Startup Canada: The Start of Something Big

Startup Canada is launching in March 2012 with one clear message:
"Entrepreneurship empowers everyone. But it is more than just a message; it’s a MOVEMENT!"

The Not Very Shy Victoria Lennox

I'm really looking forward to see what Startup Canada can do. Founded by indefatigable entrepreneur Victoria Lennox, the association is bringing together entrepreneurs and support groups to celebrate and promote the power of entrepreneurship - and clear away some the barriers that prevent entrepreneurs from flourishing in Canada.

Lennox has signed up an amazing roster of supporters, sponsors, provincial ambassadors, contributors, patrons and governors. The founding chairman is Ottawa-based Adam Chowaniec, founder of Tundra Semiconductor and former president or CEO of a host of Canadian technology companies, and one of the developers (several millennia ago) of the Amiga personal computer.

Patrons include Heather Reisman of Indigo, former Dragon W. Brett Wilson, Canada Goose’s Dani Reiss, and James Temerty, chairman of Northland Power, Canada’s entrepreneur of the year in 2010.

The support from the corporate sector has been a bit disappointing. Microsoft and Gowlings are in as platinum sponsors, but the gold and silver sponsor categories are still sadly vacant. Where are the banks, brokers, wireless carriers, insurers, suppliers, couriers, automakers and real-estate companies who have made so much money from this sector for so long?

Startup Canada has done its homework. Look at all the community partners, from Accelerate Okanagan to Newfoundland’s Genesis Centre, who have already joined the crusade: http://www.startupcan.ca/who-is-involved/community-partners/

Startup Canada is planning a national launch tour to focus all Canadians on the power of entrepreneurship. It kicks off in Halifax on March 19 and winds up in B.C. in September. More details here: http://www.startupcan.ca/tour/

The tour will culminate in creation of a white paper on entrepreneurship to be delivered to the Prime Minister Stephen Harper. We'll see how that works out.

In the meantime, it’s empowering to see such widespread entrepreneurial passions focusing on entrepreneurship itself in this country. I think this is the start of something big.


Disclosure: I’m signed on as an “external advisor” to Startup Canada. Not sure what that means yet, but I know it will be great.

50 Ways to Save Money in Your Business

Entrepreneur.com has a great cost-cutting article on “50 Ways to Save Money in Your Business.” It’s chock full of practical, useful ways to cut expenses. You’ll find ideas for saving money on advertising and marketing, real estate, payroll, office supplies,  shipping, purchasing and financial services.

I have cited this story before, but they changed the link, so click here for 50 ways to Save Money.

I like these three tactics in particular. I think they can really make a difference:

“40. Form a buying alliance. Join with another business or a trade association for bulk purchasing discounts.”

“43. Query your consultants. Ask your insurance agent, accountant or attorney how you can cut back on their costs. You'd be surprised at the suggestions they might offer on ways to cut your premiums, reduce billable hours or avoid huge retainers."

“50. Seek at least three bids on everything. Even mundane purchases merit shopping around. If you quote a competitor's lower price, a supplier or vendor will often match that price to win your business.”

How are you cutting costs in your business?

This post provided by Allstream, Canada's all-business communications provider.

Now offering SIP Trunking on a single IP backbone.

The Dragons are Coming For You!

It's that time of year again: CBC's roving gang of Deputy Dragons are searching the country for entrepreneurs to appear on next season's show!
 
Becoming a "pitcher" on Dragons' Den is a tremendous experience. If nothing else, you'll get some great lessons in how to communicate the investment value of your product or business. And if you're actually chosen to pitch to the Dragons, you'll get some good coaching, and you have the chance to appear on TV. Or even get an investment from Kevin O'Leary.

It's all good.

Auditions are already underway. Here's the impressive schedule of what's coming up. For more information, hit http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/auditions/index.html

