October 2022 is a Start-up Month at Sobirovs. Hence, we will highlight all aspects of starting a business in Canada, doing business in Canada, and succeeding in your Canadian business. This month, we will discuss researching Canadian marketing, preparing for market entry, and the Start-up Visa program and feature players involved in your Canadian business journey.
This week, I had a chance to sit with Nova Oliphant of Synergy Lab. She shared aspects of the Canadian market that foreign entrepreneurs need to be aware of and how her organization helps entrepreneurs wanting to do business in Canada. You can watch the full video of my interview, listen to it as a podcast or read its raw transcript.
My Understanding of What Synergy Lab Does for International Entrepreneurs
Often, international entrepreneurs who wish to come to Canada to do business don’t know the specifics of the Canadian market. They need guidance and local market knowledge to minimize the risks of entering a new market. Such advice goes beyond the legal requirements of establishing a business presence or obtaining necessary immigration documents. It requires a full-picture understanding of the target market and existing challenges. That’s where Synergy Lab comes in with its services and programs to help foreign entrepreneurs to make a confident step into the Canadian market in cooperation with Sobirovs.
What about the moment when you are just exploring the business environment and options in Canada, and you have not yet arrived in Canada? You have not yet committed to doing business in Canada. How about the so-called “exploratory stage”? Who can help you learn about the Canadian business environment and nuances, understand consumer needs, conduct solid feasibility research, and pay a visit to Canada for a few days/weeks to experience Canada before making any long-term commitments?
I think that’s the gap Synergy Lab is trying to fill and offer its services to help entrepreneurs make the correct steps before and after committing to Canada.
A Frequent Question by International Entrepreneurs About Experiencing Canada
When the Sobirovs team talks to potential clients in a 1-hour Strategy Meeting, we hear a fundamental and very justified question from international entrepreneurs: “Is it possible for me to visit Canada and see it for myself before putting down $200,000, $300,000 or $1,000,000 to do business in Canada?” We respond: “Yes, you can get a visitor visa to come to Canada.” But there is still a lingering question, “But who is going to invite me to Canada, help me obtain a visitor visa, arrange all business meetings on the ground and show me the business environment? I am ready to pay for such services!”
And most often, immigration law firms don’t offer such practical, non-legal, on-the-ground services. Sobirovs can help you with that. We offer valuable targeted services to handle those practical and daily aspects of research, decision-making and exploration related to Canada.
Ways that Synergy Lab Helps Foreign Entrepreneurs
Synergy has several programs and services that are about your preparatory work before you decide to embark on your Canadian business journey seriously. They can also support you during this journey after you land in Canada. But their critical input comes in when Synergy helps you understand the Canadian market better before you spend significant capital and resources to do business in Canada. There might be instances when you realize that Canada is not the right fit for you. That’s a rare but possible scenario. However, almost all beneficiaries of Synergy’s programs have ultimately decided to move forward with their Canadian projects.
A Real-Life example by Synergy: The Pioneer Program in Oman
There are 3 main programs that Synergy offers: the Pioneer Program, the Land+Launch Startup Program and the Synergy Customized Program.
In 2020, Synergy’s Pioneer Program was held in Oman. The main reason was that the program participants from different countries could travel to Oman and benefit from this 2-week program but condensed into an 8-day intensive in-person program. Fifty-five (55) entrepreneurs benefitted from the Pioneer program in 2019 and applied to Canada’s Start-up Visa program.
Moving to Canada (personally or moving your business) is a big commitment. You better understand this step thoroughly beforehand.
How Sobirovs and Synergy Lab Can Work Together
Synergy partnered with Sobirovs to provide services to help our clients get ready, enter and succeed in the Canadian market, and gain traction and scale. Sobirovs sees value in such cooperation because Synergy can help bring some of our clients to a certain level of maturity regarding Canadian market readiness. Once the client and its business plan are ready, we can work on their immigration applications in full steam.
So, when potential business immigration clients contact Sobirovs, and we conclude that the potential clients need to do more research and exploration, we may recommend they consider the Synergy programs. Alternatively, suppose Synergy customers (whom Sobirovs has not met before) are ready to move forward with their business immigration applications, such as Business Visas, the Start-up Visa program, Intra-Company Transfer Work Permits, Entrepreneur Work Permits, and provincial entrepreneur programs. In that case, the Sobirovs team can take on those immigration applications, handle them with the utmost attention, and aim high to succeed.
Synergy’s presence in the Eastern Ontario Innovation Corridor is vital as it has strong connections within this region, the main launchpads, incubators and key stakeholders.
If you are in your “exploratory stage” about doing business in Canada, contact us today by booking a 1-Hour Strategy Meeting with the Sobirovs lawyers. This meeting will be in the best interest of your potential future in Canada.
