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W e d n e s d a y, J u n e 1 8 , 2 0 1 4 E D M O N T O N J O U R NA L e d m o n t o n j o u r n a l . c o m
CAPITAL IDEAS c ap i ta l id e a se dm o n to n .c o m
P R O J E C T L E A D E R : K A R E N U N L A N D , 7 8 0 - 4 2 9 - 5 5 3 0 ; h e l l o @c a p i t a l i d e a s e d m o n t o n . c o m
How do you build an international business from Edmonton? Entrepreneurs share how they sell to the world
“Culture is driven by alignment of values... We teach the meaning of our company values that we hold as a group of people, and do core value awareness every week... Over time, [staff] start to align with your values… which provides the foundation for attracting people to your brand in the future.” — Rob Bertram, CEO of Ideal Products (idealproducts.ca)
“I had to learn to say no… to translating and proofreading because my job was now to get enough work in to keep all the translators we had hired… I knew that if I continued to do those things I would just get sucked back in, and [saying no] is something I’ve done consistently as the company has grown... If I don’t say no, I’ll get sucked back in and create a bottleneck for growth.” — Michèle Hecken, founder and CEO of Alpha Global Experts (alphaglobalexperts.com) and Alpha Translations Canada Inc. (alphatranslations.ca)
“The world is shrinking — it’s easy to get places and communicate with people. Canada only has a population of 34 million people, so you have to go outside to grow. That was our thinking. There’s big opportunities out there, so let’s show the world what we have.” — Mark Fitzsimmons, president of Psychometrics Canada (psychometrics.com)
For the full recap of “How do you build an international business from Edmonton,” including video and audio, visit capitalideasedmonton.com/events
CAPITAL BUZZ:
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE:
Here’s what Capital Ideas members took away from the special June 11 panel: “Word of mouth is a powerful way to grow your business.” — Shannon Berry of Protologic (protologic.ca)
“Going international means thinking big, getting lucky, having desire and passion for your product, and making the impossible possible.” — Kevin MacDonald of PU Technologies (putechnologies.tk)
“Working locally or around the world, you need to build your internal culture properly.” — Randy Brososky of Group of Rogues (groupofrogues.com)
“Lessons learned the hard way: Finding the right partners, trusting your instincts, and working on the business, not in the business.” — Marcela Mandeville of Bright Idea International (brightideainternational.com)
“It can be a hard thing for an entrepreneur to let go so he or she can work on the business, not in the business.” — Shaun Green of the Town of Beaumont (town.beaumont.ab.ca)
“Use your challenges and struggles to drive innovation.” — Alysha Ouimet of Box Clever (boxclever.ca)
Patrick Lamoureux Nicolette Leonardis Manchi Lo Derek Logan Carina Ludgate Mark Lynch Mark Martel John McEwan Bobbi Menard Bud Norris Funmi Omotade-Tan Mario Pailamil Javier Pailamil Christy Papadopoulos Jacqueline Poon Al-nur Pradhan David Robinson Cheryl Rose Sara Scott Earl Shindruk Deirdre St.Luke Lorraine Stephanyshyn Lori Thexton Catherine Toole Jefferson Torregosa Duong Trieu Cal Warren Wendy Wheeler Eddie Yu
Mark Aaldyk Shawn Bakker Cindy Barclay Morgan Berry Jack Born Dianna Bowes Kirstin Brown Patricia Bullock Dan Costigan Koren Cromwell Carmen Donnelly Bill Dowbiggin Elizabeth Dwernychuk Usukuma Ekuere Barbara Engelbart Andrea Ferguson Nicholas Fu Jennifer Garries Dena Gillies John Goode Shaun Green Tracy Hartfelder Dean Heuman Jonathon Hlus Tetiana Hlus Rich Horning Theresa Kloster Kimberly Kluthe Kel Knutson Rick Lam
THANK YOU! Adrian Warchola, manager of international inbound market development for the Edmonton International Airport, congratulates door-prize winner Daniel Tse of Signia Analytics. He won two round-trip tickets to Houston courtesy of EIA.
P H OTOS BY V ICKIE L AL IOT IS/CAP ITAL IDEAS
NEXT EVENT:
HOW DO I TURN AN IDEA INTO A BUSINESS? WHEN: JULY 16, 11:45 A.M. TO 1 P.M.
WHERE: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL (10006 101ST ST.)
RSVP AT CAPITALIDEAS29.EVENTBRITE.COM
Questions? Contact us at hello@capitalideasedmonton.com