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Making up 98 per cent of all enterprises in Canada, small businesses drive the economy. Yet as the recent Mastercard research findings show, many small-business owners still face challenges keeping up with technology, finding affordable tools and accessing resources to help their businesses succeed.
In this Q&A, we sit down with Bobbie Racette, founder and president of talent marketplace Virtual Gurus, who joined Mastercard’s Small-Business Community event during Calgary Small Business Week for a fireside conversation about how small businesses can innovate, adapt and scale when local ecosystems and cross-sector partnerships come together.
Racette’s story shows that winning business ideas often come from lived experience.
Why did you decide to start Virtual Gurus?
After being laid off from my role in oil and gas, I began freelancing as a virtual assistant. I saw a gap: so many people with skill and experience were excluded from stable remote work simply because traditional hiring systems didn’t see them. That became my why.
How has being a queer, Indigenous woman in tech shaped the way you lead?
My identity isn’t something I separate from my leadership. It’s the foundation of it. I lead with empathy and transparency. At Virtual Gurus, we’ve built a culture where people can show up as their full selves.
Success does not mean doing it alone. Leveraging community and relationships is key.
What’s the biggest challenge small businesses face in driving innovation and achieving scale?
Small businesses are where innovation starts, but ideas don’t scale in isolation — they scale through partnerships. Collaboration turns local solutions into national impact. Yet most small business owners I know are doing everything themselves. There’s pride in that hustle, but it also leaves little room to actually grow the business. That’s why I believe deeply in partnerships and community-based ecosystems. At Virtual Gurus, partnerships with larger organizations, like Mastercard, have helped us bring our technology and talent network to new audiences. Collaboration turns local solutions into national impact.
When big companies, local programs and small business owners collaborate, we all win. If we want small businesses to thrive, we need to make it easier for them to access support without jumping through hoops. That means funding programs that reach rural, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. It means mentorship that meets people where they are – and it means celebrating collaboration instead of competition.
In your experience, what are the areas where partners can provide the most value? How do you measure the success of a partnership?
The best partners help you grow without asking you to compromise your values. For us, that means partners who open doors, introduce us to clients, share expertise, or help us build capacity behind the scenes. When a partnership helps us save time, strengthen our systems or create new opportunities for our talent community, that’s what success looks like to me. It’s about trust, consistency and shared progress, not just numbers.
Mastercard’s research shows that more than half of small businesses face challenges in keeping up with technology and finding the right tools.
When resources are limited, how can small businesses make smart technology investments?
Start with the bottleneck — the thing that eats up your time every week — and solve that first. You don’t need every tool on the market; you need the right one. And don’t fall for the myth that technology fixes everything. The most valuable investment any founder can make is still in people.
For those unsure where to start with AI, what’s your advice?
AI can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Yes, there’s a lot of hype, but there’s also real impact when you focus on solving the right problems. We built our own AI-powered virtual receptionist to handle the everyday bottlenecks that slow teams down, like missed calls. Think of it as using technology to free people up for the moments that matter most—like actually connecting with customers. Start small, stay curious, and don’t lose sight of your values along the way.
Look after yourself, not just the business.
What keeps you grounded?
In my early years as a founder, I thought being successful meant working nonstop. It nearly broke me. Now, I protect my energy the same way I protect my company. I lean on my community, I meditate every day and I make space to just be Bobbie. Not the founder, not the president, just me.
What one thing should small business owners start doing to accelerate growth?
Stop trying to do it all alone. Ask for help sooner and share your story. And finally, give yourself grace. Growth takes time. I’m living proof that you can start with almost nothing — just heart, hustle and a clear sense of why — and build something incredible.
To access helpful insights, cybersecurity resources and cost-saving offers explore Mastercard’s Small Business Navigator.
To join a community of other small business owners, and get access to news, events and more, join the Mastercard Small Business Community.
The Mastercard survey was fielded in Q3 of 2025. Response data are derived from a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults (N = 2,000) plus an oversample of small business owners (n = 200). Data are weighted to produce national estimates. Margin of sampling error for nationally representative estimates (N = 2,000) is ±2.2 percentage points (95% CI); margin of sampling error for the small-business estimates (n = 200) is approximately ±6.9 percentage points (95% CI). When combined (N = 2,200), the margin of sampling error is approximately ±2.1 percentage points (95% CI).
