In this episode, we explore what it's like to run a small business in Strathroy-Caradoc by talking to the owners of two local businesses: In a Jam and CommonWealth Financial. Listen to find out how they got started, how they grew their businesses, and what it is about Strathroy-Caradoc that creates the ideal environment for them to thrive.
Debbie and Jeff McCallum are the owners of In a Jam in Melbourne.
Patrick Sanders is the co-owner of CommonWealth Financial in Strathroy.
Strathroy-Caradoc is a growing and vibrant municipality centrally located in southwestern Ontario, Canada, between Toronto and Detroit. We are a dynamic combination of urban and rural areas which provide opportunities for a range of business and industry.
Learn more about the Strathroy business community via the Downtown Strathroy BIA and the Strathroy & District Chamber of Commerce.
About the Growing Strathroy-Caradoc podcast
Strathroy-Caradoc is a place where people and businesses grow deep roots. With a population of 24,000 people. It would be easy to assume that Strathroy-Caradoc is a sleepy part of Southwest Ontario, but new residents and businesses—from independent shops to multinational power players—are flocking here. Listen to the Growing Strathroy-Caradoc podcast to find out why.
If you’re an investor, learn about our value proposition, key sectors, and available properties at investstrathroy-caradoc.ca.
The podcast is hosted by Michelle Samson and produced by Storied Places Media. Learn more about our podcast production services for economic development organizations at storiedplaces.ca.
I always describe Strathroy -Caradoc as the place
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:to do business in the area
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:Michelle: welcome to the growing
Strathroy-Caradoc podcast.
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:I'm your host, Michelle Samson.
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:And I'd like you to join me as
we explore Strathroy, Kara doc.
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:And what makes it a place where
people and businesses grow deep roots.
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:Let's start with some basics.
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:The municipality of Strathroy care doc
is 40 kilometers west of London, Ontario,
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:just off highway 4 0 2 towards Sarnia.
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:This municipalities largest community
As you might've guessed is Strathroy.
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:There are some smaller communities
to Mount bridges and Melbourne
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:and lots of rich farm land.
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:With a population of 24,000 people.
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:It would be easy to assume that this
is a sleepy part of Southwest Ontario,
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:but Strathroy care doc is thriving.
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:New residents and businesses from
independent shops to multinational
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:power players are flocking here.
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:You might be wondering,
what's attracting them.
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:That's what we're
answering in this podcast.
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:This first episode we'll explore what
it's like to run a small business in
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:Kara doc, we'll do that by talking
to the owners of two local businesses
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:in a jam and Commonwealth financial.
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:we'll cover how they got started,
how they grew their businesses.
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:And what it is about Strathroy
care doc that creates the ideal
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:environment for them to thrive.
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:Let's get to know our guests a bit better.
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:We start with the owners of, in a
jam, a handmade jams, jellies, and
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:preserves business in Melbourne, Ontario.
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:Debbie and Jeff McCollum are a mother and
son team with very deep roots in the area.
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:Debbie's family bought a
farm in the 18 hundreds, and
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:they've been there ever since.
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:Debbie/Jeff: My brother still lives on
the home farm so yeah, that farm's been
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:in the family for probably 200 years.
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:over 150 anyway.
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:And then my husband's family have been
in that in the Dutton area for probably
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:just as long, so we're pretty Scottish
and pretty I'm more familiar with the, uh,
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:Dutton side of that, but yeah, they're,
the roots go back pretty much just as far
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:Michelle: our other guest,
Patrick Saunders is the owner of
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:Commonwealth financial, a financial
planning company in Strathroy.
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:He was raised elsewhere, but has come
to embrace this community as his own.
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:Patrick: I grew up in Peterborough
County out in the country next to
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:my grandparents' dairy farm, So
I grew up wanting to be a farmer.
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:So shortly after going to the University
of Guelph, my family decided to kind
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:of wind up the dairy operation and my.
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:Plans changed course a little bit.
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:So if I couldn't farm then I
figured that helping other people
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:farm was kind of a noble pursuit.
