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Inspiring small business to think big
Formerly The Office Journal
5
The
Traits
of business
Success
Software developer Thierry
LeVasseur’s ingenuity led to a
home run with his previous
company, Marqui. Can he hit it
out of the park again with the
launch of his latest project? Read
about the traits that fuel the
success of LeVasseur and four
other Vancouver entrepreneurs.
PAGE 5
photo: www.deansanderson.com
INSIDE: Focus on Small Business
WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?
Sales columnist Fiona Walsh offers some
compelling reasons for you to sit down and
write that business plan you’ve been putting
off. The biggest reason? An incredible success rate for those who do. PAGE 13
Volume 4, Issue 6 ■ www.makeitbusiness.com ■ October & November 2007
M
Make It Business aspires
to the highest environmental standards; as such
our printer is Ecologo
certified. This magazine
is printed with vegetablebased inks and on 40
percent recycled paper.
Please pass this copy on to
a friend, or recycle, when
finished reading.
Canada Post PM 41125034
SMALL BIZ CHIEF IN THE HOT SEAT
Small Business BC CEO Tara Gilbert gives you
the low down on business trends and how
the latest offerings from her organisation
can help your company get a leg up on the
competition. PAGE 11
❘
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
CONTENT
PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE
Features
05
06
08
08
17
ingenuity Thierry LeVasseur grew software company Marqui to 45
employees before leaving. Can he reach the same success with his new
company, email2.com?
taking risks Canadian Immigrant Magazine publisher Nick Noorani
bet the farm, the house, and the credit cards on his business – won.
coffee passion Master roaster and Milano Coffee owner Brian Turko
has come a long way since selling coffee out of the back of his car.
perseverance The workload and deadlines of self-publishing Waking Up the West Coast almost did in photographer Jaime Kowal. But she
got it done and learned some important lessons.
dream on Regional Assembly of Text owners Brandy Fedoruk and Rebecca Dolen had a dream for a very quirky business and made it work.
Columns & Commentary
07
09
13
15
16
team-building Brian Scudamore explains how clearly stated values
can go a long way toward unifying your employees.
focus not on the pocus Small business owners guilty of losing focus often end up paying the ulitmate price, writes Marketing columnist
Robert Ciccone.
Plan to succeed Sales columnist Fiona Walsh visits the business plan
and offers some compelling statistics to get one down on paper.
internet wasteland Technology writer Anthony Hempell wonders
if the internet has just become a black hole of fraud and hoaxes.
SOS While on holiday, workplace columnist Andrea Jacques discovered
that saving your business doesn’t have to mean selling your soul.
Reader Services
Business Services A guide to business and professional services designed to
help bring exposure and value to your enterprise. PAGE 17
Events Calendar A miscellany of business, charity and fundraising events to
keep readers informed of happenings in the business community. PAGE 19
Volume 4, Issue 6, October & November 2007
156 West 8th Avenue. Vancouver, BC Canada V5Y 1N2
Phone: 604-255-1157 • Fax: 604-648-9915 • www.makeitbusiness.com
Publisher
Victor Chew Wong
victor@makeitbusiness.com
Account Manager
André Muno
andre@makeitbusiness.com
Editorial
editorial@makeitbusiness.com
Advertising Director
Josh Chicher
josh@makeitbusiness.com
Advertising
ads@makeitbusiness.com
Graphic Design
graphics@makeitbusiness.com
Chief Technology Officer
Jing Chen
jing@makeitbusiness.com
Web
jing@makeitbusiness.com
Circulation
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Contributors:
Michael Barnes, Chelsea Bowles, Robert Ciccone, Franka Cordua-von Specht, Anthony Hempell,
Melanie Jackson, Andrea Jacques, Pariya Kaligi, André Muno, Carissa Reiniger, Darcy Rezac,
Dean Sanderson, Brian Scudamore, Fiona Walsh
Make It Business is an independently owned magazine, published six times a year by Make It Business, Inc.
Circulation of 20,000 copies is distributed throughout the Greater Vancouver area to more than 300 locations.
The contents of Make It Business are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced in part or whole without
prior consent from the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that is deemed offensive
or does not meet community standards. The opinions expressed in articles, columns or ads are those of the writer
or advertiser and not necessarily those of Make It Business.
Make It Business’s printing process is Ecologo certified. As such, no untreated effluent is released into the water system. The magazine is printed on paper containing 40 percent recycled content and all inks are vegetablebased oil and therefore less harmful to the environment. Please recycle when finished reading.
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M
Passion fuels dream
of business success
I
f you own a business, or if you’re pondering starting
one, this issue’s cover story poses an interesting question: how much of your success depends on the traits
of ingenuity, perseverance, dreaming, risk-taking and
passion?
The idea for this story was seeded in my mind during an
interview for the previous issue with Novex Couriers CEO
Robert Safrata, who believes that entrepreneurs are born
and not created.
Victor Chew Wong
If we follow his logic, then the next question becomes,
Publisher
how can you identify an entrepreneur? Or, more significantly, can you predict success by looking at personality attributes?
In the research for this story, we discovered that experts
generally agreed upon some combination of these five traits
as necessary for business success. To suggest that there are
only five traits, of course, is a little silly.
What of hard work? Or continuously learning? Or competitiveness? Self-confidence? Health, patience, ability to
lead, organization? Well, you get the idea. But for practical
Josh Chicher
purposes, “The 23 Traits of Business Success” is not a very
President
sexy headline. We in the media can be accused of being
somewhat simplistic, and I plead guilty to the charge.
Take this easy test as I did: assign a five-point scale to each of the attributes
(with 1 being lowest and 5 being highest) and rank yourself on each of the
traits.
I scored myself a 5 for perseverance, a 4 for passion, a 4 for ingenuity, a 2 for
risk-taking and a 4 for dreaming. How did you do?
Now apply this same test to any top-level businessperson you know and he
or she will probably score 5s across the board.
I personally know several of the entrepreneurs we profile in the main story,
and each of them possesses these attributes in abundance.
But if there is one trait that is more essential than the others, I would choose
passion. It is the air that keeps the dream aloft; the fuel that enables one to persevere through the inevitable peaks and valleys; the spark that ignites the ingenious idea; the narcotic that entices risk-taking. In its absence, your business becomes a monotone prison cell.
If you are passionate about what you do, then success is just a matter of time.
Take the case of Milano Coffee Roasters’ owner Brian Turko, whom I have
known now for more than 10 years. He is passion personified.
He grew up as an East-Van kid who was a coffee nut long before the proliferation of the green mermaid. A lot of his acquaintances back then thought he
was a bit “peculiar” because of his coffee zeal. But today Turko owns, and is the
master roaster at, Milano Coffee, known for its premium coffees and espressos.
He maintains his coffee zeal, but now expresses it in blending 11 beans and extracting from the roast a chocolate undertone that sits pleasantly on your palate
long after the drink is drunk.
All of the entrepreneurs we profile are fascinating in their own right and it
is a bit of an injustice that we can only devote a few hundred words to each. Be
that as it may, we think you’ll enjoy their stories.
ummer is usually a slow time for business, but we’ve been busy at
Make It Business making many improvements to give our readers and
advertisers better value. I’m happy to announce that Make It Business
will soon be available at all 52 Blenz Coffee locations throughout BC
and we’ve put an additional 18 news boxes on the street. All this in an effort to
make it easier than ever to find your copy of Make It Business.
Of course, these developments began last issue with the name change from
The Office Journal to Make It Business. And we will continue our transformation
into a magazine that will be a must read for all business owners, managers and
professionals in BC. Enjoy the issue.
