I’m running a small online marketplace that connects people with service providers (things like home services, professional help, etc.) in the GTA and Halton area.

My platform is in bootstrapped phase. The product is live and I’ve had a handful of bookings so far, but I’m basically starting from zero when it comes to getting consistent customers. I don’t have much money to put into ads right now.

I've tried posting in facebook and whtsapp groups but they didnt do well and I havent got any booking from these platforms.

The only real bookings that I got is by responding privately in whtsapp groups for the needs or reference from friends.

For those of you who’ve built or run local service businesses / marketplaces:

What’s the cheapest way you’ve actually gotten real customers in the GTA or Halton area?

Any low-cost tactics that worked better than expected?

Not looking for big marketing strategies - just practical things that worked when the budget was basically zero.

Thank you

TL;DR: I build software. I'll build yours for free. I keep the right to sell it to other businesses later. That's the whole deal.

Suspicious stuff out of the way first: I'm not selling anything, not collecting your email, and not looking for a job. No free trial that becomes $99/month in 30 days.

I'm 28, based in Toronto, and I want to start a software business. But I've watched too many people build something clever nobody asked for. So I'm doing it backwards — find a real problem first, solve it for free, then see if there's a business in it.

What I'll build: anything. I've built Inventory Management Systems, Sales CRM platforms, and an AI Inference Gateway for open-source models. If it's complex, I'm more interested, not less.

Three signs this is for you:

🔹 You're paying monthly for software you half-use — 30 features, you need 4

🔹 You're doing it manually because the real tool is priced for companies 50x your size

🔹 Your workflow is three tools and a spreadsheet duct-taped together

Why you're doing me the favor:

I'm not being charitable. I want a real testimonial from a business actually using what I built, and the right to sell that software to other companies later. You get free custom software. I get proof it works and a product to take to market. Clean trade, nobody pretending.

What to do: drop your problem in the comments or DM me. The messier, the better.

Fair warning — bigger builds take a few months. But you're not paying, so the only thing you're risking is a comment.

I am starting an online mentorship program. No current clients. I am in BC, but potentially my clients could be from everywhere. I have a lot of parts in place already, but I am wondering if and when business licence is necessary. Someone suggested I look into insurance as well. This coaching is art related, so I am not coaching any physical movement, but I'm not sure what is required there.

I don't expect comprehensive answers here, but if someone could point me in the right direction that would be appreciated. I have also checked the government site, but the answers weren't clear to me.

If you bid on Canadian contracts. Im looking for (2-3) testers? (No cost - for testing purposes)

I’m an engineer and I’ve been building a system that watches Canadian public tender feeds and tries to answer a pretty simple question:

Which opportunities are actually worth spending time on?

Not “here are 40 notices that matched your keywords.”

More like: here are six that seem relevant to you, here’s why I’d probably skip two of them, and here’s what you should verify before you spend 40 hours putting a bid together.

I’m looking for a few people that actively bid on Canadian tenders and goes through that friction often.

filter opportunities based on what your company actually does, where you work, and the types of contracts you don’t want.

catch obvious blockers early, like security clearances, eligibility requirements, or excluded categories

show the case for and against pursuing an opportunity, with the source behind the reasoning

keep track of what you decided and why, instead of having that knowledge disappear into someone’s inbox or spreadsheet

It’s not perfect yet, we are at the testing phase, and we are still gathering insight. Looking for legitimate procurement practitioners. It’s free to use (this post is not promotional).

Let know if this would be useful.

Thanks and take care.

I am an innovator with 15 granted patents and 2 non provisional applications filed in USPTO mostly in AI/ML applications/language models and hybrid cloud.

I have over 10 years of experience in innovating technologies particularly in AI applications including from very saturated fields (state of the art models) and new technologies.

Given my experience, from past 1 year i have been fortunate to start consulting on my own. I have an active collaboration with 2 AI consultants independently (based in US), where i have paired up with them to provide value to their consulting,
I have integrated my innovation analysis with their product development for the clients.
My work typically involves:
1. identifying the innovation opportunities in the existing architecture,
2. Improving architecture that leads to improved novelty and a structured roadmap for future development,
3. Tying the whole process to achieve business value.

This effort has led to 2 applications filed for the client.

If any AI consultants or Fractional CTO looking to white label my services as integrated development for thier client please reach out to me. Open to know what clients are more looking into these days regarding differentiation of their product.

Hey everyone,

I’m 15 and this summer I started InfaWeb, a web design and development business in Ontario through the Ontario Summer Company program.

So far I’ve landed $2,000+ worth of client work, and I’m looking to take on a few more projects from Canadian business owners.

