Startup Canada Awards - Ontario

Last week I was honoured to MC the Startup Canada Awards for Ontario held at the delightfully scruffy Hacker Studios, a startup space in London, Ont.

The awards were created to recognize the many hard-working and dedicated individuals and organizations that are helping to grow Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In London, Startup Canada handed out awards to organizations such as Ryerson University, Microsoft, MaRS, Communitech and Ernst & Young. Individuals recognized included mentor of the year Sean Wise from Ryerson, “ecosystem builder” Joel Adams of London, academic of the year Howard Armitage from University of Waterloo, “Lifetime Achievement” winner Gary Will of Communitech and many other organizations, and, umm, me. Presumably for writing endlessly about entrepreneurs for 25 years.

Enjoy some photos of the event. The names of all the winners appear below.

Rick interviewing event hosts Amanda Stratton and Quinn Lawson

With Jame Bowen and winner Helen Braiter from CBIP 

Sean Wise is way too happy with his Mentor of the Year award! 

Rick and his shiny new hardware, with James Bowen and Startup founder Victoria Lennox  

All the winners....

Entrepreneurial Effect Award

Awarded to the individual, group, community, network or organization that has developed and produced a program, tool, research project or event that has had the greatest impact in advancing entrepreneurship in Canada.

Ontario

Winner: Entrepreneurship 101 @ MaRS

Runner-Up: TIM Program

Runner-Up: Humber Launch

Atlantic

Winner: Clarity.fm

Quebec

Winner: International Startup Festival

Prairies

Winner: Launch Party

Runner-Up: Fundica

BC

Winner: Grow Conference

Runner-Up: New Ventures BC

Startup Community of the Year

Awarded to the official Startup Canada Community that has most successfully advanced their local entrepreneur community through both strengthening their local entrepreneurship ecosystem and culture as well as advancing Canada’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through active engagement and contribution nationally.

Ontario

Winner: Startup Waterloo

Atlantic

Winner: Startup Fredericton

Quebec

Winner: Quebec Startup

Prairies

Winner: Startup Winnipeg (RampUp Manitoba / AssentWorks)

Runner-Up: Startup Calgary 

BC

Winner: Startup PG

Most Entrepreneurial Post-Secondary Institution of the Year

Awarded to the college or university that demonstrates the largest commitment and impact in advancing entrepreneurship.

Ontario

Winner: Ryerson University 

Runner-Up: University of Waterloo

Runner-Up: Seneca College

Atlantic

Winner: University of New Brunswick

Prairies

Winner: Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship & Innovation 

Runner-Up: Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence 

BC

Winner: University of Victoria

Runner-Up: Simon Fraser University 

Professional Services Company of the Year

Awarded to a professional services firm – e.g. banking, legal, accounting, strategic consulting, etc. – that demonstrates the largest commitment and impact in supporting and investing in entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally and nation-wide.

Ontario

Winner: Ernst & Young

Runner-Up: Deloitte

Atlantic

Winner: McInnes Cooper

Prairies

Winner: Boast Capital

Incubator/ Accelerator of the Year

Awarded to a Canadian incubator or accelerator that demonstrates both innovative approaches and the largest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally and nation-wide.

Ontario

Winner: Communitech

Runner-Up: Invest Ottawa

Atlantic

Winner: Launch 36

Quebec

Winner: FounderFuel

Runner-Up: Accélérateur de création d’entreprises technologiques (ACET)

Prairies

Winner: Alberta Women Entrepreneurs 

Runner-Up: TEC Edmonton

BC

Winner: Growlab

Runner-Up: Wavefront

Government Organization of the Year

Awarded to a municipal, provincial or federal government program, department, office, agency or entity that demonstrates both innovative approaches and the largest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally and nation-wide.

Ontario

Winner: Build in Canada Innovation Program

Prairies

Winner: Women’s Enterprise Initiative

BC

Winner: BC Innovation Council

Non-Profit Support Organization of the Year

Awarded to a non-profit organization that demonstrates both innovative approaches and the largest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally and nation-wide.

Ontario

Winner: MaRS Discovery District 

Runner-Up: Ladies Learning Code 

Atlantic

Winner: Hub Halifax

Quebec

Winner: La Fondation Montréal inc

Prairies

Winner: Northern Alberta Business Incubator

BC

Winner: CYBF BC

Runner-Up: Launch Academy

Anchor Company of the Year

Awarded to a large private sector firm that demonstrates the largest commitment and impact in supporting and investing in entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities within their community and nation-wide

Ontario

Winner: Microsoft

Runner-Up: Shopify

Quebec

Winner: Videotron

BC

Winner: Hootsuite

Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builder of the Year

Awarded to a Canadian who has demonstrated the greatest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally, regionally and / or nationally and who has been a leading evangelist and champion of entrepreneurship, demonstrably contributing to more entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviours and activities.

