Morgan Sylvain originally started Smile + Co. back in 2019, and it was a relatively simple temp agency for dental professionals.
It was a website where they handled scheduling for temporary shifts for dental practices, but that proved to be time-consuming and labour-intensive. After that, they built a scheduling app that they quickly outgrew.
That’s when Sylvain said, due to demand, they eventually had to build out a platform that incorporated both temporary and permanent employment roles in the dental field, so they could expand. That’s what brought her to the Alberta Catalyzer – Velocity program.
Sylvain has been in the dental industry for 20-plus years, and when she started to have kids, she took on more part-time shifts. When clinics knew she was working part-time, they were calling her to see if she could fill certain shifts.
“I knew there was a demand from the clinic side. On top of that, as a dental professional, I was in the shoes of the dental professionals who were calling in sick, and I felt like I was leaving my team members down every time one of my kids was sick or something came up,” she said.
“So, I knew that there was a demand from both sides, and I wanted the ability to provide dental professionals with a more flexible schedule, if that’s what they were looking for.”
With more than 400 dental offices in Calgary alone, Sylvain said there’s always a need to fill in sick days or vacations among dental professionals. Her system allows dental professionals looking for full-time or part-time work to connect with dental practices that have to fill those positions.
“People get sick all the time, and sometimes people go on holidays and they don’t have enough team members to fill in for that person, so their option is to either leave the chair empty and cancel all of their patients, which then they lose revenue because of that, or the rest of their team members have to pick up the slack of the vacant shift,” Sylvain said.
The focus on accountability
Sylvain said what sets Smile + Co. apart from other recruiting agencies is their accountability. When a dental professional registers with them, they have to upload a resume and previous experience. Then, they’re pre-vetted. Once they’ve worked in the system for a while, they get star ratings so future practices can see others’ experiences with them.
“Then, the dental professional actually has the opportunity to rate the clinic,” she said.
Even though she’s been in business for six years and dealt with the startup rollercoaster, Sylvain said that she wanted to learn how to pitch and to build a better foundation to expand.
Right now, the base of users is in the Calgary area. Sylvain wants to expand throughout all of Alberta and into BC. From there, it’s east across Canada.
There’s also the potential to white label their platform, Sylvain said. This system is applicable to other fields, like medicine, education, and even construction, that might require people to fill in for different shifts, and to accommodate those professionals who only want to work part-time.
It’s particularly important in communities that don’t have a large population base, Sylvain said.
“Someone who’s in northern BC, who struggles to find employees who even want to come north. So, she’s interested in it, if we were to white label in having it for that industry,” she said.
Join Alberta Catalyzer to fast-track your startup with know-how and expert guidance. Alberta Catalyzer offers merit-based, pre-accelerator programs for early-stage tech entrepreneurs in Alberta at no cost. These programs are developed and delivered by Platform Calgary and Edmonton Unlimited, with support from partners and organizations across the Alberta Innovation Network. They are made possible by the generous support of the Alberta Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program, run by a consortium led by Alberta Innovates. The consortium includes the Government of Alberta, Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan), The City of Edmonton through Edmonton Unlimited, and the City of Calgary’s Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund allocated $35 million over three years to retain business accelerators. It’s part of the Alberta government’s goal to help create 20,000 jobs and increase technology firm revenue to $5 billion by 2030.
