Tag: business

Gelato darlings hot on ambition

Stéphane Côté & Karen Boivin

Entrepreneurs hope invention will have world appeal

Dunham, Quebec’s gelateria Steffanos will behosting a free wine-themed gelato and sorbet event on Aug. 30 to highlight the region’s celebrated wines and to draw attention to the owners’  ambitious crowdfunding campaign for their newest invention, the Congelato.

Stéphane Boivin & Karen Côté

Stéphane Boivin and current Concordia student Karen Côté, the owners, had to find an imaginative way to deal with a very specific problem. The Congelato was designed as a portable food display to keep food cool for long periods of time without electricity and came about when Côté was invited to a summer festival but couldn’t afford the expensive and bulky equipment necessary to keep gelato from melting. Seeing it as a challenge, Côté modelled a rough idea of compartmentalized ice packs using Play-Doh. The two soon saw that they were on to something.

“Concordia’s been a big part of our success. Huge,” she said of the long and difficult process of finding the expertise and money to help make the Congelato a reality. Concordia’s Associate Dean of Academic and Student affairs George Kanaan and Principal director of Special initiatives Joe Capano were singled out in particular by Boivin for their dedication and help, as was Concordia’s Small Business Support Network that helped them with research and business plans.

“They were instrumental in harnessing and gathering support. Concordia has always been there. They have great facilities for spreading the word.”

The prototype was unveiled at a Dragons’ Den audition at Concordia last year which was won due to Concordia’s support in the Love your Local Business contest. The final commercial version, which was created over the winter months with the help of a professional designer, will be unveiled at the event.

Though presently destined for food, they’re already planning to take it in other directions.

“[Concordia] told us: ‘if you only use it for ice cream, your market will be very small. You have to incorporate other things,’” Boivin said. Eventual uses could be biomedical and pharmaceutical (certain drugs and medicines need to be stored at low temperatures, hampering their effectiveness in tropical places without electricity), or more mundane uses like keeping refrigerators stay cold during power outages. “There’s so many applications for this in the world.”

Now Steffanos is hoping to harness Concordia’s love for their creation into the critical momentum needed to make the Congelato marketable.

Started barely two seasons ago by Côté and Boivin, Steffanos has won a host of awards starting with the Best Service Award at Quebec’s Entrepreneurship Awards and a first place at the Love your local Business contest organized by Quebec’s Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC). Most recently the pair learned that travel website Tripdvisor.ca has rated Steffanos the second best Quebec restaurant out of a list of almost 13,500 entrants.

“It’s because when people come to Steffanos, they feel completely welcome, they feel loved, and every gelato and panini we make has love in it. They recognize that,” said the irrepressibly upbeat and energetic Boivin, who said many of her best customers come from hours away and often stay for hours more.

The gelateria came about one sweltering summer as Boivin and Côté were working long shifts at their factory job. Exhausted by the repetitiveness of the conditions, they realized making boxes on an assembly line wasn’t what they wanted to do with their lives.

“Stéphane  came to me and said, ‘what do you think about opening up a gelateria?” recalled Boivin.

His previous experience in marketing and Boivin’s history of entrepreneurship and a background in commerce and creative writing was enough to get them started. Soon they’d flipped a commercial property bought in Dunham into a gelato powerhouse, but it wasn’t without hard work and patience. They took a gelato-making class to start off and embarked on a year of busy research, fundraising, and some very judicious purchasing of second-hand equipment on Kijiji: a batch freezer, originally priced at $40,000, bought for $4,000; $6,000 displays purchased for half that; and a $30,000 espresso machine bought at $450, among others. Boivin said only one piece of equipment was bought new, and they did the renovations themselves whenever they could. From the very beginning, their business found a ready clientele, with Côté  making the gelato and handling communications and Boivin serving customers and taking care of business matters.

“It’s not just the gelato; it’s the service, it’s the ambiance, it’s everything together and the whole package,” she said.

Dunham is located in Quebec’s Brome-Missiquoi region straddling Quebec’s Wine Route and is known for its vineyards and grape varieties. It’s about 90 kilometers south-east of Montreal.

Steffanos address is 143 Bruce Street, Dunham. The free wine-themed gelato and sorbet event will take place on Saturday, Aug. 30 from 11am to 6pm, rain or shine.

Categories
Student Life

Getting down to the business of being your own boss

Anna Van Tuinen, founder of her own start-up business Paper Anniversary, making her handmade jewellery. Photo provided by Anna Van Tuinen

Are you thirsting to start your own business but remain burdened by your fears? Are you craving to be your own boss? Have you been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug, but are afraid to let it penetrate your life? It’s time to annihilate those fears, reassess your goals, and consider that startups may not be as daunting as they may seem.

