Douglas magazine

The 2020 Douglas magazine’s 10 to Watch Award winners want to change the world. Their bold visions include slowing climate change, helping veterans reclaim their health, sustainably farming the land and oceans, and providing natural healthcare solutions from a custom-outfitted Winnebago.

That desire to create positive change has helped propel them beyond inexperience, fear and startup financial challenges to make it to the very top of the list of Vancouver Island’s most promising new businesses. We asked our 2020 winners to tell us what it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur:

Bilston Creek Farm

Maintaining a beautiful balance of progressiveness with sustainability, Bilston Creek Farm produces natural face, body, kitchen and bath products, and has become a hotspot destination for weddings, retreats and dinners.

Cascadia Seaweed

Cascadia is a commercial seaweed farmer looking to bring more seaweed into the diets of North Americans.

Covault Technologies

The Covault app is powerful co-marketing software that connects brands and retailers to unlock co-op funding and reach a shared local audience.

Cuboh

This company’s inventive app streamlines restaurant ordering by combining meal delivery applications like DoorDash, Grubhub and SkipTheDishes in a single interface.

DivDot

With its integrated payment software, DivDot (who’ve changed their name to MazumaGo) solves a major pain point for business — how to pay and get paid.

Eir Mobile Medicine

An acupuncture and natural medicine clinic housed in a multi-coloured Winnebago, Eir Mobile Medicine brings a vivacious farmer’s-market energy to the typically staid health environment.

Little Fox Design

This certified carbon-neutral green graphic design and branding studio focuses on something no one else in the industry seems to be paying attention to — the climate.

Rehab and Performance

Rehab and Performance provides a rehabilitation space for a particularly vulnerable sector: veterans and service personnel.

VINN

VINN’s innovative online auto buying platform makes buying a car simpler and less time consuming for Canadians.

Zero Waste Emporium

Vancouver Island’s first full-serve, zero-waste grocery store, Zero Waste Emporium provides food, personal care and cleaning items all package-free.

Peninsula Co-op has been the Presenting Sponsor of the Douglas 10 to Watch Awards since 2016. As local entrepreneurs themselves, they know what it takes to grow a successful business, including an ongoing commitment to community support and customer service. Marketing Director Lindsay Gaudette talks about what makes Peninsula Co-op special.