Tasha Talks about the Importance of Partners

Blog 4: Like your love life, Great Partners are hard to find

If you told me that one of Canada’s newest business additions was a company offering interest-free mortgages, I would have snickered and thought, “it's impossible."  Omar Kalair, the founder of UM Financial, is successfully doing just that for the Muslim community.  He was searching for a financial institution that would back his vision of being able to help Muslims buy homes in accordance with their faith. 

Many young companies take on what seems to be the impossible.  Given the inherent limitations of time and resources facing entrepreneurs, this is where a great partner can make all the difference.  In Kalair’s case, after pitching his dream to over 70 financial institutions, it took one visionary partner, The Credit Union Central of Ontario (CUCO) to hear him out and ask: how could his vision be made possible?  At the root of great partners is often one individual who believes in your business and is willing to invest the time and energy to find work-around solutions for you. It is these individuals who realize more profound results for their organizations because they choose to go against the grain and take risks.

Great partners can fill the gaps where you lack expertise, they can provide you with new business solutions to old problems or open your eyes to hidden customers.  Strategic partners are often that key factor in the success equation that gets overlooked by the entrepreneurial desire to do it all, alone.

Kudos to all those incredible partners who look for ways to overcome the seemingly unworkable!  Now reflect on your business, identify where gaps exist and think about the partners that might be able to help you – channel partners, creative agencies, investors, strategic alliances.  Think back to the individuals who have made that leap of faith with you and taken your business to the next level and do something to recognize the positive impact they had on your business.  Otherwise, they just might look for another partner…

How Trina Used the Web to Create a Career

Trina Boos of Lifecapture Interactive, a thriving web agency and one of our nine chosen entrepeneurs, writes about: Using Technology to Create a Job For Yourself

There are many ways to move up the corporate ladder, if that's what you want to do. Some of you might work long hours to close that next large contract. Others might register with some recruitment agencies around town and entrust them to find you the perfect opportunity. Some might try buying their boss coffee and a donut every morning hoping for that next promotion. My story is a little more unique. Let me share with you my path to success and how I used interactive media to network, thus creating a career path for myself that I could have never anticipated.

Currently, I am the New Business Development Manager / Interactive Strategist of Lifecapture Interactive. Please read on to see how technology got me to where I am.

While attending Sheridan College’s Advertising program, I became curious about finding a way to communicate with my peer students. Upon discovering Yahoo! Groups, I found the perfect opportunity to discuss the hilarious lecture from the previous day, to plan parties and distribute invitations online, to share pictures, to get homework help, etc. I called it “The Ad Lounge”. It was amateur looking; rather ugly to be honest. But it became hot … very quickly. Before graduation, the membership consisted of only Sheridan College students. After graduation, students from Advertising, Marketing and Design related programs across the GTA and outside began to join. Seneca, Durham, Centennial, George Brown, Fanshawe, the list goes on.

After seeing our membership grow at such a rapid rate, I saw huge potential to grow the membership even further and to introduce corporations to our growing online community. I began to contact HR Managers, Account Directors, Creative Directors, Presidents, at every agency I could find. People began to sign up. I’m not sure why, but they did. And they began referring others to it. A little viral campaign in itself, although at the time I had no idea what a viral campaign was. Slowly but surely The Ad Lounge had professionals posting jobs online, designers seeking constructive criticism for newly developed pieces; we had seniors and juniors communicating, career advice was offered, you name it. Anything was discussed, advertising related or not. And so my little “Ad” community was created.

The community became so tight that when someone suggested meeting for a beer, it seemed like a natural thing to do. We met at a local bar, expecting 15 members to show. To my complete surprise, 80-90 showed. The funny thing was, half of them were not even members. This proved the fact that word was spreading quickly. People were interested, and were actively seeking out an opportunity to network. At that meeting, someone proposed that we do the events monthly. Another person proposed that we produce a newsletter. Both ideas were acted on immediately. Volunteers began offering up their services and we were in action! The Ad Lounge produced many newsletters and our events consisted of a comedy night about Canadian advertising to a screening of the Cannes (advertising) reel, to highlighted industry speakers, to indie film screenings by ad professionals, etc. We had companies begging to sponsor us. One of our sponsors was a creative staffing firm, Creative Niche. After meeting with the Founder, she asked me to join her company. I realized that she “got it”. She, too, was a true entrepreneur at heart. After a year of working with her through The Ad Lounge, I accepted a position with her at Creative Niche.

