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Funding stories

The grant nobody told me about

For eight years we hired the same way every summer. Pay full wages, lose a third of our margin June through August, hope the fall rush made up for it. Then a customer mentioned Canada Summer Jobs and the math fell apart. We had been leaving $18,000 a year on the table. This is the application, the awkward conversations, and what I would tell myself eight years ago.
Donovan P.
Owner · FitnessBeach · Ottawa, ON
Funding stories

The grants you can actually get vs. the ones you can’t

A huge share of program funding is for non-profits and charities, not businesses. Chasing the wrong ones wastes the one resource you can't get back: time. Here is how to tell, in two minutes, whether you can apply directly, need a partner, or should walk away.
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If you have run a business for a few years, you know things that matter to every founder coming up behind you. Mentioned exists to make that knowledge visible.

If you have run a business for a few years, you know things that matter to every founder coming up behind you. Mentioned exists to make that knowledge visible. We lightly edit for clarity and length. No commercial pitches, no thinly disguised marketing. Just the real version of what you would say to another founder over coffee.

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