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:I was hired on by a Farm Credit
Canada as an account manager.
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:writing mortgages, approving credit, and
helping them build successful businesses.
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:They said, we have a
spot for you in London.
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:I said, that's cool.
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:Where's London?
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:And uh, so I happened to land in this
area and, uh, I was living in Ilderton
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:at the time, just north of London.
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:And that's where I met my
future wife, Stephanie.
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:And, uh, she just grew up south of
Strathroy, so thus I kind of started
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:hanging around the Strathroy area.
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:after Stephanie and I were married,
this, this is where we wanted to
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:live, and this is where I've been
in Strathroy for about 15 years now.
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:Michelle: So you were really like
not even familiar with the region.
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:what were your first impressions
of Strathroy when you came here?
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:Patrick: Yeah, my first impressions
was really how nice of a town it was.
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:it was clean, it was vibrant,
and it had everything as well.
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:uh, I mean, it had food, it had
recreation, it had professionals,
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:banks, sports, medical, you name it.
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:But Strathroy still had
that small town feel.
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:To it because that's the, that's
the sort of thing that I was used
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:to growing up and that's really
what I wanted to emulate when I was
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:going to set down roots somewhere.
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:So It was kind of the perfect balance.
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:Michelle: 15 years later, his
impressions haven't changed very
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:much aside from seeing the community
with more of a business perspective.
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:Patrick: it's such an up and coming
community there's been a ton of new
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:investment into here, you know, in,
in the parks and rec department and
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:in the infrastructure of town as well.
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:Uh, you know, there's been a lot of
new building coming in, so a ton of new
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:houses have gone up and it's attracting
young families, lots of new businesses.
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:As well and uh, just about any
type of food that you care to eat.
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:You can find it in Strathroy And,
uh, you know, there's so many
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:small businesses small businesses
really are hidden treasures,
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:Michelle: I don't know about you,
but I love a business origin story.
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:I just had to know how these two
small businesses got started.
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:For debbie in a jam, wasn't something
that she started right away.
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:Debbie/Jeff: come from a family.
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:So sometimes I was in charge
of helping get meals ready
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:or I help my mom can a lot.
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:um, I have a diploma in, um, consumer,
consumer community studies, which is
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:basically home economic technician.
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:and after I graduated from that, they
kind of changed where you get jobs.
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:And so I worked in a grocery store
for a while and then I cooked in
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:a daycare for, 10 years or so, and
then my father-in-law passed away.
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:So I went home to help my husband farm.
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:He's a beef farmer.
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:And I just wanted something
to do with my own.
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:So I always canned a lot, so I thought,
now I'll start a little jam business.
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:I think the first year I did like,
made 200 jars, went and picked all the
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:strawberries and all the fruit and stuff,
and did some farm markets and stuff.
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:some of 'em were like, well,
would you like to make jam for us?
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:then it just kind of blossomed from there.
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:Michelle : In a jam didn't just blossom.
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:It kept growing and growing until
it outgrew Debbie's kitchen.
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:She had a decision to make.
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:Debbie/Jeff: I just started my home
kitchen and, um, you can kinda get
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:away with it for a little while,
but if I wanna do this more,
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:then I need an inspected kitchen.
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:So I, we built a kitchen onto the house
and within five years it wasn't big enough
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:.
So it's like, do you build more onto a farm that you're never gonna sell?
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:'cause if you ever do wanna sell your
business or whatever, what do you sell?
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:Right?
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:So, um, I saw this building
had come up for sale.
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:It was empty.
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:it was close to home where it's only
like 10 minutes away from where we live.
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:And so we said, well, let's,
this is the next jump.
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:So this is, we bought, it took
about a year to, it was pretty
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:much gutted when we bought it.
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:um, we renovated it all.
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:It's all in the wiring, new
plumbing, We bought it in:
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:and basically the kitchen was in
by:
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:Since,
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:Michelle : How big is the space?
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:Debbie/Jeff: 50 by 120 something,
200 maybe, kind of thing.
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:Yeah.
