The truth is that when when you’re the leader and owner of a company, you often feel you have no one to talk to
“Let’s go for coffee today,” he said. “I just need to get out of the office and talk to you where no one is going to overhear us!” Our conversation over coffee was deep and as we walked back, he told me that one of the reasons he retains me as his business coach is…
Calgary born and raised co-founders Mike Gettis and Rajen Ruparell have created a Canadian e-commerce experience specifically around mattresses
Mike Gettis is one of the co-founders of Endy, Canada’s biggest online mattress retailer. Calgary’s Business: What is Endy and how are you different from other brands? Gettis: From the start, our goal at Endy has been to help Canadians sleep better. We’ve built a vertical e-commerce brand from the ground up that is specifically…
Many times in business, we face competitors who have more talent and money. Rarely do we have a strategy to humble them
Iceland tied Argentina in a World Cup soccer game last week. It was a David-and-Goliath match. A tiny nation, home to only 300,000 people, against a country more than 100 times as large. On paper, Iceland didn’t stand a chance against the much more experienced, highly professional Argentina, which was led by one of the…
Jobber CEO Sam Pillar and his team offer services to businesses in 45 countries because ‘small businesses power economies’
Sam Pillar is CEO of Jobber. Calgary’s Business: What is Jobber? How and when was it founded? Pillar: Jobber makes and provides software and resources for small home service businesses like plumbers, cleaners, landscapers and HVAC, just to name a few. My co-founder, Forrest Zeisler, and I launched Jobber in 2011, and we’re now a…
Make sure your vision for a website meshes with your designer's. Otherwise, it could be expensive, frustrating, and devastating to your small business
Every business today needs a website but finding the right team to help build it isn't easy. There is no HomeStars for companies that design and build websites in Canada. We have many clients who've had terrible experiences with website building. Either the strategy for the site doesn’t align with the results, the content doesn’t…
Providing tax relief, eliminating red tape and building entrepreneurial skills will help business startups
By Steven Globerman and Jason Clemens The Fraser Institute Entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged as the basis for innovation, technological advancement and economic progress – and subsequently, a driving force for improved living standards. Yet there’s little discussion, let alone action, in the United Kingdom to stem the adverse effects of demographic change on entrepreneurship, specifically…
Tackling culture requires the same approach you apply to any other business problem: What is your goal? Where are you now? What is your plan to close the gap?
I once sat with a small group of business owners who wanted to talk about culture. For each of them, culture ranks as one of their key human resource worries – how to shift their culture in a meaningful way, or maintain a culture they see as critical to success. One of the advantages –…
Policy levers exist that can improve entrepreneurial incentives and increase the chances of successful new business startups
By Steven Globerman and Jason Clemens The Fraser Institute Entrepreneurship is part of the American DNA and broadly recognized as the basis for improved living standards through innovation and technological progress. Unfortunately, policy-makers in Washington and across the country, and average Americans more broadly, seem unaware of the decline in entrepreneurship over the past two…
I get to work alongside superheroes in the various fields who use their amazing powers to get their clients real results
As a business coach, I’ve been gifted with the opportunity to meet some of the greatest people on the planet. These are not the rich and famous, the lofty or the well heeled, though I’ve met and worked alongside some of these. Through my career as a business coach, I come in contact with some…
Most small business leaders have no defined goals, they’re unsure what to keep track of and they’re floating from year to year
“How do we win?” I asked. “We need to score baskets,” they answered. “How do we score baskets?” Donncha asked. “We need to pass and we need to shoot,” they answered. Our questions went on and on. The scoreboard told the story. It was halftime and our team was down by six points. The girls…
Find your zone, connect to the world, tune into your purpose and then get specific
I recently had the fabulous opportunity to chat with a group of executive administrative assistants on their final day of a national conference. They had spent a few days exploring what it takes to create positive energy for themselves and their organizations. When I met with them, they were elated, excited and maybe even a…
Are you giving marketing the respect it deserves?
One of the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs make is to underestimate the power and importance of marketing. Right from the earliest days of a startup, marketing deserves a seat with the big boys: finance, human resources, operations, product development and sales. It shouldn't be an afterthought. And it’s not fluff. “Marketing is a core part of…
If you want to work in a place that’s fun, start making it fun. If you want to work in a place that’s excellent, start making it excellent
Rock, paper, scissors is a game we all played as children in the playground. And in a company department nearby, they hold a weekly Rock, Paper Scissors Championship. On Thursday of every week, the people in the department gather on their lunch break for a few minutes to play rock, paper, scissors to determine who…
Policy levers can strengthen incentives for entrepreneurship and improve the likelihood of successful new business startups
By Steven Globerman and Jason Clemens The Fraser Institute Entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged as the basis for innovation, technological advancement and economic progress – and, subsequently, a driving force for improved living standards. Yet there’s little discussion, let alone action, among governments in Canada to stem the adverse effects of demographic change on entrepreneurship, specifically…
How many times do your customers leave your business because you’ve trained your staff to guard your products but not sell them?
I had just climbed the steepest part of the hill and was out of breath when out of the corner of my eye I saw the dog sprinting out of the driveway towards me. My heart was already racing and I was doing my best to stay on my bike when I felt its teeth…