My area of specialty became anything “New Business” related, and anything “Web” related from a staffing capacity. After earning my stripes there as one of the top producers at the company, I moved on for a new challenge. After 2 weeks at Lifecapture Interactive as their “New Business Development Manager / Interactive Strategist”, I am happy to say that The Ad Lounge has taken me in the right direction. I was sad to put an end to The Ad Lounge last year, after realizing that working a full time job and then working until 3am on The Ad Lounge wasn’t working anymore. However, I am forever thankful for my little community. And, I am forever thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves to me since then. An archive of the VERY old site can be seen here: www.hellohello.bz/archive/theadlounge

If you have any inspiring stories to share on how you found work by networking online, please share them!

Becky Big Canoe Shares Insights

Being a part of the Toronto Star Build a Business Challenge

A lot has happened to me since becoming one of the finalists in the Star’s build a business challenge. The first was trying to get my head around the idea that I was actually a finalist. It seemed unbelievable to me, that here I am on a small island in Lake Simcoe, more than a good stones throw away from the city of Toronto. Aside from my touchstone of the Toronto Star, of which I never willingly miss a Saturday edition, Toronto is a faint glow in the night sky to the south and the place from which all the cottagers of Georgina Island come. And yet Toronto is a historically significant place to my people. The word Toronto is derived from a native language and the area used to be a central trading place for First Nations peoples from many areas. The rivers and lakes were our highways and our people covered many miles to hunt and to trade, to gather and celebrate and to conduct important ceremonies. And when I think about that I can’t help but think about the difference between myself and most of the other challenge winners. When I read about them I see high achieving, fast moving, dedicated entrepreneurs and I feel somewhat like a war pony of a different color. Where I live the pace of life is determined by daylight and dark and by the seasons. Our busy season is the summer when visitors and cottagers come to the island by way of our ferry boat. In the fall things slow down and all of us look forward to seeing the lake freeze up. My people love ice fishing as do so many others. Then our little store can look forward to having fishermen stop in to shop and eat and enjoy a nice chat. As the days get longer and the ice becomes slushy we turn to making maple syrup. We know that soon the ice will be breaking up and that it will be just us Islanders here for a little while. These rhythms shape my values and I guess that’s why I don’t have the same sense of urgency to set a blistering pace for myself and my business development. I’ve come to think that there is room for entrepreneurs like me. I see being an entrepreneur as giving me the opportunity to meet people and get to know them. Georgina Island people are generally known for their friendliness and helpfulness and I think that’s because we’ve retained the value of helping one another because living on an island forces us to rely upon each other from time to time. I guess I’m more like an old time entrepreneur. I like to take my time and study up what I’m doing and take my time in implementing changes. I like to work cooperatively with everyone and try to get a consensus as to the best course of action to take. I try to connect with my customers so that I can be sure that I’m providing them with the products that they need. And I’m taking this same approach to the Build a Business challenge. I’m being given the opportunity to do something completely new and I’m experiencing a learning curve. I continue to work on the business I do have while turning much of my attention to developing this whole new business plan. I know from experience that a new venture must be supported by a good plan and while I’m familiar with many aspects of this new venture, going on-line is a real challenge to me.

I plan to make periodic updates to the blog to give my personal insights into this process. I look forward to feedback from anyone out there and I can be reached by email at bbigcanoe@hotmail.com. Thanks.

Tasha Mazza-Kelton: Little things mean a lot

Blog 3: It’s the little things that make a big difference

We all hear that phrase time and again: pay attention to the details and go that extra mile when clients least expect it.  Susan Kates from Dinnerworks talked this week about how she wants to follow up with attendees at her singles outings with personal phone calls. But realistically, how do you manage tracking individuals who expressed interest in the first place, then find a way of remembering to call them directly and finally how to capture action items and feedback that can be leveraged for future sales opportunities.  In a small organization, there is simply never enough time or resources to actively manage the business the way you want to. 

