The schedule is public. The room is members-only.

How to write a business plan a lender will read

Taught by

Founders who have raised on one, and lenders who have read hundreds

Most business plans are written to be finished, not to be used. This session builds the other kind: a plan whose numbers you believe, that a bank can underwrite, that a landlord will accept with a lease application, and that tells you in month four whether you are on track or fooling yourself.

What it covers

• The one-page version first: problem, product, customer, unit economics, ask
• Building the financial model from the unit up, not the market down
• Cash flow versus profit, and why a profitable product business still runs out of money
• What a lender is checking for, line by line, and what makes them say no
• The assumptions register: naming every guess so you know which one to test first

Bring

Whatever numbers you have, however rough. A spreadsheet is ideal; a notebook is fine.

Ran June 2026, 18 came · how it went · the write-up

Legal filing and entity structuring

Taught by

Practising Alberta business lawyers

Taught by lawyers who set up businesses for a living, not by someone who read a government page. The session covers the real Canadian options, in plain language, with the tax and liability consequences of each, so the decision you make in year one does not cost you in year three.

What it covers

• Sole proprietorship, partnership, ABCA and CBCA corporations: what each changes
• Registering the name, the numbered company shortcut, and trade names
• Shareholder agreements when there is more than one of you, and why waiting is expensive
• Contracts you will sign this year: suppliers, a lease, a first wholesale account
• Protecting the product: trademarks, industrial design, and what is not worth protecting
• Provincial and federal filings, GST registration thresholds, and the calendar you must keep

Bring

Your current registration documents, if any, and any contract you have been asked to sign.

Ran July 2026, 17 came · how it went · the write-up

Setting up business finances

Taught by

Practising accountants who work with product businesses

A product business has accounting problems a consultancy never sees: inventory on the balance sheet, cost of goods that changes with every shipment, GST paid at the border months before a sale. This session sets up the books so those problems are routine instead of a year-end panic.

What it covers

• Separating the money on day one: accounts, cards, and what to never pay for personally
• Choosing bookkeeping software and the chart of accounts for a business that holds stock
• GST/HST: registering, collecting, input tax credits, and the border
• Inventory accounting: landed cost, cost of goods sold, write-downs and what the CRA expects
• Paying yourself: salary versus dividends, and the payroll obligations either way
• The monthly close: the fifteen-minute routine that keeps year-end cheap

Bring

Your last three months of transactions, in any form. Bank statements are enough.

Ran August 2026, 18 came · how it went · the write-up

Real estate: knowing when to move to a storefront

Taught by

Zenith Commercial, an Edmonton commercial real estate brokerage

Taught by our sister brokerage, whose day job is negotiating these leases, and who would, in fairness, like to lease you a storefront one day. The session is mostly about when not to: half deciding whether a storefront is a good idea for your business at all, and half making sure that if it is, you understand every line of the document before you sign it.

What it covers

• The maths: what foot traffic has to be worth to cover rent, fit-out and staff
• Retail, showroom, industrial bay, or shared space: matching the format to the product
• Reading a commercial lease: CAM charges, escalations, TI allowances, demolition clauses
• Which lines genuinely move in a negotiation, and which ones landlords never concede
• Personal guarantees, and how to limit them
• Timing: the eight-to-twelve-month runway from first viewing to opening day

Bring

Any lease or listing you are considering, and your current monthly sales figure.

Next: Oct 15

Supply chain: from prototyping to securing a supplier

Taught by

Founders who manufacture at scale, and a sourcing agent

The path from a working prototype to a supplier you can trust is where most physical product businesses stall. This session walks it end to end: finding and vetting manufacturers, negotiating the first order, controlling quality from another continent, and building a relationship that survives your first mistake.

What it covers

• Prototype to production-ready: tolerances, materials, and the drawings a factory needs
• Finding suppliers: domestic, nearshore and overseas, and the real trade-offs
• The MOQ conversation: why it is negotiable more often than founders assume
• Samples, pilot runs and pre-shipment inspection: paying a little to avoid paying a lot
• Landed cost in full: freight, duty, brokerage, FX drift and damage rates
• The second supplier, and why you need one before you need one

Bring

Your prototype or drawings, and any supplier quotes you have received.

Next: Sep 17