When Brendan Peters needed a summer job, he decided to create his own.
Peters, a second-year student in Carleton’s interactive multimedia and design program, received a grant from Northumberland County’s Summer Company program to start his own design business, Dizignz.
The program, offered through the provincial Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, provides $3,000 to young entrepreneurs – $1,500 to cover start-up costs, and $1,500 upon carrying out their business plans. Students also have access to regular meetings with a mentor who provides advice on aspects of running a business, from bookkeeping to a good handshake.
To apply, the entrepreneurs had to be between 15 and 29 years of age and planning to return to school in the fall. They also had to commit to working in their business at least 35 hours a week for eight weeks during the summer.
Peters said he has done design work before, but that the program was an incentive for him to get serious about the company, by creating a business plan, a website and by advertising.
“To an extent, this summer [the grant] allowed me to do that, I didn’t need to work anywhere else,” he says.
To apply for the grant, Peters had to create a complete business plan outlining the services he planned to provide, the number of projects he planned to undertake and the cash-flow for the business.
“I needed to convince them how I’m going to make money,” he says.
With assistance from the Cobourg Business Advisory Centre, he prepared the plan and sent it to the provincial government for approval.
After the plan was approved and he received the money, Peters was able to purchase equipment such as a graphic tablet and a computer monitor, and pay for his website.
Peters wasn’t the only person working at the company. His cousin, Adam Gravelle, also works at Dizignz. Several other people from his program at Carleton offered to help as well, and Peters says he sometimes refers clients to them when he has too much work to do.
The company name was more difficult to come up with, he says. After hours of brainstorming, they decided to tweak the domain name “designs.com” to one that was still available – dizignz.com.
Although the company provides a range of services, including logos and websites, Peters said he prefers the more artistic type of work. Given the choice, his favourite type of work is for the music industry – he has designed websites and CD artwork for a number of musicians, including Parichay, a musician from India, and a number of local Ottawa bands, some of which his friends play in.
Peters, who plays keyboard and sings, says music is a big part of his life, and that he sees designing for musicians as a way of combining his interests.
Peters says he’s been able to generate a reasonable volume of business through advertising on websites such as Kijiji, and has been able to cover his school tuition through the business.
“I’m the kind of guy who likes to do things on my own schedule . . . I have work when I want it,” he says.
This independence, however, has occasionally caused challenges for Peters, especially when working on long, complex tasks such as coding for websites.
“My challenge is always staying structured . . . I had so much freedom,” he says. “I ‘cracked the whip’ on myself.”
Peters says he believes his student perspective and personalized business style bring a unique touch to the company.
“I deal with every person one-on-one. I talk to them over the phone . . . If they want me to tweak something, I will,” he says.
Even though summer is coming to an end, Peters says he hopes Dizignz will continue, and that he can find the right balance between work and school.
“The long-term goal is to keep the business running, eventually work for myself,” he says.
After his experience, Peters says he would encourage others to take advantage of business grant programs.
“I think that anything that you like doing, a hobby, you can turn it into a business,” he says. “I take pride in building a business around what I do.”