Recently, CoMotion on King was one of the stops for Start-Up Crawl. Yours truly had the chance to relay a few insights to some prospective HamOnt entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurial vibe at CoMotion on King comes from sources beyond just the membership. Relatively frequently, the space hosts a variety of workshops or gatherings, such as the Hamilton Fempreneurs, or even, just a handful of days ago, the Hamilton Bitcoin and Blockchain meet-up. These not only give current members a chance to expand their knowledge, skill-sets and networks, but serve to position CoMotion as an epicentre for innovative and unique small businesses.
Start-Up Crawl stops at CoMotion
Pushing this notion even further was being a stop on the Start-Up Crawl. This was an initiative lead by SURGE, the Mohawk College-based entrepreneurial-focused support and mentorship group. They partnered with The Forge@Mac, a similarly focused development group at McMaster, and took students on a tour of a handful of relevant stops throughout the city.
Having the chance to bestow some sage wisdom on 30 or so ambitious young minds was, in itself, pretty cool. I’ve always found, for me, mentorship comes in all shapes and sizes. And the thought of someone taking some small insight, or even a bit of inspiration, away from our discussion is pretty rewarding. What’s also worth noting is that, during this tour, the colleges were on strike. So, there’s something admirable about a group that’s kept themselves connected despite the situation – being self-driven to continue education-related activities.
Photo credit: The Forge (@forgemcmaster)
Sharing my own stories, advice and a few laughs.
It was fun though. I told a few stories that I’ve shared here in my CoMotion blogging – conveying the importance of networking and, really, doing what they were doing; just getting out there. And, they got to see and hear some first-hand stories of how collaborative coworking spaces like CoMotion have provided start-ups with required skills and resources. In one case I brought up, a much needed Graphic Designer was found simply by a yelled plea from an office doorway.
Entrepreneurs and opportunities.
It’s great to be a part of a community that’s so committed to supporting small businesses and start-ups. From an economic standpoint, that’s only going to continue propelling Hamilton’s resurgence and success. And from a personal and professional perspective, getting to introduce myself to entrepreneurs is a golden opportunity. These are the innovators – the people who aren’t afraid to take a chance. By nature, they are creative. And for a copywriter like me, those are the potential clients that we live for.
