Spotlight on JP Desjardins: Two Businesses in Five Years

Two businesses in five years! The accomplishments of JP Desjardins, a young entrepreneur from Québec and the co-founder of Orangerine and The Wallrus, are impressive. But behind all of this lies his creative energy, his passion for the projects he undertakes and his engagement in the entrepreneurial community. JP describes himself as an extremely curious and active person. He is passionate about film (his first short film was shown at Cannes Festival through the National Film Board of Canada) and music (he worked as a DJ in night clubs), but also for youth entrepreneurship (he holds conferences in some high schools and in Cégep on starting a business). Recently he was selected as part of the Canadian delegation to the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance summit in Istanbul, and we had the chance to talk with him and learn more about how he advanced his career as an entrepreneur.

You’re a co-founder of Orangerine and The Wallrus. Can you tell us a bit more about these two businesses?

Orangerine started as a video production house that I founded with two friends in 2007. We opened our office in 2010, and we have since become an interactive advertising agency specializing in custom websites and applications. Following the success of the agency, we decided to launch a second business in 2013. This led to the birth of The Wallrus, a marketing service for events that aggregates content from Instagram and Twitter and displays them across one or multiple screens in real time. We were at that time frustrated to not have viable services available that could perform that function, so we created it ourselves. We also wanted to have the experience of developing a product in Québec and making it a global commercial success! Since launching the platform in January of 2015, Wallrus has been deployed in 54 countries with such clients as AT&T, Telus, L’Oréal and many others. We also launched Wallrus in the eSports realm. We were at the 2014 Loto Québec World Games video gaming event, at the Just for Laughs festival, and we are in discussions with Blizzard Entertainment to integrate our solution at their tournaments.

Where did your desire to become and entrepreneur come from?

From 2003 to 2005 I worked at the student radio station at the St-Laurent Cégep, and I learned a lot through the system set up in 1970 where elders teach new students!  I had organized numerous events during this period at Cégep and the process of working collaboratively gave me the entrepreneurial virus.

What do you like about being an entrepreneur today?

It’s having the freedom to choose your clients and your projects; being able to work with the clients you like and learn new things every day. Once you have launched a business and you have the core of your team, it’s relatively easy to launch others as your interests evolve.

You make it sound easy, but I imagine that starting two businesses in a row with various partners must still involve many challenges…

Growth is never easy. Just as cash management and managing your new hires are not easy. My partner Jasmine always manages our financial resources with a lot of rigour and discipline. At the beginning, we held the Bootstrap philosophy close to our hearts, maybe a bit too close. Over time we found a balance. Finally, communication proved to be the key to welding the partners together through hardships that the business encountered over the five first years.

Did your mentor help you face these difficulties that you encountered?

I had the chance to have many mentors and counselors. Christian Whopperer from CIEM coached me on how to market Wallrus internationally. He challenged me on many elements that I have now taken in and helped me reflect in enriching ways. Mentoring is not like coaching. With Rita, I worked to better understand my process of reflection and decision-making. I work on the more intangible things, like soft skills .  Understanding how I think allows me to do what’s right and replicate them on a larger scale, while helping me to grow as a person.

You are very involved in the entrepreneurial community, such as your recent selection as part of the Canadian delegation for the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit. What motivates you to be so engaged?

I had the chance to meet very generous people who have helped me a lot on my path. I believe that the most important thing is to give back and I try to do as much as possible for young entrepreneurs, through my involvement with school dropouts, and by transferring knowledge that I have received over the last five years.

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

The most important thing in my opinion is to be conscious of the personal gaps and to surround yourself with people who have complementary skills to help compensate for these gaps. After that, it’s really important to work on a project that excites you, personally, otherwise it will be very difficult to inspire others to work on this project alongside you.

Written By: Claire Gendron, Bilingual Marketing Content Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada 

Spotlight on Kristin Poch of The Beatnik Bus: Selling Vinyl On The Move

Growing up, Kristin Poch spent weekends with her father scouring thrift stores, garage sales and the local record stores for quality vinyl. Her father was collecting an inventory to pursue his dream of opening a record store, and after three decades he had a collection of over 10,000 records and was ready to open up shop. Sadly, Kristin’s father suffered from a massive heart attack four years ago which forced him into retirement. His dream of opening his own record shop was now just a distant memory… or was it?

After graduating from university, Kristin was struggling finding meaningful work, and her family was trying to find something to do with the massive record collection Kristin’s father had accumulated. After gathering inspiration from mobile shops that she came across in other countries, she had the idea to create a mobile record shop. “That’s when it hit me; this would be a perfect style of business for a record store,” Kristin shared. “Its unique alternative nature marries perfectly with the product. Once the idea struck, I went straight into planning the business, logistics and buying a vehicle.”

