Entrepreneurs Over Coffee show

Entrepreneurs Over Coffee

Summary: Candid yet inspirational discussions with successful everyday Entrepreneurs on how to start and build your business or pivot and reshape your future.

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Podcasts:

 Looking To Buy A Business? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 36:09

Pamela Labelle is the Founder and President of the Business Exchange a company she started 22 years ago. She loves helping people grow their businesses and expand their franchise systems. As an industry expert, she has spent the majority of her career in the business brokerage and the franchise industry. She has extensive knowledge in areas such as driving attendees to franchise events, assisting in strategic franchise recruitment and helping both business brokers and franchisors sell their resales. Here are some insights she will be sharing:   If looking to start or buy a business you need to identify what you are most passionate about. Working as an entrepreneur is a like a never ending workout, so it would be critical to be passionate about what you are doing.  Entrepreneurial Opportunities sometimes present themselves and you have no choice but to Bootstrap it with no experience.  Always finding a unique solution to a problem that the world needs creates success in your business. When starting out any endeavour, you need to understand how to manage the necessary component of cash flow which is the primary reason why many entrepreneurs fail.  Pam’s battle and victory over breast cancer has helped her during adversity and transcended into her life as an entrepreneur. Her best advice is to always live in gratitude and to feel lucky for what you have. Always focus and connect with your strengths and transfer that energy to capitalize on your business. When seeking a franchise business broker find someone who specializes in the industry you are interested in. A franchise model would be a great start for all immigrants or anyone that is not familiar with opening a business in Canada. This expedites the process to opening your own business through Franchisors experiences.  When venturing out in any entrepreneurial endeavour, always do your due diligence and research on what the market and business needs to sustain and thrive.     

 Strategic Approaches to Human Resources That Will Help Catapult Your Business! | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:43

Andrea Garson has over 27 years of HR experience in multiple industries with organizations including Loblaws, Pepsi, Dell, Workopolis and Cardinal Health.  She is a leading authority on values based leadership, culture, engagement, and attracting and retaining key talent.  A seasoned presenter, Andrea has spoken across Canada at conferences, seminars, and has taught HR courses at Saint Mary’s, Mount Saint Vincent and York Universities.  In 2017 Andrea retired from corporate HR to start her own HR Consulting firm, Breaking Glass where she specializes in helping CEO’s “break some glass” in order to affect change in their organizations.    Here are the key factors she believes, will help elevate your team and your company as a whole:   Companies too often make decisions based on the financial impact and forget about the impact these decisions have on their people, With Human Resources every day is a brand new adventure that has no secret ingredient carved in stone. The more you deal with opportunities, the better your judgment will become to help you make the right decisions.  You want to create an environment in the work space where everyone is thriving and wants to perform their best and be aligned with the vision of the company. Being transparent with communication and trust plays an integral role in creating this environment. . Communication and transparency: Employees need to be aware of what’s happening in the business and when they are succeeding or failing. When celebrating the successes or handling the failures in a business, employees feel like they are part of the overall process and they feel like they played a vital role.  This in turn will motivate them to contribute to the growth trajectory of the business  Why is an HR investment integral in the growth of your business? HR consultants partner with the CEO and leadership team to understand the business strategy and build the team strategy around the objectives. Cardinal mistakes where HR can help: 1) As your business grows entrepreneurs may not focus or understand how to handle the people side of the business which can increase turnover, 2) Making hiring errors and not hiring all-stars can be costly. 3) The way that your staff interacts with customers may not be the way you would communicate with them so expectations must be set and performance results measured.  HR leaders develop people and their primary focus is to alleviate all the minutia going on in an entrepreneurs mind.  What do companies have to do in the early stages to create a strong Culture? Companies should have well written hand books, such an employee handbook that outlines policies, procedures and guidelines to direct their decision making so there is less subjectivity and ability to break rules/laws of the organization.  Most successful companies have crystal clear missions, visions and values. This helps the team understand where you are headed as a business and what values and behaviours are going to be expected to help you reach the mission Always set very clear objectives, expectations, targets and measure performance by making sure people are held accountable.  Holding people accountable is imperative because pitfalls occur if you let it slide. It ruins the culture as your all-star players see how others are allowed to sway away from the mission and objectives. Accountability drives high performance and weeds out the non-aligned team members Accountability is at its best when leaders and employees are constantly communicating what is expected of them and tracking their progress and results. Understand what the team members are working on, identify roadblocks and remove them, let them know what you see them doing well. Stretch opportunities to stretch their learning. Aid and resolve conflict and hold them accountable at the end of day. 

