When Nicola Hamilton walked into a Toronto bank with her pitch to open a print magazine store, the response was swift and predictable: “No.”
In a time when most assumed print was dead, Nicola’s vision for Issues Magazine Shop—a small retail space dedicated to independent publications—felt financially unviable to traditional lenders. And yet, just three years later, her 300-square-foot shop holds 200 to 300 independent magazine titles, ships internationally, and has become a creative hub in Toronto.
Nicola’s success didn’t come from convincing a bank that print was cool again. It came from building a funding strategy that worked around the limits of traditional financing without compromising the business she actually wanted to run.
Start with a “selfish” vision
Nicola calls Issues “a selfish endeavor.” As a magazine art director, she was constantly sourcing niche publications from outside Toronto or lugging them home in overstuffed suitcases from cities like London and New York.
Toronto didn’t have the kind of magazine store she wanted to shop in—so she built it herself.
That frustration became her North Star through the challenges of raising capital. When banks questioned her model or funders asked for growth projections, she could return to one core belief: She wasn’t the only person who wanted this to exist.
That conviction helped Nicola push past rejections. Lenders often struggle to support unfamiliar or niche concepts. But a deep understanding of your customer—especially when you are that customer—can carry you through rejections and skeptical meetings.
Write two business plans
One of Nicola’s smartest decisions came from a tip shared by another small business owner in Toronto: Write two business plans.
The first was the bank version—clean, focused, and easy to understand. It highlighted only the magazine retail portion of the business, which funders could wrap their heads around.
The second was her real business plan. It included event programming, consulting, and other creative revenue streams. She knew these streams would be essential to her business, but they would complicate financial projections because they couldn’t be guaranteed.
Investors and lenders often prefer simple, predictable models, even when the most successful businesses are complex. By giving funders what they needed to say yes while maintaining Nicola’s fuller vision privately, she secured funding without compromising her full vision.
Use alternative lending programs
One of Nicola’s breakthroughs came from Futurepreneur, a Canadian organization that supports entrepreneurs under 40. The program provided $60,000 in total funding—$20,000 from Futurepreneur and another $40,000 from the Business Development Bank of Canada. She was required to develop a formal business plan with the help of a mentor—which turned out to be a blessing.
Working through projections and justifications with an experienced business planner helped Nicola refine her pitch and identify potential blind spots. The program also offered a crucial grace period: no loan payments for the first year, allowing the business to establish cash flow before debt service began.
Alternative lending programs exist across different regions and industries. SBA loans in the United States, nonprofit lenders, and industry-specific grants can all provide more flexible funding than banks—especially for unconventional business ideas.
Match personal investment with borrowed funds
Nicola invested $60,000 of her own money, matching the $60,000 loan in a 50-50 split. This balance gave her control over decision-making, and credibility with lenders.
Bringing your own capital to the table—whether it’s savings, assets, or time—signals seriousness and reduces risk for others. It also gives you more freedom as you grow.
Build your advisory network early
Before she ever even applied for funding, Nicola emailed Jeremy Leslie, the founder of MagCulture in London, with the subject line: “I think I’m gonna open a magazine store?” That single message led to an ongoing advisory relationship that provided industry knowledge, distributor connections, and operational tips Nicola couldn’t find elsewhere.
Jeremy’s willingness to share specific numbers and tactical advice proved invaluable during the funding process. When Nicola needed to justify her projections or explain industry dynamics to skeptical lenders, she could reference successful comparable businesses and demonstrate her connection to experienced operators.
She also sought out Toronto-based business owners for local market insights and operational advice. These connections didn’t provide funding directly, but they offered credibility and knowledge that strengthened her applications.
The most successful entrepreneurs are surprisingly generous with advice, especially when approached by someone clearly serious about their industry.
Embrace the iterative approach
Three years in, Issues Magazine Shop has evolved beyond its original business plan. Events are now a key revenue stream. Collage workshops, designed to reuse magazine waste, have taken off. A consulting arm grew from Hamilton’s continued work as a magazine art director. The shop even launched Zine Shine, a festival that serves their growing local community.
None of these ideas were in the original funding proposal, yet they’ve become essential to Issues’ success and sustainability. Nicola encourages other founders to secure funding with a simple, understandable model, then build their fuller vision through iteration. Banks want clarity and predictability. But once you’re open, you can pivot, test, and expand in whatever direction the market takes you.
One of Nicola’s most important insights? She still doesn’t make decisions based purely on numbers. “We’re making decisions from intuition more than we are from numbers,” she says. But that intuition isn’t guesswork. It’s grounded in deep industry knowledge and an understanding of what she wanted as a customer.
That combination of industry expertise and gut instinct is why Canada’s National Magazine Awards recently featured three separate acceptance speeches that thanked Issues for supporting the industry.
Sometimes the best funding strategy isn’t about convincing others your numbers are perfect, but about proving you understand your customers and industry deeply enough to adapt when those numbers inevitably change.
Catch Nicola’s full Shopify Masters interview on YouTube for more non-traditional scaling tips.
