La Grande Journée des Petits Entrepreneurs:
Much more than lemonade stands
Even the Dragons of Dragons’ Den would have trembled at the sight of the tiny entrepreneurs gathered at the Plaza de l'ouest in Rock Forest on Saturday for La Grande Journée des Petits Entrepreneurs. Now having finished its third year, the Sherbrooke edition of this province-wide initiation to young entrepreneurship shows no signs of slowing its success.
“It went so, so well!” rejoiced Isabelle Grenier, coordinator of projects and communications in downtown Sherbrooke for Commerce Sherbrooke. “We are so, so happy with the turnout. There was at least double the amount of kids and we are so pleased that so many people showed up to encourage them.”
During La Grande Journée this year, over 120 children set up their 62 small businesses and blew visitors away with their ingenuity, salesmanship, and adorable charm.
“There was such surprising variety in their wares,” commented Grenier.
“There was a more cultural aspect to them this year. One little cutie made a CD of her singing that she was selling. Currently she and her mother are working on getting it copyrighted, so they can sell to the general public. She was magnificent. Another boy put on a full-blown Michael Jackson concert, with costumes and everything. He was selling tickets for his show, he gave us a preview.”
Among many others, children sold everything from bath bombs to stress balls and lip balm. One child, said Grenier, set up a face painting stall, which really added to the festivity of the event.
“People were lining up, like at festivals. This year was really diverse. We tend to get doubles of certain things, but this year there were barely any repeats,” she exclaimed. “Almost everyone was sold out at the end. We had anywhere between 1800 to 2200 people drop by. It was so cute seeing all the little entrepreneurs running around, spending their earnings. It was like a tiny, local economy that we created.”
Since Sherbrooke is a particular hub for entrepreneurship, getting youth involved seems like a sure recipe for success. Each mini-businessperson was awarded, at the end of the event, a certificate. Every single one was individually signed by the Mayor of Sherbrooke, Steve Lussier, who also took the time to meet each start-up market.
“It was a nice attention to pay to the kids,” said Grenier. “This year really shone and we’re looking forward to more!”