Happy Monday folks, we’re off to a good start this week.
Today I had a quarterly catch up call with the incubator that my immigration tech company, Visto, is a member of.
Quick step back here.
For those not so well-versed in the tech world – I didn’t know most of this ~3 years ago – an incubator is an organization that helps companies, usually in tech, in a variety of ways.
Could be with mentorship, funding, partnerships, etc. Some incubators are focused in a certain city, or industry, or type of technology, or specific point in the lifecycle (early stage, late stage, etc.).
Anyway, when I first got into tech, I didn’t know what an incubator was or did. But what I quickly realized was that, especially in Canada, there are a LOT of them.
The one we got into, called the Legal Innovation Zone, is based in Toronto and focuses on legal tech companies. While it doesn’t provide any funding, it does offer mentorship, guidance, a great network of other founders, a co-working space we can use, and more.
And it’s completely free.
Of course you need to have a legitimate business and pass the application process, but the reason I’m saying this is because – depending on what country you’re in – there could be a lot of resources out there for entrepreneurs. Especially in tech.
No matter where you’re at in the process, keep an eye out for them.
Could be for an incubator, or government grant, or a partnership with an incubator or accelerator – who knows!
You can even find programs like these not in tech, run by different levels of government. You’d be amazed at how much funding and resources some of them get (although this may vary based on where in the world you live).
Anyway, that’s my tidbit for today as I had my quarterly catchup call with the manager of the program.
Because business ain’t easy, so might as well get as much help as we can.
Also had an interesting weekend where we (my girlfriend and I) made a last minute, overnight stay in a little town called Port Colbourne.
It’s about an hour and a half from Toronto – if there isn’t any traffic. But since we’re talking about driving to and from Toronto, there was traffic…
But I digress.
Getting away, if even for a night, is usually a nice way to switch things up and get some good relaxing time in. In business, or in anything really, you simply need time to reload here and there.
I recently experienced this with my podcast.
For those who don’t know, I’ve been podcasting for about 4 years now. In fact, this entire brand, website and my email list all started from that simple podcast I started years ago, interviewing successful solopreneurs to learn about their business journeys.
Most people are pretty surprised when they realize the SG Podcast has over 100 episodes – meaning I’ve interviewed well over 100 solopreneurs.
But it certainly hasn’t been a consistent posting schedule. And that’s okay.
Like anything, there are ups and downs. And slowing down or picking up will happen over time as priorities shift, interests change, etc.
Regarding the podcast, I’ve gotten into a good habit of doing 1-2 per month for the last year or two. I’m not sure why or how, but it got to a point where booking agents started emailing me to book their clients on as guests, so I don’t really have to do any outreach anymore.
But over the winter I was starting to feel the need for a break, so I stopped booking for a few months.
After about 2 months off, I got back into recording with renewed excitement, and episode 114 of the SG Podcast just went live!
Coincidentally, my guest runs a company that helps podcasters…
And in the episode, we talk about his long solopreneur journey that started while he was still in school, the 3 different businesses he started, the ups and downs of each, and a little bit about podcasting and why creating content is so important these days.
To check out episode 114, either to watch on Youtube or listen on your favorite platform, head over here.
Have a great day and keep grinding,
