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For Ruby Cole‑Ellis, building ROSE Magazine was about more than launching a business — it was about creating a meaningful platform for connection, storytelling, and personal growth.

ROSE Magazine is a digital community designed for millennial women, exploring modern womanhood through thoughtful editorial content, social media, and collaborative storytelling. Operating primarily online, the platform brings together contributors and readers in a space that is both creative and empowering.

Starting and growing a business in rural Alberta comes with both exciting opportunities and unique challenges. Whether you’re launching a home-based business, exploring self-employment, or expanding an existing venture, having the right support system can make all the difference.

That’s where Community Futures comes in.

Across rural Alberta, Community Futures offices are dedicated to helping local entrepreneurs turn ideas into sustainable businesses—through personalized support, practical tools, and community-driven expertise.

What Is Community Futures?

Community Futures is a network of local first organizations that support small business development and economic growth in rural communities across Alberta. You’ll find us across Canada, and in Alberta alone there are 27 offices.

You can find your local office in Alberta by visiting the Community Futures Alberta website here and searching up your location.

How Community Futures Supports Rural Entrepreneurs

1. One-on-One Business Coaching

Starting a business can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. Community Futures offers free, confidential coaching to help you:

• Clarify your business idea
• Build a realistic business plan
• Understand your market and customers
• Set achievable goals

You don’t have to figure it all out alone—there’s someone to guide you every step of the way.

2. Access to Flexible Financing

Traditional financing isn’t always accessible in rural areas or for new entrepreneurs.

Community Futures provides business loans designed for rural businesses, often with:

• Flexible terms
• Local decision-making
• Support alongside funding

This means you’re not just getting financing, you’re gaining a partner invested in your success.

3. Skill Development and Networking

Running a business requires a wide range of skills, from marketing to financial management, and networking opportunities.

Whether training workshops, conferences, events or online opportunities. Each Community Futures office offers different types of entrepreneurship training to help you learn.

Check with your local office to see what they have on offer.  

4. Specialized Programs Like the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program (EDP)

If you’re living with a disability, long-term health condition, or other barrier, entrepreneurship can offer a more flexible and accessible path to income.

Through the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program (EDP), Community Futures provides:

• Customized business coaching
• Tailored support based on your goals and needs
• Help navigating barriers and adapting your business approach

EDP is designed to empower you to build a business that works for you—not the other way around. Learn more about the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program and how it can support your journey: https://cfaedp.ca

5. A Strong Local Network

What makes Community Futures different is its local, people-first approach. Advisors understand the realities of rural life—distance, limited services, seasonal businesses—and work with you to find solutions that fit your situation.

They can help you:

• Build local relationships with other entrepreneurs
• Connect to local resources and partners
• Find opportunities within your region

In rural communities, those connections can be just as valuable as funding or training.

Why This Matters for Rural Alberta

Rural entrepreneurs are incredibly resourceful, but they shouldn’t have to do everything on their own.

With the right support, you can:

• Turn a small idea into a sustainable business
• Create flexible work that fits your life
• Contribute to your local economy and community

Community Futures exists to help make that possible.

Take the First Step

If you’ve been thinking about starting a business—or growing one you’ve already begun—connecting with Community Futures is a great place to start.

You don’t need a perfect plan. You don’t need all the answers.

You just need a place to begin.

You can find your local office at https://albertacf.com/contact-us

Starting a business for the first time can feel overwhelming, especially when confidence is still growing and the path forward isn’t always clear. For Brenda Schultz, co-owner of Paws in the City in Red Deer, Alberta, the journey into entrepreneurship came with uncertainty, but also a passion to create high-quality, all-natural products for dogs and their owners.

Late spring brings important disability awareness initiatives across Alberta and Canada. Throughout May and early June, organizations and communities are coming together to recognize contributions, raise awareness, and encourage more inclusive approaches to work, community life, and economic participation.

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “I don’t even know if this counts as a real business yet,” you’re not alone.

Many people come to the EDP program with an idea they can’t quite define. It might be a skill you’ve used for years, something people have encouraged you to pursue, or a solution to a problem you understand deeply because you’ve lived it yourself. What’s often missing isn’t motivation — it’s clarity.

At the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program, we know that building an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem takes more than one-to-one coaching alone. It also means investing in learning opportunities, conversations, and events that improve general accessibility for entrepreneurs with disabilities and health-related barriers.

If you’re in the early stages of entrepreneurship (or just exploring the idea), it’s completely normal to feel unsure about what comes next. Many entrepreneurs — especially those managing a disability or health-related challenge — have so many questions, it’s hard to even get started. The truth is: questions are part of the process. And you don’t have to work through them alone.

Running a business comes with uncertainty — deadlines shift, plans change, and not every day goes as expected. For entrepreneurs living with a disability or health condition, those unpredictable moments can feel even more challenging.

Navigating a health condition or disability at the same time as growing a business can feel overwhelming. Having the right kinds of support around you matters. Two supports available for entrepreneurs are business coaches and business mentors. While these roles can sound similar, they serve different purposes.

Community Futures Lesser Slave Lake Region is proud to present Business on the Lake: Bridging the Gap 2026 — a one-day mini business conference created in direct response to the most recent research on the region’s business challenges. This event is the answer many in our community have been waiting for: practical solutions, strategic insights, and real conversations that address the current workforce gaps, leadership gaps, and shifting business dynamics impacting northern Alberta today.