Ontario

Winner: Joel Adams

Runner-Up: Reza Satchu

Atlantic

Winner: Robert Pelley

Quebec

Winner: Gabriel Sundaram

Runner-Up: Phil Telio

Prairies

Winner: Chris Johnson

Runner-Up: Joelle Foster

BC

Winner: Dan Gunn

Runner-Up: Jeff Keen

Entrepreneur Mentor of the Year

Awarded to a Canadian entrepreneur mentor who has demonstrated the greatest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally, regionally and / or nationally through no-cost mentorship of entrepreneurs as evidenced by their rate of growth.

Ontario

Winner: Sean Wise

Runner-Up: Jeff Dennis

Atlantic

Winner: Robert Zed

Quebec

Winner: LP Maurice

Prairies

Winner: Randy Yatscoff

Runner-Up: Stephen King 

BC

Winner: Ray Walia

Runner-Up: Cathy Kuzel

Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year

Awarded to a Canadian educator who has:

• Demonstrated excellence in educating, empowering and equipping entrepreneurship students with the attitudes, skills, experiential learning opportunities and networks needed to pursue successful entrepreneurial ventures; 
• Made a significant impact in both fostering student-led entrepreneurship initiatives and motivating senior campus leadership to adopt entrepreneurial policies and priorities; and / or, 
• Engaged actively in the local startup community through bringing strudents into the community and bringing the community onto the campus.

Ontario

Winner: Howard Armitage

Runner-Up: Ajay Agrawal

Atlantic

Winner: Dr. Mary Kilfoil

Quebec

Winner: Michael Avedesian

Prairies

Winner: Scott MacAulay

BC

Winner: Brent Mainprize

Media Person of the Year

Awarded to a Canadian media person who has:

• Demonstrated the greatest impact in advancing public awareness about entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial issues and / or 
• Leveraged their public voice to champion entrepreneurship through the media and through their community service.

Ontario

Winner: Rick Spence

Runner-Up: Ian Hardy of Betakit

Atlantic

Winner: Peter Moreira

Prairies

Winner: Martin Cash

BC

Winner: Rob Lewis

Young Entrepreneur of the Year

The Young Entrepreneur Award is a celebration of youth entrepreneurship – reminding us of the importance of cultivating entrepreneurial awareness and acumen both at home and through early education to fuel the next generation of Canada’s great entrepreneurs.

Ontario

Winner: Linda Manziaris 

Runner-Up: William Zhou

Prairies

Winner: Mandy Balak

Wolf Blass Lifetime Achievement Award

Awarded to a Canadian who has demonstrated the greatest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally, regionally and / or nationally throughout their lifetime.

Ontario

Winner: Gary Will

Atlantic

Winner: Gerry Pond

Quebec

Winner: John Dobson (Foundation)

Prairies

Winner: Allan Scott

Investor of the Year

Awarded to a Canadian investor who has demonstrated the greatest impact in advancing the success of entrepreneurs, startups, startup communities and entrepreneurial activities locally, regionally and / or nationally through a blend of monetary investment and mentorship.

Prairies

Winner: Randy Thompson

Runner-Up: Dan Park

Mother's Day Memories

My mother, Jean McKernan Spence, passed away, rather reluctantly, six months ago. The following week, I wrote an article for the Financial Post reviewing the entrepreneurial lessons I learned from her. In honour of Mother's Day, here is that column.

Entrepreneurship begins at home – and grows from there

Although she earned a bachelor’s of science in commerce at a time when few women took that route, my mother never became a business tycoon. Jean McKernan was a stylish buyer of ladies’ gloves for Allied department stores in New York, but she gave it all up when she married a dashing Canadian banker.

Jean in October, 2013

When he was transferred to Toronto, she followed. There, this spunky daughter of Brooklyn became the essential 1960s homemaker, raising four children, joining service clubs, and putting on swanky dinners to impress my father’s clients, often with just a few hours’ notice. At the time, I am told, “the Bank” didn’t approve of managers’ wives holding outside jobs, so hers was a dutiful life of serving others.

Yet when my mother passed away late last month, she left behind a gaggle of entrepreneurs. Not just this writer, who specializes in entrepreneurship and innovation, but also my older sister, a real-estate consultant; my younger sister, a creatively caring physician who helps patients who dwell on society’s margins; and my brother, who runs his own bookstore in Paris. Each has lived their own, unscripted life of creativity and purpose, because our mother, without ever really starting a business, embodied many of the characteristics of the most successful entrepreneurs.

Confidence Graduating high school in the early 1940s, my mother matured in a world where most men were off in the military. Millions of women learned to take up the slack in business and industry. My mother never picked up a rivet gun. But she had the confidence to go to university, join the glee club, edit the student newspaper and manage the yearbook. Years later, she took apart an old shortwave radio I’d bought and fixed a mechanical problem inside. It never occurred to her that any challenge was beyond her until she’d given it a go.

50s Society Girl

Being open to opportunity In her mid-twenties, my mother was recovering from a romantic breakup when her father, a pinstriped Washington banker, invited her to join him on a special train out of New York headed to a bankers’ convention in San Francisco. Jean had the sense to board the bankers’ express, perhaps suspecting the male-female ratio would be 100 to 1. It was on this train that she met my father.

Spotting unmet market needs My mother was always thinking up ideas for new products and services. She would call up companies to offer them ideas for better products. She tried to organize a bunch of cottagers to buy the summer homes they were renting to redevelop them as a first-class recreational community. She tried to invest in the singing career of a bright young talent named Robert Goulet. Little came of her schemes; time and money were scarce. But had my mother come of age in today’s era of low-cost startups, she might have been Queen of the Apps. At age 80, long after retiring to Florida, she called Tim Hortons about buying the franchise rights for Tampa Bay.

Leadership When there was a project to be done, my mom was out in front leading the charge. She founded her university’s NAACP chapter to fight for minority rights. Heading up her Rotary group, planning Christmas parties, organizing neighbourhood groups to clean up the environment, or fighting intrusive developments, she motivated others to take action. That’s the hallmark of a great leader.

Financial smarts My mother taught us there are no free lunches. Or free lemonade or paper cups. When we opened sidewalk lemonade stands on hot summer days, mom would support us, helping us gather all the cups,  ice cubes, lemon juice and sugar. And then she would charge us for them. She said it was important for us to understand our costs so we would appreciate our profits. It was a valuable lesson reluctantly learned.

Looking stylish in 1929

Attracting people My mother loved people. She would strike up conversations with strangers, ask passersby for help, and make new friends every day at parties, stores, home and school meetings, or just waiting in line. She talked naturally with small children, tradespeople, artists, bank executives and British nobility. I think this is an essential trait of entrepreneurs: a passion for engaging with people at all levels, soliciting other points of view, and enlisting help for all your plans and dreams. To sell your business ideas, you have to sell yourself first.

Creative risk-taking My mother never feared to take chances, or to fail. For one birthday long ago, she made me a cake shaped like the Matterhorn. Sadly, it suffered a severe avalanche just before the party. She admitted her mistake and cheerily ladled out bundles of goo to all my friends. She turned her golf cart into Santa’s sleigh for a Florida Christmas parade and handed out home-made doughnuts at Halloween. When my father retired from that bank, she dragged him to a 500-year-old country house in England for two years to keep him from becoming sedentary. She saw every day as a chance to see or do something new, which in turn stimulated her imagination further.

Invincible will When my mother made up her mind to do something, it got done. She pulled off numerous projects over her lifetime, none more impressive than the Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for 22 people she organized in October in Dunedin, Fla., despite her declining health and flagging energy. Two days before her death, with company coming to visit, and having barely left her bed for days, my mom kicked everyone out of the kitchen and made a pie.

Entrepreneurs work their magic in many fields, beyond business. The day after her funeral, I toasted my mom’s memory, and her legacy, with a glass of lemonade.

25 Questions to Ask an Entrepreneur

My blog analytics tell me that a lot of people find this site using the search term “questions to ask an entrepreneur.”

So why not give the public what they want?

If you're interviewing an entrepreneur, for school or business, here are 25 key questions (plus a few supplementals) that you might profitably ask:


How did you get started in this business? Did you found the company?
Is this your first business? (If not, ask what the others were, and what happened to them.)
Were you exposed to entrepreneurship as a child (say, from family members or friends)?
How did you finance your business? What have been your most effective sources of financing over the years?

What are the revenues of the business? (They may or may not answer this.)
How many employees do you have? Full- or part-time? (This gives you some idea of the company size in case they didn't answer the revenue question.)
What is an average workday like for you?
Who are your customers? What are your most significant products or services?
How has your market changed in the past few years? How has your business changed to keep pace?

How have sales grown in the last few years? (gives you an idea of how successful the business is.)
Is the business profitable? What kind of profit margin does it have? Is that pre-tax or after-tax?
What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?
What plans do you have now to expand your business further?
What systems have you used to automate your business to give you more time for business planning and development?

What outsiders have been most important to your business success? (e.g., bankers, accountants, investors, customers, suppliers, mentors, etc.)
Do you have a business plan? A marketing plan? When was it last updated? (gives you some idea of how sophisticated their planning process is)
How do you market your products or services?
What has been your most effective marketing tactic or technique?
What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today? (asking for three is a lot, but it forces your subject to dig deeper than just saying , “Just do it,” or “Hire good people.”)
How long do you plan to keep operating this business? Do you have an “exit” strategy for getting out of the company?
If you were to start another business, what might it be? 
Do you believe business has any obligation to make the world a better place?
How does your business “give back” to the community or to society? 

(c) Rick Spence, Canadian Entrepreneur 2014

Note to students: Don't try to ask all these questions in one interview. Pick and choose. 

And never be afraid to follow up on the best answers by saying, "That's really interesting, Tell me more." Or ask for more info by saying, "Can you give me an example of that?"

Note to teachers: For permission to reprint this list at no charge, please e-mail me at rick (at) rickspence.ca

10 Years Later: What I Do

I've had a few people ask me lately what I do. That's kind of hard to explain, since I move rather fluidly between business journalism, contract content development, speaking on entrepreneurship and innovation, coaching and consulting. And the fact that I've been too busy to finish the website I started in 2004 probably doesn't help.

But, I recently wrote down what I do for an entrepreneur who wanted to connect me with his network. Like many entrepreneurs., I seldom articulate what it is I actually do, so I thought maybe I should share this with you while I'm thinking of it.

If you have any questions, send me an email. Rick (@) RickSpence.ca

My background is business journalism: specifically, former editor and publisher of PROFIT, The Magazine for Canadian Entrepreneurs, and national entrepreneurship columnist for the National Post for the past seven years. My writing has always been about the “how” of entrepreneurship: best practices in strategy, sales and marketing, finance, management and motivation, exports, product development and innovation.

Since leaving PROFIT Magazine in 2003, I have been running* my own business doing three things: writing; speaking; and consulting, for small businesses, startups, and enterprises alike.

For big organizations I do content planning and development, For startups I help with strategy and planning, prioritizing, branding and marketing. With general small businesses I have had success with rebranding, rejuvenating their marketing strategies, re-energizing teams and culture, and helping these organizations find a greater purpose.

I know how tough it is to start a business, develop strategy, get the word out and build the customer base. I would be happy to chat with any of the entrepreneurs in your network who would like some help with these essential challenges.

*In my original note to my entrepreneur friend, I spelled running "ruining." Take that as you will.

Business Bootcamp creates unlikely outcomes

This is my National Post column for March 31, 2014. It's about heroes, and the unlikely role business can play in helping them overcome the trauma that comes from being heroic in difficult times.

This article started with a simple goal: to tell you about a unique week-long “boot camp” being held this summer in Regina, Quebec City and St. John’s, Nfld., for military members and veterans interested in starting businesses. Funded by the Prince’s Charities Canada, “Based in Business” offers lectures from entrepreneurs and business professors, assistance with business-plan research and development, mentoring and even startup loans.

But then the “mission creep” began. I decided to tell this story by asking some bootcamp graduates about their experience. But in these strange days for the Canadian Forces — post-Afghanistan, post-traumatic stress disorder — nothing is simple. Talking to Canada’s veterans about their careers becomes much more than a business conversation. Yet in the end, business took on an unexpectedly significant role. Entrepreneurship is not just about creating your own job; it’s about regaining control over your life.

If you’re a recently discharged member of the Canadian Forces, or soon to be discharged, or if you’ve been discharged for medical reasons at any time, you can apply for the “Based in Business” program. Rooted in university campuses in Quebec City (in May), St. John’s (in July), and Regina (in August), these free programs will accept 20 participants each. They offer access to people and resources who can help you complete a winning business plan and fuel a successful business launch.

For more information on The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur go to http://www.cybf.ca/cybf_programs/operation-entrepreneur. The deadline for the Laval program (in French) is April 6; the deadline for the English-language camps is May 19.

That’s where most stories like this end. But this one is just starting.

My first call was to Gino Savard, a 27-year Forces veteran who runs a package-delivery company in Quebec City. A master warrant officer, he served five overseas tours: three in Yugoslavia, one in Haiti, and one in Afghanistan, in 2009, where he served as sergeant-major for the 51st Field Engineers Squadron. On Sept. 6, three weeks before his six-month tour was up, Savard was riding in an armoured vehicle south of Kandahar when they ran over an improvised explosive device. The truck flipped, killing two people and injuring five.

Savard was sent home to CFB Valcartier, north of Quebec City. As he recovered, he devoted the next six months to looking after his injured colleagues. “Everyone is OK now, physically,”  he says. “Mentally, it’s still hard to for some to manage what happened.”

Like many Forces personnel, some of his fellows suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s a terrible condition, easy to diagnose but difficult to treat. Savard stayed with his colleagues to help them adjust. It’s a sergeant-major’s job to make sure his troops are always ready for action, he says. “My ethic and my conviction was to stay with them and help them with their mental health as much as I could.”

A year ago, Savard got the idea to start a courier business using electric vehicles. His business plan was “80% complete” when he attended Laval University’s Based in Business bootcamp last summer. “They gave us a lot of information, on marketing, leadership, social media, and all the things you need to know as an entrepreneur,” he says.

http://www.colisgrammes.com/

Savard’s advisors suggested being “green” wasn’t a sufficient differentiator for a parcel company. They helped him focus on service, promoting the traits he’d learned in the military: loyalty, integrity, duty and discipline. “When you have these values,” he says, “anyone can be an entrepreneur.” Colis Grammes launched in October, backing up its promises with an app that alerts sender and recipient when packages are picked up and delivered.

Savard now employs eight drivers — all former military, all diagnosed with PTSD. “They can work any schedule they want,” he says. That kind of flexibility, he adds, “helps them adapt to civilian life.”

In Victoria, Lt. Col. Chris Linford is also recovering from PTSD. A musician who joined the Reserves to play in a pipe band, he studied nursing so he could become a combat medic. In his 25-year military career, he served in the Persian Gulf, Rwanda and Afghanistan. In Rwanda in 1994 he was part of a 200-member medical team sent by Canada to care for the victims of a brutal civil war. With civilian authority in tatters, the field hospital was quickly overwhelmed by ailing refugees.

“We didn’t count on the extent of the casualties,” Linford says. “The cholera was stopped early, but we saw advanced levels of diseases and injury that we had only ever seen in textbooks.” He was particularly struck by the deaths of 44 children under Canadian care. “That was really too much for any of us to bear,” he says. “I came back broken, mentally and physically.”

Like any good soldier, Linford shut away his feelings of anger, sadness and horror. After the 100-day mission, he returned to Canada and received regular promotions. “I thought I’d be okay,” he says. But after 10 years, the nightmares returned. He was short-tempered, unable to sleep, unable to concentrate. As deputy commander of the base hospital at CFB Borden in Ontario, he walked down the hall and asked the base surgeon for help.

Linford was quickly diagnosed with depression and PTSD. With drugs and weekly therapy, by the end of 2004 he was over the worst. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and given his own field ambulance command in Edmonton. Then in 2009 he was asked to take command of a combat hospital in Kandahar. “Unfortunately, I didn’t count on the level of trauma I’d see there,” he says. The constant deaths and injuries triggered a relapse. “Three months into my seven-month tour of duty, my PTSD came back,” he says. He spent 18 months in therapy.

Warrior Rising

While his medical discharge took place early this year, Linford spent much of the past year writing a book about his experiences – Warrior Rising – to encourage others afflicted with PTSD to seek help. He attended Regina’s Based in Business bootcamp last summer to put a plan around his book and speaking services.

Eight months later, Linford has completed a 28-city book tour, he’s hiring a literary agent, and he is developing a couples-therapy program to help veterans and their spouses better manage PTSD together; he’s already raised several hundred thousand dollars to finance the first trials. “This is legacy stuff,” he says. “This will change relationships for the better in this country.”

With his business clearly heading in the right direction, I asked Linford how that affects his disorder. “Control is a big issue,” he confirmed. “With PTSD, you are never in control. The PTSD can manipulate and shape you any way you want.”

But with the confidence he’s gained in building his business, Linford feels he’s finally back in control. “I no longer live in fear of my triggers,” he says. When speaking about PTSD brings back memories, he says, “I sit there and control my response. I can manage it.”

Many PTSD sufferers assume “coping” with their syndrome is the best outcome they can expect. Linford now knows you can move beyond “coping” to “control,” and that is now his message.

Spreading hope and rebuilding lives is not the normal outcome of a business course. But it’s an example of the life-changing confidence that entrepreneurship engenders. Because every business begins with hope.

Democracy and Entrepreneurship

I've been reading Team of Rivals, the marvelous story of Abraham Lincoln and his divided Cabinet, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. (A small portion of the book, concerning the political development of the Emancipation Proclamation, inspired the Spielberg movie Lincoln.)

As an outsider and backwoods Illinois lawyer who would overcome numerous obstacles to become President, Lincoln truly believed that freedom, prosperity, ambition and achievement all stem from the fundamental notion of democracy embedded in the Declaration of Independence: that “All men are created equal.” (Women’s suffrage, and entrepreneurship, would of course come later.)

He gave voice to these ideals in an emotional address in 1864 to Union soldiers from Ohio (then as now an essential swing state) who were mustering out and heading home. The Civil War would continue for another eight months of blood and fire.

“I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House,” said Lincoln.

“I am a living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father’s child has. It is in order that each of you may have through this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise and intelligence; that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations.  It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our birthright…  The nation is worth fighting for, to secure such an inestimable jewel.”

If only more politicians today had such clear vision and understanding of the importance of freedom and its relation to entrepreneurship. In an age of calcified big business, bloated bureaucracy and increasing global competition, entrepreneurs still need “an open field and a fair chance.”

The Essence of Strategy

This issue has come up in so many of my conversations lately...

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
Michael Porter

There are too many choices. Simplify and focus. Or as my brainy friend Terry Small in Vancouver tweeted yesterday: 
"A good question to ask every day: Can I make this process more simple?
{ Less is usually more.}" 

What you missed this month in the Financial Post

Interested in growth strategies, new Web opportunities, and long-term leadership? Check out these recent columns I wrote for the Financial Post.  

Looking for a new start on the Web?
New ‘dot.today’ domain may be your best opportunity for a cooler URL

Can traditional firms be built using the principles associated with high-growth tech startups? Check it out:
How two Next 36 co-founders are trying to upend Bay Street

The power of vision, simplicity – and having good friends on Wall Street

Why shaving retailer Harrys.com is not your average online startup

Read how one of Canada’s oldest businesses learned to stay relevant:

Candy maker Ganong pivots to keep up with the times

What else do you think I should be writing about? Let me know. Leave a comment or email me at rick(at)rickspence.ca

No shortcuts in selling business solutions

Dipping into the mail bag again, I recently got this email from an entrepreneur in Western Canada (his name has been changed to preserve his privacy):

Hey Rick -

You don’t know me, but I came across your article on Financial Post about “Playing detective with your 2014 planning.”  I’m a small business owner and fan of the E-Myth book and enjoyed the read!