The Beatnik Bus’s vintage interior is not only stocked with records, but with a turntable and a couple of seats so customers can listen to the records all in one spot. Despite the hype around this new mobile shop in Calgary, mobile retail is still a relatively new concept, causing challenges and roadblocks for Kristin along the way. She and two other mobile vendors have been working with the city to create bylaws to accommodate them and future mobile retailers through a pilot project and have been seeing success through the process.

Despite the hurdles Kristin has had to overcome as a mobile shop, she had some advice for other entrepreneurs wishing to start their own mobile business:

1. Make sure you know what bylaws are and are not in place for mobile businesses in your area.
2. Know where your target market is and partner with local businesses and events to reach that market.
3. If you live in an area that has distinct seasons, have a plan for the winter.
4. Just do it!

Overall starting her own business has been a rewarding venture for Kristin. Not only has she done work in her city to help pave the way for future mobile retailers, but she also gets to talk music with people on a regular basis—something that she has grown up being passionate about with her father. “The nostalgia of my product and the deep connection people have with certain artists, albums or songs allows me to connect with people on such a unique level,” Kristin explains. “The conversations I have and the passion I see in people makes everything worthwhile.”

Check out some media coverage of Kristin and The Beatnik Bus:
CBC News: Beatnik Bus plans to cruise Calgary’s streets as vinyl record shop
Metro News Canada: Calgary to see launch of Beatnik Bus, city’s first mobile record store
CBC News: Purchased off the back of a truck? Calgary retailers attempt to mobilize

Written By: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Creation Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada

Spotlight on Andrew of Mint Ultimate: Sneaking Into Classes to Pursue His Entrepreneurial Passion

From a young age, Andrew Oh wanted to help people. His job in the retail industry didn’t allow him to do that and for Andrew, that was a nonstarter. “I hated how horrible the customer service was where I was working, and I had no power to control things. This was the turning point,” shared Andrew. “I wanted to be my own boss, have the control, provide better customer service, and play a fair game where how far you get is determined by the individual and not others.” At the same time Andrew, who played ultimate frisbee for 8 years, saw an opportunity to create a better ultimate frisbee glove.

Andrew, who was studying Psychology at York University at the time, didn’t have the skills to start his own business, so he snuck into an entrepreneurship class at his university in the pursuit to learn more about starting a business. However, he was caught by the professor. The professor saw promise in Andrew, and decided to help him enroll in her undergraduate entrepreneurship class. “The rest is history,” Andrew explained. ”The same professor is my most trusted advisor and friend who was there from the beginning, and will be there at the end.”

With the right skills to start a business, and a trusted advisor and mentor, Andrew set out looking for a manufacturer for his premium ultimate frisbee gloves. Determined to find the perfect glove, Andrew sampled different gloves for a year before finding the right one. “Paying sampling fees proved to be very expensive with no guarantee, but it paid off in the end.” With the help of some friends with computer and website development skills, Andrew crafted his company’s website. He then proceeded to make his first order of 1000 gloves in December 2014.

Now distributing gloves internationally, and having sold in over 15 different countries, Mint Ultimate is a brand that has been growing rapidly. Andrew has been and continues to be challenged day in and day out. Starting a business while in school wasn’t easy, and Andrew had to quit his part-time job and drop many of his outside activities in order to dedicate his time to the business. Coordinating with manufactures across the globe hasn’t been easy either. Andrew regularly schedules calls with his manufactures in the evenings in order to account for the time difference. Today, Andrew’s biggest challenge is fully realizing the potential the US market has to offer. “My transactions are facilitated in US currency, and most of my customers are American, making doing business in Canada’s business environment extremely hard and painful.”

Andrew is currently deploying a lot of time into a “secret” new product. “I’ve wanted to annihilate my competitor’s business, and the next product I’m planning right now is to do just that,” Andrew explained. From the beginning, Andrew knew he could create an ultimate frisbee glove that was better for the players. Through his business, Andrew is able to realize his childhood dream of helping people. “When a high school kid tells me he can’t afford to pay the full price for a glove or a university student in the US with tuition of $45,000 USD asks for a discount, the ability to help them makes my job intrinsically rewarding,” Andrew shared “I’m helping people. It’s what I’ve wanted to do. Because I have full control, I can be fair, sympathetic, and break the rules and norm. This makes it a career I prefer over the alternatives.”

Andrew chose the path of entrepreneurship; while juggling school and turning an idea into a product, he managed to develop a career that he is passionate about. Andrew left us with one piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. “Dream big, start small. Work smart. Get credibility, then move forward. After you launch, it’s not hard to maintain and grow. You just have to use your head.”

Written by: Christopher Fletcher, Futurpreneur Canada Intern 

Spotlight on The Green Kiss: Sexier Than a Health Food Store and Smarter Than Sephora

Selling and promoting eco-friendly, natural body care products by day, and slipping into a sequin outfit, with backcombed hair and piles of makeup for a Motown show band by night, Megan Johns felt like she was leading a double life. That’s when she had an ‘aha’ moment. How could she sell and promote such healthy products during the day and then slather on miscellaneous chemicals at night for shows? She wondered what she was really putting on her face, and from there, the idea for her business, The Green Kiss, was born.