Thursday Feb. 23 2012	Kelowna BC	11AM-6PM	Okanagan College - Student Services Building 1000 K.L.O. Road Kelowna, BC V1Y 4X8 250-762-5445
Thursday Feb. 23 2012	Saint John NB	11AM-6PM	Delta Brunswick (Saint John Hotel) 39 King Street Saint John New Brunswick, E2L 4W
Thursday Feb. 23 2012	Port Hardy BC	10AM-1PM	Quarterdeck Inn & Marina Resort 6555 Hardy Bay Road Po Box 910 Port Hardy BC V0N 2P0
Saturday Feb. 25 2012	Calgary AB	10AM-5PM	University of Calgary Dinning Centre 2500 University Dr. NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N
Saturday Feb. 25 2012	Sydney NS	10AM-5PM	Cape Breton University Student Culture and Heritage Building (Great Hall) 1250 Grand Lake Rd Sydney NS B1P 6L2
Wednesday Feb. 29 2012	Quebec City QC	Noon-5PM	Hilton Quebec 1100 Boulevard Rene-Levesque Est. Quebec, QC (Beauport Room)
Thursday Mar. 1 2012	Barrie ON	11AM-6PM	Georgian College One Georgian Drive Barrie, Ontario L4M 3X9
Friday Mar. 2 2012	Sherbrooke QC	11AM-6PM	Delta Sherbrooke 2685 King ouest, Sherbrooke,QC, J1L 1C1
Saturday Mar. 3 2012	Burlington/Hamilton ON	10AM-5PM	Ron Joyce Centre DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University 4350 South Service Road Burlington, ON L7L 5R8 905-525-9140 ext. 20536 (Great Hall, Room 132)
Saturday Mar. 3 2012	Montreal QC	10AM-5PM	TBA
Saturday Mar. 3 2012	Ottawa ON	10AM-5PM	Courtyard by Marriott Ottawa 350 Dalhousie Street Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7E9
Thursday Mar. 8 2012	Saskatoon SK	11AM-6PM	University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business 25 Campus Drive Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A7 Reading Room (Room 244)
Saturday Mar. 10 2012	St. John's NL	10AM-5PM	TBA
Saturday Mar. 10 2012	Winnipeg MB	10AM-5PM	CBC Manitoba 541 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3B 2G1 (Studio 41)
Tuesday Mar. 13 2012	Whitehorse YT	11AM-6PM	TBA
Wednesday Mar. 14 2012	Oshawa ON	11AM-6PM	TBA
Thursday Mar. 15 2012	Charlottetown PEI	11AM-6PM	CBC PEI 430 University Avenue Charlottetown, P.E.I. C1A 8B9 (Lobby)
Thursday Mar. 15 2012	Dawson City YT	11AM-6PM	TBA
Thursday Mar. 15 2012	Timmins ON	11AM-6PM	Northern College Porcupine Campus 4715 Highway 101 East South Porcupine, ON P0N 1H0 705-235-3211
Friday Mar. 16 2012	Waterloo ON	11AM-6PM	Conrad Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology 295 Hagey Blvd., Suite 240 Waterloo, ON N2L 6R5
Saturday Mar. 17 2012	Halifax NS	10AM-5PM	Cambridge Suites Hotel 1583 Brunswick Street Halifax, NS B3J 3P5 (Brunswick/Centennial Room)
Saturday Mar. 17 2012	Sudbury ON	10AM-5PM	Laurentian University TBA
Saturday Mar. 17 2012	Victoria BC	10AM-5PM	Inn at Laurel Point 680 Montreal Street Victoria, BC V8V 1Z8 (250) 386-8721
Sunday Mar. 18 2012	Nanaimo BC	11AM-6PM	Vancouver Island Conference Centre 101 Gordon Street Nanaimo, BC V9R 5J8 (250) 244-4050 (Shaw Auditorium)
Tuesday Mar. 20 2012	Sechelt BC	11AM-6PM	Seaside Centre 5790 Teredo St. Sechelt, BC V0N 3A0
Thursday Mar. 22 2012	Sarnia ON	11AM-6PM	TBA
Thursday Mar. 22 2012	Collingwood ON	11AM-6PM	TBA
Thursday Mar. 22 2012	Kamloops BC	11AM-6PM	TBA
Saturday Mar. 24 2012	Windsor ON	10AM-5PM	Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce 2575 Ouellette Place Windsor, ON N8X 1L9
Saturday Mar. 24 2012	Calgary AB	10AM-5PM	University of Calgary Dinning Centre 2500 University Dr. NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N
Saturday Mar. 24 2012	Montreal QC	10AM-5PM	TBA
Saturday Mar. 24 2012	Vancouver BC	10AM-5PM	Morris J Wosk Centre for Dailogue 580 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, V6B 1L6 (Enter via Seymour Street courtyard entrance)
Monday Mar. 26 2012	Abbotsford BC	11AM-6PM	BEST WESTERN PLUS Regency Inn & Conference Centre 32110 Marshall Rd Abbotsford, BC V2T 1A1 (Conference Centre)
Saturday Mar. 31 2012	Toronto ON	11AM-5PM	CBC Toronto 250 Front St. Toronto, ON (Atrium)

Pick up the phone and start negotiating

Looking to increase your personal power? You might start with a couple of my recent blogposts on other sites:

For the National Post I recently wrote a rant on the limitations of email, and why you really should pick up the phone and call instead, more often.

Excerpt: Here's just one of the reasons that the phone is better than email.

You get instant feedback. Does your colleague agree with your point? Is he or she going along, but grudgingly? Are you going to have to adjust your sales pitch for when contacting other prospects? The phone can give you instant, invaluable feedback that tells you how things are going and helps you get things back on track fast when they’re going off the rails.

You can read the full story here:
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/02/03/forget-email-make-the-call-instead/

Negoiating is one the most crucial skills an entrepreneur (or anyone, for that matter) can have. Yet I know few people who are good at it. We're so wrapped up in our own needs that we don't look at negotiation as an interpersonal skill, or a highly predictable process that we can all get much better at.

So I wrote a blogpost for PROFIT magazine's website, www.PROFITguide.com, summing up "Six Keys to Negotiating Success," from U.S. entrepeneur Arthur Wylie. He negotiates financial deals for his clients (many of them professional athletes) all the time, so he has a unique outlook on negotiating, and a formula you would do well to learn and adopt (or adapt -- use whatever parts works best for you).