I’ve run a couple of small businesses with varying success, but my core skill set is as a software developer.  I’ve been knocking around an idea for a product that dovetails into the E-Myth philosophy a bit, and I was wondering if I could get your thoughts.

The idea basically started a couple years ago when I was running an e-commerce store and trying to dig myself out of the usual “working in your business” mindset.  I was making procedures for processing refunds, handling damaged deliveries, etc, but I wasn’t finding an efficient way to build and improve these processes.  

What I’m picturing is some kind of software product that helps define procedures. I’m wondering if you know of any other structured software systems that help accomplish this? Do you think this is something that’s worthwhile, or do you think people are more into their own low-fi solutions?

I’d appreciate any input you have on the topic.

Frank

And here is my response:

Hi Frank. Thanks for your note.

I think your idea sounds terrific. However, having worked with an entrepreneur who tried to sell knowledge management software to small business, I know how resistant to change this market can be. So many business owners prefer inefficient paper processes to automated solutions, due to the perceived cost, fears of loss of control, and concerns about having to learn new things. 

So even a great idea is no slam dunk.

However, if you have the time and passion, pursuing this concept could pay off. But you have to research your prospects relentlessly, because chances are you have part of a solution here, and surveys and interviews with potential customers might uncover the tweaks that would make your product successful. 

Below is a link to a similar case, my recent article about an entrepreneur who spent two years working on a one-trick app before he realized that he was seeing only one tiny part of the real problem that business owners would be willing to pay for. You might find his experiences helpful.

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/01/16/jeremy-potvin-shifthub/

Best of luck. Let me know how it goes. 

Rick's additional comment:

As Jeremy Potvin, the Toronto entrepreneur behind the story linked to above, learned to his cost, customers will only pay for business solutions that solve the most acute pain points. When selling BtoB, make sure you have identified the highest, most costly problems your market is facing. Your first hunch is a good start, but probably only a hint of the final product your target market is actually happy to pay for. 

Should I start this business or not?

I recently received an email from an entrepreneur wanting advice on a very delicate subject: whether or not he should start a business based on an idea he has. 

As well, he asks, should he tell people about his idea, or keep it secret to prevent people from going into competition with him?

Here's a copy of my reply: 

Hi Drake (not his real name). You face a common dilemma. Is your idea worth pursuing? Only you can decide that.

Is someone else doing it? Even if they are, your approach might be so different that it is still worth doing.

I hope you don't mind if I answer your question with a link to a past article. I wrote it for entrepreneurs like you who are trying to decide whether a business concept is worth pursuing.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/09/30/how-to-determine-if-your-next-business-opportunity-is-worth-the-effort/?__lsa=c7a5-092e

I'd be pleased to hear if this helps you at all. If not, I'm happy to continue the conversation.

Above all, keep in mind that you have more to gain from sharing your business idea than by keeping it secret. There are so many business opportunities out there, it is pretty unlikely that anyone would steal your idea. Even if they do, if you are the right person to launch this business, you are bringing to it certain skills or market knowledge that will be very hard to duplicate. If anyone can just walk in and compete with you with no specific training, investment or learning curve, you're definitely in the wrong business.

On the other hand, talking about your business to people you meet and trust will likely result in valuable suggestions, market insights, competitive information, contacts, and possibly even leads. (If your business requires securing certain scarce resources, such as URLs or other forms of intellectual property, make sure you have those in hand first.) Overall, my motto is: Tell everyone you can, as soon as you can.

Best of luck. Let me know how things go.

Have another suggestion for Drake? Leave a comment below.

Your Year-End Holiday Wrap-Up

It's been a slow year for this blog, as a nice problem called "too much work" kept me from updating here more than one each month or so. My resolution for 2014 is to increase that frequency by at least 100%. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, here are some seasonal treats for you to feast on:

* The New Year is the right time to think about planning. Here's a framework for setting your business's director this year - and one entrepreneur's testimonial about how it helped her figure stuff out.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/30/play-detective-with-your-2014-planning/

(I snickered when I saw the graphic the Post used to decorate the online version of my story.)

* My official "holiday" column for the National Post looked at what business can learn from our most important Christmas traditions (you know, Charlie Brown, Jimmy Stewart, Scrooge, and the big eastern syndicate). Hopefully a fun yet thought-provoking read.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/23/how-giving-at-christmas-and-even-year-round-can-help-your-bottom-line/

* And take a few minutes to learn from a master: my review of  the higlights of Fred Dawkins' new book, Everyday Entrepreneur. He's a long-time Ontario entrepreneur, and his business lessons are worth the drive to Acton. If you don't know what that means, click here:

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/16/entrepreneur-fred-dawkins-call-to-action-for-would-be-business-owners/

* I also wrote an online-only followup to the Dawkins review. I wanted to focus on his thoughts on why partnerships almost always fail. Worth reading if you have a partner, or ever wished you did. 