The Green Kiss is an online store and Victoria-based beauty bar that sells some of North America’s safest and most effective natural beauty brands. Megan Johns, founder of The Green Kiss, spent five years helping her uncle out in his local hemp store, where she learned about fair trade business practices, ethically grown and manufactured fabrics, and the idea that business—and life in general— really could and should be done in a better way. As time went on, Megan became more inspired to start her own business, and after reading books like “The Virtuous Consumer” and “Not Just a Pretty Face,” Megan discovered a newfound realization of what she wanted to dedicate her life to—reducing the amount of harmful ingredients that women were unknowingly applying on their skin daily.

“For me, it will always be the people that matter the most. Women should not be unintentionally poisoning themselves via their lipstick,” shared Megan. “I’m dedicating my business to help make it easier than ever to make the switch to natural products, and every day that The Green Kiss is open, I’m thankful to say we are doing just that.”

Megan has a bit of an unconventional background in the beauty industry. She grew up in the arts, both as a singer and dancer, and she continues to grow her singing career while running her business. She is currently the lead singer in a country band called, The County Line and uses her gigs as the ultimate way to test and try out new products for the store. “If the beauty products work for stage after a night of singing (and sweating under the lights), then they end up making the cut,” she shares.

Launching The Green Kiss, just like every start-up, has taken Megan a lot of time and dedication. After spending four years on research, developing a business plan and creating marketing ideas, her dream finally became a reality when The Green Kiss opened in 2011. What Megan discovered while researching was that the beauty industry had way more unethical things going on than she initially thought. “Once I started to do research, it was like peeling an onion back, as more and more unethical practices were revealed to me,” Megan explained. “I realized I had to get very clear on our buying guidelines and that continuous research was going to have to become a daily task.”

In addition to navigating the cosmetic space, Megan initially struggled with making sure that her business grew slowly and steadily without sinking her into a huge amount of debt. She wanted to work really hard for the first three years to prove that there was a demand and that the concept not only worked but made a profit, and has been successful doing just that with the help of her singing career, and her Futurpreneur Canada loan. She explained to us that in January 2015 The Green Kiss was still just a one woman show, and they now have four employees. The next move for Megan and The Green Kiss is to find expansion financing that will help bring her business to the next level.

While chatting with Megan, we asked her what her tips were for sourcing and buying different eco-friendly products from brands across North America, and she shared with us this advice:

1. Spend time to really research the company and their ethics to make sure it’s in line with your business.

2. Research every single ingredient in every single product to make sure that their complete ingredient list matches with your own personal buying guidelines.

3. Test and try products personally to make sure that they truly work before reselling them to your customers whose trust you have worked so hard to get.

Through the many ups and downs that Megan has experienced over the years of developing her business she has developed a business that in her opinion is “sexier than a health food store and smarter than Sephora,” and with that, Megan left other entrepreneurs who aspire to develop a business with the following advice: “No matter how much passion you have for the amazing and world-changing product or service you have, the reality is that it is your marketing that is either going to make it successful or not. If you know marketing is not your strength, find someone to work with that can really help you get your message across in a clear and concise way.”

Written By: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Creation Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada

Weekend Reading List

Photo Credit: Angela Sabas

It’s time for a roundup of some great content we have found over the last week online for entrepreneurs. Need a weekend read? Here is a list to power through that is sure to provide useful tips and strategies that will help you stay motivated and propel your business to the next stage.

Ten ways small businesses can tap into government money

Many small businesses aren’t taking advantage of all the government grants, credits, and incentives available to them. Teri Kirk, President and CEO of The Funding Portal recommends ten ways that small businesses can increase government funding of their businesses.

Why these young entrepreneurs would not have made it without their mentors

A good mentor is one of the key ingredients in helping small businesses succeed. In fact, small businesses that receive mentoring stay in business for at least five years. Andrew Devenport, the CEO of Youth Business International shares three businesses he witnessed grow with the help of a mentor.

Five international business tips for entrepreneurs and other brave souls

Doing business internationally isn’t easy for any business executive, especially if you are an entrepreneur. From unexpected costs, to the commitment your business will have to make, these five tips are sure to aid you should you be considering expanding your business internationally.

Eight costly startup expenses that are actually worth the investment

When starting a business, an entrepreneur is especially careful about how they spend their money. Sujan Patel, the Vice President of Marketing at When I Work suggests eight products and services that although seem costly, will pay off for your business.

Six ways to bootstrap the PR your startup needs but can’t afford

Getting the word out about your startup or small business can be difficult and costly. Elliott Tomaeno, the Founder of Astrsk, a PR agency, suggests six strategies that will help you market your business now, and in the future.