S
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
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OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
B E r 30/07
5
The
Traits
g
In enuity
Thierry LeVasseur
photo: www.deansanderson.com
Think you’ve got the next great business idea? Or do you run a company and seek
inspiration? Writer Franka Cordua-von Specht profiles five successful Vancouver
entrepreneurs who exemplify the traits needed to make a business fly.
E
ntrepreneur Thierry LeVasseur has always been able to
see the angles others don’t when it comes to the intricacies of commerce.
As an eight-year old he and his friends weren’t allowed
to go to the candy store because their parents thought it
was too far away. He quickly figured out the other kids
wanted bonbons as much as he did so he decided to make
runs to the candy store on the sly.
“I started with a nickel and brought back the candy and
sold it out of my treehouse. By the end of the week I had a
dollar. I didn’t know what to do with the dollar so I reinvested all the profits in more candy!” he remembers with
a laugh.
LeVasseur used that same ingenuity to shepherd his last
company – software company Marqui – to 45 employees
before leaving day-to-day operations in 2005.
Marqui – an online content management system – boasts
clients as diverse as the Suzuki Foundation, Simon Fraser
University, and the Phoenix Suns.
Now the 36-year-old from Trois Rivieres – who has lived
in Vancouver since 1999 – is launching his next project,
email2.com.
Two months ago the Vancouver company – founded in
2005 – finished developing web service architecture designed to ensure that sending emails is as secure as online
banking.
“Your messages cannot be tampered with or read by
anybody,” says LeVasseur, who works with a staff of seven.
In addition, the exchange of emails can be tracked to hundreds of levels.
“You can know when people read your message, you can
see when they reply to it, if they forward it, and who they
forward it to.”
The security and trackability features are key selling
points. Also attractive is email2’s seamless video messaging
(videos can be viewed directly in the email) and its capacity for large file transfers without size restrictions (up to 20
gigabytes).
Currently, LeVasseur is working with Intel, the Californiabased computer chip giant, on a marketing plan for email2.
com that targets the legal and financial sectors. LeVasseur
has always had an eye for a business opportunity.
With an MBA and master’s of international marketing,
LeVasseur has honed his vision to find niches in the hightech market.
“It doesn’t have to be a huge problem you want to tackle.
As long as you improve productivity in some area by a fraction of a percentage you can make good money from it. You
don’t have to be the next YouTube or Skype that will sell for
billions of dollars.
“The new idea is to try and create a smaller, profitable company and basically flip it every two, three years.
There’s no need to create that next Microsoft.
“Although I’m not a programmer, I’ve learned enough
about technology to understand what can and cannot be
done.” The key, he says, has been to surround himself with
awesome tech people.
And he’s willing to take innovative steps. At Marqui he
hired 20 bloggers for four months to review Marqui’s services online. Bloggers could write honest reviews, whether
positive or negative. Unexpectedly, the issue of paying
bloggers created a controversial buzz that landed on CNN.
com and Business Week, generating all kinds of internet traf-
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
See A THICK SKIN page 6
❘
A thick skin
stops darts
of naysayers
K
Ris taking
Nick Noorani
5
The
Traits
Continued from page 5
fic to the Marqui site – exactly what
the company had wanted.
When Marqui got too big and feeling “too corporate” for LeVasseur’s
taste, he ventured out again to start
another company from scratch.
“We started with nothing. No money,
no investment, no clients. We started
with a whiteboard and asked, ‘What
do we want to do? What do we want
to build?’ ”
Why did he choose email? “People
love their email. I love email. It’s the
first thing I check in the morning and
the last thing I check before I go to
bed.”
While these days are exciting for his
company because they have a finished
product to deliver, he says the last few
years have not been easy. The company ran out of money several times,
faced difficult technical hurdles and it
took twice as long to develop the final
product. “Most entrepreneurs have to
have really thick skin and ignore when
everyone is telling you that you should
give up because you’re too far in debt,”
says LeVasseur, who along with his
partners have invested more than $1
million in building email2.com.
His advice to others? To verify at
the early stage if there’s a demand
for the product and to get feedback
from potential users to help shape the
product’s design. “People are so afraid
of negative feedback that they often
don’t ask.”
In addition, once a game plan is
formalized, then it’s important to stick
to it. “The idea is only five percent; 95
percent is the execution.” n
❘
Y
and started the paper in their basement. Advertising dollars flowed in but so did the expenses and the Nooranis
ventured further into debt with a $35,000 bank loan and
$150,000 from a second mortgage.
“All our credit cards were bent out of shape. To this day I
cannot imagine how we managed to hang onto the house.”
The breathtaking story of Nick Noorani’s success in CaThey made drastic cuts to their lifestyle. Even going
nadian publishing as a recognized and respected voice for out for ice cream was considered a frivolous expense. The
immigrants is not for the faint of heart.
financial stress was tremendous but with great determiNoorani – publisher of the Canadian Immigrant magazine nation, the Nooranis continued, buoyed by the positive
– launched his monthly magazine in April 2004 and piloted responses from immigrant readers.
it to a successful sale last November to the Toronto Star
Has risk always been in his blood? “I think being an imGroup. But it is the intervening 31 months that are compel- migrant, risk is pretty much second nature. It’s a huge risk
ling.
coming to a new country in itself. You’re going out there,
Noorani’s heady ride into publishing began just after he throwing your address book away.”
and his wife Sabrina signed off a $260,000 mortgage and
How did he cope in the most stressful times? Guidance
bought their dream home in North Vancouver in 2003.
from his mentors, the fabulous team of coworkers, and par“We put every cent into it and one month later we were ticularly the unflagging support of Sabrina, he says.
both laid off from our jobs,” says Noorani, a man with a
“Risk taking is very important, but tenacity is equally
booming voice and big heart. He was advertising director important. You will come across so many obstacles. But
for an internet company and she was working for a forestry closing the magazine was not an option.” Nevertheless, the
company. “We were looking at each other: we’ve got the buyout came at the right time
dream house but I don’t know how we’re going to pay the
“Despite the fact that I bet the bank on the magazine, I
mortgage because we only own the doorknob!”
needed more than one bank in order to take it nationally.”
Sabrina turned to her husband and suggested he’d start
Would he do it again? “If you ask someone who jumps
the magazine he had been dreaming of since they arrived out of the 17th floor with a handkerchief as a parachute,
in Canada in 1998.
‘Would you do it again?’ it’s hard to expect the answer ‘Yes.’
“‘Are you crazy?’ I said to her. “You know, this is a heck I’m not sure whether I would do it again, but I have no
of a risk.” She told him he could do it.
regrets.” n
Noorani took the self-employment program at the YMCA
See PASSION page 8
ou might consider mortgaging your house to create
your dream business. But would you take out a second mortgage? Or an additional bank loan? Or max
out your credit cards in an industry notorious for its
bankruptcies? And would you take those risks after being in
your new country for only five years?
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
1-800-GOT-QUESTION?
Unify your team with
clearly stated values
Brian Scudamore
Deeper beliefs should shape goals
Hi Brian,
Our organization, webKRAVE, is
focused on helping new businesses
succeed in the online marketplace
with innovative, affordable, and
easy-to-use solutions. We are dedicated to providing ‘world-class’ customer service and creating an environment where solid relationships
can flourish.
Our challenge at this point in time
is keeping the entire organization
sharing the same vision and energy. I
truly believe that our energy and enthusiasm towards the business must
be transferred to our clients at all
points of communication.
What would you suggest is the
most effective way to keep a team
unified and sharing the same “passion?”
