Stephanie Cooper and Sue Kajic, co-owners of BaKED Food Café, firmly believe small businesses can be successful in Pictou County so long as people have a vision, and are willing to invest time and resources into the endeavour.
That’s what they have done, and though they acknowledge there can be challenges working and running a business in Pictou County, the hurdles can be overcome.
“Just go for it,” Cooper said, advocating for less dialogue and more action.
Cooper and Kajic name close-mindedness, and pessimistic attitudes as challenges they’ve encountered while working here – a lack of trust for anything new.
“It starts with pessimism first, and not until you prove something do you get optimism,” Cooper said, adding that they’ve earned trust now.
Displayed prominently on their counter, a tip jar cheekily demonstrates one of their key messages – “Afraid of change? We aren’t.”
They encourage it, and suggest “new blood” and immigrants would help the economy, adding a new perspective and shifting the dynamic of the culture.
Since registering their business in late 2009, finding employees who share their core values of supporting the local economy, and taking on environmental initiatives has, at times, proven to be difficult.
It’s not simply about employees who have the skills to work in the food and beverage industry for them; they want people who want to be there, and can see it as a career.
The key challenge in our area is one of attitude. We all need to be more positive about the County and the opportunities we have. We have to find ways to work together and support our local businesses. The recent municipal MOU is an example of this as it will allow a more unified approach and will include input from the business community. – Jack Kyte, executive director of the Pictou County Chamber of Commerce.
A year ago, Lesley Otter and her friend Cher Breton decided to take a chance on a business they thought would be a good idea. They opened Bubble Tree Baby Boutique in downtown Stellarton in hopes that people would see the need for a store that featured gently used maternity and children’s clothing as well as new and reasonably priced maternity clothing.
After a year in business, the women are glad they took the risk. Otter admits it’s scary starting your own business, but it’s best to just keep working at it with a positive attitude.
“You almost don’t want to think about it (the risk),” she said. “ You might think it’s a good idea, but will everyone else. You just need to keep going.”
She said social media as been a big help in spreading the word about their business and the community has seen the need for such a business, but she would like to capitalize on more networking opportunities where she could share ideas with other business people and learn from them.
The problems of Pictou County are shared by the Maritime provinces in general and in large part revolve around the economics of oil. It begins with skilled labour and includes a trickle-down effect on positions requiring less specialized knowledge. Wage levels in Western Canada are in many cases multiples of what is possible here at home for equivalent positions. The exodus of labour brings with it a population decline particularly in the demographic age ranges that have the highest levels of consumption, which local businesses depend on for not only survival, but growth. The demands of young people for housing, vehicles, recreational opportunities and so on are the main drivers of any economy. With shrinking customer bases of persons that are in their prime spending years businesses are faced with decreased profitability making significant wage escalation and increased hiring levels an extremely difficult proposition The result is a vicious cycle where increased wages are required to correct the situation, but business income levels are under stress because of decreases in demand brought about by depopulation. At the same time the escalation of the cost of oil makes travel, home heating and electricity take up increasing portions of income of those that remain in the county. – Al Muir, owner of Andre’s Pizza and Andre’s Seats in Stellarton
Stephanie Cooper and Sue Kajic, co-owners of BaKED Food Café, firmly believe small businesses can be successful in Pictou County so long as people have a vision, and are willing to invest time and resources into the endeavour.
That’s what they have done, and though they acknowledge there can be challenges working and running a business in Pictou County, the hurdles can be overcome.
“Just go for it,” Cooper said, advocating for less dialogue and more action.
Cooper and Kajic name close-mindedness, and pessimistic attitudes as challenges they’ve encountered while working here – a lack of trust for anything new.
“It starts with pessimism first, and not until you prove something do you get optimism,” Cooper said, adding that they’ve earned trust now.
Displayed prominently on their counter, a tip jar cheekily demonstrates one of their key messages – “Afraid of change? We aren’t.”
They encourage it, and suggest “new blood” and immigrants would help the economy, adding a new perspective and shifting the dynamic of the culture.
Since registering their business in late 2009, finding employees who share their core values of supporting the local economy, and taking on environmental initiatives has, at times, proven to be difficult.
It’s not simply about employees who have the skills to work in the food and beverage industry for them; they want people who want to be there, and can see it as a career.
The key challenge in our area is one of attitude. We all need to be more positive about the County and the opportunities we have. We have to find ways to work together and support our local businesses. The recent municipal MOU is an example of this as it will allow a more unified approach and will include input from the business community. – Jack Kyte, executive director of the Pictou County Chamber of Commerce.
A year ago, Lesley Otter and her friend Cher Breton decided to take a chance on a business they thought would be a good idea. They opened Bubble Tree Baby Boutique in downtown Stellarton in hopes that people would see the need for a store that featured gently used maternity and children’s clothing as well as new and reasonably priced maternity clothing.
After a year in business, the women are glad they took the risk. Otter admits it’s scary starting your own business, but it’s best to just keep working at it with a positive attitude.
“You almost don’t want to think about it (the risk),” she said. “ You might think it’s a good idea, but will everyone else. You just need to keep going.”
She said social media as been a big help in spreading the word about their business and the community has seen the need for such a business, but she would like to capitalize on more networking opportunities where she could share ideas with other business people and learn from them.
The problems of Pictou County are shared by the Maritime provinces in general and in large part revolve around the economics of oil. It begins with skilled labour and includes a trickle-down effect on positions requiring less specialized knowledge. Wage levels in Western Canada are in many cases multiples of what is possible here at home for equivalent positions. The exodus of labour brings with it a population decline particularly in the demographic age ranges that have the highest levels of consumption, which local businesses depend on for not only survival, but growth. The demands of young people for housing, vehicles, recreational opportunities and so on are the main drivers of any economy. With shrinking customer bases of persons that are in their prime spending years businesses are faced with decreased profitability making significant wage escalation and increased hiring levels an extremely difficult proposition The result is a vicious cycle where increased wages are required to correct the situation, but business income levels are under stress because of decreases in demand brought about by depopulation. At the same time the escalation of the cost of oil makes travel, home heating and electricity take up increasing portions of income of those that remain in the county. – Al Muir, owner of Andre’s Pizza and Andre’s Seats in Stellarton