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:So it's not, I mean, the retail part's
not terribly big, but that's not
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:where we, that's not our business.
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:Basically.
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:It's the wholesale or the
co-packing for other, farmers.
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:So other markets.
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:Yeah.
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:Michelle : oh, interesting.
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:So And can you explain co-packing?
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:Debbie/Jeff: somebody's
a strawberry farmer.
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:They'll bring us their strawberries and
make it into Strawberry Jam for them, and
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:then they'll take it back to their market
and sell it either with our name on it,
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:or quite often with their own name on it.
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:That's probably 80%, 90% of our business
is co-packing or wholesale For Patrick,
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:his journey to buying Commonwealth
financial, wasn't straightforward either.
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:Patrick: So Commonwealth Financial
started by my wife's aunt in:
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:When she was kind of approaching the
end of her career, she approached
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:Stephanie and I about working with her.
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:With the option to purchase if
things had progressed well and
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:honestly, we said no at that time.
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:Uh, I mean, we had a new baby at home.
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:Um, my job at Farm Credit Canada was
going very well, and, and I just wasn't
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:interested in the career change Stephanie
eventually jumped on board about a year
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:later, kinda, she was coming off maternity
leave with our first and uh, started
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:working in the insurance department.
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:I had moved on from working directly with
Farmers, and I was running farm credits,
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:equipment dealer finance programs, so
working with the tractor dealerships
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:and heavy equipment dealerships.
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:my territory was Windsor to Kingston.
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:And as north as Barry.
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:I loved my job But I was traveling every
back road in Ontario and I felt like I
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:was missing out on the first few years I.
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:Of my daughter's life and
that did not sit well with me.
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:and eventually I accepted
the offer as well.
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:So, after three years of working at
Commonwealth Financial, we worked out a
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:financial package and a transition plan,
and Stephanie and I took over ownership
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:Michelle: Unlike Debbie, Patrick didn't
have to build a business from scratch.
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:However, that doesn't mean that
it wasn't without complications.
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:Patrick, as he mentioned, had
a transition plan to make sure
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:that it all went smoothly.
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:Since there was going to be a period of
overlap with the original owner and he
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:was buying the business with his wife.
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:He also wanted to have a partnership plan.
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:As an advisor and as someone who has gone
through a business transition personally,
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:He highly recommends thinking about
these things before they become an issue.
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:Patrick: any.
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:Business transition is difficult and,
and I don't care who's involved in that.
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:It could be family, it could be best
friends, it could be total strangers.
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:Everyone looks at the business
today and the business in the future
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:through a different lens because
we're all at different stages of life.
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:oftentimes it's not the hard issues
like the money that are holdups
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:or the major talking points,
it's more of the soft issues.
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:You know, what happens in
the case of dishonesty, what
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:happens of the case of divorce?
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:What happens in the case of disability?
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:What happens in disinterest as well?
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:One partner wants to leave and
the other partners still want
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:to be a part of this as well.
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:So if you can kind of.
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:Move through those talking points,
you know, it, it's an extra layer of
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:complexity when you have family involved,
not just, you know, aunt to niece and her
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:husband, but also for Stephanie and I.
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:You know, talking about, well, what
happens in the case of a divorce?
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:You know, it's not just who gets
the kids on weekends, it's, we have
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:this business to deal with as well.
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:We have employees.
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:So it's, uh, it got into a lot of deep
conversations, but I believe that we all
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:walked away from the business transition,
satisfied because every single person
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:in it was committed to its success.
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:Marilyn did a fantastic
job through the transition.
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:She stood behind the decisions
that were made even when they
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:weren't her own, and that's a tough
thing for a business owner to do.
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:She communicated with the
clients early and often.
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:This was the plan that she was on board
with this and that she lets Stephanie
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:and I be the face of the company as well.
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:So when the founder of the
company is excited about it,
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:it rubs off on everyone else.
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:Michelle : Like Commonwealth financial
in a jam is also a family business.
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:Debbie makes the product with some
help from her sister and her son.