Anthony DeVaz, CEO
KRAVE Media Group
Hi Anthony,
Congratulations on the new business and for recognizing the importance of having a passionate, unified
team.
Before 1-800-GOT-JUNK? became
the world’s largest junk-removal company, I was running the business on
a small scale in Vancouver, Canada.
I reached a point when I realized I
didn’t have the right people on board.
I made the bold decision to get rid
of the entire team. For the following
two months I was answering phones,
driving the trucks and doing everything needed to keep the business
afloat. It wasn’t easy and before I rehired I took some time to really think
about what values were necessary to
run 1-800-GOT-JUNK? successfully.
I came up with four values: Passion, Integrity, Professionalism, and
Empathy. Today everyone who owns
a 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise or
works at our head office embodies
these values.
We have a quote on the wall in
our reception area that reads, “It’s all
about people.” This serves as a reminder that without the right people,
there is no company. I pride myself
on keeping the people I’m privileged
to work with each day happy in their
work environment.
One way we stay unified as a team
is through our daily huddle. At 10:55
a.m. each day, all employees gather in
the same room and are asked to share
any good news they have, whether it
be professional or personal.
Company goals are outlined in
The Painted Picture, a document I update every few years to describe what
the company looks like, acts like, and
feels like in the future. It helps to identify what our goals are and guides the
entire company forward.
When we do hit a milestone that
has been outlined in The Painted Picture, we celebrate. Last year, for instance, we reached our short-term
goal – 250 franchise partners with
system-wide sales of $100 million by
2006. As a result our entire head office
travelled to Whistler for dinner and a
night of drinks and dancing.
Lastly, we have an “It’s All About
People” committee where employees from all departments gather on a
regular basis to discuss how their coworkers are feeling about the culture
and what can be done to improve it.
As we grow as a company the leadership team can’t keep on the pulse of
every concern, so it’s helpful to hear
how we’re functioning as a team.
More than 10,000 square feet of new and used desks, chairs, file cabinets, boardroom tables, panel systems,
bookcases, whiteboards. Also copiers, faxes, printers with full service contracts. We sell, rent or lease.
I own a graphic design and branding company, and I am entering my
second year of business.
For me my first goal was to sustain myself on my own income. Now
that I’ve reached that point I am redefining why I am in business and
what the bigger picture is for me and
what I will view as success for myself.
I’m interested in how others view
their success, especially when they
are perceived by the public as a “success story.”
So how do you define success in
your business and your life? What
were your goals when you started the business and how have they
changed as your business evolved?
Heather Briggs, Creative Director
Buddha Branding
Hi Heather,
My goals have definitely changed
since I first got the idea of starting a
junk-removal business to pay my way
through college. My values, however,
haven’t. When I left college I wanted
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Brian Turko
B
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Jaime Kowal
5
The
Traits
A
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The
Traits
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photo: Jaime Kowal
different instruments in a symphony.
His heritage is Ukrainian, but his palate is decidedly Italian.
Once Turko made this discovery, he
started on his quest, diving into the
city’s coffee scene, which at that time
included just seven coffee shops, five
of them in his home turf, Commercial
“What do you taste? Do you taste a Drive.
cocoa vanilla aroma? It should rise on
He approached friends to invest
the palate. Good quality goes high in in a café but got the reply: “Nobody
the palate,” he says.
in Vancouver in your or my lifetime
Turko, who runs the business with will pay $1.50 for a cup of coffee when
his wife Linda, is an expressive man you can drink at Bino’s all day long at
who can easily talk for hours about 30 cents.” That got Turko even more
the shades of tastes that the ubiquitous fuelled.
coffee bean can produce. He is a true
In 1987 he and Linda started servconnoisseur.
ing cappuccinos to friends and family
Turko’s passion extends to every- out of their home and, encouraged by
thing he does. Even when he worked their response, they created a home
as a shoe-shine boy at the Drake Hotel delivery, “Turk’s Amazing Coffee
in the mid ’80s, he was all fire, he re- Service.” In 1997, with $18,000 they
t just 25, photographer Jaime
calls, “I was the best shoe-shine boy opened their first café on Commercial
Kowal undertook a book projthey had!
Drive, Turk’s, which has become one
ect that nearly sank her. “What
“Passion will either burn you up or of the go-to coffee bars in Vancouver.
almost killed me was the amazit will take you to where you got to
In 2002, Turko bought Milano Cof- ing learning curve involved,” says Kowgo,” he says.
fee from famed coffee roaster, Fran- al, now 28, who self-published Waking
His romance with coffee began in cesco Curatolo, and with it, Curatolo’s Up The West Coast in October 2006. The
1981 when he left “the fast life” as a 100-year-old Italian recipes. With 18 full-colour coffee table book profiles
professional rock guitarist and started employees and a new roaster, Turko is 118 West Coast healers and visionarfrequenting coffee shops instead of ready to embark on his bigger goal.
ies whose work inspires a wholesome,
bars.
“I believe everyone should drink greener way of living.
To his surprise, he discovered that good gourmet coffee. My goal is to be
Kowal’s situation may be familiar
his palate could discern the nuances the best Canadian brand anywhere in to entrepreneurs who jump into a big
– the body, flavour and aroma – of cof- the world,” he says with refreshing project and then find the water much
fee, just as a conductor can hear the boldness. n
See 16-HOUR DAYS page 12
rian Turko – master roaster and
owner of Milano Coffee Roasting – is spicy like his espresso.
“Espresso is a lot like passion—it’s
intense; it’s got a lot of romance, a lot of
drama,” he says, pouring the complex
elixir that he roasts and blends using 11
different types of beans.
MARKETING CHANNEL
The secret to life and
business is ... focus
Robert Ciccone
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Clarify four key areas for success
o you remember the hit
1991 comedy City Slickers, with Billy Crystal cast
as the neurotic leading
man, and Jack Palance as the leathery, tough cowboy named Curly?
One particular scene from that film
has stuck with me for years, in which
Curly says to Billy, “Do you know
what the secret to life is?”
Billy says, “No, what?” Curly replies, “One thing, just one thing. You
stick to that, and everything else
don’t mean squat.” “That’s great,”
Billy counters, “but what’s the one
thing?” Curly says, with a glint in his
eye: “That’s what you’ve got to figure
out.”
Curly is talking about the importance of staying focused, of keeping
your attention on what matters most.
Of course, this is great advice from a
big-picture and life-purpose perspective, but it also speaks volumes from a
business and marketing viewpoint.
As a marketing consultant, I consider myself fortunate that I get to
work with so many creative, innovative business owners. This entrepreneurial spirit is great, and it’s definitely something to celebrate. Yet this
same spirit often makes it difficult for
the entrepreneur or business owner to
stay focused.
On a big business scale, this is what
happened to Hewlett Packard a few
years ago. The undisputed king of
the printer business, HP decided they
wanted to also penetrate the PC market as well. There was nothing wrong
with HP wanting to expand and compete in a new arena, except for one
important oversight: in the pursuit
of this new market, they lost sight of
their existing successful core business
– printers and replacement cartridges.
They turned too much of their focus and attention elsewhere. In essence they became sidetracked and
when that happened, their competition seized the opportunity and captured a substantial part of HP’s market share and profits in printers.
Many, if not most, of my small
business clients must deal with focus,
as the bigger companies do. The difference is, when a small business loses
its focus, it can be catastrophic. Lose
focus in your small business, and you
might be out of business.
Focus begins with clarity. Clarity is
the process of clearly identifying and
understanding your marketing goals
and objectives; the steps needed to get
there; what the expectations are; the
roles of everyone involved; and how
success will be measured. When you
are clear on these points, it becomes
easier to focus on what is important
and what makes a difference in your
business.