Here's just one of his tips:
• Key #3: Get buy-in for your vision. It’s not always easy to get other people on board with your ideas. A critical step in artful deal-making is to convey your vision of the outcome in such a way that other parties will seek the same outcome. The WIIFM factor (“What’s in it for me?”) must be made crystal clear to the other party as you present your position.

You can get all the tips at http://www.profitguide.com/blog/rickspence/71424--swagger-6-keys-to-negotiating-success

Now grab the phone and start negotiating!

The True Value of Social Media

The following post was originally written as a comment I recently submitted to a LinkedIn group, the Toronto Entrepreneur Alliance. I was responding to another member's request for social media success stories.

(You may have noticed that most companies still don't have a lot of success stories. I think that's because they haven't caught on to what social media is all about.)
So here's my comment:

My belief is that social media is not an add-on to your business. It's an add-back-on.

For centuries, all businesses had personal relationships with their customers. It was only in the 19th-century industrial era (with its breakthroughs in mass production, branding, transportation and distribution) that the producers of products and services became estranged from their immediate users and buyers.

Result: giant, faceless, untrusted corporations; mediocre or lousy products; and frustrated customers (because product information and good service are so hard to come by.)

With social media, companies can now once again communicate on a broad, ongoing basis with their customers. They can listen in as their users compare notes, and engage with customers who have questions and problems. They can learn from their customers' feedback, improve their products, and add new ones that people actually need. Best of all, they in stepping out from behind the curtain of anonymity, companies and brands show themselves to be human once again.

In business as in life, those who do the best job of communicating with their community, and creating greater shared value, will flourish. And those who cannot bear the light of day, and of honest, candid interaction, will slink back into the shadows where they belong.

Getting Toronto to Talk

I had a great time at Metro Hall yesterday doing my “TorontoTalks” presentation. More importantly, the audience seemed to have a great time, too.

My topic was “5 Secrets of Success for Toronto Entrepreneurs.” Normally in a gig like that I do seven or 10 “secrets,” but I have learned over time to go deeper on fewer, in order to really challenge people to see (and seize) the full potential of the opportunities before them.

It also leaves more time for discussion, because entrepreneurs love to talk about the issues they struggle with.

At any rate, last night I tried something different. I put the discussion and comments part first, reminding folks that the event was called “Toronto Talks” – not “Rick Talks” – and that I wanted to hear their secrets of success before I offered mine. We got some great comments – people wanted to talk about having passion for what you do, the need to hire more intelligently, the dangers of overselling. This sparked lively, interactive discussions we might not have had if I had waited till the end to draw people out.

After half an hour of that, a couple of people subtly suggested that they had come out in the dark and the cold to hear from me, so would I get on with it? So I presented my five secrets, which were:

1. Engage with your Customers

2. Create So Much Value, Customers Can't Not Do Business with You!

3. Make More Money from Every Sale

4. Measure Everything You Do

5. Define More Clearly How You Help Your Customers

For point 5, we went back into interactive mode. I asked people to develop one-sentence mission statements to describe themselves and their business, and how they create value for others in just a few words. The template I like to use is this:

I do this (or these things) for this market so they can do this (name a clear, tangible benefit the client/user will derive).

I like this format because the focus is only one-third on what you do, and two thirds on your customers and how they benefit from what your products or services.

My experience is that most people aren’t very good at describing what they do in a way that’s clear, concise, and, most important, interests other people. This template is designed to intrigue people and spur follow-up questions that lead to a profitable conversation.

Whenever I do this exercise I always find someone who's come up with a great mission statement on their own. Last night, William Stratus of Planetcast had the winner, saying: “At Planetcast we create websites and web applications solutions that click, not clunk.”

Click, not clunk. Short, clear and memorable. And now, no longer a secret.

If you need a speaker for your business, startup or entrepreneurial event, let’s talk. rick (at) rickspence.ca  I guarantee click, not clunk.

Rick Live! "5 Secrets of Entrepreneurial Success"

There are a few spots left to hear me speak on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Metro Hall in downtown Toronto. I’m giving a rare public talk as part of the Toronto Talks series.

I'll be pontificating on "5 Secrets of Entrepreneurial Success."

If time allows, there may even be more than 5!

Location: Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Room 303
Time: 7 pm

Members of certain local business associations may qualify for free admission. Otherwise, it’s $20 at the door. Proceeds go to Camp Oochigeas, a volunteer-based camp providing memorable experiences for children with cancer.

To RSVP, email rsvp@torontotalks.org or phone (416)-783-7526.
Seating is limited.

(That’s their wording, not mine.)

I hope to see you there!

Best. Quote. Ever

DemGen.com is a leading provider of virtual business, marketing, sales and support services for small businesses and entrepreneurs. They send out a daily motivational quote that is often quite thought-provoking.

Today's quote, which was contributed by DemGen's chief  growth ffficer, Gary Evans, sent a shiver down my spine.

"The obstacle is the path."

For me, this Zen proverb perfectly captures the route to success in a crowded marketplace. You will stand out and succeed to the extent that you confront your customers' biggest problems.

By choosing to go where the obstacles are, you will stake out a unique value proposition and make a name for yourself. Like Timothy Eaton with his fixed-price department store in the 19th century, or Apple with its "computer for the rest of us" (or iTunes, for that matter), or FedEx for conquering overnight package delivery.

The mantra for entrepreneurs is to look for problems no one else has solved - and solve them.

The obstacle is the path.

A Pretty Good Joke

I used to print the occasional business joke on this site. Here, following that grand tradition, is the epic story of Accountants vs Engineers.This joke liberated from Bean Counter's site: http://www.dwmbeancounter.com/

Three accountants and three engineers are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three engineers each buy tickets and watch as the three accountants buy only a single ticket.
"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks an engineer.
"Watch and you'll see," answers an accountant.

They all board the train. The engineers take their respective seats but all three accountants cram into a rest room and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the rest room door and says, "Ticket, please."
The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.
The engineers saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea.

So after the conference, the engineers decide to copy the accountants on the return trip and save some money (knowing that accountants are clever with money) . When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip.
To their astonishment, the accountants don't buy a ticket at all. 
"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" says one perplexed engineer.
"Watch and you'll see," answers an accountant.

When they board the train, the three accountants cram into a rest room and the three engineers cram into another one nearby.
The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the accountants leaves his rest room and walks over to the rest room where the engineers are hiding.
He knocks on the door and says, "Ticket, please."


If you like that joke, click here and scroll down one screen to read "Accountant Story Two."
It's pretty good, too.

The secret of great customer service

The secret of great customer service is not to eliminate mistakes, but to train your staff to make the best of things when bad stuff happens.
At our sister blog, New Management Welcome, you can read a case study of airline ineptitude submitted by blogger Michael Arrington. Despite the ordeal he went through, however, one thing is clear: had the airline's staff acknowledged and commiserated with his problems, they could still have made things right.

Proof once again that it's not what happens to you that matters, but how you handle it.

Read the article here:  http://newmgt.blogspot.com/2012/01/orchestrated-indignities-of-air-travel.html

Avengers fighting X-Men? Why you should care

Looking for new marketing ideas? Here’s are some ideas you could derive from Marvel Comics and its upcoming superhero, “Avengers vs. X-Men.”

In a recent blogpost for the National Post, I wrote about how Marvel is preparing to cash in on its blockbuster movie release in April, The Avengers. Comics are big business, and their marketing has become very sophisticated.

Coolest of all, Marvel is asking retailers to become personally involved. By declaring support for either the Avengers or the X-Men, retailers will receive appropriate promotional materials for decorating their stores based on the team they choose.

Here are a few of the promotional ideas you might consider based on Marvel's mighty marketing:

* Plan a special promotional “event” that highlights the best features of your family of products. (How can you combine your most popular products or services, or even pit them against each other, to create excitement or market tension?);

* Prepare well in advance;

* Develop more eye-catching promotional materials that appeals to customers’ passions as well as their basic needs;

* Offer product samples and previews to selected audiences to create market buzz;

* Encourage retailer or distributors to take sides with your products: how could you include them in your launch and related events? How could your promotion help them develop tighter relationships with their customers?

You can read the full story here:
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/06/129630/

How to make your company more intrapreneurial

Thirty years ago this year, companies started talking seriously about adopting more entrepreneurial traits in order to promote innovation and flexibility. Few succeeded.

But now I'm perceiving growing interest in intrapreneurship. In my latest column in the National Post, I ponder what this means, and offer a few tactics (from a recent book on the subject) for those interested in making their organizations more nimble, creative and successful.

Here's an excerpt: "When putting together entrepreneurial teams, make sure they have the right leadership; if necessary, bring in experienced outsiders or advisors. Understand that a promising initiative may require special recruitment and compensation practices, even if it drives the HR department crazy."

You can read the full story here: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/09/intrapreneurship-makes-a-comeback/

Bonus Reading: Here's an article I just found that offers insightful advice on preventing your company from becoming too rigid as it grows: Claudio Feser on "7 Secrets of Serial Innovators." You can read it at http://www.cnbc.com/id/45817288/7_Secrets_of_Serial_Innovators

How to Hire "A Players"

You're trying to grow your business, but you know you need more help than the local labour market can provide. Face it – you need a superstar. Maybe even an American.
But how do you do it? Can you really lure an A player out of the land of the free into the Great White North.?

My column in this week’s National Post looks at how one Vancouver company hired two U.S. hotshots to grow its technical capability and U.S. marketing presence beyond what local talent could do.

The company is Coastal.com, the online eyeglass/contact lens retailer. My article includes interviews with CEO Roger Hardy to explore why Coastal felt it needed U.S. expertise, and with Coastal’s two recent all-star recruits to find out what it took to lure them to B.C. from the U.S.

Excerpt: “Aaron Magness says moving to Canada fulfilled his ambition to work in a more international context; in the United States, he notes, “you can get by very well only looking at the U.S. market.” At first, he says, he wasn’t “overly enthusiastic” about Coastal’s offer, but “as I saw the size of the marketplace and where it could go, I found it very exciting.”

You can read the full story here: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/03/recruiting-talent-from-the-valley/

Bonus read:
My NatPost blogpost about how to think more creatively. To get better results, says author and innocation expert Michael Michalko, stop focussing on the problem itself, and approach it from an outside-the-park point of view.

Excerpt: “Creative thinkers form more novel combinations because they routinely conceptually blend objects, concepts and ideas from two different context or categories that logical thinkers conventionally consider separate,” writes Michalko.

It’s a quick read at: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/04/breaking-through-your-creative-blocks/

Your Secret Weapon: Clarity

"Duct Tape Marketing" guru John Jantsch has posted a powerful article on his blog about the importance of "clarity" in business.

Clarity, he says, "is that strong and unwavering sense that our daily choices are grounded in an authentic sense of purpose... Without clarity everything we do is either an attempt to gain it or a stab at the hope that we are moving in the right direction."

Jantsch says every business, including his own, struggles to define clarity and execute on that perfect vision. "Until we are really clear and inspired by why we do what we do, whom we do it for and how to do it with complete and utter honesty – little else matters."

Clarity helps you focus on your core capabilities and passions, and squash nagging essentials that don't maximize your experience and resources. It makes leadership easier and helps clients buy.

Ironically, Jantsch stugles to define exactly what he means by clarity. But here are some of his examples of how it looks in action:

• Clarity is turning purpose to profit
• Clarity is leading with stories
• Clarity is meeting the whole person
• Clarity is amplifying without hype
• Clarity is doing more with less
• Clarity is anticipating needs
• Clarity is measuring one perfect thing
• Clarity is a potent brand promise

Read the full article (and the many enlightening comments that follow) at http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2012/01/02/the-single-greatest-factor-of-success-in-business/

I particularly like the comment that addresses just how hard clarity is to achieve. As the commenter writes: "The 'fog of war' has nothing on the 'fog of business'."

Quick Reads for the First Long Weekend of 2012

A few quick links to some of my recent Post articles:
The holidays may be fading fast, but did you catch my piece on Ebenezer Scrooge? I asked the question: What happened to Scrooge's business after Dickens turned him into a nice guy?
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/12/19/a-christmas-carol-part-ii/

Here's my year-end quiz, featuring some of the best lessons from my 52 Financial Post columns. How many will you get right?
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/12/27/lessons-learned-2/

Can your company afford bend-over-backwards service? Maybe the better question is, how can it not?
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/12/29/turning-mistakes-into-wow-experiences/

The real rewards of risk management

When the holiday season winds down, it will be time to get serious about improving your business in 2012. There are many areas you can focus on to improve your business, but one of the most lasting fixes will come from getting better at managing risk.

Risk management may sound daunting, but why would you resist a discipline that encourages you to review all the risks your company faces - regarding your market and your products, technology, operations and safety, human-resources, and even environmental and social?

Risk management gives you a holistic view of the threats surrounding your business. You then look for ways to head off or reduce the impact of the most likely risks, a process that will prepare you for most challenges the world tosses your way.

Many big companies today have risk officers who oversee the evaluation and mitigation of risk. Most SMEs won't go to this expense, but that's no excuse for not getting the best handle you can on all your business risks.

Here are just a few benefits of a serious risk-management initiative:

* It empowers you to scrutinize your business to identify blatant risks that are easily managed - for instance, a weak cash-flow position, potential health and safety hazards, or key customers who could be wooed away by the competition. By grappling with these potential problems in advance, you can head off some of these problems and take the rest in stride.

* You can save a lot of workforce headaches. Succession planning is a key part of risk management; by reviewing the risk of having to replace each of your top people, you'll know exactly what to do when your controller retires or your top sales rep turns to the dark side.

* Risk management is good management. It ensures that you always know the defect rate of your products, the lifespan of your equipment, the age of your receivables, and what to do if there's a flood or a flu epidemic. As Holiday Inn used to say, the best surprise is no surprise.

* Your staff will be happier and more confident knowing the business is being well managed. A credible risk-management program will help you retain great people and attract new ones. It also ensures that all your costly talent will spend less time searching for information and more time making informed decisions.

You don't need a risk specialist if you involve your management team. Each member could start tracking appropriate risk areas. For instance, your HR leader could study the risks related to workforce accidents and the loss of key talent, while your production manager looks after equipment, workflow, supply chain and fire prevention, and your controller oversees technology, data and financial risks.
How do you get started? An SME Risk Management Toolkit developed by the U.K.-based Institution of Occupational Safety and Health identifies four stages of risk management.

1. Identification of hazards and evaluation of risk. This means making an initial assessment of all your activities and prioritizing the highest-risk areas for further study;

2. Risk control planning and measures. How can accidents be avoided, or their impacts be mitigated? (Example: to avoid workplace accidents, you might implement safer work practices and better training programs; but you should update your insurance policies, too);

3. Planning for actions to take in the event of an accident, and how to recover;

4. Review risk situations and learn from problems and accidents.

Some entrepreneurs argue there's no point getting involved in risk management,because you can't predict every calamity that can befall your business. Of course that's true. But you can adjust for predictable risks - and thus be stronger when unexpected disaster strikes.

It's rarely one problem that sinks a business, but a combination of setbacks. I know one entrepreneur who closed his business recently because of what he called "a perfect storm" of problems: the weak economy, cutbacks by one customer, another client who simply disappeared, and a key employee who quit just when another got pregnant. Good risk management gives you a plan for each of these eventualities, and a fighting chance to survive even the harshest storm.

This post is brought to you by American Express Canada. Check out their new Amex for Business Canada Facebook Page for more SME news and insights.

Hate Networking?

You say you hate networking? Most people do. That's because meeting business people and sizing up their potential as prospects is a tough job - and may be one of the rarest skills in business.

My column in this week's National Post recounts some of what I learned from attending a full-day session on networking conducted by Ottawa networking guru Michael Hughes. It was hard to compress his technique into 800 words, so I retailed some of his most interesting ideas and tips.

Here's an excerpt:

Hughes defines networking as “the intentional process of creating and developing relationships, from initial contact to ultimate outcome.”

One of his key tenets: You must have a target market. You can’t just go to random events hoping to connect with people who need your products or skills. You have to target groups that are flush with those kinds of people. Then make one group a priority — say, an industry association — and burrow in deep. Attend all the meetings and events you can, and get to know everyone involved.

Read the full story here: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/12/05/how-to-network-by-design-not-by-default/

Best Opportunities for 2012 (and beyond)

Entrepreneurs are always striving to get ahead of the latest and greatest business opportunities. They may get their insights from books, shop talk, or Web-based business resources, but the best tips usually come from experienced entrepreneurs who have already been there and done that.

At a recent SME conference put on by Financial Executives International, I asked a roundtable of veteran business leaders to identify today’s biggest opportunities for entrepreneurs that are hoping to expand their current businesses or start new ones.

Here’s a summary of the exciting opportunities each entrepreneur cited:

Julia N. Dumanian is former president and CEO of Cambridge Memorial Hospital. She was named Canada’s Hospital Leader of the Year in 2007 for her passionate and transformational leadership.

“I think human capital is where it’s at,” said Dumanian. She believes Canada’s secret weapon is the “tremendous young people with great skills” graduating from our colleges and universities. She encourages entrepreneurs to tap their brainpower by setting up internships to get these graduates into your business “and really exploit some of these brilliant minds, especially on the technology side.” Given the tough time many grads have had finding good jobs, she notes, “We can help them help us grow our businesses.”

Murray G. K. Davidson is chair of RHI Investments LLC, with private-equity investments in real estate, utilities and pipeline consulting, and advanced technology. He is a senior partner of three specialty consultancies, focusing on financial services, utilities, and health care.

Davidson sees opportunities in all aspects of health care in Canada, the U.S., and around the world. Given the accelerating changes in technology and demographics, he says, you can't go wrong exploring solutions in “anything related to your health” such as health technologies, health processes, and personal monitoring and management of individual health. He is also bullish on new medical devices, particularly for in-home use, and new approaches for taming out-of-control health-information systems. “Cost improvement, performance improvement, waiting list reduction, capital management – you name it,” he says.

Davidson believes in consumer products, too, especially those targeted to Asia and Latin America. He’s also keen on specialty products aimed at young people, especially personal technologies. He said he’s working with a company on a new device that Apple is considering adding to its “i” family of products (iPad, iPod, etc.). He says it’s specifically aimed at consumers 25 and under.

Tom Enright, president and CEO of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute, is former CEO of CNW Group Ltd. His expertise lies in strategic planning, branding, sales and marketing.

To find opportunities, Enright advises, “look at the places where there are societal pain points”. He cites the debate that preceded the mandatory introduction of automobile seatbelts. “There was a lot of turmoil before we finally got there, then everyone had them.” Now, he notes, “there’s a huge societal issue about whether we can afford the cost of ‘green’ energy, so there’s got to be opportunities there.”

Enright is also high on opportunities with information technology, but especially those related to social media. “No one knows how exactly to use it, so there are great opportunities there.”

Finally, he predicts the next “big” commodity opportunity will be an area Canadians know well: fresh water.

Gerald A. Lokash is an experienced entrepreneur, consultant, and senior insolvency practitioner. He also owns several commercial real-estate companies.

Lokash believes data is the key to future business opportunities. Today’s IT systems allow business owners to measure every aspect of their business, and compare their efficiency to other organizations. “It’s inconceivable how much data has been accumulated about just about everything,” he says. “I think opportunity resides in how you use the data that's available to you in your company and your industry.”

He says companies such as communications giant BCE have expanded exponentially by exhaustively analyzing their own operational data. Lokash believes other companies can grow by understanding every inch of their business and how to achieve more from each asset. “There’s huge opportunity in accessing data in a way that can help you understand and steer your businesses forward.”

The conference buzzed with the optimism entrepreneurs always feel when they think about unmet market needs. How can your business take advantage of these golden opportunities?

“This post brought to you by American Express Canada. Check out their new Small Business Facebook Page here and stay tuned to find out who will soar their business to new heights in the Take Off with American Express Contest.”

Catching up with the Next 36 - Never Give Up!

Well, that pretty much wraps up my Next 36 coverage for the year.