Compiled by: Christopher Fletcher, Futurpreneur Canada Intern

Being a woman entrepreneur in a man’s world – Interview with Kristell Tremblay

Where some people see a risk, Kristell Tremblay sees an opportunity. What we could consider to be a disadvantage, she turns into an asset. This 33-year-old young entrepreneur, with a strong character and candor, is one of those who know where they are going. When told she was crazy to start her own company in the construction industry considering the unfavourable market conditions, Kristell didn’t get discouraged. As the head of Construction KT Inc. for nearly three years now, Kristell is part of the small community of 2.9% of female owners of small and medium sized businesses in the construction industry in Canada. Being young and being a women business owner in an industry largely dominated by men is not common and may seem challenging. We had the pleasure of speaking with Kristell who shared her journey and her day-to-day life as an entrepreneur with us.

 Entrepreneur by nature

Daughter of a business owner, Kristell always knew she was an entrepreneur by nature and it didn’t take very long before she followed her engineer father’s path. After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, she worked in a factory where she realized that it was hard for her to practice leadership in this male-dominated environment and eventually decided to switch to the construction industry. She first ventured in civil engineering at CIMOTA Inc. Here experience was very education and allowed her to learn a lot about construction. It was only after another job where she realized that she was able to run her own business, so she decided to take the plunge and start her own company, Construction KT Inc.

“We are general construction contractors that renovate schools, works on renovation and repairs as well as redevelopment projects, mainly in the Montreal area,” explains Kristell. “We specialize in structural concrete repair, underground parking lots, condominiums, concrete balconies, surface coatings, and more. “

Being an entrepreneur in the construction industry is not easy. One of the greatest challenges for Kristell is to stay informed and understand the many laws that govern this industry. The construction industry is not performing very well but this doesn’t mar Kristell’s optimism, or her determination. “In 2012, many businesses had to close their doors, I saw this more as an opportunity than a threat,” Kristell shared. “It eventually opened up space for young people and even if this year is hard for everyone, we hope to continue and to see a progression. We don’t allow ourselves to be discouraged.”

Kristell can count on the support of mentors to guide her on her entrepreneurial journey, but also that of her father, who acts more like a coach and who gives her advice on risk taking and emotional aspects.

Paving her own path

Kristell also owes her success to her strong character. When asked if she sees the fact of being young and being female as a disadvantage, her answer was categorical. “I have always seen this as an advantage because I don’t pass unnoticed. When I pitch my business, I want everyone to remember me and my business,” she said. Kristell admits that her strong character also contributes to this: “If you want to be heard in the construction industry, don’t let people push you around. You have to make your mark and work hard to keep it.”

Although her position as a business owner makes it easier to practise leadership, this young entrepreneur knows that nothing can be taken for granted. “You must be familiar with your records, come prepared to the meetings and know what to say to your team. I put myself on the same level as everyone else. I don’t try to impose myself as the boss. I ask for their opinion, arguments, and suggested solutions.  At the same time, this allows me to hear about their needs.”

For Kristell, honesty is a key element of her credibility. “When people ask me questions to which I don’t have the answers, I respond by saying I don’t know, and tell them I will check and get back to them with the information,” Kristell shares. “This is very important, especially in construction. Guys tend to ask trick questions, so if you provide them with the wrong answer they will find out.” Kristell also tells us that humour is the best weapon when working in construction. “Keep smiling, have a good attitude and voila!”

Volunteering, social and community involvement

After lots of talk about the importance of networking with her mentors, Kristell decided to get involved as a volunteer in many organizations. Alternating contributor to the vice-presidency in entrepreneurship of the young Chamber of Commerce of Quebec, manager of networking at the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, and recently joining the board of l’Association patronale des entreprises en construction du Québec. In addition to the opportunity to directly influence changes in the industry, it is a great way to make contacts and benefit from the expertise of more experienced peers.

Kristell also believes in the importance of mutual support within the small community of women entrepreneurs in construction. She is a volunteer in the network Les ELLES de la construction which aims to promote the role of women in the construction industry.” Les ELLES changed my life. I make contacts, I network. There are also women who are business owners like me, who have the same journey and exactly the same questions that I have,” Kristell shares. “Some have started their business before me, others are younger than me, so we can support each other.”

It is clear that Kristell is an entrepreneur engaged in the issue of gender equality within her industry, and is constantly pushing the boundaries. She notably gave a speech “Gender equality: beyond the prejudices” during which she stressed the importance of women to hold a position in which they excel and feel comfortable. Futurpreneur is proud to support the journey of this young entrepreneur and is hoping her story and her persistence will inspire many people.

Written By: Claire Gendron, Bilingual Marketing Content Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada

Photo Credit: ellesdelaconstruction.com/revue-presse

A Message from Julia Deans: Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs

Earlier this month, Futurpreneur Canada became a founding member of the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs – Caribbean and Canada, or CAYE – C&C.

This new alliance of networks of young entrepreneurs and organizations that support them will empower, connect and advocate for young entrepreneurs in the Caribbean region of The Commonwealth which, in case you didn’t know, includes Canada!