You may idealize about following up with each client by sending hand-written thank you notes when they refer clients or maintain a client management system that automatically prompts you to follow-up with a customer three months after the last touch point.  But as much as you want to ensure you stay on top of these customer enhancements to your business, there seems to be a significant gap in the market for tools that are cost effective and easy to implement for small organizations. Why does this seem like such a challenge when small enterprises make up 97% of all Canadian businesses (Stats Canada, 2006)?

When I think of all the activities that require some sort of organizational process or system - accounting, relationship management, marketing campaigns and loyalty programs – a gaping hole comes to mind. Many businesses use common programs like Microsoft Outlook and Excel as make-shift solutions to address your unique customer preferences, remember birthdays or topics of interest.

For all those entrepreneurs and business owners who have managed to find great tools and resources to exceed customer expectations by managing those impressionable details with ease, please share your hidden gems with the rest of us.  We are dying to hear what has worked for you? 

Mobile Companies Raise Capital

Hello Judy,

Based on your current series in the Star, our event may be of interest to you.  Our Feb 5 event is focused on helping mobile companies raise capital.  We have 4 funding partners joining us for this session that have managed over $1B in capital.  They will share with us their knowledge, experience and advice.

Joining us for this event:

Sean Wise, Principal, Wise

Mentor

Capital; Ted Anderson, Managing General Partner, Ventures West; Steven Bloom, CFO, Brightspark; Marc Faucher, Toronto Principal, BCE Capital

Pitch Your Business/Idea

One of the objectives of MobileMonday Toronto is to provide assistance for companies in helping them reach their goals.  This may be through networking and sharing knowledge.  Raising capital is often a necessary step towards achieving success.  As a part of this session 3 companies/individuals will be given the opportunity to pitch to the panel and the MobileMonday Toronto attendees.  Each selected person will be provided 5 minutes to speak.  Panelists will provide feedback on the business, idea, or concept. To participate please provide a 1 pager, including the following information:

1.       Overview of the company
2.       Concept summary
3.       Individual background
4.       What stage of development
5.       Uniqueness of idea or intellectual property
6.       What $$$ the company is looking for

P

lease email your submission to pitch@mobilemondaytoronto.com.  Deadline for submissions is Jan 31.

Location:

Fort

York

Armory, FREE parking behind the Armory. (north side)
Address:

660 Fleet Street

, Officer’s Mess Hall, 2nd Floor
Phone: (416) 755-1727
Time: 6:30pm

Please forward to other people interested in attending or pitching.

Jim Brown

416 294 5754

www.linkedin.com/in/jdbrown

http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action=showRelease&actionFor=630875&searchText=false&showText=all

www.momotoronto.com

Steed: Entrepreneurs Work So Hard

I've been working with our nine chosen entrepreneurs for the Star's Business Challenge for a month, and I have to say: entrepreneurs work so hard. This morning, at a 9 am meeting at Lifecapture Interactive's downtown loft-studio, I watched as the web agency's employees came in and sat down at their work stations, as three of Lifecapture's partners -- Geoff, Matt and Josh -- met with Rotman business prof. Tom Astebro. And I thought: employees come to work and sit and their desks and don't really think about the drive and dedication it's taken to create this workplace. They take it for granted. It's amazing, when you think about it: the vast majority of people who work at jobs in Ontario are working for entrepreneurs who created their own businesses. They're taking big risks -- which is why the banks aren't keen on helping them, when they're young and growing. Indeed, Geoff talked about attending a meeting with a group of Profit's top ranked high-growth entrepreneurial companies, and they all complained about banks. Banks are not friends of entrepreneurs. So, since we all collectively as a society need to have a healthy entrepreneurial sector, is there any way we can, as a society, support our entrepreneurs? It's tricky, I know. Not every new business will succeed. Not every entrepreneur has a recipe for success.

Looking around the world, at the great entrepreneurial nations -- Sweden, as it once was, England, a century ago -- we see that for all its limitations, the USA is still considered the preeminent entrepreneurial culture. What could we do in Canada to encourage our entrepreneurs? Share your ideas.

