Sharing a lease has eased the burden of paying “astronomical” commercial rent in Victoria, B.C. for the owners of Benjo’s Tacos (Johl Green, left) and Empire Doughnuts (Melanie Laverick, right).James MacDonald
When a fire destroyed the commercial kitchen for Samantha and Johl Green’s taco business, Samantha was unsure how her team would recover. As luck would have it, Melanie Laverick, owner of Empire Donuts, saw the news on social media and reached out. Ms. Laverick had extra kitchen space after winding down a fried chicken side venture, and she thought it might be a good fit.
The two businesses first tested the waters with a pop-up, and the response was overwhelming. “It turned out to be a huge event, attracting hundreds of customers,” Ms. Laverick recalls.
She offered to sublease the space to Ms. Green, and within a month Benjo’s Tacos had moved in. Nearly three years later, the two businesses are still thriving side by side.
“We bring each other customers, we share bills, but we also give each other space,” Ms. Laverick says.James MacDonald
For Ms. Laverick, the partnership eased the pressure of “astronomical” commercial rent in Victoria. “With just making doughnuts in that space, I was pretty much spinning my wheels to pay rent,” she explains. “With Benjo’s Tacos being in the space, it has drastically reduced my stress.”
Ms. Green agrees, saying the arrangement has been a lifeline. “It saved our business after the fire. Having a kitchen already set up meant we could get back on our feet quickly, without the huge costs of starting over.”
Both owners credit mutual respect and communication for making the shared space work.
“I think the major key in this working is that we both respect each other and each other’s business,” Ms. Laverick says. “We bring each other customers, we share bills, but we also give each other space.”
Mr. Green prepares the day’s taco ingredients ahead of the lunch rush while Ms. Laverick gets ready to serve customers craving a delicious doughnut.James MacDonald
Dave Gens, CEO of Merchant Growth, a digital financing and growth solution provider for small businesses, says partnerships like these show how entrepreneurs are adapting in a tough economic climate.
“Inflation is still one of the top concerns for Canadian small businesses, but what stands out now is how entrepreneurs are adapting. Instead of just cutting back, many are finding creative ways to team up, whether it’s joining buying groups, consolidating shipments or pooling bulk orders to get better supplier terms, steady cash flow and ease borrowing pressures,” Mr. Gens says.
“What often starts as a quick fix is turning into something bigger. SMBs are leaning into collaboration as a way to stay resilient, and in some cases those tactical moves are evolving into longer-term partnerships.”
Samantha Green, co-owner of Benjo’s Tacos, says the partnership with Empire Doughnuts has been a lifeline for their business.James MacDonald
Len Senater built an entire business on the principle of sharing. As the Toronto-based founder of The Depanneur, he saw the potential in creating a co-working-style space for food entrepreneurs.
More than a decade ago, Mr. Senater noticed that pop-up dining was thriving in cities like San Francisco and London, but it was lagging in Toronto. “The main reason we didn’t really have an interesting pop-up scene in Toronto was because it was so expensive. The barrier to entry was so high to set up all of the infrastructure to host a one-off pop-up event.”
He flipped the model, creating a space with a commercial kitchen where chefs could host events without the upfront costs. That idea became The Depanneur, a corner store turned collaborative food hub that has welcomed more than 600 cooks from around the world.
By lowering the barrier to entry, the space allowed food entrepreneurs to experiment, to fail safely, and to occasionally grow into thriving businesses. “It invites people who would otherwise be marginalized by the high startup costs to participate,” Mr. Senater says. “If it didn’t work, it wasn’t a catastrophic failure.”
The Dep has incubated dozens of food projects, from pickle makers to jam producers. One of its most celebrated initiatives was the Newcomer Kitchen Project, which provided Syrian refugee women with a space to cook.
“By giving them a place to come and cook and make food, we were able to put $150,000 into the pockets of 80 Syrian families over three years,” Mr. Senater says.
For him, the model is about more than food. “I sometimes say that I’m not even in the food business, I’m in the community connection business. I just happen to use food because it was the easiest way to get there.”
Partnerships also help The Pint Public House in Toronto stay competitive. Owner Cesar Mesen leans on purchasing groups to bring independent operators together.
“They take a bunch of single, independently owned restaurants and put them together as a purchasing group. Then we can approach big food distributing brands and alcohol distributing brands for better prices and rebates,” he explains.
Mr. Mesen also partners with breweries and distilleries on co-sponsored events.
“We like to work with the smaller breweries that are also struggling. Through the summer, we run activations on the patio, social media campaigns, and cross-branding. It’s very good for everyone.”
It’s a strategy that matters in an industry where, as Mr. Mesen notes, “46 per cent of restaurants in Canada are operating at a loss right now. We are one of the lucky ones to be in the 54 per cent that aren’t. Being part of a purchasing group and doing activations and co-branded events helps take some of the load off us.”
The trend isn’t limited to food. A commercial-scale medicine production facility located at the Life Sciences Campus in the Edmonton Research Park allows multiple pharmaceutical firms to share regulatory-compliant production capacity – without each company investing in their own multimillion-dollar plant.
The lesson is clear: collaboration can mean the difference between treading water and moving forward. “Get out there, talk to your colleagues, talk to your friends, find out where they need help,” Mr. Mesen says. “They’ll also try to find out where you need help. Then, collaborate.”
For Mr. Senater, it’s the secret to unlocking business opportunities you might not have otherwise. “There are things we can do together that we can’t do alone.”