Helping to build small business

[attach]5576[/attach]After a series of unfortunate events last March, which included the death of his mother and being laid off, David Cohen decided to pursue his dream of being his own boss.

“I owed it to her to be the best I could be and to live a full life,” he says. “We have a choice and a decision to make when things get tough. We can either let it defeat us or we can go, ‘I’m going to do it anyway.’ ”

Through Technicolour Umbrella, which is based near Dufferin Street and Overbrook Place, he helps people start their own small business, runs seminars on sales, marketing and business growth, hosts networking events and a weekly online radio show on small business.

“I really love radio. That helps to inspire and educate people and that’s the goal of the show,” he says. “It’s a guest-centric show where I have really good guests every week talking about everything from success strategies that they’ve gone through to marketing, wher
e people can call in and get help and get ideas and help them get tips and tools to help them run their business more successfully.”

Cohen says he spends his time off in bookstores, perusing the business section in order to find potential authors to feature on the weekly segment called the Small Business Big Ideas Show and has had guests like Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Michael Gerber who wrote The E-Myth and Stephen Covey of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

“The radio show really ignites me too,” he says. “I pride myself on doing a good show with a good product and a positive message for the audience.”

In November he was inspired to start hosting monthly networking events for entrepreneurial baby boomers called Biz Boom Bash, when he discovered his area lacked a better business association.

“I found that there was something missing in North York,” he says. “I thought there’s no BIA, not a lot of networking groups and I just thought it was time to do something in my area for small business owners.”

In the coming months Cohen also plans to shift his coaching services to focus more specifically on helping baby boomers successfully start and maintain their own businesses. He says he enjoys empowering people to be self-sufficient and taking a skill or talent and turning it into something successful, even if success on their terms is measured by bringing in $500 on the side through a cookie baking venture.

“I want to work more with boomers who are going through life and career transitions in this day and age and who now may be starting a business for the very first time,” he says. “A lot of people, too, when they get to that point they think ‘man, this is my last chance to do something on my own,’ or they need to earn an extra income.”