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/30/the-preventable-perils-of-partnerships/

Thanks for reading. Please accept all my best wishes for a happy and successful New Year. 

Happy Small Business Week 2013!

Here at Canadian Entrepreneur, we like to say that every week is Small Business Week.
Still, normal people seem to enjoy setting a week aside to honour our entrepreneurial heroes - even if it's just the corner store.
So what's the real value of Small Business Week?
Check out my article at PROFITGuide.com
http://www.profitguide.com/manage-grow/leadership/is-small-business-week-worth-celebrating-58669

Did you know that s Small Business Week is a trademark of the federal government's Business Development Bank?

Excerpt: 

Last year, some 10,000 entrepreneurs participated in more than 200 BDC-related activities marking Small Business Week. You might say there's room for improvement: that number represents just 0.5% of Canada's business owners, and only one-third of BDC's own customer base. It appears most business owners celebrate Small Business Week the old-fashioned way—by working on their business.

How to assess your next business opportunity

The following column, on assessing entrepreneurial opportunities, was published in the Sept. 30, 2013 Financial Post. It drew a lot of favorable comments, including this one from a longtime business consultant:

"Your 30 Sept column rang true. I see dozens of Business Plans (and even help write some), and that column of yours is the best short summary of what is needed to bring a new product/service/venture to success."

So I figured I'd better share this story with my blog readers, PDQ.

Some people believe they could be great entrepreneurs if only they could find the right opportunity. But the most successful entrepreneurs see so many beckoning business niches that they have to separate the winning opportunities from the merely promising.

When two friends told me about an opportunity they were looking at, I offered them the following tool for evaluating whether this potential business would be the best fit for their time, their skills, and their expectations.

If you’re considering investing your money or energy in any new opportunities, ask yourself questions like these:

What is the size of the opportunity? Estimate the potential market for the product or service you  want to bring into the world. Know who your target market is, and identify significant secondary markets. What share of the market do you think your business can reasonably capture by the end of the first year, the second year, and after five years? Is this market big enough, and sufficiently open to new entries, that the reward is worth your effort?

Do customers just want this product, or do they need it? A few products — well, the Pet Rock — may succeed even though no one ever wanted one. But exceptions can’t be planned for. The best opportunities lie in markets where potential customers are actually looking for new solutions. And while it’s nice to sell into a market where buyers want your product, success will come faster if they ache for it. The more pain your customer is in, the more likely they are to buy into your solution.

What is the pain point this product addresses? Be able to articulate how your product solves a searing market need. This is your elevator pitch. Even if you don’t need to justify your business plan to investors or partners, getting this right will be a huge help in planning your butt-kicking marketing campaign.

What are the capital requirements? Whether or not you need outside capital, you need to assess the true costs of getting into business. Include raw materials and product costs, salaries, rent, consultants’ fees, distribution and transportation charges, taxes, web design and hosting costs, and so on. Take into account that the bills will pile up faster than the cheques, so make sure the startup costs align with available resources.

What kind of profit margins does this sector enjoy? When your business reaches cruising speed, what kind of margins will it generate? (Make sure you talk to several people with experience in the field, so you know exactly what the rewards are likely to be.) Don’t be the person who gets a business up and running before realizing that the entire industry runs on razor-thin margins. Ask yourself: what could I do to wring out even higher margins? It’s not how much you sell, it’s how much you keep.

What are the three most difficult problems expected in establishing this business? How well do they align with the founders’ skills and resources?These are the areas where you will spend most of your time and effort, so make sure they fit with the skills and resources you (or your team) bring to the table. For instance, Bill Wood may excel at building pine furniture, but if marketing, sales and shipping are the biggest challenges, he might want to consider a line of work more closely matching his skills.

Is this business easily scalable? “Scalable” refers to a business whose marginal costs shrink drastically as volumes increase. Consider e-books and online courses: once you’ve paid for the content and the marketing infrastructure, every sale is almost pure profit. How might you make this business more scalable?

Does this solution offer opportunities for spinoff products and services?Your best customers are your current customers. Great businesses provide numerous opportunities to sell accessories and spinoff products to the market that already loves your brand. Creating a family of products will give you many more opportunities to serve customers, with lower barriers to market entry.

Are there positive social values attached to this product or service?Whether or not you care about being a force for good in your society or industry, customers and employees increasingly prefer to do business with organizations whose values match their own. Having corporate-responsibility objectives will enhance your company’s credibility and help develop healthier long-term relationships.

Do you (and any other founders) enjoy doing this work? Running a new business is hard. If you don’t love what you’re doing, how can you jump out of bed every morning and inspire others to give their all? If you have a choice of business opportunities, select one where your day-to-day efforts align most closely to the work you love to do.

