotiation: Harness your Skills to Effectively Negotiate
  • April 25 | Mindset: The Final Frontier for Success

Applications open February 2024. Please join our waitlist to be notified when the intake opens >>>

Learn more>>>

The post Growth Peer Mentoring: BC English-Speaking Group appeared first on WeBC.