The Peninsula B次元官网网址 ReviewB次元官网网址檚 Business Profiles edition hits the streets on Nov. 8. This is one of four stories coming out this week from that special publication.
As businesses grow, they look to spread their wings a little B次元官网网址� or a lot.
In the case of a pair of Sidney entrepreneurs, they combined forces to not only find downtown space for their home-based businesses B次元官网网址攂ut they created another, new business altogether.
During a chance meeting on a ferry trip, Richard Flader and Darrel Couzens discovered they had similar needs: their respective businesses needed to grow. To do that, they needed better visibility and more room. After searching for space for months, a building at the corner of James White Boulevard and Seventh Street became available. So they bought it last December and retained one of its long-time tenants, the Garry Oak Vet Clinic.
The rest of the space, they renovated and redesigned, and renamed it as the Flader Business Centre, which opened in March 2017.
Offering office and boardroom space to small businesses in similar situations to their own, the six units they had available were spoken for even before they officially opened.
B次元官网网址淭hat, was pretty surprising,B次元官网网址� Flader said, adding they now have a wait list.
The concept, he continued, is to have each tenant contribute to the operating costs of the building and to supplement that by renting out the boardroom space to small companies that need a room with access to high-tech services.
B次元官网网址淥ur objective was to get a quality space for our own businesses and share it with others to make it more affordable for everyone.B次元官网网址�
In addition, Flader said thereB次元官网网址檚 been an added benefit of collaboration between the business owners who have space there. Case in point, Uta Nagel, a designer, put together the CentreB次元官网网址檚 look, turning a dark space into something elegant and cozy.
B次元官网网址淲e have a passion for collaboration,B次元官网网址� added Couzens, B次元官网网址渙n both small and mass scales.B次元官网网址�
The Flader Business CentreB次元官网网址檚 success was recently shared with the Saanich Peninsula Business community, as they were awarded Best New Business in the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of CommerceB次元官网网址檚 annual Crystal Awards.
