“Programs like Community Futures are integral to small businesses, but people like you are integral to small business owners.”
Ted Spence
Bigfoot Burgers
Website: http://bigfootburgers.ca
Phone: (250) 752-3663
Bigfoot Burgers is just coming up on its 3rd birthday, but it’s been an unwitting fantasy for more like 35 years. We have found some great success both in being appreciated for our food and service, but also for being a community restaurant.
Just wanted to say thank you again for everything. I’ve not used my credit card since I paid it off and it feels great. With the dining room open, I’m finally recouping my food costs and Bigfoot is on the road to recovery. I wanted to take the time to reach out and thank you for supporting me personally, professionally and helping me get here. Programs like Community Futures are integral to small businesses, but people like you are integral to small business owners.
On the same note, I wanted to express my appreciation to Community Futures for the program that brought me Rob, the Regional Recovery and Resiliency Business Coach. Rob has been a massive asset to me to get myself and my business on track. I told him last week that he was sort of a business therapist to me. One of the first things he said to me, is he never wanted to advise me but to just put me on the path that I would be better able to advise myself; a ‘teach a man to fish’ kind of thing. Through the tenure of our time together (which isn’t done yet), Rob first got me on track with my bookkeeping and financial reporting. This was my biggest concern; that I was appearing to succeed but the profit wasn’t there. His guidance has brought me a significantly better understanding of where I’ve gone wrong but also how to correct the path. More recently, we’ve switched from talking about the past and present, and on to the future. He’s helped me develop a more cohesive vision to my business plan with a significantly stronger path to success. A path with more concrete goals, targets and the methods to achieve them. He’s put me in place to go where I want to go, not where he thinks I should or industry trends or any other factor. He supports me in being me like a true therapist. He asks the right questions, plays the devil’s advocate at just the right moments and, just like you, applauds and supports my wins.
Both Rob and yourself, Kelly are INCREDIBLE representatives not only of Community Futures, but also tremendous representatives of Vancouver Island and small businesses in Canada. I am eternally grateful to both of you from a thankful small business owner who came out the other side of the pandemic, thanks in no small part to Community Futures, Kelly McBride, and Rob Regner.
