Posted by Jorge LeClair in 
Successful entrepreneurs are passionately commitment to their dreams, they receive guidance from professional mentors and have access to sufficient start-up cash. The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) provides all three.
CYBF is a Canada wide, non-profit organization that provides coaching, business resources and financing to new businesses whose owners are between the ages of 18 to 34.
CYBF lends based on the merits of a business plan and character of applicants. Pre-launch ventures are eligible to receive $15 000 from CYBF, plus an additional $15 000 from Business Development Canada. CYBF Entrepreneurs that have been in business between 36 to 60 months can also apply for expansion financing of up to $10 000.
Applicants that are accepted into the CYBF program and that receive CYBF loans must participate in a mentoring program for a minimum of 2 years. Mentors are professionals with valuable experience who volunteer their time to assist youth in realizing their entrepreneurship dreams. CYBF is supported by a large network of business powerhouses such as: Bank of Montreal, Bombardier, McCarthy Tétrault, Scotia Bank, TD Canada Trust, Accenture, CIBC, Industry Canada, etc.
An exciting new development is that on March 2009, CYBF received a $10 million grant from the Federal Government as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan which will result in helping more than 500 aspiring entrepreneurs start new businesses. CYBF is an innovative organization driving social and economic change; it’s on a continuing growth plan with the goal of launching of 2 new businesses per day by 2012.
Success stories include:
Sliced Tomatoes – a British Columbia based ready-to-cook meal delivery service that provides pre-washed, pre-chopped, and pre-proportioned ingredients necessary for a customer to cook a healthy home cooked meal. Sliced Tomatoes is modelled after the billion dollar food/ingredient delivery service that exists in Japan.
La Tortilleria - an authentic Mexican fast food restaurant and manufacturer/wholesaler located in Toronto that distributes fresh authentic Mexican corn flour related products such as tortillas.
TalentEgg Inc – an online recruiting service and information resource that provides students with access to meaningful entry level career opportunities.
QuickSnap – a product that enhances people’s lives by providing a unique, simple, and efficient solution to tying shoe laces while maintaining consistent tension and personalized comfort.
Adorit Boutique – a retail shop located in Ottawa that showcases fashions from Canadian designers who use between 20% and 100% reclaimed fabrics to make one of a kind garments.
Additional information can be found at: www.cybf.ca