The Commonwealth of Nations comprises 53 countries – mostly former British colonies – and promotes free trade, multilateralism and other goals through projects and meetings. Its Youth Secretariat promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and is uniting networks across the Commonwealth to strengthen support for youth entrepreneurship.

CAYE – C&C is building on the success of the Commonwealth Alliance of Asian Young Entrepreneurs, launched in 2011, which has become a powerful voice in championing better support for young entrepreneurs and recognition of the contribution they make to growing economies. An East African region alliance is also being launched.

For young Canadian entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-supporting organizations like Futurpreneur Canada, CAYE – C&C creates an avenue for building trade connections and for sharing information, ideas and resources with our Caribbean colleagues. It also means additional opportunities to influence Canadian and other policies via the Commonwealth.

As CEO of Futurpreneur Canada, I’ve worked with my Caribbean counterparts to launch this new alliance. We’re all agreed that together we can boost youth entrepreneurship through:

• Advocacy and promotion: Creating an enabling environment for youth entrepreneurship
• Capacity Building: Sharing knowledge, strengthening and ensuring that young entrepreneurs have access to critical  business support services
• Trade Facilitation: Building business to business linkages for young entrepreneurs across the region and beyond

We’re excited to be part of this new regional initiative and hope that you will want to join us. Please visit cayecaribbean.com for more information or click here to see The Commonwealth press release about CAYE – C&C’s launch and follow CAYE – C&C on Facebook and Twitter.

When Is The Right Time To Expand Your Business?

Photo Credit: bigdata-madesimple.com

As your business continues to evolve and grow, you will logically start thinking about expansion. Expansion is a risky venture, because it requires capital investment and brings major change to your organization.  According to Industry Canada, small businesses account for 98.3 percent of employer businesses; medium-sized businesses account for 1.6 percent of employer businesses and large businesses are a paltry, 0.1 percent of employer businesses.

Whether you are small, midsize or large, it is essential that you make the proper considerations before you expand your business.

Will you benefit from economies of scale?

Usually, when a business expands, it will be in a position to reduce its production/service costs. You should only expand your business if the resulting economies of scale enable you to lower your rates and increase your overall profit. Expansion can be beneficial to your business if it allows you to protect yourself against your competitors’ rate reductions and take advantage of new resources such as better marketing options, more efficiently run facilities and additional product or service features.

Are your competitors expanding?

Doing market research can facilitate an educated and well thought-out decision about whether or not to expand your business.

If you can gather information about your competitors, you may be able to learn new ways to provide enhanced benefit for your customers or clients. Your competitors’ decision to expand may result from the discovery of new opportunities in the market, and you can either follow their lead or adopt a more methodical approach. Adopting a methodical approach enables you to determine if there is sufficient demand for your products or services and weigh the benefits against the risks of expansion. If you decide to expand your business, you should try to improve on your competitors’ ideas instead of just copying them. You never want to lose your competitive edge in the process.

Can you finance the expansion?

If you choose to expand your business, you may need to acquire additional facilities, equipment, inventory and/or manpower. It is important that you know exactly how much capital you need to invest and what your financing options are.  Further, you have to ensure that the expansion will enable you to make enough profit to repay your loans in a defined amount of time and sustain your business. Countless businesses experience serious debt problems because they fail to plan their growth in a careful manner.

Are you prepared to leverage important responsibilities to others?

As your business grows, you have to run it differently and you will most likely become more dependent on your partners or employees. For example, if you plan to open a second production facility, you need to allow someone else manage it because you cannot be in two places at the same time. Transferring important responsibilities to others means that you will have less control in the management of your business. You need to be prepared to take a less hands-on role if you want to expand your business.

Will your customers/clients accept change?

Expanding your business means implementing a lot of changes, many simultaneously. Your customers may need some time to accept the new way your business is being run. For example, you may have previously established several close relationships with your customers by personally communicating with them and you may not be able to maintain such a close relationship if you decide to expand your business. This change could be detrimental to your business and therefore, any contemplated change must be seriously considered prior to expansion.

Can you maintain product/service quality and profitability?

No matter what you do, you will always receive some complaints. A large, rapid expansion may lead to unforeseen customer/client complaints that you cannot afford.  Business owners do not want to compound problems in an attempt to maintain an expected product delivery/service level. The slightest shift in quality is enough to throw off an operation. Hence, if the complaints are adding up, consider a small expansion as a way to assist with managing everything.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, you must always consider your business’s profitability. Rushes and seasonality may throw the most well intended entrepreneurs off. It is far too easy to think that three or four solid months of increased business are a sign of stability and sustained growth. For example, if you choose to expand at the end of a busy season, you may be unable to support the business once the season ends. However, if you’ve had three, four or five years of sustained profitability, your prospects for continued success are greatly enhanced.  Capitalize on that and consider expansion.

