B8
Thursday, September 25, 2014
business
calgaryherald.com
CAPITAL IDEAS CAPITAL QUESTION: How did you discover the problem your idea solves? Capital Ideas members share how they got started in business Sheri Bruneau, president of Get It Together (gityyc. com) says she saw the need for a moving concierge service through her time in the industry. “When I started working with real estate agents to get homes ready to sell, it became evident that many people were stressed over the thought of moving. There’s getting a home ready to list and sell, there’s the actual moving aspect, and then there’s the unpacking and settling in to a new home. That is where I made the bold decision to refocus my business so it’s strictly geared around helping people move.” Photo supplied by: Sheri Bruneau
“You know the old marketing saying, ‘Go where your customers are’? Well, social media is where your customers are. But in order for businesses to have an effective social media strategy across multiple platforms, you need to be actively updating and engaging on those platforms 12 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We saw the need for an experienced agency to help manage their social media.” — Shawn Alain, president of Viral in Nature — viralinnature.com “Being on the social committee of a prestigious oil and gas company, I was exposed to the challenges of finding a gift basket service that facilitated our needs. Either they were grossly overpriced, or there was not as much product as originally anticipated … When I left the workforce, I knew I wanted to create a gifting service that was going to capture and correct those areas of personal concern.” — Stacey Allain, owner of lil’BIG Gifts — lilbiggifts.ca “I was feeling the frustration of my fellow business owners who wanted to create video for their products or services, but couldn’t find a company that fit their budget. I created ChicFlicks to solve two problems: To help business owners get past the fear of delivering their message in front of a camera, and to enable and empower those with limited budgets to create their own video with confidence.” — Dana Goldstein, chief producer of ChicFlicks — chicflicks.ca “As a search firm, we constantly have candidates approach us struggling with their job searches. We do not place every candidate that is searching, and we realized very quickly they really needed help with their job searches … so we offer affordable careertransition services to meet the needs of job seekers in transition.” — Carmen Goss, president of Prominent Personnel — prominent-personnel.ca “I always found it incredibly difficult to throw away the doodles my children created at home and at school. The concept for SchoolWorx really began after my oldest child brought home a painting from preschool of a tree, but it was no ordinary tree — it had Rice Krispies glued on one-by-one as the leaves … I began photographing the pieces of art that would not stand the test of time and made my children their own hard-covered art books. Once I began sharing these with friends and family, it was not hard to see that I had clearly solved a problem for many of them.” — Andrea Iervella, founder and CEO of SchoolWorx — schoolworx.ca “I started creating custom baby blankets several years ago … and I discovered that many of my customers were too busy to shop, wrap and send gifts to friends. So I solved their problem by offering wrapping and personalized card and mailing [service]. I’m proud to say that Sun 7 Designs is now considered a one-stop shop for busy people wanting to send the perfect baby gift.” — Valery Klassen, owner and designer of Sun 7 Designs — sun7designs.com
“By listening and paying attention to the challenges women face in business, we discovered that the ability to make good connections and develop positive relationships in this modern age of social media is a challenge. The Internet connects millions of users, businesses and service providers, and we provide the missing platform and opportunity for social connection for the average business.” — Monica Kretschmer, founder and CEO of Canadian Business Chicks — canadianbusinesschicks.com “Growing up, my business partner and I both experienced the feeling of not belonging. Really, we just wanted a clubhouse where everyone could feel that they belonged, but how does one make a living operating a clubhouse? The minute we saw the paint-and-sip idea, we knew that we had found the business [for us]. It’s about creating community of beautiful, intelligent, successful and strong women who want to hang out together.” — Brenda Mahoney, co-owner of Vin Gogh Paint and Sip Studio — vingogh.ca “It takes three things to run a successful business: Delivering a product or service; looking after the money that comes in and goes out; and marketing. In my experience, entrepreneurs are fantastic at the first, pretty good at the second and completely inexperienced at the third. That’s where we come into play.” — Sue McMaster, principal consultant at QUEST Communications Inc. — questcommunications.ca “Conflict is everywhere, and often people require support to see their way through it. While working with organizations, I discovered that employee turnover, low productivity, reduced morale and sabotage are often associated with unresolved conflict. Companies willing to be more proactive with conflict by examining their conflict management systems had significant impact on reducing costs and creating a successful working environment for all employees.” — Michelle Phaneuf, conflict manager at REA - Reaching Enduring Agreements — REA-agreements.com “We developed ShopandShare.ca as a result of spending countless hours helping the local schools and sports groups raise funds through traditional fundraising methods, and experiencing first-hand the inefficiencies, wasted resources, and guilt associated with them. Supporters were being asked to buy things they really didn’t want, at inflated prices, and managing the inventory and paper trail was a nightmare. We harnessed the power of technology and paired it with growing popularity of online shopping to make fundraising extremely easy and guilt-free.” — Richelle Skrilec, founder and CEO of ShopandShare.ca This is Part 2 of our community’s answers to a question we posed earlier this month. Stay tuned for answers to “What is your No. 1 networking tip?” on Oct. 2. For your chance to get your business advice published, join us at capitalideascalgary.com.
UPCOMING: Ladies Learning Code
SEPT
27
OCT
2
A workshop covering HTML and CSS basics When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Assembly Coworking Space (119 14th St. NW) Admission: $50. Details at thechicgeek.ca
Startup Next NOV
6
An intense five-week program helping new startups get into accelerators and take their businesses to the next level Where: Alastair Ross Technology Centre (3553 31st St. NW) Admission: $300. Details at innovatecalgary.com/growing-a-company/next
OCT
Small Business Week Panel
OCT
Small Business Week Awards and Expo
20 23
A panel discussion and open networking event featuring award-winning local businesses When: 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Where: Calgary Public Library (616 Macleod Tr. SE) Admission: Free. Search for “Small Business Week Panel” at eventbrite.ca
Attend breakout sessions and tradeshow during the day, then celebrate small business with the Calgary Chamber and ATB Business When: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Where: TELUS Spark Science Centre (220 St Georges Dr. NE) Admission: $29 to $40. Details at smallbusinessweekcalgary.com/expo
Have an event that Capital Ideas should know about? Contact us at hello@capitalideascalgary.com. “I used to consult, providing risk assessments for many businesses. While there are a variety of challenges in the business world, I observed that many stem from managers not knowing how to deal with people ... Providing practical and immediately applicable skills in dealing with people has a domino effect of hard, positive benefits.” — Harvey Taphorn, president of Teegic Corp. — crestcomleadership.com/ harveytaphorn “I went about discovering the real problem our company solves the long and hard way — through trial and error. My company was one of those business startups that came from a good idea but with no real plan … Our business slowly developed, but we did not truly discover the root until we hired a business coach. We began asking questions of our customers through surveys and purposeful discussions, observing buying behaviors and monitoring requests, then we took a hard look at what our customers were really saying.” — Noreen Ward, owner of The Gift Designers — thegiftdesigners.com
Your turn to ask the questions! Is there something you’ve always wondered about business, or maybe something you would love to get someone else’s take on? Here’s your chance to submit those burning business questions of yours! Visit capitalideascalgary.com to submit your questions — we’ll publish the best ones, along with your name and the name of your business, in the coming months.
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