Tired of being under? If you feel you are constantly under-resourced, under-performing, and under-achieving, we are here to offer support and to provide resources to help you and your business get over the invisible line

By joining the Building Small Business Resilience (BSBR) project, you’ll receive a free training to develop and execute a digital marketing campaign plan for your own businesses and customer bases, identify elements of success and failures, and make necessary changes to optimize results.

As part of the training, you’ll receive a $500 budget to use towards your digital marketing activities. For example, web development, Google ads, Facebook ads, and email marketing.

Additional support you may need during the training such as translation, transportation, and childcare can be arranged upon request and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Apart from direct benefits to you and your business, your feedback and data collected from the research will be used to improve the training program and other future development that will benefit students, small business owners and job seekers in digital marketing areas.

You will also receive a final research report, which will be shared with Future Skills Canada, publications, presentations, website, organizations that support small businesses (such as Mississauga Board of Trade, Brampton Board of Trade and Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre) and the public at large. Your confidentiality and research data will be protected according to Sheridan’s research policies and procedures.

Please note your participation in the research is completely voluntary. If you decide to participate, you may withdraw at any time during the duration of the study without any consequences or any explanation.

You will be voluntarily participating in the following research activities: 

 Online Survey

• You will be asked to complete an online survey, which should take about one hour. The survey intends to identify the current stage of your business and how digital marketing can support your business growth. The survey will also be used as a screening tool to evaluate your eligibility to participate in the Prototype Training Program. Click here to see sample questions asked on the Online Survey. 

 Focus Group Discussion

• You will be asked to join a 1-1.5 hour focus group discussion with 8-10 other participants. The discussion aims to find out more about your digital marketing needs and skills gaps, your thoughts on learning mode and delivery, and your expectations on the training program. As a thank-you token for your time, you’ll receive a $50 gift card for your participation. 

 Prototype Training Program

• You will be asked to take part in the 12-week prototype training program, which consists of a weekly lecture/instruction-based session of 2-3 hours and a workshop/participant-focussed session of 3 hours. There will be homework, which you will need to complete in your own time outside the class. The weekly homework is expected to take about 2-4 hours. In total, you should be allocating 7-10 hours per week for 12 weeks to fully participate in the program. 

 There will be two training groups: alpha and beta with about 20-25 participants in each. 

 Program Results: Short-term

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the training program, you will be asked to complete weekly online surveys and focus group discussions at week 4 and 8, and final individual interviews at week 12. 

 Program Results: Long-term

• You will further evaluate the training effectiveness 6 months and 12 months after the end of your training via an online survey and possibly as part of a focus group. This should take about 2 hours. As a thank-you token for your time, you’ll receive a $50 gift card for your participation. 

There are 3 stages of the research 

 Stage 1: Recruitment and Research 

During April and May 2021, you will participate in the online survey and focus group discussion, which will help researchers learn more about your business and digital marketing challenges, and training needs, expectations, and barriers.  

Stage 2: Training 

If your business is eligible, you will be randomly selected to participate in either the Alpha or Beta Training Group. The Alpha Training Program will start in September 2021 and the Beta Program will start in January 2022. Each group will consist of 20-25 training participants. 

 Stage 3: Evaluation 

Throughout the training program, you will be asked to assess the effectiveness of the training. In addition, you will be contacted 6 months and 12 months after the training to evaluate the long-term impact of the program. 

Here is the summary of the program schedule