Small businesses employ almost half of the labour force in Canada. Some small businesses employ a dozen people, others up to fifty, but many, like Signs Den, employ one person, the owner. As Ernest Florentino of Signs Den notes, "it's the perfect starting point".

Like many of these one-person operations, Signs Den is actually a husband and wife partnership. Ernest's wife is primarily a stay-at-home mom, but she participates in the business by taking care of the bookkeeping. This frees Ernest to run the day-to-day operations, designing and making signs, installing them and delivering excellent customer service.

Ernest started the business in 2007. He had been a partner in a sign business before but found the situation didn't suit him. Partnerships can be complicated. "I'm happy working alone," says Ernest. "I can make my own decisions without consulting a partner. And when I'm doing what I like, it's not like working. Giving my customers good ideas, designing and making their signs, pleasing people, this is all very satisfying to me."

Signs Den offers signs for interior and exterior settings. Ernest produces digital printing, channel letters, vinyl graphics, laser engraving, lightbox and neon signs. In addition, he offers printing for banners, posters, business cards, flyers, stationery and brochures.

For his business, Ernest chose the CIBC Bizline Visa card. "I purchase most of my things for the business on the card. I use it for my supplies, including vinyl, a-frames and masking. I use the Visa card rather than a cheque because it's more convenient," says Ernest.

Signs Den is a small shop but the projects are large. Ernest works with marketing people to implement their designs or works directly with clients and designs the signs himself. For the latter, he'll take a picture of a storefront and, using photo editing software, modify the photo so that the client can see what the shop will look like once his sign design is installed. He gives them different options and prices depending on their budget. Once the design is confirmed, he makes and installs the sign. "I like coordinating the whole project from gathering the information to giving them the proposal, to installation," he says.

As a one-man business, Signs Den is very successful. It's a small shop but the signs are big. "Of course, I want to be bigger than I am right now," explains Ernest. "I expect to grow the business, hire staff and buy equipment. But all in good time."