Celebrating entrepreneurial tenacity this Small Business Month
Nothing quite prepares you for starting a small business—not the Navy, not a business degree, not watching someone else do it. I spent twenty-four years in the Canadian Navy, and I still consider entrepreneurship as one of the toughest things I have done.
When Sébastien left the Navy in 2010 to build Harding Real Estate alongside me, we started with a single micro-office and a team of five. Every early decision, who to hire, what to spend, when to say no to a bad deal, carried weight because there was no larger structure to absorb a mistake. That is the reality of small business ownership. You are the CEO, the CFO and the COO and responsible for strategy, payroll, and above all, you are the only safety net.
We grew from that single office to seven locations and 100 advisors and staff across the province in three years. That growth happened, notably, in the middle of a global pandemic, when every assumption about how business worked was upended overnight. We stayed grounded in one principle borrowed from our brand: every client deserves the same level of care, regardless of price point. I believe that small business owners across this province apply a version of that principle every day, treating every customer like they matter, because they do.
None of it works without the right people. Our VP of Operations, Stephanie Perrault, has been with us for 11 years and is the heart of our team. Every entrepreneur I respect has a ‘Stephanie’ somewhere in their story, the person who makes the whole operation hold together while the owner is out chasing the next opportunity.
This issue’s Cover Story features a handful of Halifax businesses and organizations marking real milestones this year (tenth, twentieth, thirtieth anniversaries and beyond). Longevity like that does not happen by accident. It is built the same way ours was: one hard decision at a time, over years that rarely feel as tidy as the anniversary date suggests. I hope you take the time to read their remarkable stories.
October is Small Business Month, and I can think of no better time to say plainly what small business owners already know: this work is relentless, often thankless, and worth every bit of the effort. Small businesses are key to creating prosperity in Halifax, and they deserve to be celebrated throughout the year.
At the Chamber, supporting small business is not a seasonal initiative. It is the reason we exist. Whether you are three months into your first venture or three decades into building something bigger, know that this Chamber sees the work you are doing and stands behind you.
To every small business owner reading this: keep going. I know exactly how hard it is, and I know exactly why you do it every day!
