The Toronto Star writes on Toronto entrepreneur Susan Ho, founder of
Tea Aura Inc., a cookie company that specializes in tea-infused shortbread. Ho founded Tea Aura Inc. in 2008 with the help of the Ontario Self-Employment Benefit Program and the
Toronto Food Business Incubator. Two years later her cookies are being carried at over 200 retailers across Canada and the United States.
"In 2007, Ho applied to the Ontario Self-Employment Benefit Program, which offers business classes, for help developing a business plan and support from a mentor. When Ho joined the program, she initially planned to open a tea shop where she would sell tea-flavoured cookies. While developing her business plan, she realized setting up a tea shop would require a large amount of capital. She switched her focus to starting a tea-flavoured cookie business, which had lower startup costs."
"Ho brought her revised business plan to Enterprise Toronto, which provides free business plan consultations. A consultant suggested Ho contact the Toronto Food Business Incubator, a non-profit organization that runs a shared commercial kitchen for entrepreneurs. By April 2008, Ho was in the incubator's kitchen twice a week developing recipes."
"The Toronto Food Business Incubator, which has a table at the St. Lawrence Market where clients can sell their wares, also gave Ho a chance to test her products. In July 2008, a month before Tea Aura launched, Ho spent several Saturdays at the market selling her cookies."
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Toronto Star