Imagine these questions are traffic lights. How many are shining green to you right now? Remember: On any dashboard, a red light indicates caution.

CanEntrepreneur hits 300,000 visitors!

I am pleased to report that at the tender age of 8, this blog has just welcomed its 300,000th visitor.

As you can see from the FlagCounter in the right-hand column, "Canadian Entrepreneur" attracts inquisitive minds from around the world.

I installed the counter about three years ago, so it represents just over half of the total traffic since 2005. But it tells a cool story.

Canada still represents half of the blog's visitors, with the U.S. accounting for about 25%.

Then comes the UK, with 6%, and then the English-speaking former colonies: India, the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore, Pakistan and Jamaica. Then come Finland, Ireland, France, Germany, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

In all, these 300,000 visits have come from an incredible 196 countries. Here's the list of countries from which this blog has received just one visitor in the last three years: Seychelles, Cook Islands, Burma, Samoa, Cuba, Andorra, Papua New Guinea, Eritrea, San Marino and Vanuatu.

Come back again, amigos. Don't be strangers!

As a reminder, I don't update his blog as frequently as I used to, as I also blog for PROFIT Magazine and the Financial Post. Do follow me on Twitter @rickpence, or sign up for my newsletter, where I link you to my most recent work. Send an email asking to "Sign up" to rick (at) rickspence.ca

Reed Hasting's Success Secrets

Today Reed Hastings is best known for disrupting both the TV industry and video stores through his company, Netflix. But that was never his intention.

Hasting was happily recovering from growing, running and then selling his previous startup, Pure Software, when he hit on the first germ of the idea that resulted in Netflix.

Here's the story, as uncovered by Dutch entrepreneur Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder of The Next Web, in a recent interview with Hastings in Amsterdam.

Q: Usually when you ask people how they came up with an idea they have an official story about market opportunities but when you press on it is usually a more personal story and a personal frustration that inspired the original idea.

"I got this big late fee [from a videostore], for $40, and I didn’t want to tell my wife about it. I was just too embarrassed. It was like that was the defining moment for Netflix and a lightbulb went off in my head. But that frustration was the instigation for my work on Netflix. A few months later I looked into video rentals and then a friend told me about DVDs and I figured those would be light enough to mail, and based on that we got started with Netflix."

For a little more context, here's the Wikipedia version of this event:

In 1998 Hastings and Marc Randolph co-founded Netflix, offering flat rate film rental-by-mail to customers in the United States.^[12] Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Netflix has amassed a collection of 100,000 titles and over 20 million subscribers.^[13] "I got the idea for Netflix after my company was acquired," said Hastings.^[1] "I had a big late fee for 'Apollo 13.' It was six weeks late and I owed the video store $40. I had misplaced the cassette. It was all my fault. I didn’t want to tell my wife about it. And I said to myself, 'I’m going to compromise the integrity of my marriage over a late fee?' Later, on my way to the gym, I realized they had a much better business model. You could pay $30 or $40 a month and work out as little or as much as you wanted."^[1]

But the TNW interview offers another significant moment, as Hastings talked about just how dissatisfied he is with his own product. His comments are instructive, because it indicates just how firmly entrepreneurs should be focused on the future, not on the current state of things.

"I see all the imperfections in Netflix. I see all the things that aren’t working. At the office I’m the one that says “we suck”. Don’t get me wrong; we are better than everyone else, but we suck compared to what we are going to be. Of course, in general I’m constraining myself from saying these things because they are too easy to take out of context. But as an entrepreneur that’s how you have to look at your product. Compared yourself to what you want to be, what you will be, in five years, and that should be so much better than what you have today."

You can read Boris's original article here:
http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2013/09/12/inspiring-entrepreneurs-reed-hastings-netflix/

Entrepreneurship and the mid-life restart

It's been a busy summer. But I took time tonight to answer a letter from an entrepreneur in rural Canada who wanted some advice on starting a small processing business after a lifetime of working for other people.

My reply:

Hi Bill (name changed to protect the innocent). It sounds like you have the makings of a true entrepreneur! 

Have you considered a partner? As I wrote in my latest column, coincidentally, I think all entrepreneurs should have partners.
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/08/12/partnerships-help-small-business-think-bigger/

He or she could work on sales or marketing or admin, for instance, while you focus on the actual production work.

For space, you might see if there are any co-working spaces, or business incubators, in the city. Failing that, are there any industrial businesses that have extra space they don't currently need that you could rent out?

I strongly suggest you find an experienced local entrepreneur who could mentor you through your startup. People who have started businesses and been successful are often eager to "give back," and it sounds like you are the sort of person they might like to work with. I know many entrepreneurs who have found terrific mentors just by cold-calling business people they admire or respect.

There's lots of ways to handle your challenge, but you've started out well by asking for help. Reach out to everyone you can, and you'll find friends you didn’t know you have.

All the best. Let me know how it goes.

Rick