 LOVIN' IT. LIVIN' IT. Insights on The Entrepreneurial Journey | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 40:00

Parveen Dhupar is a seasoned brand strategist, visionary, designer, serial entrepreneur, connector, public speaker, author, coach, mentor and founder of BTI Brand Innovations Inc. BTI, is a boutique creative agency offering fully integrated creative and marketing services to H2H (Human2Human) client partners. He is also a chapter president of EO Entrepreneurs’ Organization which is a global non-profit organization with over 14,000 members and whose stated mission is to "Engage leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow."    In this episode Parveen shares his entrepreneurial insights from over 20 years of experience in the creative industry.  His guiding personal mantra: “Lovin’ it, Livin’ it,” is how he chooses to wake up and live every day of his life. Parveen started his entrepreneurial journey, with a $20,000 apple computer investment at a very young age. That investment launched his creative career including the growth of his own agency in his early 20’s. In 1999, at the age of 31, he came to an epiphany that he did not want to be that entrepreneur that wasn’t involved in their child’s life, as he was putting all his time and effort into his business. Parveen sold his shares in his agency and experienced what many would define as success at a very young age. He decided to focus his effort on a  more balanced all around success with his family, and give back to the world.   Here are the key DNA elements that have helped him achieve balance in his life and success in his work:          Being around a like minded tribal network of individuals is critical to reinventing yourself and to continuously gain the edge while you are on the entrepreneurial journey. Consistently have a thirst for never ending learning. Feel young, energetic, and vibrant to perform at your highest level. Never fall into the complacency trap. After being guided and mentored by many, Parveen now wants to be that leader that serves and helps others. He coaches his children to follow their passion but whatever it is, create it into a business model!  Now is the best opportunity to be an entrepreneur because you can fail and nobody will judge or be opinionated. Also now is a great time to hire the best people for your company and experiment on new roles. Throw away the “selling” mindset, but make conversations and connections with your customer/client/members. Understand the phases you go through as an entrepreneur.        

 Grappling with Google and Deciphering SEO | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 37:12

Have you ever wondered what measures SEO success or how SEO actually works? E over coffee podcast guest, Jennifer Osborne, CEO of the Search Engine People (SEP) shares her insights from her highly successful SEO company.   Listen to how Search Engine People grew from 1 employee to 50 employees today. Jennifer stresses how a balanced culture of both fun and accountability is the key to creating a great tribe and positive working environment. Hiring staff members that have great attitudes and a thirst to learn was her magic formula in creating a powerhouse team. Smart engaged employees want to be part of a structured, organized company that has all their “ducks lined up” in all facets of the company.    What is SEO? It is the process of working on your website so the search engines can crawl and index it more efficiently. Content is a critical factor in determining your SEO ranking and Jennifer educates our listeners on how google operates and how it is constantly evolving and changing.  Many companies talk about SEO as they build or design your website, but SEP are true specialists in everything SEO delivering tangible results for their clients.   If you are just starting out there are many things you can do on a small budget to improve your sites visibility and increase traffic. First off manage and set up your Google My Business Account and keep being awesome by generating positive reviews for your business or service. Spend small amounts of money on paid search on the search engine that suits your needs best and be sure to target the right demographic and geographical area. As you grow SEO should continue to be a pillar of your marketing strategy. The search algorithms change constantly and true SEO specialists are always learning making it hard for one person to manage. Working with  the right company like Search Engine People that specializes in SEO should provide a roadmap that sets measurable, predictable growth targets.  There is a reason why SEP has been named to the Profit 100 list for 7 years

 Building A Global Brand Through Authenticity | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:10:07

Ralph Dunning  Founder of Dunning Golf, Founder/CEO Foreign Rider Founder/CEO Brand Unification Ralph Dunning is a serial entrepreneur who started Dunning Golf in the early 90’s from his basement. Ralph grew Dunning to become the #2 selling golf athletic apparel brand behind Nike.  He took guidance and technology from the cycling industry and applied the same school of thought in incorporating technology into golf apparel. He bootstrapped the business and had no knowledge or pre-conceived notions about the golf industry. Dunning Golf was an 8 person team that beat out Goliath brands such as Under Armour, Polo and Adidas. He was reminded continuously that his product wouldn’t cut it in the golf industry, but he believed in the product and educated the consumer on the power of their brands technology. Dunning Golf started out as an authentic brand with a purpose, as the company grew the brand lost its way when trying to manage the explosive growth. Ralph was tasked with bringing the authenticity back to the brand and the product. Authenticity is about identifying with what your brand stands for and what are the brands guiding principles. Why should someone choose you over your competitor? Authenticity hinges on a unified brand strategy that helps you manage the entrepreneurial journey no matter what stage you are at!   In this Episode:   You will learn what Authenticity means to a brand. What does your brand stand for? Who is your customer and more importantly who don’t you want your customer to be and not to be? Why should someone choose you over competitor? What is your defined purpose every day? Ralph’s Brand Unification Initiative which he is developing into a playbook for Entrepreneurs based on his 30 years of experience and launching 3 businesses.        

 Going Against The Grain. The Power of Print In a Digital World. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 38:51

Audrey Jamieson is the founder and president of Marketing Kitchen. An innovative and unique direct marketing production company. Audrey learned the Direct Marketing business when she worked for her brother where he built a very successful business that was sold to a larger entity. Her brother died from Cancer soon after and Audrey continued her role in sales for the company, but couldn’t help but think there was a better way to do direct marketing. She had to make a decision to either continue in sales or consider starting her own business. She decided to put the plan in place to launch her own direct marketing business. She came across a business that was for sale, but was under performing. After digging in a little deeper Audrey felt the assets were worth buying and she reached an agreement to buy the business which ultimately became Marketing Kitchen. Today, Marketing Kitchen is committed to partnering with clients to find fresh and innovative ways to stand out in the mailbox.  Recognized by Canada Post as an expert partner Marketing Kitchen is often asked to speak at Canada Post events to share best practices and help companies optimize their direct marketing investments. Marketing Kitchen operates out of a 40,000 square foot facility reaching annual sales revenues in the 8 figure range. In this Episode you will learn how: Even traditional print businesses can thrive when they create a human connection and experience. How print stands up to digital direct marketing and how it needs to be part of your marketing strategy. Audrey had a very clear vision about how her clients should be serviced. How to do direct mail effectively and how it can drive results when it is done well. Understand the long term value of customers once they have been acquired. How Marketing Kitchen maintains a positive culture and environment where people want to work. She believes in providing a fun, clean and positive work environment. This is the basis of taking care of her employees ,so they will take care of the customers. How she has started to think about how Safety and Wellness may affect her business. Covid has made her rethink how to get her business back on track and how to pivot from B2B to B2C concepts. Audrey identifies how an entrepreneur should get started and how to identify something that you can make better. Know what you are good at and find other people to help you with the other stuff. Don’t get stuck on the business plan. Sketch it out and understand that it will evolve over time. Remain confident and never self-doubt yourself understanding things will change and opportunities will shape themselves.  

 Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable Because it Can Lead To Opportunities! | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 32:16

  Joey St-Aubin is the President and CEO of Canlan Ice Sports a TSX listed company. Joey grew up playing high level hockey in the OHL and also played for Team Canada. He did not realize his dream of playing in the NHL, but the experience he gained as a competitive athlete set the stage for a climb to the top. When he returned home from university he began a tournament business and one day decided to go rent ice at a new rink being built in Oshawa for his tournaments. While speaking to them he spontaneously asked if they were hiring! From this point opportunity knocked and he began managing one arena which led to eventually rising up the ranks to become President and CEO. His persistence and willingness to be in uncomfortable in new and unfamiliar situations catapulted his learning and experience. He was mentored at a young age by the then CEO of Canlan and was pulled into many situations where he felt out of his depth. He talks about his first time in a boardroom surrounded by seasoned executives and successful business people. He leveraged this opportunity by noting every word and concept he could not comprehend and then went home and researched everything that was discussed in that boardroom. Eventually this led to him being involved in the conversations to eventually leading the agendas. Here is a snapshot on what you will hear in this episode: Joey tried his hand at many different jobs and side hustles gaining experiences and learning from his failures, he endured all the highs and lows but that’s the name of the game.  He never managed people before when starting as a GM of a hockey rink in Oshawa. The discipline he gained being a leader in the dressing room and being a competitive hockey player bolstered his never give up attitude. His willingness and drive helped him elevate his personal acumen and knowledge to keep trying new things and adapting his leadership style. Throw yourself in the fire without any idea, stretch yourself past your self- limiting beliefs is the only way to grow in your career.  Always eager to try new things Joey was featured on Undercover boss and leveraged the opportunity to expose the Canlan brand and story, another uncommon experience but executed with no fear. His experience taught him to look at his organization from the outside in. It helped him get connected with himself and his team realizing that understanding the human element is the key to success. Today Canlan continues to lead in the facility management space and re-engineers the game to co-exist with COVID. From the sanitation protocols to putting systems in place to manage traffic and even developing  new rules to ensure physical distancing on the bench, the dressing room and the ice. These new rules will increase the speed and excitement of the game and allow them to flex up and down with whatever changes the virus brings to sports facility management and the game of hockey.

 Learn How To Go From Single To Serial Entrepreneur | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 40:39

  Dunstan Peter immigrated to Canada at the age of 17 and he studied electrical engineering at Western University. He went on to work in the automotive industry focusing on quality assurance in electrical and software engineering. A car accident caused his life to change and within a 2 hour period his largest clients manufacturing line went down costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in downtime. While dealing with the accident he missed 52 calls and then Dunstan was fired. This was a turning point where he began to take control of his destiny. He now has over 650 employees and 10 different companies in everything from automotive to developing the future of recreational parks. Listen to how this entrepreneur explains how to go from single to serial entrepreneur. Dunstan has won countless awards including the Walk of Fame Award from ACCES, and the RBC Immigrant Success Advantage Award, Winner of the Movimento Group supplier of the year award, Winner of CAMSC supplier of the year award given by Fiat Chrysler Automotive,  Winner of CAMSC Technology Innovation Award,  Finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Awards Dunstan has consistent ritual work ethic that starts at 5am Payroll and cash management is what wakes him up every morning and keeps him up at night. Listen to his strategy on how to build from 1 company to 10 different companies and  become a serial entrepreneur.  How a tragic accident was the catalyst to initiate the start of his entrepreneurial journey. Benefiting from the downturn in the economy by having multiple businesses and shifting resources from companies hit hard to those that are thriving. Identifying opportunities from the current trends to maneuver your future investments in the right positive direction. The profound power of giving back and being a phenomenal philanthropist with a focus on helping immigrants and the homeless.  