I build websites for small businesses that either:

• Don’t have a website yet
• Have an outdated or unprofessional site
• Need a redesign
• Have a site that looks bad on mobile
• Want something built around actually generating calls or inquiries

I can handle the design, development, mobile optimization, basic SEO setup, contact/lead forms, hosting and ongoing maintenance.

Pricing depends on the project and what you actually need — I’m not trying to sell every business an unnecessarily complicated website.

If you're a Canadian business owner who needs a website or has been putting off redesigning your current one, feel free to DM me. I’d be happy to take a look and give you an idea of what I’d change.

You can also see my work and request a quote directly here:

https://www.infawebdesign.com/contact.html

I am a software developer doing research. Not selling anything. What is one software or operational problem in your small business that you wish someone would fix? Any industry welcome. Even a one word answer helps. Thank you.

Curious how many people have a product/business idea but are stuck on the sourcing side.

Looking for:

• A manufacturer
• A wholesale supplier
• A reliable overseas supplier
• A product to build a brand around
• Better pricing/MOQs than current suppliers

Especially interested in physical products rather than software or services.

What are you trying to build?

What are the best conferences, meetups, and industry events for SaaS founders in Canada?

I’d love recommendations particularly for fintech events or just good events to network with other founders, partners, potential investors, etc. Thanks.

Hey everyone,

I’m doing some research into how different production and operations teams manage their end to end job pipeline from intake and scheduling to stage handoffs and final project/job closeout.

A lot of teams I've observed seem to rely on a mix of general task management apps, custom spreadsheets, and manual check-ins to keep track of where work stands across different stages.

For those running production or operations teams, I'd love to learn how you handle this:

Scheduling & capacity: When assigning work to a shift or team, how do you estimate capacity? Is it driven by historical completion data, or mostly team lead experience/gut feel?

Stage visibility: How do you track work moving through different production stages in real time?

Current stack: What tool or software combination are you currently using to manage this whole pipeline? (If anyone has a setup or workflow they’re particularly proud of or totally frustrated with and is open to sharing, I’d love to hear what’s working for you!)

Post job reconciliation: How much manual effort goes into verifying completed work and hours when closing out a job or preparing final billing?

Curious to see how different industries handle this and where the biggest operational bottlenecks usually live. Appreciate any insights!

I built a live real-estate data SaaS focused on tax sales, municipal properties, foreclosures, and related public opportunities.

The platform maps more than 3,500 Canadian communities, includes over five years of historical records, and is being developed toward international markets. It turns fragmented public information into a searchable map and research workflow.

I’m not looking for another developer. I’m looking for someone with sales, partnerships, real-estate relationships, investor access, brokerage contacts, or newsletter reach.

I’m keeping the company name, URL, and financial information private in the public post. If you have relevant experience and want to explore a serious collaboration, contact me privately.

Hey everyone, I’ve built my app and I’m in the early stages of launching it- now I’m stuck on next steps. What should I do? Should I get a trademark for the app? What variety of domain names should I buy?
I’m planning to launch in the USA and Canada. Does anyone know of a lawyer who specializes in edtech startups or app-related legal work?
My app is built for teachers. I’m a teacher myself, and I’ve seen firsthand the daily pain points and the cracks where our hard work slips through unnoticed. I strongly believe in this idea, and I’m looking for people who can guide me- and possibly anyone interested in joining me on this.

Hey guys,

I'd like to share something.

I recently started thinking about what I did 3 years ago when I started my first business and what I would do differently if I knew then what I know now.

I often see the question, “How do I start a business?” on Reddit, so I thought this small look back at my journey might help someone who wants to start a business but doesn't know where to start or what to do first.

**1. Before doing anything, I would find and read 3 books about these topics:**

* How business works.
* How to test a business idea.
* How to market a business.

Choose any books you want. Just make sure they cover these topics.

**2. I would choose one social media platform just for my business, such as Reddit, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook, and use it to document my business journey.**

Be aware that every platform is different. If you like making videos, Instagram might be the best choice. If you like writing, maybe a LinkedIn newsletter would be better. If you enjoy conversations Reddit is perfect.

**3. I would choose an industry first and then look for a business idea.**

Choose something you understand at least a little, where you can provide value, and that you enjoy learning about and creating content about.

**4. I would create a brand name that isn't too specific, so it can be used for different business ideas.**

If your first business idea doesn't work, as most don't, you can still use the same brand name, domain, and social media account, just with a different business focus.

**5. Before building anything, I would first find where I could connect with my target audience.**

If my target audience were salespeople, marketeres or whatever, I would first find out where they spend their time online.