So what are the right areas to focus
on in your marketing strategy? Obviously, there are many issues to take
into consideration; but as a starting
point, I suggest you look at and get focused on at least four key areas:
1. Your ideal target customers – profile them. Who are they? Where are
they? What do they buy and why?
What do they want today and what
will they want in three years?
2. Your core product(s) – what you do
best, your strengths. When pursuing other areas, be sure not to lose
sight of your core products. Otherwise you may end up with neither
your core strength nor what you are
pursuing.
3. Your uniqueness – continually ask
and answer the question, “Why
should someone do business with
me versus all other choices?”
4. Your margins – keep your eye on
profitability. Concentrate on the
particular markets and products
that are the most profitable.
Focus on these four things, and
you will be set. You won’t run into the
problems of many other companies,
big and small, which often lose focus
– with disastrous results.
As they do for me, let Curly’s
words remind you to stay focused in
your marketing efforts. Focus is power, focus builds momentum and focus
will keep you more productive and on
the fast track to success.
Robert Ciccone is the president and founder
of Success Unlimited Sales and Marketing
Group (www.susmg.com). He is also the
creator of the Marketing for Profit Program, a three-part results program that
provides the marketing systems, tools and
ongoing support to help participants effectively build, manage and operate a profitable
business (www.susmg.com/MarketingForProfit). Robert can be reached at 604-6887733 or rob@susmg.com..
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INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
❘
SOCIAL SEEN
Hello to busy
fall season
Social Seen
with Pariya Kaligi
Even busy business professionals
found time to party as summer ended.
The Scotch ‘n’ Sass event at the ever-elegant Vancouver Club commemorated 10
years of supporting and advancing women
entrepreneurs and professionals.
The Minglers were out mingling
merrily at the Annual Fall Business Social, launching autumn with humour
and new-found friendship. The West
Jet Lounge in the Georgian Court Hotel
was full of bright red clown noses and
energy as they celebrated the Global
Comedy Festival!
Pariya Kaligi is owner of Claris Communications, a full -service public relations company. To find out more about Claris or how
your next event can be featured in Social
Seen, contact pari.k@hotmail.com.
10
❘
From left: Stephanie Cornell, Lisa Paige, and
Jennifer Despins at the Professional Women’s
Network Scotch ‘n’ Sass event
ESN owner Deborah Browne and
MC Edward Tremblay at an Aloha
networking event
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
From left: Michelle Pockey, keynote speaker
Doreen McKenzie-Sanders, and Fiona Walsh at
the Professional Women’s Network event
From left: Vancouver Minglers Iwona Rzepinska,
Sean Ferrell, Sery Ambrosio, Dave Brown
Photographer Eden Friesen (R)
at her highly successful debut art
show with sister Aaron
From left: Kara-Leigh Hanson, Joni Gilmurray,
Ingrid Edmunds and Ron Maitland making
merry at the Vancouver Minglers event
HOT SEAT
The evolution of Small Biz BC
WHHEEEEEEE: Tara Gilbert’s stewardship as CEO of Small Business BC continues to transform the organisation by extending its reach throughout the province
S
mall Business BC CEO Tara Gilbert
has overseen many changes in her
three years at the helm. From the
transition from an arm of the government to a non-profit, to the many classes
at the expanded Small Business Education
centre, she has a hand in it. It is all a part
of her vision to deliver the organisation’s
valuable services farther throughout the
province of BC. Make It Business catches
up with the Vespa-riding CEO.
There have been some changes at
Small Business BC under your watch.
Can you explain to our readers what
those changes have been and where
you’re heading?
We have shifted from being a governmental agency to being a non-profit organization. It has enabled us to be a little more flexible in defining the services
and programs that we offer to our business clients.
Some of the services that are based
on business needs have changed. For ex-
ample, our small-business seminars have
grown. A few years ago we did deliver
some business education services – gen-
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
See SERVICES page 14
Photography:
Dean Sanderson
www.deansanderson.com
❘
11
16-hour days
try patience
and stamina
Continued from page 8
deeper than they originally thought.
She expected the book to take six
months to complete, but instead it
consumed 18.
“I had no idea what I was getting
myself into,” says Kowal, who has
worked for magazines like Flare, Adbusters, and Marie Claire.
With more than a hundred individuals to profile, she needed a small
army of freelancers to write and edit
the profiles, and to design the book
and website. Accountants, bookkeepers and administrative assistants were
also needed. Suddenly she went from
being a freelance photographer to a
manager and employer supervising as
many as 20 people. Not to mention the
sheer logistics of finalizing and factchecking 118 profiles. Or the journey
into self-publishing and figuring out
ISBN numbers and grades of paper.
“Logistics are easy to handle if you
have the energy to handle them,” says
Kowal, who has a degree in fashion
marketing from Ryerson University.
But with the hectic 16-hour days,
she found she wasn’t eating enough or
exercising and would sink into bed entirely exhausted. Her family began to
worry about her health and hinted that
she might have taken on too much.
But quitting was not something
Kowal considered. “There was no way
I was not going to do follow through
and not do my absolute best job.”
A change in her “go-with-the-flow”
approach was needed for her to cope.
“Flowing is great, but not when all of
the sudden I was accountable to a lot of
people, there were bills to pay, clients
to book, time frames to work with.”
She found a coach who helped her
work smarter. She learned to manage
her time more efficiently, plan ahead
and strategize and ask the right business questions of herself.
And, surprisingly, amidst the book
project she signed up for a 200-hour
kundalini teacher training yoga course.
“I knew I had to do that to save my life!
I say that half jokingly but it’s true.”
Does Kowal have any advice about
perseverance? “Make sure that what
you’re doing is what you actually
want to do! Take a step back first and
evaluate and be honest. If you do
something you love then it’s easy to
persevere—you know you’re doing
the right thing.” n
See DREAMING page 17
12
❘
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
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SALES PITCH
Without business plan,
plan for heartache
Sales
The
Quiz
Most companies lack vital roadmap
Fiona Walsh
I
was recently sitting over an
espresso with Gail Conzatti,
owner of KAIROS Designs, a
Vancouver company that designs
and produces handbags which are
sold in nearly 200 stores across North
America. Gail started the company
four-and-a-half years ago, spurred
on by a desire and decision to leave
behind corporate life and follow her
passion.
Most entrepreneurs I meet have
a story like Gail. They got sick of being employed, they had a vision, they
started a business. That is what is so
exciting about the economy today
– more and more people are opening
their own business. They are following their dreams, taking the plunge
and opening the doors. What makes
Gail stand out from so many of the
small business owners out there is the
attention she pays to business planning.
Most business owners I encounter
have no business plan in place. They
have no idea what they are building or how they are going to build it.
And in case you think this is restricted
to small business only – think again.
Research shows that only10 percent
of US businesses plan on a yearly basis; of that 10 percent, only 10 percent
write down their plan and follow it.
Of that one percent of all US businesses that write down their plan and
follow it, the success rate is 98.75 percent.
Whether you own your company
or work for someone, business planning is essential for success. There are
three common mistakes I see people
commit when it comes to business
planning.
1. You don’t have a business plan because you don’t need funding.
Imagine if I told you to get in your
car and drive to Chicago without using a map. You might end up getting there, but not without using a
lot more time and gas than if you
had used a map and planned a direct
route there. Needing funding is not
the main reason for writing a business
plan. Knowing where you want to go
and how you are going to get there is.
Savvy businesspeople develop a plan
so they know what next steps they
need to take to build greater success.
Gail wrote a starting-business plan be-
fore she even opened her doors. Now
she updates her business plan twice
a year – for the spring/summer and
fall/winter seasons. As she says, “If
you don’t have a plan, you can’t adapt
to change. Without a plan, you end
up being reactive and simply putting
out fires.you lose control of the business.”
2. You have a plan, but you don’t
write it down.
It is amazing how many times I
hear this comment – “I have a plan; it
is all in my head. I don’t need to write
it down.” It is not a plan if it is not
written down; it’s a dream. To have
substance you have to write it down
and then you have to review it on a
regular basis. This is the only way you
will be able to track your progress and
know when you need to adjust your
course.
3. You have a plan but you don’t forecast sales, cash flow or overhead.
That is like trying to drive your
car without filling the gas tank. How
successful can you be if you have no
idea how much money you need to
be making or where it is being spent?
I have seen many businesses where
sales increase year after year, but the
overhead is out of control so the owner makes little or no money and they
can’t figure out what isn’t working.
Gail attributes the success of KAIROS to good financial forecasting.
“We know that revenue generation is
key to cash flow so we forecast and
track sales, production costs, marketing expenses and our bottom-line
costs. It is essential that we know
what is selling and what isn’t. Because
of this, we are always able to offer
handbags that our customers love and
continue to buy.”
We all have busy lives and it often
seems like there is no time for business planning. Success doesn’t happen by accident; it occurs when you
plan for it. So make the time to write
down your plan and then pull it out
and look at it every month.
Fiona Walsh is one of only three business
coaches in North America approved to
provide the highly successful and popular
Ghost CEO coaching program. An expert
in sales and business development, she offers tips for growing your business at www.
fmwalsh.com.
1. Too many prospects wanting to “Think it over”?
2. Do you find you are doing “Unpaid consulting”?
3. Are your prices getting “Shopped” around town?
4. Is your Sales Cycle far too long?
5. Problems being assertive (You lose control of the sale)?
6. Cold calls are ineffective so you just don’t make them?
7. Prospects lie when you thought they were being truthful?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions
we will boost your sales. Guaranteed.
Call Barrie today at 604-681-6757.
You can’t fail in sales because we won’t let you!
Do you want more sales?
Attend the BNI Breakfast Seminar Tuesday October
30th to find out how to master relationship selling.
Featuring Don Morgan, BNI National Director and
Darrell Ross, BNI Executive Director for BC.
This will be an exceptional networking opportunity.
Call 604-689-0553
for details and to
register.
Read Don Morgan’s (and BNI
founder Ivan Misner’s) top
selling book, Masters of
Sales – #1 best seller on
Amazon.com and The Wall
Street Journal, and a USA
Today best seller.
The World’s Largest Referral Organization
www.mastersbooks.com and www.bnibc.ca
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
❘
13
Services broaden to meet demand
Continued from page 11
erally government information. Even today the core of our services is providing
information about government services,
programs and resources.
What has really blossomed is a much
wider offering of what business is looking
for – ranging from human resources needs,
to marketing, to how to build a website.
Really across the gamut of what small business needs. Not just to start a small business,
but also to grow. That’s a change.
And are we going to be doing more of
that? Yes. We’re always listening to our
clients, trying to figure out what is best
to support their business development.
For example, on the issue of HR, when
I arrived we got very few questions like,
“How do you find a good employee?” Or,
“How do you attract and retain employees?” But now we get those questions
quite regularly.
So once upon a time all of your funding
was from government, but now…
Now a lot of it still is. The majority of
funding comes from the federal and provincial governments which remain founding partners, and are still heavily involved.
About 70 to 80 percent of our funding
comes from those two partners. The remaining 20 to 30 percent of our funding
is self-generated.
14
❘
In a nutshell, your one-line elevator
pitch for Small Business BC is…
A non-profit business resource that helps
small businesses start and grow.
You have your own business, don’t
you?
Yes, I’ve invested in a business, so in a
sense it’s partially mine.
You’re a partner in a business?
Yes, the business is a corporation and I’m
a shareholder in that small business.
And the name of it is?
Zazubean Organic Chocolates.
It’s a chocolate manufacturer and distributor?
It is… the company has a line of fair
trade chocolate that is in the marketplace
now. It’s based in Vancouver and distributed nationwide.
How big is it?
Very small. There are a number of parttime employees and one full-time employee. The business was incorporated in 2005
and we’ve had product in the market since
January 2007, so not a long time.
So you now know all about small
business?
Well, prior to that I’ve run different service based businesses, both for profit and
not for profit. So this is the first time that
I’ve been a part owner of an organisation
that is product-based.
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
Does that mean that you’ll be letting
Small Business BC go when Zazu hits
the $20 million revenue mark?
I love what I do when helping small
business. In terms of walking the talk I
think it’s important to have a connection
to a small business. A number of the employees who work at Small Business BC run
businesses of their own or have run businesses of their own. They also come from
families who are entrepreneurs.
“A number of the
employees who
work at Small
Business BC run
their own
businesses”
To understand the needs of small business you can do it theoretically, but it’s
very different in its application. To live
it and experience it, really does increase
your awareness of what small business is
really looking for.
Take regulations, for example. From a
service standpoint there are a number of
regulations that you have to comply with,
but on the manufacturing side there are
that many more. When we understand
from an experience level the quagmire
that small businesses find themselves in,
we can work that much harder to help
simplify the process from our end at Small
Business BC.
What is the biggest insight that you’ve
garnered from Zazu that you can apply
to you day job at Small Business BC?
Now that I’m involved in selling widgets, I’m much more aware of the time
constraints that small businesses face. With
one employee, I’m much more aware of
the enormous amount of time spent on
the day-to-day compliance with government regulations. This ranges from tax, to
Health Canada, and in our particular product, with organic standards as well as fairtrade standards. There’s a lot of time that
goes into ensuring the product is meeting
all of these criteria.
And this is what we try to impress on
all the people at Small Business BC. If we
don’t know the information first-hand, we
know where to find the information, so
that if people coming through the door
might want to start a campground somewhere, our people can help them find the
information to see if that’s possible.
See MOST INQUIRIES page 18
D I G I TA L C O M PASS
Has internet become
a wasteland of drivel?
Anthony Hempell
I
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Hoaxes, rumours rife on the web
t’s hard not to get depressed
about the state of the Internet (or
society in general) when someone sends you a link to a YouTube video of someone who has
filmed themselves crying and pleading with nobody in particular to
“leave Britney alone!”
And that this particular video has
been viewed more than 629,396 times
in the past 24 hours, generating 13,699
text comments and 176 video responses. Surely, the human effort represented by this example of social networking reaching its nadir could have been
harnessed towards something more
… productive?
Last year Maclean’s ran a cover story by staff writer Steve Maich called
“The Internet Sucks.” Essentially the
premise of the article was that the Internet has failed in delivering on the
many promises of a better world and
more intelligent discourse; instead,
the information superhighway is
fraught with theft, fraud, porn, and
mindless crap.
One of the Internet’s main hazards
is actually the basis for one of my favourite pastimes: following and debunking internet hoaxes. A recent example: a story about a man who had
his thumbs surgically altered in order
to use his iPhone with greater dexterity.
This story circulated for a day or so
before being shown to be in fact an article from a humour publication called
the North Denver News.
The king of online hoax research
sites is Snopes.com (also known as the
“Urban Legends Reference Pages”),
started in 1995 and still going strong,
in part because of a seemingly inexhaustible fount of material.
The site is run by Barbara and David Mikkelson, a couple from California who share an interest in folklore,
rumours and hoaxes. Initially started
as a reference resource for the tracking and debunking of urban legends,
Snopes.com quickly became the central source for shining light into the
murky world of internet rumours,
email forwards and other questionable stories. The site has a database
of thousands of entries, each tagged
as true, false, or undetermined, with
supporting evidence and a description of the origin and history of the
rumour.
What is fascinating is that so many
internet rumours and legends fall into
similar patterns: US servicemen being denied service in Dunkin’ Donuts
or other coffeeshops around America
(a similar email hoax had Starbucks
and Oscar Mayer refusing to send
free product to troops in Iraq). Both
of these examples show how large
companies can easily be targets of rumours generated by anyone.
As far as corporate folklore goes,
however, two companies stand out as
the absolute leaders in capturing the
public’s fantastic imagination: CocaCola and Disney.
Some of the often-cited rumours
about Coca-Cola include: being credited with creating the modern image
of Santa Claus (false); the recipe used
to contain cocaine (true); a tooth left
in a glass of Coke will dissolve overnight (false); and only two people in
the company know the Coca-Cola formula (false).
The Disney pantheon is even larger
and somewhat stranger: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev being denied permission to visit Disneyland
(true); Walt Disney prepared a film to
be viewed by company executives after his demise (false); Donald Duck
was banned in Finland for wearing no
pants (false); Tinker Bell was based on
Marilyn Monroe (false); or that Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs are actually a metaphor for cocaine addiction
(false).
So how does this all tie into the periodic feeling of despair that the Internet has turned into a wasted opportunity? In a sense Snopes.com tells the
story of how our search for meaning
and understanding through the telling of stories is being demonstrated
on the web: no matter how advanced
or technological our society becomes,
we are still beings largely driven by
our emotional responses, with a never-ending appetite for gossip, rumour,
or just a really good laugh.
Anthony Hempell is the manager of usability and interaction architecture at Blast
Radius, an Internet solutions company that
helps businesses deliver exceptional customer experiences by combining business
strategy, experience design, and industryleading technologies.
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Tuesday, October 23,
1pm-3pm
Thursday, November 1, 1pm-3pm
Thursday, November 15, 1pm-3pm
Thursday, November 22, 1pm-3pm
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
❘
15
WORKPLACE ISSUES
Saving your business
without selling soul
Andrea Jacques
True passion keeps wheels rolling
I
spent most of August on a selfstyled writing retreat at a gorgeous house overlooking the
ocean on Vancouver Island with
the intention of completing the first
draft of my book. I couldn’t have
asked for a more beautiful or inspirational place to write.
On the recommendation of a friend
who knew my passion for all things
Asian I took a break from writing in
my second week to go to a little café
called Sakura Japanese Coffee and Tea
in the nearby town of Parksville.
I loved the place so much that I returned there almost every afternoon
in that week. As much as I loved the
place, however, it was evident to me
by how empty it was that business
might not be so good.
Even though I was supposed to be
focused on my writing, I can never resist offering a helping hand to a small
business in need, so by Friday I was
compelled to strike up a conversation
with the owner. Naoko, a very young
and energetic looking 40-something
woman, had emigrated from Japan 10
years ago due to her husband’s work.
I asked Naoko why she had started
her business, aside from earning an income for herself. The main reason, she
confessed, was that in her 40s, with
her son entering his teens, she was at
a point in her life where she wanted
to re-establish a life for herself as “just
Naoko.”
She also loved baking and drinking
coffee and had missed the Japanesestyle sweets and coffee that she was
used to back home. This was the basis
16
❘
of her business concept. She believed
she could differentiate herself in the
market by running an authentic Japanese café serving green tea, Japanesestyle coffee and homemade Japanesestyle baked goods.
Unfortunately the market was not
too keen on the latter two product offerings. Over the few weeks that I was
there word seemed to be getting out
about the sushi in particular and regular customers were growing steadily. Still, the tables were mostly empty
with customers trickling in to order
sushi or grab a quick coffee.
I have seen similar scenarios occur
in many small businesses and the results are never good. If the owners hit
on the right mix and the business ends
up surviving, they end up stressedout and unhappy because they find
themselves heavily invested both with
their money and time in something
that they do not have a passion for.
If they don’t hit on the right mix, the
owners frantically jump from one new
idea to the next trying to figure out
what the market wants, without success.
So if you find yourself in this dilemma, how do you get out of it?
The ideal would be to avoid it in
the first place by making sure you
do your due diligence before opening your business. All too many small
businesses do not bother to write a
proper business plan, let alone do
proper market research before diving
in and opening their doors.
Assuming you didn’t write a business plan or do market research when
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
you started your business, and you
now find yourself in a dilemma similar to Naoko’s, stop and take the time
to write one now.
Sometimes you need to slow down
to speed up. Take the time to stop and
determine how best to build a strong
foundation for your business. Don’t
give in to the survival fears that may
be driving you to just run out and do
something, anything, to bring more
money in the door.
On a final note, never lose sight of
the real reasons that you started your
business. What were the passions that
you were trying to pursue?
As for Naoko, we ended up coming
up with some great ideas to help her
refocus her original concept in a way
that would be better received by the
market and still help her meet her key
objective of having a place where she
could be “just Naoko” while sharing
her love of baking, coffee, and Japanese culture.
The key strategy, due to her location being somewhat off the beaten
path in a tourist resort area, was that
she would need to make her coffee
shop a destination – a place that people would go out of their way to come
to because it had something special to
offer.
In Naoko’s case, we were able to
increase her likelihood of success by
amplifying the real reasons she had
started her business – to create a place
to connect with her community and
share her culture – and integrating
them more fully into her business concept and marketing strategies.
Remember, you probably left your
job because you didn’t want to sell
your soul to the company store. Even
if it’s your own store, selling your soul
still has the same result.
Andrea Jacques’ company Kyosei Consulting blends timeless wisdom of the East with
leading-edge business principles of the West
to provide top-tier coaching, business consulting and speaking. Contact her and the
team at info@kyoseiconsulting.com.
Imbue goals
with values
Continued from page 7
to professionalize an industry, which
up until then was very fragmented.
As I started to grow, however, I
questioned whether I really wanted to
continue with the business. To refuel
my passion I thought about what 1800-GOT-JUNK? would look like, feel
like, act like, if there were no obstacles
in the way. There were metrics and
numbers I wanted to meet, but there
was also a description of the energy,
culture and the people I wanted to be
around. If all my revenue goals were
met, but the people I worked with
were unhappy, I wouldn’t consider
myself a success.
In the same way, if I pursued my
goal to become a globally admired
brand, but if my brand wasn’t really respected and admired for treating
people right and for great customer
service, then I wouldn’t consider this a
success. Goal-setting is important, but
you have to calculate your personal
values in every corporate equation or
you’ll never be completely satisfied
with the results.
With this in mind, each year I put
on a goal-setting session for my employees where they’re encouraged to
jot down 101 life goals, without thinking of how they’ll accomplish them.
Please send questions to editorial@
makeitbusiness.com and mark the
subject line “Question.”
Brian Scudamore is the Founder and CEO
of Vancouver-based 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, a
hyper- growth brand dubbed one of the fastest growing companies in North America.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? currently has more
than 300 franchises across North America
and Australia. Scudamore’s leadership is
widely recognized by the media and business community.
BUSINESS SERVICES
Make It Business’ Business Services guide is designed to help you contact a wide range of services and professionals whose skills
may be of value to your organization. Please refer to the following categories to help with your search:
Accounting
Business Consultants
Career Coaching
Computer Networks
Computer Repairs
Computer Sales
Employment Agencies
Graphic Design
Internet
Janitorial & Cleaning
Management Consultants
Office Records Storage
Payroll Services
Public Relations
Printing
Office Equipment
Business Consulting
CREATING THRIVING BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS
PRINCIPAL
LEASING
604-681-4800
14 W. 7th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
Kyosei blends timeless wisdom of the East with leading-edge business principles of the
West providing top-tier coaching, business consulting and speaking. We can:
• Inspire engagement and teamwork
• Create strong ethical products and brands
• Build social and environmental responsibility
• Strengthen integrity, wellness and values alignment
Build the company you always dreamed of. Become the person you know you can be.
Call 604-692-0888 or email info@kyoseiconsulting.com to discover how!
Business Services
Suite 82 – 601 West Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1G1
604-775-5525 or toll free: 1-800-667-2272
www.smallbusinessbc.ca
MAKE US YOUR FIRST STOP WHEN
BUYING OR UPGRADING EQUIPMENT
Digital copiers, faxes and printers. Save thousands on lease repossession and rental return
equipment. Full service contracts available on
ALL equipment. Supplies for over 500 copiers,
faxes, etc. We sell, rent and/or lease.
Office Furniture
OFFICEWISE
SOLUTIONS
604-681-4800
14 W. 7th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
In partnership with the federal and provincial governments, the Canada/British Columbia Business
Services Society is a non-profit agency that provides
entrepreneurs access to government and business
information.
Contact us with your business start-up, expansion
and international trade inquiries.
Graphic Design
CHECK OUT OUR DEALS ON FURNISHINGS
BEFORE GOING ANYWHERE ELSE
New and used office products. We recycle office
products. Save up to 95%. Over 10,000 sq. ft. of
desks, chairs, file cabinets, boardroom tables,
panel systems, bookcases, whiteboards, lockers, etc. We sell, rent and/or lease.
Office Supplies
Corporate Identity and Branding Specialist
• Turn your ideas into reality.
• If you are repositioning in the marketplace, a company
ready to take the next step or a new business owner we
can help position you correctly in your industry.
Call 604-298-3453 today for a free consultation
for bleeds
vcw
&
associates
Sales Consultants
Travel Consultants
Web Design
Marketing
SAVE UP TO 70% ON TONER CARTRIDGES
• Remanufactured toner is 100% guaranteed
• All major brands of ink & toner cartridges
• Free delivery
778-896-INKS • Printer repair & maintenance
• Mobile ink & toner supplier
www.inkvaletcanada.ca
• Office machine sales – new & second hand
Green Office Supplies
Frogfile Office Essentials is a full service office supply company specializing
in environmentally friendly office products. We make it easy to source environmentally sustainable alternatives without compromising on price, quality
or convenience. Frogfile offers easy online ordering, credit terms and free
delivery to most locations within the Lower Mainland. Visit us at www.frogfile.com and remember – it’s easy being green!
Call 604-669-5949 or visit www.frogfile.com. 356 Powell Street. Vancouver.
W
g
Dreamin
5
The
Rebecca Dolen
Brandy Fedoruk
Traits
for bleeds
hen artists Brandy Fedoruk, 30, and Rebecca Dolen, 29, opened their quirky
text-themed gift store, they weren’t
playing it safe. Both were working at
minimum-wage jobs. Neither had owned a business
before. And their crafts weren’t exactly going to be
Hallmark fare.
Rather, they imagined a studio at the back of
a store where they could handcraft their greeting
cards, journals, t-shirts and buttons with their
unique brand of nostalgic sensibilities and whimsical humour. (For instance, one of their thank you
cards comes with an “I am helpful” button that the
recipient can proudly don.)
No wonder their parents and friends were worried when two summers ago they opened The
Regional Assembly of Text on Main and 23rd with
its rows of vintage typewriters and stacks of filing
cabinets that take shoppers back to an era before
computers.“ Everybody was a bit skeptical, a bit
worried,” Fedoruk says.
Fedoruk and Dolen met at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, quickly became friends and
business partners, and did well selling their work
at the local craft-fair circuit.
Their love of paper and text, their desire to be
their own boss and the dream of their own studio
space was the next step, and they opened the store
with an initial investment of $20,000.
While dreamers and artistic in nature, they’re
also a practical pair. Fedoruk took the year-long
“Be Your Own Boss” self-employment program and
together with Dolen crafted a business plan.
“We really thought about it. We really had to
think about how much money we had to make
every day to cover our salary, rent, utilities, and
supplies to make more stuff,” Fedoruk says.
And they learned early on how to focus their
time. “We can’t make everything we want to because it may be too time-consuming. A lot of artists
struggle with that. You spend 20 hours knitting
a scarf and you sell it for $20. That doesn’t make
sense,” Dolen says.
Do they have advice for other dreamers? “You’ve
got to be practical about your dream. Figure out a
way to make it work, but don’t expect it to work.
Because you love it, doesn’t mean others are going
to love it,” Dolen says. n
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
❘
17
BUSINESS NETWORKING
Most inquiries regard money
Continued from page 14
In the time you’ve been at the helm
at Small Business BC, what changes
have you seen in trends in the small
business world?
The number one question we get at
Small Business BC is around financing.
Usually the question is, “Where is the free
government money?”
Once we tell them that there really
is no free government money, the question then becomes, “How to you obtain
financing?”
Right behind that now are questions
about employees and how to find and
retain them. We get a lot of questions related to 2010 Olympics and how to take
advantage of opportunities around 2010.
We are also getting more sophisticated
questions regarding e-commerce.
How has the hot economy affected
the number of registrations of small
businesses? Have they gone up or
down?
We register 800 to 1,000 small businesses a month and it’s been very steady
over the past three years. The number of
small businesses has been growing in the
province, though small business startups
can be counter cyclical. A lot of people in a
downturn economy may go from employment to starting their own business.
What are you reading right now?
I’m reading the story of Tim Horton’s
(Always Fresh, the Ron Joyce bio). I’m revisiting The E-Myth Revisited. The World is
Flat. Freakonomics a short while ago – that
was a fun read. n
Thank you to our members
All 5,600 of them for placing us winners
of Best Membership Recruitment at the
World Chambers Congress 2007, Istanbul.
The world’s number one networking
chamber is on your doorstep.
Join the best.
Join The Vancouver Board of Trade.
For more information, contact
the Membership Manager
Fiona Douglas-Crampton at
604-641-1207 or info@boardoftrade.com
www.boardoftrade.com
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highoutp
18
❘
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
positive networking tip
Avoid pack mentality
Darcy Rezac
The temptation
when going to a
networking event
is to hang out with
a group of people a group from your people you met at
you know. We all office, split off into the event.
do it because it pairs and meet new
feels comfortable. people. If you still Darcy Rezac is the
But the downside want to connect managing director
to a “pack mental- with your office of the Vancouver
ity” is that it limits mates, meet some- Board of Trade. Read
opportunities to where after the Darcy Rezac’s Posimeet new people. event. And bring tive Networking Tip
If you are going as along some new in each issue.
events calendar
Make It Business Events Calendar is a free
service provided for listings of business,
charity and fundraising events. Space is
limited and events are generally posted on
a first-come, first-served basis, although
Make It Business reserves the right to prioritize or decline any submission. Please
post your event online at www.makeitbusiness.com/Event.aspx. Each issue, we
choose events from our web page to be
listed in the print edition.
2010 Business Opportunities Workshop
October 4, 9 am – 12 pm.
1600 - 800 Robson Street.
Free.
The workshop will help you understand
the range of business opportunities associated with the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games and provide you with suggestions and advice on how your business can
be successful within the competitive bidding process on games-related business or
in your efforts to be a supplier of goods
and service to public agencies.
