When Sharon Reeds got a card in the mail congratulating her on her success, the entrepreneur had only herself to thank.<\/p>\n
After all, Reeds wrote the postcard full of encouraging words while she was a participant in Goodman Group \u2014 Venture Development\u2019s Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship (KSE) program last fall to remind her future self she deserved all she has accomplished.<\/p>\n
Even better that the card arrived this spring on the heels of news that upstart Intuitive Shipping, which CEO Reeds co-founded with her husband Joel, had secured an Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) SmartStart Seed Fund grant worth $30,000. Delivered by OCE, with support from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), SmartStart is a rigorous competition between new start-ups to fund their entrepreneurial endeavours.<\/p>\n
Reeds is the first participant in the Goodman School of Business’ KSE program to receive the prestigious financial boost for her endeavour.<\/p>\n
As much as Reeds sweated over every word of her grant application, she knew she and Joel had created a rock-solid business with their advanced e-commerce shipping rate calculation app.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the first time I felt super confident about getting something. We\u2019re putting something into the workforce so how can you say no to that?\u201d Reeds said. \u201cWe are bootstrapped. We\u2019ve not had investors \u2026 but we\u2019re kicking butt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassie Price, KSE Program Co-ordinator, knew Reeds was a top contender for the highly competitive provincial award.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a little further along than some of the other entrepreneurs in the program,\u201d Price said. \u201cShe was operating her business already as opposed to other entrepreneurs in the program who may have just a great idea or business plan. She\u2019s got a great business and a dynamic team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Intuitive Shipping is a subscription service for e-commerce retailers that enables them to charge their online customers the right price for shipping at checkout, ensuring predictable profits on every transaction and the confidence to scale. The idea for it came in 2011 when a friend running a hobby shop needed a simple way to calculate shipping costs based on the total price for an online order.<\/p>\n
Joel started working in earnest on a solution not offered by other online shipping calculators, and soon Intuitive Shipping began gaining traction on Shopify, surpassing other apps as the preferred choice by e-retailers.<\/p>\n
Reeds headed up research and customer relations full time, turning this into more than a side hustle for Joel, who officially joined his wife as the company\u2019s second full-time employee in February.<\/p>\n
The grant from OCE has enabled them to double Intuitive Shipping\u2019s staff once again and hire two \u201cexceptional people.\u201d Since then, business has quadrupled, Reeds said.<\/p>\n
\u201cStuff that\u2019s been on our to-do list for six months is getting done now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The seed money also shows potential investors that a credible organization sees merit in Intuitive Shipping, which can open many more proverbial doors for the business, Reeds explained.<\/p>\n
Still, it likely would not have happened had she not tapped into the KSE program, offered by the Goodman Group \u2014 Venture Development business incubator, and all the resources it has to offer.<\/p>\n
Goodman Group provides businesses, students and the community with direct access to learning and development services offered by faculty, staff and students at Brock\u2019s Goodman School of Business. It also serves as a hub for the community and a place where entrepreneurs and innovators can grow professionally.<\/p>\n