Anna Van Tuinen, founder of her own start-up business Paper Anniversary making her handmade jewellery. Photo provided by Anna Van Tuinen

Anna Van Tuinen, a 25-year-old American entrepreneur and creator of Paper Anniversary, was inspired by the overwhelming amount of creativity upon her arrival in Montreal. Since the fourth grade, she’s been playing with origami and for the last six years, she’s been making paper jewelry as a hobby. Recently, she decided to transform this pastime into a business and now she sells sustainable jewelry online made of bamboo paper that’s imported from Japan, Thailand, and Nepal. Her idea was incited by the western cultural tradition of giving paper for a first year wedding anniversary gift.

“Though this began as a hobby, after reading Jesse Krieger’s Lifestyle Entrepreneur and speaking to an entrepreneur friend, I realized I wanted that self-employed lifestyle,” she said.

Van Tuinen embraces self-employment because she can make her own schedule and work from any location. After creating her website, Paper-Anniversary.com, through Shopify, her business was launched in a mere 24 hours.

By setting goals, testing the market, and learning to prioritize, she turned her business into a success in three months, which allowed her to quit her day job.

John Molson School of Business (JMSB) professor and Concordia graduate, Eric Martineau, another entrepreneur, recommends getting started while you’re still in school and your day job is not yet your livelihood. By asking his advertising professors for guidance and building relationships with them while he was in school, he was able to grow his own business.

“If you want to start your business, do projects in school on an industry you’d like to look into,” said Martineau.

Martineau, co-founder of Lavacar, a mobile car washing service that comes directly to your workplace, started his company while writing his Masters thesis at Concordia. His friend suggested the idea, while waiting endlessly in line for a car wash. As they were two broke students, neither of them wanted to enter an industry with high startup capital, but they invested what little money they had and managed to get it started. They knew they had nothing to lose and that they could partake in this endeavour without compromising their means to survive.

“Right now is by far the best time in your life to start a business,” said Dominic Tarn, author of The New Goldrush: A Quick Guide to Startups. “Having said that, never make any compromises on your studies [or jobs], but the opportunity is there for the taking right now if you want to dive into entrepreneurship.”

Concordia economics graduate, Jordan Choo, also believes in getting started as a student. A born entrepreneur, Choo began selling ebooks online at the ripe age of 15. Currently a web developer and online marketer with a number of side projects, his experience has allowed him to broaden his network.

“Talk to everyone you meet,” said Choo. “As a student, you have a network of people you see on a daily basis that can help you grow your business.”

Despite the guidance from his peers and mentors, Choo’s biggest challenge was to stay  motivated when obstacles obstructed his path. His mistakes helped him find the holes in his business and resolve them.

Choo explains that his Dad’s advice has been the most helpful.

“The only thing that holds you back is yourself. If you really, truly want something, you will find a way to get it.”

Choo is one of the many students who have participated in Concordia’s entrepreneurship programs. As a former member of Enactus Concordia, an international non-profit organization that helps mobilize students into becoming business leaders, and a participant in The Apprentice, a case competition for students in Montreal, Choo was able to talk to business executives, learn to improvise, and work with a team. He also named District 3 and The Founder Project, two programs that aim to assist student startups, as integral to his success.

“The entrepreneurial spirit in Montreal is taking off at a lightning quick pace. Student startup organizations are popping in campuses across Montreal, the country, and really all of North America”, said founder and CEO of The Founder Project, Ilan Saks.

The Founder Project has contributed to creating 200 student startups, and the Concordia startup program, District 3, located in E.V. 7.105, has already produced numerous startups and founders in the span of a year.

At District 3, students meet with mentors weekly to assess their progress and work individually on their projects in a professional environment. To join the program, the only requirements are a business plan and an appointment.

“You have the name Concordia under you. Every time you meet a sales representative, they can come into a nice building, a conference room. You are being backed unofficially by Concordia,” said Charles E., a graduate of the finance program at JMSB.

Charles E. belongs to a group of students that created a mobile travel agency that helps plan weekend getaways. According to him, the best part about District 3 is that you get to network in a space that provides you with access to expensive resources.

Another JMSB graduate, Jamie Klinger, is also jump starting his business through District 3. His project, the Jack of All Trades Universe, is an online community that provides an outlet for the exchange of products and services through a variety of currencies between people in the same geographic location.