For more information, please call 604-6602020.
Dog Leg Golf Tour
Thursday October 4, 11:00 am.
Eaglequest Coyote Creek.
$95.00.
Participate in Canada’s only golf-with-your
Dog Tournament series and raise money
for dog charities.
For registration, times and sponsorship information please visit www.dogleggolftour.com.
Strategic Sales & Marketing Bootcamp
for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
October 10, Registration 8:00 a.m. Breakfast & Bootcamp: 8:30 am – 10:30 am.
Langley Best Western Inn, 5978 Glover
Road, Langley, BC.
Free.
Join Leader Global Consulting’s Gregor Anton for this new small-business-owner-specific two-hour business-building workshop
with a free meal. This jam-packed, highenergy session will be the best two hours
you could invest to improve your business,
guaranteed.
To register, please visit http://www.freemarketing-bootcamp.com. Referral Code:
MIB-WEB.
Swing into Leadership - Habits
October 11, 8:30 am – 6:00 pm
Delta Golf Course, 11550 Highway #10,
Delta, BC.
$122.00 by August 31, $137 after or $337
for all three sessions
Swing into Leadership is a captivating business program that combines a business
seminar with the game of golf. In this session on Habits,manage energy not time: •
Know your specific repeatable actions that
predict success • Eliminate wasteful thinking to save energy • Tap into greater creativity and better analytical thinking for
every situation.
To register contact Laurie at 604-789-1860,
laurie@catalystcoach.ca or Jacque at 604952-0306, jacque@catalystcoach.ca. For
more information go to www.catalystcoach.ca.
sustainAB!LITY festival
October 11, 10:00 pm - 5:00 pm.
SFU Burnaby Campus, 8888 University
Drive, Convocation Mall.
Free.
Organized collaboratively, the festival is
intended to raise awareness of sustainability issues with a specific focus on climate
change and to celebrate sustainability solutions that individuals can immediately apply to their daily lives. Learn more about
our festival at www.sustainabilityfestival.
org.
Find out how you can get involved: www.
sustainabilityfestival.org/how-you-can-getinvolved.
EVENTS CALENDAR BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Small Business Startup – Everything
You Need to Know to Get Started
October 15, 9 am - 4 pm.
Small Biz Education Centre, 3rd Floor Seminar Boardrooms, The Station / Seabus.
$99.00.
This is a full day of workshops: Business Plan Intro and Finances,Market
Research,Marketing and Branding and Financial Resources. The day includes: access
to all workshops for the day, the Oct 12th
Perfect Your Pitch workshop for free, Pitch
the Plan panel luncheon priority, lunch and
promotion of your business at www.smallbizeducation.ca.
Register online at www.smallbizeducation.
ca/seminars.php or call 604-775-5477.
Growing Your Small Business – Next
Steps in Your Business Growth
Octorber 17, 9 am – 4 pm.
Small Biz Education Centre, 3rd Floor Seminar Boardrooms, The Station / Seabus.
$99.00.
IFor the existing business (two years or
more and minimum one year financials).
Finances for Your Growing Business, Tax
Tips for a Growing Small Business, Human
Resources and Methods to Build Your Business. The day includes access to all workshops, Perfect Your Pitch workshop for
free, Pitch the Plan panel luncheon priority,
lunch and promotion of your business at
www.smallbizeducation.ca.
Register online at www.smallbizeducation.
ca/seminars.php or call 604-775-5477.
Distinguished Speaker Program®
October 18, lunch & program: 12:15 pm
– 2:00 pm.
Location TBA.
$63 members, $95 non-members (+ GST) .
Join the Vancouver Board of Trade on setting and achieving goals, featuring Shane
Gibson, president, Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd.
Reservations@boardoftrade.com or call:
604-641-1248.
Starting a Business in Vancouver
October 19, 9:00 pm - 4:00 pm.
#430 - 688 West Hastings.
$50.00.
Build your business right... from the beginning. This workshop, delivered by business
start-up experts, will provide detail and
directions about business start-up myths,
proper market research, sales, marketing
and break even, taxes and forecasting.
Please RSVP to 604-685-5058.
SOHO-SME BUSINESS CONFERENCE &
EXPO... For Business on the Grow
October 30, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm.
The Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, 900 West
Georgia Street.
Free pre-registration online or $25 at the
door plus special discounts to breakfast,
lunch, feature keynote & business networking reception for Make it Business clients!
In its 11th year, SOHO-SME is recognized as
the #1 Business-to-Business Conference &
Tradeshow program in Canada. Come join
us for a day of networking opportunities,
exhibits/displays, keynote presenters, entrepreneur spotlights, ask-the-expert sessions, networking reception and more.
Visit http://www.soho.ca/mib for details
and to register.
Image Matters
November 23, time to be announced
The Fairmont Empress Hotel Victoria BC.
$1375 + GST.
Personal Image Weekend Retreat. Program
in essential business communication and
presentation skills: Managing personal/
business image, cultural awareness, social
and business etiquette and more. Class is
limited to first 20 registrants.
Register Before September 23, 2007. To
register, please call (604)601-8250 or info@
theimagebuilders.ca. www.theimagebuilders.ca.
INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS TO THINK BIG
❘
19
Sports
broadcaster
John McKeachie
No matter what
you’re driving, TAC
keeps you connected
All New: Motorola Q
A true business tool
• Cutting edge in digital
communication tools.
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• Video capture with
sound
• Windows Media Player
• Bluetooth support
• SD card slot for extra
memory
• Browse the web with
Explorer
NEW: Blackberry
8703 – A Marvel
• Full email and browser
capability
• High resolution LCD
screen with light sensing technology
• High-resolution colour
interface
• Bluetooth enabled for
handsfree use
PALM Treo 700
Cutting Edge Tech
• Loaded with cutting edge
Palm OS software
• Built-in web browser
• Music and video capable
• Blazing broadband
speeds
• Built-in support for MS
Word, Excel and
Powerpoint
• Compatible with
thousands of PALM OS
applications
TELUS WIRELESS DATA plans from $40/month
www.telus.ca for additional information
Western Canada’s largest TELUS authorized dealer
• 40 dedicated corporate sales reps to visit and assess your business needs
• Free on-site demos of the latest in wireless technology
• Serving small and large businesses with the same superior level of service
• Outstanding after-sales service care
• Your one-stop telecommunications gift-shop for family, friends & associates
• Call today for a wireless consultation
Contact us today: 604-291-6636 • 1-800-387-9500 • www.tacmobility.com
Vancouver
Rupert St. 604-291-6636
Whistler
604-938-3269
Calgary NW
403-547-7515
20
Greater Vancouver Locations
Kitsilano
Burrard St.
604-736-6828
North Vancouver
Marine Dr. 604-984-7017
North Vancouver
Lynn Valley Centre 604-990-4017
Salmon Arm
250-833-1868
Westbank
250-768-8843
Kelowna
250-861-8848
Calgary SE
403-235-6366
❘
Calgary Centre St.
403-255-2606
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2007
Surrey
Fleetwood Village
604-598-8657
Richmond
Bridgeport Road
604-291-6636
Mission
Junction Mall 604-820-0882
Abbotsford
S. Fraser Way
604-859-1411
Vernon
250-545-8848
Osoyoos
250-495-7667
Penticton
250-490-8848
Throughout British Columbia
Kelowna (Mission Park Mall)
250-717-8848
And Alberta
Edmonton South
780-437-0888
Edmonton West
780-444-8880
Lloydminster
780-875-4640
Lethbridge
403-320-6088