Tasha on: Your business does what???

Say that again…your business does “what”?

Reading about Terry McQuay at Nymity and Geoff Whitlock at Lifecapture Interactive in Judy Steed’s business challenge article this week, it dawned on me that language, or in some industries “lingo”, can be a secret weapon or your greatest demise.  Each of these featured companies has an innovative new business concept.  Nymity offers a solution to simplify the complex world of privacy issues for corporations and Lifecapture is using the internet and cutting edge media to offer customers a more enriching marketing experience. 

Yet, you get these two business leaders in a room together and it can be a challenge to understand what each business does exactly.  (I have to be honest, it took some research to synthesize in a sentence what each business offered, plain and simple.)   

Many entrepreneurs start new businesses because they have a never-before-heard-of idea, or identified a new business model in a stagnant industry, or spun a traditional business by marketing it in a new way.  Regardless of how brilliant a new venture may be, it is conveying that new business concept to customers that can be the real challenge.  If you think of revolutionary companies like Google when it first launched, or even ING Direct, they succeeded because they were able to distill their new business concept into a simple phrase.  For Google, it is “the ultimate answer machine” and ING Direct is “the different kind of bank.”  They were able to connect with prospective customers on a personal level which is where that magic “clicked” and the power to expand the brand grew exponentially. 

Being company-centric is often part of the challenge.  Entrepreneurial passion takes over and the excitement for what they do, how they do it and their growth objectives clouds why it is even relevant to customers.  Getting to the client’s point of view is paramount.  Someone once told me that if your product or service does not address some personal need for a customer, then there will be no sale.  So remember, no need = no sale!

So, how do you explain your business so the person you are speaking to doesn’t look back at you with that twisted-face of confusion? 

Judy Steed responds to Lifecapture

Thanks for your comments, Geoff Whitlock. Geoff is the president and CEO of Lifecapture Interactive, a web agency that's growing by leaps and bounds -- hence his decision to submit a letter seeking help with expansion strategies. Geoff's a real entrepreneur. I've seen him in action at a couple of sessions -- one with a potential client, Nymity, another chosen Challenger -- and observed some of the characteristics that make for a successful entrepreneur. Geoff -- and Nymity's founder Terry McQuay -- are totally passionate about what they do, and you feel, when  you're talking to them, that they're bringing all their formidable talents and energy to bear on whatever situation is presented to them. There's a quality of intensity to successful entrepreneurs that makes them compelling. Indeed, I mentioned to Geoff today that I hoped he was finding ways to relax, given the intensity of focus he brings to his work. Geoff laughed -- he's young, 28, and doesn't yet know the toll that high stress creative work can take.

Tell me, what do you think makes for entrepreneurial success? And how do you cope with the demands of running your own business, going out on a limb with no safety net? Judy Steed   

Tasha Mazza-Kelton Kicks Off

The Challenge is Off and Running!

So, we have everything but the kitchen sink here. From a recreational solar powered boat company to a social event matchmaking agency. We have entrepreneurs with seasoned records to first-time managers. We have businesses located in vastly different regions, from an island inhabited by the Chippewas in Lake Simcoe to an urban loft in the downtown Toronto core. So what?

Here’s what: these business owners and operators are all facing the same issues that have plagued start-up businesses for generations. Growth, profitability, branding, financing, expansion, and selling through new channels…

As the business challenge progresses over the coming weeks, it is inevitable that all the typical business-school strategic questions will be asked. What is your differentiation in the market? What is your competitive edge? How do you want to exit? But strategy on its own is dangerous.

How that strategy is going to be executed is where entrepreneurial businesses fall down. Don’t be mistaken, strategy is a necessary starting point, but even more importantly, the key is how to translate strategy into action. That might mean outperforming the competition, experimenting with new business models, or speaking with customers to find out what is missing from their service experience. This is how start-up businesses win, by finding gaps in the market and tactically executing on them with precision, determination and resourcefulness. That gap quickly becomes an opportunity.

So, which of the featured businesses would you want to invest in?