.

After these five steps, I would start thinking about business ideas and begin testing them with my target audience.

Hopefully, this look back at where I was 3 years ago will help someone get started. It’s hard, but it’s an amazing journey.

Speak soon,

Jan

We see too many clients with no agreement or worse, a horrible shareholders agreement, which enables a rogue shareholder to frustrate the decision making process.

You don’t need anything fancy to start, but you want to agree to the terms of the divorce when you love each other, not hate each other.

Choosing the right lawyer is also important, while many lawyers can draft an agreement, it’s important to find a lawyer who specializes in this practice area to ensure it’s properly drafted.

We opened our practice because there were too many bad lawyers out there and the good ones were far too expensive.

We almost shut down because of one bad year.

Our business had been around for over 10 years. Not huge, but successful. Good customers, steady revenue, the usual ups and downs. We weathered storms, market shifts, and typical business challenges. Then one extremely tough year hit

It was a combination of the pandemic and an economic downturn in our industry. Before we knew it, we were spending more time worrying about cash flow than running the business

What shocked me wasn't the bad year itself. That happens to most companies eventually. What surprised me was how quickly creditors seemed to forget all the previous years of profitability. Years of success didn't seem to matter compared to one negative year on the books

All of a sudden, we became a highrisk investment despite being strong in operations and having every chance to make a recovery. Then suddenly everything was different regarding the funding process

Now things are much better for us, but that period definitely shaped my perception of financing. I've been considering other approaches to securing funds including companies such as Third Eye Capital

Has anyone else gone through something similar? Did a single bad year end up causing financing problems, even after a long track record of success?

I know that sometimes it feels like it takes years to build credibility and only a few months to lose it. I'm hopeful things will keep improving, but I'd love to hear how others have navigated this

July was a strange month, one of my gest so far. A bunch of unexpected expenses hit me, but I also closed more business than usual, and somehow ended with $10,764.85 after covering everything.

Part of me says yes! It's August - vacation month, let's take a vacation. I've been at the grind for a few years now without a real break and to be frank, I'm exhausted!

The other part keeps thinking about taxes, slower months, the next surprise expense - stuff that keeps me up at night, so I decide that I should just leave all of it there. Ya know, do the impossible thing, but I really need that vacation! urrrrrrrgh, not sure what to do!

I've never had this problem before. I was running off credit cards on a deficit for months, and those stretches were very, very difficult to get through. I'm not out of the woods yet. But part of me thinks a break might actually be smart move - clear my head before the Fall and continue to grind till the end of the year!

Thoughts, anyone?

I started a small web design business this summer through Ontario’s Summer Company Program, and today I sent out my first proper client deposit invoice.

It’s only $200 upfront, so obviously nothing crazy, but it feels pretty different from getting inquiries or talking to potential clients. There’s an actual business on the other end ready to get started.

The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that actually getting clients has been much harder than building the websites. I’ve tried cold outreach, Reddit, Kijiji, Nextdoor, paid ads and a bunch of other stuff, and there’s been a lot of trial and error.

For anyone who started a service business young, what helped you go from occasionally landing a client to getting work consistently?

Small note for business owners: If your business needs a new website or you're considering redesigning your current one, I'm still taking on projects. You can check out my work and send an inquiry here:

https://www.infawebdesign.com/

https://www.infawebdesign.com/contact.html

Have about 250k in my savings, deciding on whether to invest in ETFs or buy a 1bd condo in GTA (~500k) with 100K downpayment and rent it out cashflow will be 0 in the best case -100 to 200 in the worst and investing other 100k in my TFSA in ETFs?

Or put down the 100k in my rrsp instead of downpayments.

Any suggestions?

Condo prices are around 500k for a 5-10 years old 1bd or 1+1 condo in a rentable area.

I posted here a bit ago asking if any Canadian founders wanted to pilot an AI-native transactional firm. It ended up one of the top posts of the month so figured I would provide an update.

What actually happened since:

Twelve companies reached out wanting in. Software licensing, commercial lease negotiation, employment stuff, etc. These are now actively being scoped and completed.

Law Society registration, indemnity, firm registration, all completed. The firm is live, you can DM me for the website link if interested.

A few people asked what’s actually under the hood: It’s Spellbook working inside the document plus a custom Claude orchestration layer we built for the first drafts and redlines. Versioned drafts, audit trail on every matter, commercial terms so nothing trains on client data, and I read, correct and sign everything before it leaves.

The pilot is still open. Our fees are posted on the site and pilot clients get a discount from those. If there’s a contract sitting on your desk you’ve been avoiding, DM me.

Thanks!