“District 3 introduced me to tools that are good for organization,” he said. “It gives me a useful mentorship, presents what I’m working on, and lets me know if I’m on track and what to do next.”

Aside from classes offered at Concordia that teach students how to become entrepreneurs the access to information provided by programs like District 3 creates an environment of burgeoning business-minded individuals. There is nothing more satisfying than being your own boss, and with all these resources at your fingertips, now is the time to start. So let’s get down to business, shall we?

 

Categories
Student Life

More than just school spirit

Press photo.

While most students might look to a part-time job to keep some cash in their pockets, John Molson School of Business student, Ali Khadjavi, started his own company.

In 2009, Khadjavi launched his company, Nettoyeurs Express, with his brother Reza, after beginning his studies at Concordia as an independent student. A natural go-getter, Khadjavi is currently working towards his Bachelor of Commerce.

Born in Tehran, Khadjavi moved to Canada when he was five-years-old. He and his brother, Reza, had an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age and came up with their business idea together.

Press photo.

“We were looking for a traditional business with a twist and discovered that dry cleaning was an easy business to start since many dry cleaners outsourced the work,” Khadjavi said. “So that means very little start up costs and good margins.”

The brothers target their business to busy students and young professionals who need laundry services and dry cleaning, but might not have time to make the trip to the cleaners or the laundromat themselves.

Nettoyeurs Express has done away with the traditional storefront in favour of a more modern web-based model. The sophisticated website enables their clients to select from a wide range of pickup and delivery hours.

Laundry and dry cleaning is picked up from clients’ homes, workplace or hotel and can be delivered within 48 hours or less, depending on the service option selected.

Always thinking ahead, the brothers turned to additional niche markets as well.

“We also service businesses such as clinics, spas, daycares, firms and other small companies,” Khadjavi said. “We are also very popular for our office weekly pickups for large companies such as Aldo Group, Ernst & Young and for our laundry services in the McGill Dormitories.”

Bursaries, mentorship programs and business coaching through Youth Employment Services were all helpful for Khadjavi to get Nettoyeurs Express off the ground. He notes that Québec is an excellent province for young entrepreneurs to start a new business.

During their interview on CJAD’s program, Today’s Entrepreneur, the brothers advised young people looking to start a business not to underestimate the importance of a strong web presence. It is no longer an aspect of business that can be ignored and it has certainly been essential in setting Khadjavi’s business apart from the competition.

Khadjavi is also quick to point out the campaign his company holds every September on their Facebook page, “Give $20 Get $20,” which he notes is very popular amongst the student population.
There will always be competitors in the laundry business, but Khadjavi and his brother are ready for it and even welcome it.

 

Categories
News

‘Fight club for startups’ starts to take off

Computer-savvy Montreal students looking for a leg up in starting a high-tech business will be pleased to hear that Startupifier, a fledgling student-run group, is starting to take off.

The group played host to around 40 interested parties last Wednesday at Notman House for a workshop on Software as a service, or SaaS, metrics.

Notman, which gives the community access to free Wi-Fi in their downstairs “cafe” area while also doubling as office space for startups and event venue, is the type of place where you take off your shoes at the door. Once inside the building, situated on the corner of Sherbrooke Street and Clarke Street, you are greeted by a long hallway leading to winding stairs at the other end. Besides the rows of shoes at the entrance, the only other object in the hall is a Red Bull vending machine, plugged in but with empty shelves.

The clattering of fingers on computer keys emanating from the two rooms on either side of the hallway temporarily ceased for the course of the workshop, taught by serial entrepreneur turned investor Mark MacLeod, who has been a partner at seed fund Real Ventures for the past year.

Founded two years ago, the organization has only in the past year or so started hosting events geared towards providing young entrepreneurs with the connections and the know-how to start their own company.

Startupifier offers four services to students: an academy, an internship program, hackathons, and a garage (also described as an “incubator without money”). The group mostly reaches out to students through its online mailing list, Facebook group, and Twitter account.

Jordan Choo, a Concordia economics student with a penchant for technology, is part of the second generation of Startupifier members; he’s in charge of organizing the workshops.

Nine people are listed as the group’s founders on its website, while five more, including Choo, constitute its “2011 crew.” Choo specified the number of people involved is closer to 20 at the moment.

Both Choo and co-founder Karel Ledru-Mathé expressed a firm belief that what they were doing isn’t taught in post-secondary institutions.

“Universities and companies are two disconnected words in Montreal,” Ledru-Mathé said.

