Salesforce and Toronto Life celebrated small business in Canada at Stackt Market
On October 24th, Salesforce hosted a unique event, Grow Your Business, designed to celebrate our country’s entrepreneurial roots that focused on unlocking small business growth potential through the power of technology and authentic stakeholder values. Small business owners from across the city came together at Toronto’s Stackt Market for an evening of networking and advice-sharing.
A recent Salesforce survey found that 6 out of 10 Canadians would start their own business if they believed they had a good idea. Yet, access to capital and not knowing where to start – especially in today’s digital landscape – are among the top barriers stopping Canadians from turning their business dreams into a reality. The event was a culmination of a yearlong campaign to champion Canadian businesses and encourage them to embrace technology-led growth to fuel future success.
Guests were encouraged to browse through six Entrepreneur Profiles inspired by the Founder Institute’s Entrepreneur DNA Assessment. The concept was simple: walk through the immersive trail and answer a series of questions to discover which of the six profiles they most identify with – Hustler, Visionary, Innovator, Strategist, Machine or Prodigy. The idea was to spark conversation and encourage guests to network and gain new perspectives.
Moderated by Takara Small, entrepreneur and host of the Globe & Mail’s “I’ll Go First” podcast, the panel discussion brought together a diverse and talented group of founders and business experts, to share their tangible advice on starting and growing a successful business. The panelists included: Jackie Poriadjian-Asch, CMO of Ecobee; Victoria Lennox, Co-founder and President of Startup Canada; Damon Sloane, VP of eCommerce at DAVIDsTEA; Xenia Chen, Founder of Threads; and Adam Kirsh, AVP of Commercial Sales at Salesforce. The bottom line? There’s never been a better time than today to start your own business – and technology is a key component.
The panel closed with a few pieces of thoughtful advice for entrepreneurs in the room. Adam reiterated the importance of keeping the customer in mind and leveraging technology both internally and externally, and Xenia finished it off with the short and sweet words: just do it! Following the discussion, guests were encouraged to learn more about how Salesforce helps businesses grow through an interactive mobile greenhouse journey.
Here’s a peek inside the event:
