Success Stories
Summer Company is an Ontario government program that has been helping students aged 15-29 start up and run their own businesses since 2001. For more information, visit our Summer Company section.
SARAH JANE JOHNSON
PIZZA ON EARTH
DORSET
Bringing gourmet take-out pizza to the small town of Dorset, Ontario kept the dough rolling in for Sarah Jane Johnson in the summer of 2010.
Recognizing that Dorset lacked sufficient takeout restaurants, Sarah launched “Pizza on Earth” – her Summer Company pizzeria. She specialized in making gourmet pizza cooked in a wood fired oven.
Finding and exploiting a niche market, along with having a good location just off the highway, contributed greatly to Sarah’s success. But it also took a lot of hard work on her part. “I was completely unaware just how much time and effort it took to run a business. You basically have to live and breathe it to make it successful,” she says.
Sarah started out with no business background but has now gained transferable business skills along with a personal satisfaction from this experience.
“I planned to start my business because I learned about Summer Company. If I wasn’t doing this, I would still be working in my father’s timber frame business,” said Sarah.
LOGAN McGINN
iSWIM
SUDBURY
Being able to swim is certainly an asset that can save a life as well as provide a great source of enjoyment. That is why Logan McGinn, a nursing student and a competitive swimmer for Laurentian University’s Lady Vees, had a successful 2010 Summer Company called iSwim.
Her company provided swimming and safety lessons to students of all ages. iSwim, which also taught first aid and CPR, had a unique feature – the instructor was willing to come to the customer’s home to provide training in the comfort of the customer’s own pool. Lessons were also available at the waterfront near Laurentian University.
Her Small Business Enterprise Centre advisor says that, thanks to this valuable experience, “Logan cannot get out of entrepreneur mode. She has already started to plan for the expansion of her business next year.”
ROBERT FOURNIER
RIDEAU RICKSHAW RUNNERS
SMITHS FALLS
This past summer, high school student Robert Fournier hit the ground running with his Summer Company. Taking advantage of the tourism industry opportunities in his home town of Smiths Falls, Robert created Rideau Rickshaw Runners.
Rideau Rickshaw Runners provided a fun, safe and easy alternative to walking along popular tourist destinations in the Smiths Falls area. The routes presented tourists with a scenic view and enjoyable experience of the small town. Robert was also hired to provide rickshaw rides at many festivals throughout Lanark County as well as weddings.
Robert learned how to set time for his riders, advertisers and festival/event planners. He says the time management skills he acquired throughout the program helped him stay organized.
“This summer was one of the most amazing, unforgettable, fun summers of my life. Thank you for giving me the experience of a lifetime.”
ROBIN HALLETT
SOLIDAGO FARMS
HAMILTON
Robin Hallett always believed that garlic offered much more than simple health benefits; he saw in it some real potential for economic growth too.
"Ontario imports almost 90 per cent of its garlic. What you get in grocery stores comes from China and Argentina ... which is on a boat for a month before it gets here," says Robin adding that this does not compare with fresh.
Since Ontario consumes much more garlic than it actually produces, Robin realized there was a growing market for high-quality, organic, local produce. Banking on this, in the summer of 2010 the enterprising biochemistry student launched Solidago Farms – an organic garlic company.
Using his scientific knowledge and background Robin grew his own crops on a one-acre piece of land just north of Hamilton. The small company had vendor booths at the Dundas and Westdale farmers markets over the summer and was extremely profitable.
“This experience has broadened my horizons and brought me one step closer to being able to branch out into entrepreneurship,” says Robin.
Students and Young 