Ledru-Mathé was a business student at HEC when he met co-founder Riku Seppälä at a startup networking event two years ago.

“I was at school [at the time,] working on some ideas to connect students with companies, so I just loved the idea of organizing events for startups among students,” Ledru-Mathé, now a web developer, explained.

“The main thing we’ve been doing is organizing events that show students that it is pretty easy to start something, to do something, and to do it out of school, so don’t only spend your time studying but you can also have a project of your own on the side,” he added.

Startupifier fills a gap in the knowledge necessary for students to become successful entrepreneurs, Choo said.

“We are taught how big companies are run [at school],” Choo explained. “A high-tech startup is run totally differently compared to big organizations, from a cultural level to programming, to just running the business in general, so we are trying to fill that gap so that if a student does decide to start their own company, they are not in the middle of nowhere not knowing what to do.”

In an interview, MacLeod agreed. “We [Real Ventures] invest in tech startups and therefore they are started by people who come from a software background. And I find that the curriculum is totally unrelated to what’s needed practically, right, so you are still learning C++ and really old languages at school whereas most web apps are built on Rails, and Javascript and other interpreted languages so you end up having to learn those on your own,” he said.

He pointed to Stanford University, in the United States, as a model example for how universities should be structuring their classes.

“Computer science students have a course where they build an iPhone app and they are graded on how well it does,” he said. “That, to me, is amazing, and we’re not doing anything like that here. It’s all textbook, it’s all theoretical, so all of the best entrepreneurs that we back are soft top and it would be great if the schools could do more.”

Nonetheless, MacLeod said a university degree does provide “a baseline and set of skills and also gives you a set of relationships.”

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Three tips for student entrepreneurs, courtesy of investor Mark MacLeod:

– Learn on somebody else’s dime first. “I didn’t start with founding my own startup, I joined others before doing that,” MacLeod explained.
– Find a mentor and advisor. “I find that actually the most successful entrepreneurs, not just young ones, any age, even folks who have done this three times, have their own personal mentors and advisers.”
– Don’t go at it alone. “It is actually a rule [at Real Ventures that we] don’t fund companies with single founders,” MacLeod said, “so get a co-founder, and if that co-founder has some experience that you lack, that’s gonna help.”

Categories
News

Concordia student wins entrepreneur award

Despite just having been named Quebec student entrepreneur of the year by the organization Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship, Concordia student Adam Haroun is willing to spill his secrets to success.

“Talking to successful people helps sharpen your skills,” Haroun said, singling out his own business mentor, Fabienne Fredrickson, as a major reason for his success.

Fredrickson and Haroun speak once a month on the phone and he just came back from meeting her in Stamford, Connecticut.  Haroun suggests all young entrepreneurs get coaching. He said it helps them to create a niche, find a target market and expand their business network.

Originally from Ottawa, Haroun moved to Montreal to do his undergraduate degree at the John Molson School of Business.  He started his first online company, The XFactor Agency, two years ago while going to school full-time.

He said the XFactory Agency is about helping businesses brand their product, market their services, establish an online presence, and create a website – not simply about developing a logo. His agency attracts companies of all sizes, and from different regions – ranging from Canada and the United States  to Slovenia. In the past year the company has seen a 605 per cent growth, for which he credits both his mentor and Concordia.

Haroun said that Concordia gave him the tools to venture into creating his own business. He credits his experience with Concordia’s Students In Free Enterprise team, a chapter of the international SIFE group which promotes student involvement in the community as a method of developing the skills to become business leaders, for helping him to develop and giving him the extra push to create the XFactor agency.

“Being able to represent Concordia and Quebec is an honour and a privilege,” Haroun said.

Other advice given by Haroun is that “success leaves clues.” He added that going to seminars and schmoozing with successful people gives young people an edge in the business world.

Haroun also emphasized that making contacts helps, but you also need to find the right price for your service. This year he changed his company’s prices from an hourly rate to a package price. He found once he established a format to sell his product he created a focus, and his company’s size exploded as a result.

Going to school and having a business is hectic, but Haroun said that because he attends online classes and has tutors he is able to do well.

“Cool thing is that with a laptop and cell phone,” Haroun said, “I can go anywhere.”

Haroun will now be competing at the regional championship in Toronto on March 18, with a $1,000 prize on the line. The three regional winners will then face off at the 2011 ACE National Exposition in Toronto on May 11, 2011. The Student Entrepreneur National Champion will receive a $10,000 cash prize and go on to represent Canada at the Global Student Entrepreneur competition.

 

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