In closing, every successful business needs to consider expansion at some point in its evolution—knowing if and when to take that next growth step forward is key. Realizing the right time to expand can significantly mitigate the risk involved and help you build a stronger foundation for long-term, sustainable growth.

Written By: Ellis Orlan, CPA (IL), CGMA, Principal, Fuller Landau LLP, Toronto, ON, eorlan@fullerllp.com, Futurpreneur Canada Mentor

22 Canadian Entrepreneurs Represent Canada at the G20 YEA Summit in Istanbul

The G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA) is a global network of young entrepreneurs and the organizations that support them. It was established to convene each year in advance of the G-20 Summit, with the aim of championing the importance of young entrepreneurs to the G20 member nations and to share examples and practices. The Alliance was officially created at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit, Toronto, Canada, 2010. This year the G20 YEA Summit is being held in Istanbul, Turkey.

As the official G20 YEA member for our country, Futurpreneur Canada reviewed over 60 applications from Canadians passionate about entrepreneurship and the opportunity to join the 2015 Canadian delegation. After a round of interviews, a panel of judges selected 22 entrepreneurs to represent their country on the international stage. The Canadian delegates will travel to Turkey this September to engage the G20 leaders and policymakers in the cause of youth entrepreneurship and to meet and network with over 600 entrepreneurs from around the globe. Meet the 2015 delegation below!

Alexandre Fainberg (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: Heddoko
Motto: “Hope is not a strategy.”
Profile

Alexandre Mensi (Laval, Quebec)
Company: Mango Software Inc.
Motto: “Do the right thing, do the thing right!”
Profile

Arielle Beaudin (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: LORI.biz
Motto: “Do it right.”
Profile

Barry Hartman (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Company: 505-Junk
Motto: “Challenge is the first step of opportunity.”
Profile

Bassil Silim Jones (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: Merchlar
Motto: “My father used to tell me to “crack your butt and work hard now not later”. This is what I now know as the power of delayed gratification. Success usually comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over the ease of distraction. And that’s exactly what delayed gratification is all about.”
Profile

Daniel Dubois (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Company: ShareShed
Motto: “Win the day.”
Profile

Déborah Cherenfant (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: Mots d’Elles Media
Motto: “Always aim higher.”
Profile

Devon Fiddler (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Company: SheNative Goods Inc.
Motto: “She believed she could so she did.”
Profile

Felix Marzell (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: DIX au carré
Motto: “You play, you discover. You discover, you innovate.”
Profile

Heather Abbey (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Company: ShopIndig.ca
Motto: “I’m not scared of failure, but I am of regret.”
Profile

Humeyra Ayshé Karsli (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: Atlantic Trade Bridge
Motto: “I have no idols; I admire hard work, dedication and competence.”
Profile

Ibrahim “Obby” Khan (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Company: Shawarma Khan & Green Carrot
Motto: “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so that you can live the rest of your life like most people can’t.”
Profile

JP Dejardins (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: The Wallrus & Orangerine
Motto: “You are what you do.”
Profile

Leslie Gallagher (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Company: WorkLocal.jobs
Motto: “Follow up & follow through.”
Profile

Luc Bohunicky (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Company: Consultica
Motto: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
Profile

Manny Padda (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Company: New Avenue Capital
Motto: “Invest in the person/entrepreneur.”
Profile

Ray Walia (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Company: Launch Academy
Motto: “Everybody has something to teach, everybody has something to learn.”
Profile

Sarah Segal (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: SQUISH
Motto: “It takes 10 years to be an overnight success.”
Profile

Scott Henry (Windsor, Ontario)
Company: Kidogo
Motto: ”If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”
Profile

Scott Walton (Saint John, New Brunswick)
Company: Enovex/Covalent
Motto: “If you want money ask for advice, if you want advice ask for money.”
Profile

Stephanie Brisson (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: Credo Productions
Motto: “Make it happen.”
Profile

Winston Chan (Montreal, Quebec)
Company: Dr. Winston Chan Wellness Chiropractic
Motto: “Just do it.”
Profile

Delegates will be accompanied by the following members of the Futurpreneur Canada team:

Cindy Goertzen (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Board Member, Futurpreneur Canada
Profile

Marsha Josephs (Richmond Hill, Ontario)
VP, Corporate and Public Affairs, Futurpreneur Canada and G20 YEA Canadian Sherpa
Profile

Olivier Letard (Montreal, Quebec)
Board Member, Futurpreneur Canada and G20 YEA Canadian President
Profile

Tips for Balancing Your New Business and a Full-time Job (Part 3)

Part 3: The Power of Re-commitment

This is the last of a three part series on working a full-time job and starting a business. You can find part one here or part two here.

Imagine for a moment you hold a full-time job and in the last four months you’ve launched a part-time business. You were excited when you started, but lately you’re feeling tired after work, in the last two to three weeks you haven’t done much and your productivity has come to a halt.

Now what?

