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Autumn 2009 | Vol 13 No 1

Focus

Choosing their own path

Innovative supports foster entrepreneurship

By Helen Buttery

Thinking back about 10 years, when Brian Tilbury pushed a co-worker during an aggressive exchange, he now realizes he gave his employer at the lumber mill the ammunition they needed to fire him. “They were looking for an excuse to get rid of me, and I gave it to them,” says the now 33-year-old millwright and entrepreneur. Tilbury has developed many insights since that time, including how anger and depression hampered his career. He has also discovered that self-employment is what makes him happiest and most productive.

Thanks to the South Fraser Self-Employment Program in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Tilbury has turned this recognition into reality. He now owns and operates Tilbury Industrial Services, providing companies in the Fraser Valley with solutions to mechanical issues and improving production-line efficiency.

This self-employment initiative is part of the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program, which targets people with barriers to traditional employment, including mental health and addiction issues, in western Canada, particularly in rural and northern communities, where unemployment rates are high and job opportunities are few. These initiatives are run through Community Futures, a network established by the federal government in 1986 in response to the severe economic and labour market changes faced by rural Canadian communities.

To be considered for the South Fraser program, clients must be unemployed and eligible for employment insurance and must be experiencing multiple barriers to finding employment. The program includes one-on-one counselling with business and financial advisors, start-up training on topics such as marketing, stress management and self-care and extensive business planning support. Most clients complete the program in 40 weeks, during which time they prepare and present their business plan to a review panel, consult frequently with a business advisor and marketing advisor. Within this time frame 85 per cent become self-sustaining.

“We take the fantasy out of Fantasy Island and put the reality in by doing the market research to make sure the business concept is viable,” explains Suzanne Blakley-Oaks, business advisor with Community Futures South Fraser. This year, 25 per cent of her clients have a mental health or addiction issue, or both. She sees the many challenges faced by people with addiction and mental health issues in the mainstream workforce, ranging from psychological and social barriers like stigma to practical hurdles, like the rigidity of the nine-to-five workday. Self-employment can bypass these hurdles, for example, by providing flexible work hours to reflect the person’s needs.

That’s what Victoria Maxwell, who has bipolar disorder, did. She can only work four to seven hours a day and factors rest days into her schedule. “I know what my limits are,” she says. “I have grown to respect them and know that I can’t violate them, because if I do, I’m in big trouble.”

Maxwell, an educator and speaker, went through the Community Futures Sunshine Coast Abilities 2 Business program in 2005. Combining her past acting career with a passion for raising awareness about the reality of mental illness, her public speaking includes her one-woman show “Crazy for Life,” “Funny … You Don’t Look Crazy,” and “LAID: Putting to Bed the Myths of Mental Illness and Dating.” Still, it took Maxwell five years before she accepted her diagnosis, during which she spiralled into depression and psychotic episodes. Once she hit rock bottom, it took another five years to build herself back up, manage her symptoms and regain her self-esteem. In this process, Maxwell realized that the financial unpredictability of acting and the constant judgment and rejection associated with the profession were not for her if she wanted to stay well.

Now, Maxwell has a plan that takes into account both her career and her wellness. That’s because the Community Futures programs do more than just focus on developing a business plan. “We do a wellness assessment,” explains Diane Hill, co-ordinator of Abilities 2 Business in Sechelt, British Columbia. The assessment examines the client’s disability (32 per cent of clients to date have mental health and/or addictions issues), the signs of becoming unwell and the nature of the disability in relation to the effect it may have on business. This way, checks and balances are incorporated into the business plan to address clients’ health needs. However, it turns out that not everyone is cut out to run their own business, for example, if clients realize that stress related to running a business may trigger a relapse in substance use, or that isolation, like that of working from a home office, may contribute to depression.

“Yet often the people we see are more sensible than the general population in understanding their limits and putting wellness measures in place because they have already experienced setbacks,” says Hill. “They already tend to be more considerate of their health.” This may account for the reversal of fortunes for Community Futures entrepreneurs on the Sunshine Coast. While on average 80 per cent of new Canadian businesses fail, those that have been established through Hill’s program are more likely to succeed, with 84 per cent of clients still in business after their year of training.

The hard work and planning is paying off for entrepreneurs like Tilbury. “One of the reasons why I went into business for myself is that as an employee I wanted to have my opinions or suggestions taken seriously, but that wasn’t happening. With my own business it feels great to have people respect me and want to hear what I have to offer. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the program.” And exactly where he is today is preparing for three months of work booked solid and more projects on the way.