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:Jeff is managing the office.
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:But unlike Commonwealth financial,
Debbie and Jeff readily admit to not
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:being as thorough about planning.
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:It's Patrick.
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:Debbie/Jeff: we get along good.
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:So yeah, we've managed so far.
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:We, my daughter works her dad
farming, and my son works with
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:me in the kitchen here, So in
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:Michelle : It's probably way too early
to say, but like, do you think this'll
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:be sort of a generational business?
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:Like do you think it'll keep going?
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:Debbie/Jeff: Whatever.
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:I guess he decides he wants to do.
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:Maybe she says she's
gonna die at the stove.
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:we're not planners.
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:We're a reactionary family.
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:I, I say that sometimes it's,
uh, you want succession planning.
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:Well, there isn't any here.
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:Not yet You deal with it when
it has to be dealt with, so,
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:No plans to retire yet anyway.
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:Yeah.
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:Debbie has been added for 20 years
and neither she, nor the business are
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:showing any signs of slowing down.
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:Earlier we heard about how Debbie
scaled up her kitchen, but she still
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:makes her jams the old fashioned
way and a big pot on the stove.
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:Michelle: She recently gave some thought
to scaling up to a commercial sized kettle
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:Debbie/Jeff: we looked at it this year
actually, and it's like, um, no, I
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:can do it just as fast as a big pot.
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:I have three pots on the stove and you
just circle them through and you can
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:pretty much do it almost as, as quick.
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:happy with, you know, the small pot
that only makes 12 jars at a time.
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:Right.
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:It's not a good day, like strawberry
Jam and I can do 300 jars in a day.
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:So that's not bad.
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:You start getting the bigger pot,
you, your, your taste changed.
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:Like, ' the long you cook it, it's
gonna change the flavor of it.
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:Right.
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:So it's gonna just, bit of
a brighter, fresher taste.
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:Yeah.
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:More of that fresh from the field.
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:Picked it's a smaller batch, um, trying
to preserve the best of the season.
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:And we get a lot too, because it's small.
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:They'll say, oh, this tastes
like my grandma made wanna
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:stay with that part of it too.
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:That it's, it's brings
back memories, right?
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:That it tastes familiar,
it tastes like home.
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:So, yeah, like I said, you get bigger.
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:You're just a, you're just,
you're just Kraft or you're just
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:Smuckers or whatever kind of thing.
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:Michelle : It's worth preserving
the flavor because in a jam
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:can get high quality produce.
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:They're in a prime fruit growing region
and they make the most of that fact.
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:Debbie/Jeff: We buy as
much local as we can.
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:So yeah, it doesn't always work.
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:It'd be perfectly local.
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:Um, we do carry the Foodland Ontario logo
on things that we are able to put that on.
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:Um, trying to be conscious of quality and
local produce as much as possible, and
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:probably in that order, sometimes local,
some things are hard to find locally
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:of the quality that we're looking for.
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:but other things are really easy to find
locally, like strawberries, blueberries,
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:raspberries, easy to find local and
happy to support their market for sure.
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:Michelle: Relationships are
a key part of any business.
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:in a jam works very closely with
those markets building mutually
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:beneficial relationships to
receive the best quality produce.
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:Which makes the best quality preserves.
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:For Patrick, one of the relationships
that he pays a lot of attention to is
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:his relationship with the community.
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:Every year, he allocates
a portion of Commonwealth
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:financials profits to giving back.
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:The people of Strathroy paradox.
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:See and appreciate that.
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:Creating a positive
cycle for his business.
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:Patrick: so our business is very
active in the community in a number of
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:different ways We run a free parking
day at the hospital on giving Tuesday,
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:right at the start of December.
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:We run a food booth at the
Alveston Rodeo and donate the
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:proceeds back to the food bank.
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:We do an annual donut day where we
hire the donut diva food truck and
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:just hand out bags of mini donuts.
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:all of this is just done to
put a smile on someone's face.
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:Michelle: And so by supporting the
community so much, do you feel that
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:support back from the community as well?
