I’ve been a local business owner for almost 14 years. Unfortunately, I recently made the decision to shut one of my four businesses, a restaurant.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc.
“I keep hearing ‘I’m sorry’ from people who realized I had to close one of my businesses,” said Maria Rasouli, owner of Escape Bicycle Tours and Rentals who recently shut down the Ottawa Bike Café, an adjacent business to her still-in-operation and thriving bicycle tour and rentals business.
Local organizations that encourage entrepreneurship, institutions that fund businesses and City of Ottawa departments in charge of fostering economic development become a black vortex of non-information for those who turn off their “Open” signs. “Sorry we can’t help you,” is something I heard far too many times during my own wind-down.
“Been there, faced the judgment of people who had no clue what had transpired behind the public view. For every ‘win’ there are several ‘lessons,’ some of these lessons cannot even be taught in Harvard … But damn if we’re not wiser and more calculated every time we push through,” said Nikki Lafambroise, owner of Elements, a luxury tented camp that temporarily closed due to COVID-19.