Old self

Realize that your old self is rebelling, as it wants to keep the status quo—after all you are breaking into a new way of living and thinking. You are being tested. Do you really want this? By its very nature working full-time and starting a business is a series of stumble, fall, get up, start again, stumble, fall, get up, etc. Each day is a new day, commit to starting, or re-starting.

Break down your goals

The key is to break down your larger goals into its smallest units. Success comes in small increments—do not get fooled in believing success happens overnight (especially if you believe you have a great idea).   A wonderful book that extolls this principle is The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. In essence, one drop in the bucket each day adds up to a full bucket, or a successful business in the long run.

Consistency wins

All the goals in the world won’t matter if you don’t develop healthy habits. Create the right space (see part one on the Harmony Schedule). The right environment starts with consistency – setting a schedule and sticking to it. Studies show when you schedule a task at a certain time in the day you’re more likely to do it than if you do it when you “feel like it”.

Compassionate Objectivity

Let’s go back to that example in the beginning where in the last two weeks you haven’t done much on your business. Some will be hard on themselves (“I’m not cut out for this,” or, “I’m dumb with numbers). Others will find excuses with their circumstances (“I had a rough week, too much is happening”).

I really like what Hillary Rettig has to say about handling times like these by using Compassionate Objectivity. Compassionately objective people forgo unproductive blame and shame, but that doesn’t mean they don’t take responsibility.  In the compassionately objective response, one doesn’t belittle oneself. The focus remains on the areas one can improve – and not labelling oneself or giving up one’s power to circumstances.

For example you can re-examine last week when you come home tired.  You can look at  what transpired – you made dinner late, had a glass of wine and decided to watch a relaxing show only to realize it was already 10:30pm. You can then rewind and say you actually needed a break, instead of telling yourself you were lazy, and in the future you will set up a time for both the work you will do and a break afterwards.  You can decide to schedule on Thursday at 7:30pm you’ll email your suppliers and at 9:00pm you’ll watch your favourite show.  Do everything in your power to start the task on time. Your motivation can come after you start the task, knowing you’ll be rewarded later that evening.

These are small shifts, but in the long run they add up.  If you work full-time and have already started a business part-time, I wish you continued moments of growth, insight and action. If this is something you are contemplating, I hope you can see that you have the power to make it happen.

If you need help in getting you set in the right direction check out our free Business Plan Writer.

Written By: Dominik Loncar, Futurpreneur Canada Entrepreneur-in-Residence, dloncar@futurpreneur.ca

Spotlight on Lightenco: Sometimes Timing is Everything

Steve Hubbard and Raymundo de Cojo are the co-owners of Lightenco, a company offering retrofit lighting solutions that help businesses reduce hydro costs and cut down on energy consumption. These self-professed “lighting geeks” design solutions using LED lights, which contain no mercury, emit no UV/IR light, give off less heat than other bulbs and last more than 50,000 hours. In addition to saving businesses a lot of money, Lightenco also ensures the old lights they replace are properly recycled to protect the environment. The company has Canadian operations in Ontario and Québec, and also in Mexico, where it manufactures LED products for public, industrial and commercial use.

Steve and Raymundo are successful entrepreneurs who have launched a start-up through Futurpreneur, so of course we were excited to find out some of their secrets. I interviewed Steve to learn more about his foray into entrepreneurship, and what I heard was a great story about the importance of timing, market awareness and putting the customer at the heart of your business.

It’s all about timing

It all started when the two entrepreneurs were introduced through their wives, who were close friends from the same town in Mexico. Steve and his wife were living in Ottawa at the time, while Raymundo and his wife still lived in Mexico. Little did they know that this introduction would lead to a friendship, and then later to a fruitful business relationship.

In 2008 Steve moved to Ottawa to pursue a career in politics, and, by chance, ended up becoming an entrepreneur instead. After seeing his wife’s experience trying to keep in touch with people back in Mexico while living in Canada, Steve saw a need for an economical long distance calling solution for people living abroad who wanted to keep in close contact with loved ones at home. He started CampusCom, a VoIP phone company aimed at expats and international students.

Shortly afterwards, Raymundo and his wife moved to Canada and Steve saw an opportunity to bring him into the business, which would benefit from his engineering background. The venture enjoyed some success, but after that they were both hooked on the rush that comes from building a business. It wasn’t long before they were on to the next big idea. Raymundo and a fellow engineer from Mexico, Eduardo Vargas, started working on launching a new company that would offer turnkey LED lighting solutions and they asked Steve to join in a sales and marketing capacity. The timing was perfect for such a venture, as the Ontario and Québec governments had launched a series of energy conservation incentives for businesses, creating a new market demand for the solutions Lightenco would provide.

Know your market

Taking stock—and advantage—of developments in the market, such as a government incentive or a trend toward environmental awareness, is the first lesson in good entrepreneurship that we can take away from Lightenco’s success. As Steve advises, “A lot of time should be taken researching your business. Support is offered by many levels of government and private organizations to help you.”

