I had an experience recently that brought to light the importance of taking ‘long shots’ every once in a while. What’s a long shot? In the world of entrepreneurship, I would define a long shot as an initiative that has very little chance of success. You might wonder why anyone sane would bother with a course of action that is bound to fail. Put simply, the potential for gain is huge and the potential for loss, aside from rejection, is non-existent. Allow me to illustrate. A few months ago, I was reading an article in the National Post about the Canada Youth Business Foundation (www.cybf.ca). It’s an organization that helps young entrepreneurs launch businesses. In addition to providing financing through the Business Development Bank, they use a very hands-on approach by matching the entrepreneur with a qualified mentor for a period of two years. The article was about a young entrepreneur in Montreal who started a retail store that sells products related to skateboarding. He has having difficulties in the area of human resources. A mentor from the Business Development Bank helped him deal with these issues by crafting a new HR and management strategy.
I was very impressed with the mentor. He seemed very eager to help the young man succeed. I thought to myself that he is exactly the kind of person I am looking for in a mentor. I wondered if he would be willing to take on a similar mentoring role with me. I read the article again to see if it mentioned his contact information. It didn’t. All I had was his name and where he worked (BDC). I then went on the BDC website to search for his name. Nothing either. I could start calling each BDC branch one at a time, but it would be time consuming. Besides, I wouldn’t know what to say to him. Personally, I’m a big fan of email. I like getting a conversation going through email first before a face to face meeting. It allows the exchange of basic information. There is also less pressure on both sides and it is less intrusive (I find it annoying when I receive a call from someone, who wasn’t referred to me by somone I know, asking to meet me…it doesn’t seem natural). If the email exchange goes well, I then suggest a meeting in person.
The problem here was that I couldn’t find the gentleman’s email address anywhere. I then had a great idea…a real ‘long shot’. Read more »
Tags: creativity, entrepreneurship, lead generation, sales, starting a business, starting a small business, success
Keeping costs down in the first year or two of operations is crucial for any new start up. Since new businesses typically have small revenue streams, they need to stay lean, especially in the first year or two of operations. This is why having a ‘virtual office’ can go a long way in keeping administration costs down. What do I mean by a virtual office? It means essentially outsourcing all functions of an office from the phone number to the civic address to where you hold your business meetings. Read more »
Tags: entrepreneurship, lower administrative costs, starting a business, virtual office
The power of color struck me recently as I was wandering the aisles of a local drugstore looking for a particular product: the Starfrit Chopper, a great a little kitchen aid that saves hours of manual chopping and slicing. I had a good idea in which aisle it might be. But as I almost walked past one of the aisles, I caught a bare glimpse (through my peripheral vision) of a color combination almost halfway down the aisle. I looked directly this time and started walking towards the product to read what was written on the box. Sure enough, it was the Starfrit Chopper. Read more »
Tags: branding, color, corporate identity, marketing, starting a business
About a month back, I attended a great workshop by Tina Serano, co-owner of Beavertails, the company behind the delicious pastry that goes by the same name (and no, it’s not actually a beaver’s tail…it’s just shaped like one).
Tina had some great quotes on the topic of branding and small business in general that I wanted to share with my readers. Branding, as its name suggests, refers to a company’s brand in the marketplace. How do customers view the company? Why do they choose to do business with them? Is it because of their low cost? Quality? Fast service? Read more »
Tags: branding, corporate identity, marketing, starting a business
BizLaunch is a company that offers consulting services to small businesses. Its two founders have launched a combined 17 companies over their careers; not bad considering most people have trouble launching and managing even one.
It uses an extremely creative way to market itself to prospective clients: its free BizLaunch seminars. Several times a month, in various cities around the country, it offers workshops on issues of importance to entrepreneurs. Read more »
Tags: coaching, entrepreneurship, mentoring, small business consulting, starting a business
For four days next week at the Complexe Desjardins in Montreal, people can take advantage of free personal legal advice. The individual consultations are part of the Montreal Bar’s annual Visez Droit event and will be available Monday to Thursday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. People are asked to bring along with them any legal documents that are relevant to their inquiries. The same event in 2008 attracted more than 1,000 people.
Tags: entrepreneurship, legal services, starting a business
HP Canada has a great new offer to help out small businesses looking to invest in technology. There are two variations: the 0%, 12-month promotion plan allows small businesses to purchase their equipment for $1 at the end of the term. Alternatively, they can opt for the 0%, 30-month lease plan, which gives them a fair market value purchase option at the end of the term.
Both offers allow the financing of products between $5,000 and $150,000, and are available until April 30, 2009. The minimum amount is a bit annoying, but it’s still a good deal. As well, the promotion targets ‘established’ small businesses so start ups might not necessarily be eligible (though it doesn’t hurt to try). For more information, check out their site.
Tags: entrepreneurship, leasing, starting a business
A recent survey by Visa revealed that 41% of small businesses surveyed believed they wouldn’t be targeted by hackers and data thieves due to their small size. A surprising 24% didn’t know where to obtain information on how to secure their business and 52% never sought information on how to secure their data.
All these facts in light of a recent warning by the Competition Bureau that fraudulent activity tends to increase during recessions. Small and medium sized businesses are especially vulnerable since they tend to be more aggressive in cost cutting measures in an economic downturn.
Don’t take security lightly. Whether it means changing your passwords or encrypting your data, do what you can to protect your business, even if it means spending a few extra dollars. It will pay off in the long run.
Tags: entrepreneurship, fraud, starting a business
The Federal Budget was unveiled by the government a few weeks back. A few items of importance to small business owners include:
- An increase of the small business corporate income tax threshold from $400,000 to $500,000.
- A temporary CCA allowance rate of 100% for computers purchased after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2011. In addition, there will be an extension of 2 years of the temporary 50% CCA rate for any investment in manufacturing or or processing machinery and equipment.
- Greater access to credit through increasing loan amounts made available by Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Tags: entrepreneurship, federal budget, starting a business
As a follow-up to my previous post on mind mapping, I am going to bring to light one of its great applications: writing and delivering a speech. Before going further, I should mention that I have some prior experience in public speaking. In many of our business courses in university, presenting was a normal part of the curriculum. In addition, I spent some time as a member of a local toastmasters club, a great organization for improving one’s public speaking skills. However, I wish I had learned how to use mind mapping a few years back since I feel this simple technique greatly improves every part of a speech from writing / editing to memorization and delivery. It also cuts preparation time by at least 50%. Read more »
Tags: entrepreneurship, Productivity, speech writing, starting a business