 The Pursuit of Balance Through Passion, Not Time! | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 23:14

  Diana Demelo is a full time mother, loving wife, and ultra-successful CEO of the Delivery group, an IT Staffing Company with offices across the country with year over year growth of 30%.  Diana started her company in the basement of her house and realized as time went on that she wanted more and was capable of achieving more!  She has won awards such as, Macleans Magazine’s One of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies and Chatelaine Magazine has named her One of the Top Female Entrepreneurs.  Diana’s biggest realization as an entrepreneur and a parent is there is no real work life balance unless you understand the importance of quality of time vs quantity of time. Listen to her valuable insights on family, life and business.   Additional Show Notes: Here are her steps in becoming a successful entrepreneur:  Entrepreneurs need to have a plan and a vision with consistent discipline Prepare yourself for unchartered waters. To be the best you have to be tenacious and learn to compete. Have high morals and values for caring about human. Her competitors were transactional so she saw an opportunity to provide her clients and contractors with positive impressions. Diana likens the first few weeks of the COVID 19 pandemic to drinking out of a firehose but she has been able to absorb the impact to her business and her staff by always ensuring the financial strength of her company by anticipating a recession and being prepared for a downturn. Entrepreneurs need to have an incredible support system in life. The people closest to you need to understand and be aligned in what you want to achieve they need to pick you up when you’re feeling down. Diana maintains incredible mental fortitude when challenges occur. She is able to dial it in and becomes laser focused, blocking out the noise by assessing the situation  Pivoting in difficult situations and listening to her instinct and following that gut feeling  Managing time and getting more done in the midst of a hectic day is all about being more fluid and agile and reminding yourself that “today was a good day because I achieved this today” Find purpose by being authentic in who you are and don’t let the outside environment dictate who you are or who you should become Balance life by bringing passion and quality of time to your relationships, spend the time to really listen to your spouse no matter how preoccupied your mind is to have a happy relationship Anytime an entrepreneur wants to start a business don’t just have an idea, solve a problem for someone and make sure you have a unique value proposition that is fruitful in the marketplace. 

 The A-Z In Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 30:32

Kundan Joshi CEO of TheAppLabb, a leading app innovation firm focused on strategy, design and development of transformative experiences with Apps, Artificial Intelligence and Mixed Reality. TheAppLabb received the 2019 & 2020 Top Mobile App Developer Award for Canada and US, as well as the 2019 Top 3 AI Developer Award by Clutch. Kundan received the 2018 RBC Entrepreneur of the Year Award and 2018 Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award. He is also a recipient of the 2018 EY Entrepreneur of Year Finalist Award; Top 150 Extraordinary Canadians Honour; 2017 Technology Achievement Award. Kundan Joshi explains the importance of the people you connect with in your business and having empathy for the team to help them perform their best. He explains some the mistakes he made early on and his fear of failing as one of his early mistakes. Kundan is an entrepreneur who took action and bootstrapped the start of his business. As an immigrant he moonlighted to save money and identified the app opportunity while at a tradeshow more than 13 yrs ago. Today he has led and built over 500 apps for some of the world’s biggest companies. He walks through the steps in taking action when you believe you have the next big idea. What to do and how to validate through living in your customers shoes. This interview is filled with tremendous insights and comes at a pivotal time as we endure the digital transformation during the COVID pandemic.   Empathy for the team to perform at their best Boot strapped business starting from Ground up.  There were many moments when he wanted to give up, but he pushed for one more day.  Biggest mistake was striving for perfection instead of failing fast. Overcome that fear of failure, it is not about always wanting to look good it is about embracing failure Moonlighting as a new immigrant, hustling and starting from his basement Adding value before anyone even knew what the value of an App was 13 years ago. Has now produced more than 500 Apps. Solution based value thinking: will app give you a great ROI? Will it give customers a smashing experience to solve a real problem for your business? Importance of looking at pandemic as glass half full Validate your purpose and have ears to the ground really listening to your customers wants and needs during this time. Prediction the next year will go all virtual. Breaking down the barriers of old habits. Cresting new needs for the new world.  Have an idea? Produce product market validation. Get the idea validated from the people you are trying to solve the problem for. The journey to validating the problem will throw nuggets and identify layers of the problem. This helps you step into shoes of the people experiencing the problem and how it affects their emotional, physical and mindful state. Create build, analyze, learn loops this must need to be part of your DNA.    