In Monday’s National Post, I wrote about how the high-powered youth entrepreneurship program – developed for 36 students only – was successfully boarded by four more candidates. Rejected at the “Selection Weekend” in December 2010, they recovered from the shock and humiliation to make a successful pitch that eventually got them back into the program.

How do you fight back against rejection without making it sound like sour grapes? These four undergrads figured out the formula. They won over the reluctant organizers with a winning PowerPoint pitch that leveraged the program's own objectives and values; itemized the advantages accruing to The Next 36 (not to themselves); and shouldered all the risk.

It was a brilliant bit of sales and marketing, and only the Post got the story. You can read it here.

Last Friday, I played a small role in the latest "Selection Weekend" by moderating a panel of 2011 Next 36 grads. These kids have lived life in a fishbowl for the past year, building their own  businesses in groups of four while under the watchful eyes of their fellow students, the Next 36 owners, mentors and investors, and even the press. Yet many have built businesses that look like they may succeed; and they are very articulate about what they’ve learned about launching startups.

I wrote up a summary of some of the panel’s best learnings in a blogpost for the Post, which you can read here.

Excerpt:

Don’t bet the farm on the first business idea you come up with. Most of the 10 teams in the Next 36 changed their minds (and their business plans) during the first few months; some adopted new ideas and then threw them out three or four times. How can you tell when you’ve found the right idea? One panellist suggested, “When you know that you’d rather work on this plan than anything else.”

Finally, the Next 36 has just announced the 36 successful candidates for its 2012 program (which started Saturday).  You can read their press release here.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/885507/next-generation-of-high-impact-entrepreneurs-set-to-drive-canadian-prosperity-forward-the-next-36

Highlights from the Globe's Small Business Summit

Tonight I broke an Internet record for pointless activity by Tweeting the Globe & Mail’s live-blogging of its Small Business Summit, held in Toronto on Nov. 8.

I didn't attend the summit, so I appreciated being able to read their live-blogging (by two people!) of the content. The disconnected nature of live-blogging being what it is, I only covered two sessions before tiring of the exercise, but there was a lot of valuable insights there, which I tried to retail back to the universe through my own re-tweets.

So here is what I Tweeted – in chronological order, compete with atrocious spelling and grammar to fit Twitter’s ruthless 140-chracter limit. As I point out midway through, the original blogging was done by Globe editors Terry Brodie (a colleague of mine from olden days) and Sol Chrom. You can read their original work at http://bit.ly/vvxcod

Enjoy.

"My dream for Canada is that the 21st Century becomes the century of the entrepreneur:" SME minister Maxime Bernier at Globe SB Summit Nov. 8

Matthew von Teichman (Life Choices Natural Foods) spoke at Globe Summit on being underfunded: You miss enormous opportunities because you're focused on the pennies

I'm wading thru Globe's ragged live-blogging of its own small biz conference last week to see what value I can pull out for Twitter

more from von Teichman: "Nice to have another voice talking about strategy, but you make the decisions.Think through everything on your own"

von Teichman: Even if you hire great people, stay involved. Stay in close touch with most important customers, with numbers and with people

Matthew von Teichman was an attendee at PROFIT Magazine's first GrowthCamp. Only guy to make PROFIT's Hot 50 list with 2 different businesses

You can read the Globe's live-blog of its Small Business Summit at http://bit.ly/vvxcod Like most such efforts, though, it's tedious reading

von Teichman: Clear your mind; focus on strategy.Don't get bogged down in detail. "I think of every hire as someone who will free up my time"

Tara "MissRogue" Hunt, CEO of Buyosphere, at Globe SB summit: said she's committing four of the five mistakes Matthew just cited

Tara Hunt says she's more of an entrepreneur based on being not really hirable, rather than being entrepreneurial

Tara Hunt was more an intrapreneur, but nobody would give free rein to take ideas to next level; by blogging, she got on Silicon Valley radar

Buyosphere crowdsources shopping. Hunt says she is working herself to the bone in an underfunded company, which Matthew vT warned not to do

Thanks to Terry Brodie and Sol Chrom of Globe & Mail for liveblogging last week's SB summit. Not an easy thing to do.

Hunt says core trait of entrepreneurs is being "completely delusional." You need to look at the world and see something different (mkt gaps)

Hunt on delusional genius: "You probably thought Twitter was a crazy idea at first, didn't you...?"

Hunt: Next entrepreneur trait: audacity. Successful entrepreneurs don't know where they are going, they just feel their way there.

Hunt: everyone and everything will stand in your way of going forward. You need confidence to face the harsh stats of business mortality.

Next trait: Adaptability. No matter how awesome your idea is, the only thing that counts at end of day is that you find a product/market fit

Globe SB Summit Q&A: von Teichman says biz plan important in early stages, but 3 years later you won't recognize it. It's a moving entity

Hunt says Canada's SRED tax credits helped a lot. "All my American friends are really jealous"

At Globe SB Summit, marketer Tony Chapman: With social media, consumers are saying they don't want to be shouted at any more.

According to Chapman, social media has supplanted porn as the #1 activity on the web!

Chapman: Sell solutions, not a product or service. You can't provide solutions until you've listened to and understood people's needs

Chapman at Globe SB summit: "This is the time we can seize power. Small business's ability to attempt, create, and innovate."