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:Patrick: Yeah, absolutely.
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:We do feel it.
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:And, and I mean we feel it, um,
number one, because we feel it's a
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:big part of bringing new people in
the door when they see us out in
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:the community, when we can talk with
them and we can kind of find those.
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:People that recognize what we're
doing and we get referrals
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:from those people as well.
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:Uh, you know, hey, I saw you
supported this community event.
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:Had to tell my neighbors about it.
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:By the way, they want to
come see you next Tuesday.
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:So, it's a great big
circle and everyone wins.
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:Michelle : Over their years of
operation in a jam has built a
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:strong customer base of regulars.
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:Many of them are locals, but Debbie and
Jeff say the retail shop doesn't only
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:have to rely on the local market because
there are lots of buyers traveling
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:through who are willing to drop in.
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:Debbie/Jeff: A lot of people from
the Chatham area come through.
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:because they're, a lot of 'em
are going to into, um, London
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:for appointments and stuff.
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:They don't like the 4 0 1 drive and
they like, it's kind of a halfway
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:stop and they can pick up some stuff
and yeah, And local people too.
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:It's just a little bit of everything.
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:Yeah.
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:We have a variety of
customers come through.
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:I would say there's a wide
swath of different demographics.
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:You have, uh, some of those older
generations coming in that maybe used
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:to can themselves, but don't have, you
know, aren't able to or don't want to do
310
:that effort anymore, but it still tastes
like what they used to make at home.
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:Um, there's products like chili sauce
that some people are like, this is how my
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:grandma used to make it, and we get some
younger people coming in at Christmas.
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:We have gift baskets and stuff,
and it really drives a lot of
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:sales at Christmas as well.
315
:It's a busy and then people that want
local, I mean, there's a lot of, uh,
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:local push right now, which is really
great that, uh, the consumer market is
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:looking at valuing locally made products.
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:And, uh, we do have a lot of people
that come in just because it's local
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:or it's fresh or they know, we also
have a large variety of products.
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:So if you're looking for obscure jam
that you can't find in the store, there's
321
:a good cha Well, I mean, depending, I
still get a few requests that are like,
322
:oh no, we don't have that one, but.
323
:You have a wider variety of
jam flavors in our store.
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:Michelle : what are your top sellers?
325
:Debbie/Jeff: Strawberry, raspberry,
blueberry, black current.
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:Pickles.
327
:Lots of pickles.
328
:Yep.
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:Dill, pickles.
330
:Uh, chili sauce sells really well.
331
:Chili sauce sells That.
332
:Sells well.
333
:Yeah.
334
:Some very dedicated, uh,
SEIL marmal egg customers.
335
:Yep.
336
:Yep.
337
:red pepper jelly sells well as well.
338
:Yeah, the basics are always
probably our best sellers.
339
:Both in a jam and Commonwealth financial
are small businesses that are thriving.
340
:I wondered.
341
:Is there anything about Strathroy Cara
doc, That's contributing to their success.
342
:Here's Patrick's response.
343
:Patrick: I always describe Strathroy
Caradoc as the place to do business
344
:in the area, and it was something
that I noticed fairly early
345
:on in, in my time living here.
346
:Strathroy had everything to do business.
347
:It had all the major banks.
348
:It had a high quality
of financial advisors.
349
:It had accredited law firms, it had
top accounting firms all of the kind of
350
:background pieces that go into running a
business were all available here in town.
351
:And I, I mean, on top of that, it has,
builders, it has real estate agents,
352
:manufacturing, medical strathroy I
just learned was a regional hub for
353
:business and a lot of our small towns
kind of filter into Strathroy as a
354
:place to come and do business because
it's pretty much a one stop shop.
355
:So personally, five years ago,
the lease on our office space was
356
:expiring, and we had the opportunity
to kind of reimagine the business
357
:and where we wanted to operate.
358
:You know, did we want to
move closer to London?
359
:Did we want to go to Kmca?
360
:Did we want to go out to the smaller
towns outside of Strathroy as well?
