ABOUT SMALL TALK
Small talk. Big ideas. Real businesses.
OUR STORY
Small Talk didn't start with Small Talk.
The business began in South Africa in 2017 as Behind The Scenes Media Group, built around a simple idea: do the work behind the scenes that helps businesses grow.
The name eventually became BTSMG, which was shorter, but not necessarily easier to say. As the business evolved, so did its identity. The web design side became Hello Fascination, a more focused agency built around creating better websites and digital experiences.
That focus sparked another idea. Not every business problem is a website problem. Goodbye Chaos was created to look deeper at the processes, workflows and systems behind how a business operates.
When the business moved to Canada, it was an opportunity to rethink the company behind those brands too.
Hello. Goodbye. Small Talk.
Small Talk Ventures became the new home for what we’d already built and what comes next.
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Hello Fascination = Better websites.Web design and development for businesses that need a stronger digital presence.
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Goodbye Chaos = Better operations.Finding and fixing the processes, workflows and systems making businesses harder to run.
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WP Powerhub = Better WordPress.Specialist support for complex WordPress and WooCommerce websites that need expertise, maintenance and ongoing care.
WHY WE BUILD THIS WAY
Focus makes better businesses.
We could put everything under one name. Web design, business systems, WordPress support and whatever comes next could all sit on a long list of services. We don’t think that’s the best way to build. Each Small Talk venture exists to solve a specific kind of problem for a specific kind of customer. Giving those ideas their own identities lets them develop deeper expertise, clearer services and better experiences around the people they serve.
HOW WE THINK
Useful over trendy. Focused over generic. Sustainable over hype.
We like technology, but we’re not interested in using it for the sake of it. We like new ideas, but they still need to solve real problems. And while every venture is different, we approach each one with the same goal: build something genuinely useful and make it better over time.
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Solve something real.
A business should exist for a better reason than simply having a good domain name.
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Stay focused.
Know who you're helping, what problem you're solving and what you're trying to be great at.
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Use the right tools.
Technology should make things better. Sometimes the right answer is new software. Sometimes it's simplifying what already exists.
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Build for the long term.
We're more interested in sustainable businesses than chasing whatever happens to be exciting this month.
WHAT'S NEXT
We're building for the long term.
Small Talk Ventures is still growing. Our goal isn’t to collect businesses for the sake of having a portfolio. It’s to build a connected group of focused brands that help businesses succeed, online and in the real world.
That means continuing to grow the businesses we already operate, developing products and web assets that complement them, and creating new ventures when we find a problem worth solving.
The brands can operate independently, but behind the scenes they can share technology, knowledge, infrastructure and resources wherever doing so makes them stronger.
Founded in South Africa. Based in Canada. Working across North America and around the world.