Tony Chapman on Framing: Say, "We're the ones that..." If you can fill in the blank with something that matters, you're engaging people.

That's it for me. Thanks to the Globe for providing its liveblog summit feed at http://bit.ly/vvxcod 

Think BIG

Here's a quote for you to think about:

“The truth is that big thinking is always, always worth the expenditure of energy… The cost of small thinking has skyrocketed.”
Sales guru Michael Port, author of The Think Big Manifesto (Wiley, 2009).

Michael Port is trying to create a movement of people willing to think big, in both the business and social spheres.

“With small thinking we cannot grow – intellectually, spiritually, creatively, emotionally, financially. And when we cannot grow, society cannot grow. It cannot advance. It cannot develop. Small thinking is an ultimately autodestructive path.”

How does that change your thinking? What can you think "bigger" about?

Who do you know who can help you think even BIGGER?

Surprising Winners at EOY

Last week I attended Ernst & Young’s Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year banquet in Toronto. I wasn't intending to write about it, but the buzz was so strong and the nominated companies so darn cool that I had to write it up for my Financial Post column this past week.

Here’s an excerpt:

Most business events celebrate the act of selling, or growth. Last week’s EOY event highlighted entrepreneurship as a creative force for good, in Canada and the world – which might surprise some of the “Occupy” protestors [see previous post] who think governments hold the monopoly on higher purpose.

You can read the full story here: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/11/07/109106/

For follow-up reading, here's a lesson in guerrilla branding that took place at the EOY dinner - featuring two former EOY winners who simply stole the show!

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/11/04/branding-lessons-from-the-fringe/

Congrats to Dani Reiss (at right) of Canada Goose, who was named Ontario's Entrepreneur of the Year. He will compete for the national title at an event in Toronto on Nov. 23.

Occupy This

After attending a reception last night celebrating PostMedia’s acquisition of Sprouter – the advice service for startups – I walked through the camp of Occupy Toronto in nearby St. James Park. It was crowded, but eerily quiet for 9:30 pm.

Easily 100 tents, mostly sturdy and new, and well protected from the rain; signs everywhere denouncing banks, Stephen Harper and the IMF; a few guitar-playing troubadours hanging out by the old bandstand. There are a few large tents in which you can stand up, but most are small pup tents, meant only for crouching or lying down. There is electricity in the park, but inside the tents are dark, and cold, and I admired that people would willingly live like this.

But what are they protesting? I hung out at one sort of community discussion, where about 30 people snuggled in and around a canopied dining area to discuss “issues.” I heard complaints about colonialism, the exploitation of Canada’s indigenous peoples, Britain’s campaign in the 19th century against the Irish (“And the Scots,” added one observer, in a Monty Python-esque aside), the failures of capitalism, its roots in slavery (?!), the difficulty of finding jobs, the commercialization of culture. The discourse was conducted collegially, but somewhat haughtily (no one dared to question the contention that capitalism is rooted in slavery).

Everyone oozed concern, worry and disapproval of the current system. But I sensed no optimism. “We Will Overcome” was the anthem of protest and civil rights in the 1960s. Today’s message seems to be “We will Occupy,” as if they have no idea what victory would like. But then, when you can't clearly articulate the issues, how can you hope to find a solution?

The current economic system isn't perfect. There are inequities. Greedy people at the top take too much and/or neglect the people that our economy is supposed to serve. But how much worse are they than the labour leaders who extort cash from struggling companies and governments, or the politicians who spend money no one has in pursuit of partisan projects?

Solutions will not come from there.

At the Sprouter party, I talked to a 22-year-old entrepreneur who with little experience and almost no money has raised funds from private investors to launch an apps business that will launch next week. She has worked diligently, with her partners, for no pay, for nine months to research the market and develop a product. They have sacrificed much, because they believe their product will add value to people’s lives and that their hard work – which is still just beginning – is an investment that will pay them back many times over.

Capitalism works. It enables people to innovate – to follow whatever dreams and instincts they may have and even indulge themselves, if they wish – and to get paid only if and when their work creates value for others.

It’s a discipline that may seem harsh to those who can't find (or don't observe) that value proposition. But it’s an opportunity that is more equitable and universal than any other. It doesn't discriminate between the rich and poor, young or old, good or bad, but between those who are willing to work hard and find new ways to serve others.

At the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards the previous night, Ernst & Young paid tribute to Greg Overholt, a creative young social entrepreneur whose non-profit organization SOS (Students Offering Support) harnesses volunteer tutors at universities to raise money to build sustainable educational projects in the developing world. He’s not a conventional business person, but Bay Street bigwigs and entrepreneurs alike celebrated Overholt’s vision and enterprise. Business does care, and its sensitivities to societal problems are becoming more acute. And its solutions are usually more equitable and efficient than those dreamed up by bureaucrats.

There are many problems in society. But there are even more solutions, waiting to be discovered. While I admire the passion and courage of the Occupy movement, I don't know how many solutions will be found in their general disapproval of everything – and their belief that relief will come from anything but individual effort by small groups of disciplined, narrowly focussed problem-solvers. That’s how things get done.