When asked what steps he,Raymundo and Eduardo took to better understand the market, Steve talked about the different resources and partnerships that they found helpful. For one thing, they entered some competitions, which usually involved pitching to a panel, Dragon’s Den-style. They ended up getting a lot of helpful information from the experts on these panels that helped them develop and strengthen their business. For example, they were told that they had a great business model, but they needed to consider how they would ensure its sustainability so it wouldn’t be entirely reliant on government subsidies that could be changed or discontinued.

They also reached out to local organizations such as Invest Ottawa and CDEC in Montréal to find programs that would help them grow the business. Steve also credits their use of co-working spaces as extremely beneficial, surrounding them with a community of independent consultants and entrepreneurs with varied experiences and skill sets. Collaboration is another theme that runs through the Lightenco story, as a solid way to test your business model and learn about your market.

Steve says, “If you’re on your own and can join a community like HUB or CSI, the benefits are considerable. Get involved and meet fellow entrepreneurs to share business ideas and find opportunities to help each other grow.”

Put the customer first

A big part of what makes Steve, Raymundo and Eduardo true entrepreneurs is how their business ideas, from CampusCom to Lightenco, are born from customer need. Rather than setting out to sell a particular product and convince would-be customers that they need it, their approach is to design products that they know customers need and want. They pay close attention to holes in the market and then go to work creating products and services that will provide the perfect solution.

For example, when they created Lightenco to capitalize on the increased interest in LED lighting due to the government incentives, they set out to create turnkey lighting solutions that would truly improve on existing technology. Lightenco products offer customers efficiency, performance and environmental friendliness, a combination that wasn’t being found with other lighting technologies. Together these factors built a strong business case for the success of Lightenco in Canada.

Advice for aspiring start-up founders

“Bootstrap—there’s no need to bite off more than you can chew and every dollar counts. Many fixed costs can be significantly reduced by seeking alternative and sometimes temporary solutions. Modernize—take advantage of social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Hootsuite. There are many examples of existing business that fail as a result of not modernizing. Be confident—attitude often outweighs aptitude!”

Lightenco was recently featured on CBC and CTV. Follow Lightenco on Facebook and Twitter.

Written By: Kristin Knapp, Content Copywriter, Futurpreneur Canada

Spotlight On Bronuts: When Bros Meet Donuts

Sometimes you find inspiration in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times, and that’s exactly what happened when the idea of Bronuts came to be. Co-owner, Brett Zahari and his wife (now business partner), Meghan were on a road trip to Portland in the summer of 2014 when they kept stumbling upon gourmet donut shops. Falling completely in love with the idea of fresh gourmet donuts every day, and being slightly heartbroken that upon their return back to Winnipeg, they would have to say goodbye to them, Brett realized that Winnipeg needed its own gourmet donut shop.

When Meghan and Brett returned from their trip, they shared the idea with Brett’s brother, Dylan. At first, everybody involved was hesitant, but after some brainstorming, number-crunching, and the suggestion of the name “Bronuts,” the team felt that this was a viable idea and something worth pursuing. Once they found the perfect spot for their shop, with the help of their father, who is a contractor, Dylan, Brett and Meghan spent their days and nights, on top of their regular careers doing construction, to turn their dream into reality.

Now serving up delicious donut creations from peanut butter and chocolate, to a new special summer donut, lemon poppy seed, Bronuts is quickly growing.  Meghan, Dylan and Brett are constantly being challenged each day as entrepreneurs. When asked what a typical day looks like for the three of them, Meghan explained that the answer today will be entirely different from tomorrow, but there is one thing she can always count on each week—Costco runs. “I can’t say I thought I’d ever need to run to Costco in a panic to buy 18 jugs of milk multiple times a week.”In addition to leading the hectic, yet rewarding, lives of entrepreneurs, being in business with family has a great balance of being challenging and awesome, Brett shared. Brett and Dylan grew up as not just brothers, but best friends. “We know how to work with each other, and how to annoy each other,” Brett explained. “There’s a real balance of trying to make sure that everyone’s ideas were considered equally and we all felt good about what we were building together.”

It’s evident that family and food are the top priorities for Bronuts. “It was family that built the place, it’s family-run, our staff get along so well and have become a little family, and families are often the ones filing our tables all day,” Brett shared. Meghan explained that the team works really well together and each of their strengths supports each other’s weaknesses. Brett handles the numbers and the coffee, Dylan handles the kitchen and the donuts, and Meghan looks after the staff and social media.

Photographed above Brett and Meghan’s baby supporting the family business.

The powerful family trio has advice for entrepreneurs wanting to get into business with their families: “Don’t do it because ‘it will be so fun!’. Be realistic and intentional all the way through. It’s one of the most incredible experiences, but it takes work. Communicate. Don’t let things sit and fester. Just keep talking and always remember that your disagreements within the business don’t reflect on your personal relationship. That’s probably the coolest thing about working with family—no matter what happens, you know you have that family bond at the end of the day.”

Written By: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Creation Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada