Young people thinking of starting up their own businesses got a lunch hour full of inspiration and advice - to go along with pizza and pop - when five local entrepreneurs shared their thoughts and experiences with business students Tuesday at College of New Caledonia.
Shauna Harper is proof you can make a living selling magnets.
From starting out at a little craft table, Harper grew her business to where she sold 1.5 million of them, each with a little inspirational saying, many of them going to Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The experience speaks to one bit of advice she relayed - trust yourself.
But before you do that, you need to find your passion, and for Harper it was a nuanced process.
"What you want to do is go towards the bread crumbs," Harper said. "And when I say bread crumbs, what I mean is the little whispers that happen that you know fulfill you.
"Perhaps in school there were certain classes that you were drawn to - those are the little bread crumbs."
Like many, Harper, who now runs Live Work PG, a social media marketing business, has had her share of downs to go with her ups. Being able to learn from those setbacks is key, Harper suggested, and one of those lessons is to treat life as a "journey not a destination."
Tom Simpson, co-owner of Benchmark Automotive Services, talked of perseverance, plenty of hours and belief in yourself.
"If you think you can and you think you can't, you're right," said Simpson, who turned to the local Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) for help to start up his own business after he was laid off.
For Simpson, working "half days" has meant 12 hour days, six days a week. But if he's had regrets Simpson didn't show them, as he used words like "fantastic" and "awesome" to describe the experience.
Chris Hunter, who now owns three pharmacies in the city, a Reid's and two Pharmasaves. Although he had a degree in pharmacy, Hunter said he knew very little about the business side of things until he took part in a CFDC program.
He emphasized the value of working with customers and working with partners and making certain that what's right for you is also what's right for them.
Michael Stanyer, a partner in Alchemist Studios, a local photography business, said he's discovered there's a big market for quality work and that it's all about execution.
Stanyer's partner, Daniel Abraham, said photography is his passion but also one he turned to by necessity after discovering there was little if any work available for teachers after finishing university.
It's been rewarding but not without its challenges, Abraham continued, beginning with the large capital outlay to get the business going. Advice included getting a good client base - Abraham used cold calls and free introductory work to get things going, but Alchemist's reputation has grown to where it's now getting business from people never contacted before.
"It's sort of a small victory," Abraham said.
The event was held, in part, to attract fledgling entrepreneurs to the CFDC's Youth Means Business program.
Funded through the federal and provincial governments, it is aimed at people ages 18 to 29 who have a business idea and want to explore being an entrepreneur. It's based on three cornerstones: one-on-one coaching; networking with other entrepreneurs; and mentoring from experienced businesspeople.
Participants also receive up to $5,000 in financial assistance that can be customized to the individual and can be used as seed money, to pay for fees for training and education or to cover living expenses.
To find out more, call Vera Beerling at 250-562-9622 ext. 112, email [email protected] or visit cfdc.bc.ca.