 The Re-Opening Plan - 6 Empowering Thoughts To Return Your Business To Success | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 25:00

Empowering thoughts on how to lead your team through a re-opening plan. Alex Rechichi and Harrison Chan share the necessary steps to implement and how to think during this next phase of COVID 19. It is all about Trust and Transparency in a COVID 19 world. Learn and understand how to deliver and manage the table stakes of the new world of business. Start with the team and change how you view consumer behaviour and consumer expectations. Consider your marketing and branding strategy and how you are going to push for a strong finish in 2020. It can be done, it must be done and this is how it should be done. 

 Ashwin Alles on Starting a Side Hustle Through Residential Real Estate | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 26:42

Do you have a side hustle? How do you invest in a side hustle and build a real estate portfolio while you are consumed with your own small business? Entrepreneurs understand the time value of money and the flexibility of real estate offers an additional revenue stream to create long term wealth with manageable time investment. Ashwin Alles discusses how to start a side hustle through residential real estate as a safe haven to invest over the long term. He discusses the importance of identifying and working with a coach and mentor to help guide you through mistakes you can avoid and overcome through mentorship. Work with people that have built real estate portfolios for entrepreneurs and find you opportunities that are right for you. Now in a POST COVID world there are opportunities in real estate at a time when competition is reeling for cover. As our economy looks for ways to recover one of those will be through increased immigration in order to stimulate the market with that comes the need for housing and understanding the importance of supply and demand.

 Simon Shahin, Build It By Design: Surviving the Onslaught and Reviving the Internal Culture to be Even Stronger When This Passes. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:29

Simon Shahin- CEO and Founder of Build It By Design graduated with a marketing degree and couldn’t even read a blue print when he did his first build. Today Build It has completed over 700 builds (Basil Box, Via Cibo, Paramount Fine Foods and Aloette to name a few). When all construction was forced to stop Simon remarkably retained 80% of his staff members by changing his teams focus internally and identifying areas for improvement, updating and additional learning to create a rich culture with companywide business initiatives. Listen to the proactive steps he took to have his company become even more robust when this passes and to get his team involved in helping others during this time of need. Be sure to take advantage of our free 20min zoom consultation offer by emailing us at eovercoffee@gmail.com Co-Hosts Alex Rechichi and Harrison Chan will discuss any questions on Entrepreneurship, and provide business advice and guidance wherever we can. Looking forward to speaking and connecting with all our fellow entrepreneurs “over coffee!”

 Jas Brar, Entripy.com: When Business Comes to a Grinding Halt. You Are Not Alone! What You Do Will Help Determine Your Future. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 19:36

During times like this it is important to know you are not alone. Listen to how an Entrepreneur running a company with $30million dollars in revenue hits a brick wall as COVID 19 hits and sales instantaneously fall off a cliff. Forced to institute mass layoffs with over 170 staff, as the global shutdown ensues, CEO and Founder Jas Brar comes to terms with what is within his control what is not. Listen to what he did to ensure the survival of his 20 year old company. Be sure to take advantage of our free 20min zoom consultation offer by emailing us at eovercoffee@gmail.com Co-Hosts Alex Rechichi and Harrison Chan will discuss any questions on Entrepreneurship, or your existing business and provide advice and guidance wherever we can. Looking forward to speaking and connecting with all our fellow entrepreneurs “over coffee!”

 Master Harrison Chan shares his story and how his family going bankrupt at a young age helped him prepare himself and his business during this pandemic. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 28:44

Podcast #2 - Co-host Harrison Chan currently owns 6 martial arts locations with over 80 staff members. He is recognized as the one of the top martial arts schools and after school programs in North America. In 2019,  Harrison was a public speaker in New York and Las Vegas for martial arts business owners. Hear his story being interviewed by Co-host Alex Rechichi on how he dealt with bankruptcies and how he’s dealing with these unprecedented times with the mind grind!

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