361
:We really had no other clear
number one choice but to want
362
:to be in Strathroy still.
363
:So we ended up buying the
building that we're in right now.
364
:We renovated it to our standards
and we've really never looked back.
365
:So through that process, we used
local real estate agent, we used a
366
:local builder, we used local tech
and IT guys used local electricians.
367
:So my opinion of the quality of
business, Strathroy is fairly well
368
:founded and it's stress tested as well.
369
:And again, when we were going through the
business transition to have our lawyer
370
:and corporate accountant and everyone just
down the street from one another, it was,
371
:it really aided in the transition and the
ease and efficiency of doing all of this.
372
:Michelle: you guys are part of
the Strathroy Chamber of Commerce.
373
:Um, uh, has that been valuable for you?
374
:Patrick: Yes, it has.
375
:Uh, the Chamber of Commerce has
been a very valuable resource
376
:for us for a number of reasons.
377
:Firstly, it's the opportunity
to connect through and with
378
:other businesses in the area.
379
:What I've found before, and I
did not appreciate this before, I
380
:was a business owner, it can be a
bit of a lonely island at times.
381
:Because lots of people are employed, fewer
people are self-employed and, and that's
382
:not, uh, one is better than the other.
383
:But being a business owner
comes with a lot of challenges.
384
:So, you know, it, it's really great
to connect with other business owners
385
:to put your heads together on, how
do we work through these challenges.
386
:Michelle : In a Jan has different
needs than Commonwealth financial,
387
:but Strattera care doc provides
what they need to here's Jeff.
388
:Debbie/Jeff: I mean, really at
the end of the day when We're
389
:working here, we're looking at a
spot that we can, produce things.
390
:So it's like convenient
as far as finding produce.
391
:We have a blueberry farm just down the
road, strawberry Farm, just down the road.
392
:So we can pull fruits and vegetables
in that are local pretty easily.
393
:We're just between the
4 0 1 and the 4 0 2.
394
:So accessibility to getting, uh,
things to us isn't that hard either
395
:just down the road from London for
supplies, which is convenient as well.
396
:Um, And then our customers
are mostly within the county
397
:or the neighboring county.
398
:So our customer base is here as well.
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:So it's really convenient that way.
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:I mean, we work with the health unit
locally and they're, they've been
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:great to work with that way as well,
as far as if we do need something,
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:they're easy to reach out to and yeah.
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:Michelle: So, what does the future have
in store for these small businesses?
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:In a jam is at capacity for wholesale
customers, but does plan to keep
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:tweaking their product lines to
draw in more retail customers.
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:As for Commonwealth financial, Patrick
is eager to continue their steady growth.
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:I asked him if he saw growth
potential within the local market.
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:Patrick: Absolutely we do.
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:And, and you kinda look at,
well, Strath Care doc has been
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:growing itself quite a bit.
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:You look at the new developments
and housing and you look at.
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:The businesses that want to come into
town and, and to employ and, and I mean,
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:you look at the average median household
income in Strathroy, it's almost $72,000.
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:that's great income to run a household on.
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:You look at the median age of about
44 years old, while these people are
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:in their prime working years, they're
saving for their kids' education.
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:it's such an up and coming.
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:town that we absolutely love being here.
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:Michelle: Big, thanks to Patrick
Saunders from Commonwealth financial
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:and Debbie and Jeff McCollum from
inner jam for sharing their stories.
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:More information on both businesses
can be found in the show notes.
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:If you'd like to open your own small
business in this community, visit
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:invest Strathroy dash Cara doc.
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:Dot CA.
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:Next time on the growing Strathroy
Caridad podcast, we're talking to
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:insiders at two of Strathroy paradox,
fastest growing manufacturers.
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:I'll be asking them why they've
chosen to do business here.
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:What's keeping them and all
about their growth plans.
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:Follow us on apple podcasts, Spotify,
or your favorite podcast platform
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:to make sure you don't miss it.
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:Growing Strathroy, Kara doc
is produced by storied places.
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:Media.
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:Thanks for listening.