TBT May 2012 by Toronto Business Times

W fo Ass r B oc Lo inn es iat cal er t B ion M of us ’s ed ine 20 ia ss 11 Pu aw bl ar ica d tio n

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women of distinction Elyse Allan and Judith Humphrey selected by the YWCA for business and entrepreneurial leadership and helping other women achieve success Page 12

in conversation ‘You can only afford to put your time into the very best idea,’ says Sean Wise, who discusses his new book, Hot or Not, with TBT

TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES

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May 2012

www.torontobusinesstimes.com

Diversity helps business grow, conference told RAHUL GUPTA tbt@insidetoronto.com

t a recent diversity conference in Toronto, a panel of procurement experts urged Canadian companies to explore more business opportunities with diverse enterprises. Part of the second annual Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference, the panel, made up of business, government and academic leaders, touted research showing companies with a diverse procurement process grow faster on average than their non-integrated counterparts. “Diverse small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are cauldrons of economic activity,” said Toronto Councillor Michael Thompson, who participated on the panel. Thompson, chair of the city’s economic development committee and a chief ally of Mayor Rob Ford, said the city had enlisted the aid of the Diversity Business Network’s Courtney Betty, the conference’s lead organizer, to draft a formal >>>diverse, page 8

Toronto Business Times recognized for coverage Toronto Business Times has won a prestigious international award. The Local Media Association, an organization representing 2,000 newspapers across North America, has named Toronto Business Times 2011 business publication of the year. “That’s a high honour for a small publication such as ours,” said Toronto Community News Editorin-Chief Peter Haggert. The Toronto Business Times’ success is directly related to the information it provides. Targeted to the small business owner or operator, TBT is filled with information from experts, reports from small business events throughout Toronto, and tips in many forms, useful for those operating a small business. “We went right to our readership when planning the editorial profile for TBT – and our readership has a lot to do with this honour,” said Haggert.

CEOs build community

Photo/CLAUDIO CUGLIARI

Toronto’s top CEOs traded in their smartphones for hard hats to launch National Volunteer Week on April 16. From left to right, CEO David MacDonald of Softchoice Corporation, CEO Geff Bagg of the Bagg Group, TTC chief general manager Gary M. Webster, Carol Grey, president of Equifax Canada, and CEO Lyle Stein of Leon Frazer and Associates raise a wall during the CEO Build. The CEOs helped with the building of a home in Etobicoke for Habitat for Humanity Toronto, in partnership with Intriciti, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspire business leaders to integrate faith with business.

Clusters drive growth: economist Grouping like-minded business key to growth and survival, says Michael Porter RAHUL GUPTA tbt@insidetoronto.com

One of the world’s most influential economists called on members of the Toronto business community to collaborate, as well as compete, to improve the overall productivity of the region. Providing the keynote speech for a regional economic summit organized by the Toronto Board of Trade, Michael Porter, an author and Harvard Business School professor who has advised past U.S. presidents on economic develop-

‘Start-ups don’t just happen in random places. Start-ups within a cluster overwhelmingly grow faster and survive longer.’ – Michael Porter ment, urged local businesses to become part of economic clusters – groupings of like-minded firms based in a common geographic location – in order to drive growth and innovation.

“Research showing regional clusters driving economic development has reached the point of becoming compelling,” said Porter during his noon-hour speech in late March to delegates attending the Toronto

Region Economic Summit at Events on the Park in North Toronto. Porter’s keynote was the highlight of the one-day summit that brought together business leaders from multiple business sectors to exchange ideas about regional economic co-operation. Porter, who first introduced the idea of business clustering in the 1990s, said his research shows emerging economic clusters like those found in the local hospitality and tourism sectors, attract significantly more entrepreneurialism >>>economist, page 3

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Award-winning automotive service and sales Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion wins ﬁve Readers’ Choice Diamond Awards for Best Car Dealership

Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion is located at 2336 St. Clair Ave. West in Toronto.

The Shaw family strongly believes in supporting local causes in a variety of ways, ranging from sports teams and charitable organizations to learning programs for children. The Shaw family have always dedicated themselves to giving back to the community and are longstanding contributors through sponsorship of major events and donating to various smaller associations and community initiatives. Nobody can beat the family and team spirit that is offered at Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion. The friendly and helpful atmosphere has contributed to building a local reputation of honesty and sales and service satisfaction.

REWARDS PROGRAM A little over a year ago, Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion launched their exclusive VIP Rewards Program.This tremendously successful program recognizes and rewards customer loyalty by allowing customers to accumulate 10 per cent of each of their dollars spent in the dealership’s Parts and Service Departments to put towards the purchase of their next new or used Lexus, Toyota or Scion vehicle. These point dollars are truly over and above the excellent pricing customers will receive on the purchase of their next vehicle from Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion. Customers simply make their best deal and then redeem their point dollars off the final price. But that’s not all, this exciting program also provides each customer who buys a vehicle a three year VIP Rewards Membership Card that grants them access to local merchant discounts in the GTA and other discounts as they travel throughout

Canada and the Continental United States. There’s a lot more too, ask your Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion representative for more information regarding this exciting program or check it out at www.kenshaw.com.

SCION Scion launched in Canada almost a year ago and has been very well received by the public who are looking for a fashionable, trendy car with fantastic gas mileage. Check out the exciting xD, tC or the iconic xB by visiting www.kenshawscion.ca. Scion’s youth oriented vehicles are destined to be the vehicles to have in 2011 and beyond. Come in and see why this dealership has been in business for over 50 years Allow the Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion staff to show you what customer satisfaction is all about!

VISIT

Once again, the team at Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion is proud to accept five Diamond Awards for Best Impor t Car Dealership, Best Luxury Car Dealership, Best New Car Dealership, Best Used Car Dealership and Best Overall Dealership. This car dealer is well known for providing knowledgable information, competitive prices and excellent customer service. Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion provides the best customer service because the staff’s first priority is to help clients identify their needs. The highly trained staff are prepared to answer questions regarding purchase price, monthly payments, interest rates and loan length along with all your questions about specific Lexus or Toyota models. All enquiries will be answered clearly, honestly and professionally to help make the decision process easier. With more than 10 acres of property, the dealership is well equipped to serve everyone’s automotive needs. When it comes to selection the dealership has a large inventory for you to choose from. The dealership carries a large range of high quality pre-owned vehicles that can be counted on for reliability, consistency, and dependability. Car buyers will find the latest and best deals at Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion. Make sure to check the different models and learn about the various offers, specifications, options and, of course, prices that go along with them. Once a customer has purchased a new vehicle from Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion, they can be sure they will get only the best service and maintenance. With a service and parts department open until midnight from Monday to T h u r s d a y, e v e r y c u s t o m e r i s s u r e t o f i n d a c o nv e n i e n t t i m e t o s e r v i c e their vehicle. The Service Department’s main priority is for customers to have a pleasant and hassle free experience. For customer convenience, no appointments are required for oil changes. In addition, the dealership is also equipped with a restaurant on premises, and a waiting area with plasma televisions and internet accessibility. Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion has been owned and operated by the Shaw family for over 50 years and is your neighbourhood dealership. It all started back in 1958 when a small service station was opened on Dundas Street West by Ken Shaw. From those humble beginnings Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion has grown into one of Canada’s largest and most respected family owned dealerships.

Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Scion 2336 St.Clair Ave.West Toronto ON 416-766-1155 www.kenshaw.com

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COMMUNITY LISTED Toronto Business Times is introducing a new element to its coverage: lists. We asked Katheryn Preston and Rick Mamros of the Toronto Board of Trade to come up with their list of networking tips

Networking: five tips and five questions

rganizations, community groups and professional associations across Toronto hold networking events throughout the year. The Toronto Board of Trade hosts more than 100 networking events each year. Haven’t been to one lately? Here are some key things to keep in mind before you press the flesh.

• How did you get started in the ______ business? • What do you enjoy the most about your profession? • What separates you and your company from your competition? • Are you involved in any community organizations? ■ Work the room

■ Determine your goal Consider your networking goals, the types of connections you want to make, and the people who can help you make that happen. Are you looking to grow your business, find a new job, or just make new connections? Each interaction requires a different mindset and a different approach. ■ Come prepared Remember, this is an opportunity to meet new people and make connections. You only have one chance at a positive first impression, so rehearse in front of a mirror to evaluate how you might be perceived. Business cards are an essential tool for marketing and promoting yourself to new connections. Be sure to take a moment to look at a business card you’ve just received and w r i t e d ow n i m p o r t a n t information such as when and where you met. Bring a plentiful supply so your new connections can follow up with you after the event.

Going with a group can make networking feel less intimidating, but make sure you step away from your colleagues and friends. You’re at the event to meet new people and make new connections; you won’t do that if you spend all your time speaking with people you know. Be welcoming and integrate others into your conversations, speaking appropriately and clearly. Playing matchmaker is one good way to make sure people remember you. Focus on the quality, not quantity of your connections. ■ Follow-up You’ve made some new connections and exchanged a handful of business cards, so what’s next? To solidify your new relationships be sure to follow up with a short handwritten note or an email within a day or two to each person you met.

■ Be an active listener Networking events are an opportunity to tell people about yourself, your skills and your business, but it’s also an opportunity for others to do the same. Be sure to engage others by asking questions and being interested in what they have to say. ■ Questions to get you started: • What do you do?

KATHRYN PRESTON

■ Kathryn Preston is a Toronto Board of Trade Ambassador. She is the principal of So To Speak. Rick Mamros is a Toronto Board of Trade Ambassador. He is a director and one of the facilitators at Learn2Network International Inc.

TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES

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RICK MAMROS

Chinese Canadian Entrepreneur Awards The Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs announced the 2012 winners of its Entrepreneur Awards at a ceremony April 14 at the Hilton Suites Hotel in Markham. From left, William Ho, The ONE Gallery (Best Community Service), Dan Liu, Tatsuaki, Inc. (Most Innovative), Vincent Wong, AIP Seafood Company (Best Asia Pacific Business), Samantha Wong, AIP Seafood Company (Best Asia Pacific Business), David Lee Kwen, Misty Mountain Specialties (Best International Business), Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar Inc. (Entrepreneur of the Year), Peter Lawler (co-chair of awards gala), G. Raymond Chang (Lifetime Achievement Award), Eddie Rei, Triumph Express Service Canada Inc. (Most Progressive), Helen Rei, Triumph Express Service Canada (Most Progressive), Weh Hao Li, Mennie Canada Ltd. (Award of Merit), and Edward Yao, teambuy (Best Start-up).

Economist champions co-operation between governments and business >>>from page 1 than non-clustered economies. “Star t-ups don’t just happen in random places,” said Por ter. “Star t-ups within a cluster overwhelmingly grow faster and survive longer.” While growing and cultivating an economic cluster might take decades, the investment, said Porter, is worth it in the long run as a healthy cluster provides sustainable g rowth and productivity. “Ups and downs of economic performance can happen, but we can’t get distracted by that,” said Porter. When it comes to economic development, Porter said business leaders should end the reliance on government to steer the economy and, in turn, governments should focus on strengthening existing institutions and improving infrastructure to create a healthier business environment in which clusters can thrive. Regional governments should also learn to “play better” with each other in order to collectively tackle long-term business constraints like traffic congestion, which costs the local economy billions of dollars in lost productivity, said Porter. He called on the business

Staff photo/NICK PERRY

Keynote speaker Michael Porter makes a point at the podium at the Toronto Region Economic Summit. community to exert its influence by pressuring elected officials to co-operate at all levels of government. “We need to get the political jurisdictions to collaborate in the same way as businesses,” he said. Many businesses are

reluctant to form clusters because they fear increased competition will erode their profit margin. But in doing so, they overlook significant benefits such as an increase in supply of skilled workers attracted to the region, said Porter.

“The more world-class companies there are operating in the Toronto region, the more vibrant and competitive this region will be.” Examples of successful economic clusters include Silicon Valley in California and a hi-tech and entertainment zone in Seoul, South Korea, known as Digital Media City, that houses a growing network of IT and media companies. In the Toronto region, small and medium enterprises are increasingly taking part in clusters, particularly in the automotive and food and beverage sectors, said Toronto Board of Trade CEO Carol Wilding. “SMEs are an integral part of all clusters helping drive g rowth, new product development and feed into the supply chains of bigger industry players,” wrote Wilding in an email to Toronto Business Times. Having an influential voice like Por ter at the summit could convince more business leaders to explore deeper regional co-operation, said Wilding. Porter, who spoke for about 90 minutes, praised the business leaders in the room for recognizing the need for more regional economic co-operation. “Twenty years ago, this meeting wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

TBT

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TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES

Betty Carr Publisher Marg Middleton General Manager Peter Haggert Editor-in-Chief Paul Futhey Managing editor Tim Corcoran Regional Director of Advertising Jamie Munoz Regional Director of Distribution VOLUME 10, NO. 6

Toronto Business Times is published monthly by Toronto Community News, 100 Tempo Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2H 2N8

EDITORIAL Telephone: 416-493-4400; Fax: 416-493-6190 Advertising Telephone: 416-493-4400; Fax: 416-493-4703

Toronto Business Times is one of Metroland Media Group’s business newspapers. Pressrun: 25,000; Publications Mail Agreement #: 40013798

Website: www.torontobusinesstimes.com Email: tbt@insidetoronto.com

WHERE TO FIND TBT Copies available across Toronto at many locations, including Enterprise Toronto offices in North York and Scarborough civic centres, Etobicoke Civic Centre, the Learning Enrichment Foundation, Toronto Board of Trade, Canadian Youth Business Foundation, Business Development Bank offices and mailed to business owners and managers throughout Toronto.

Editorial

The advantages of an entrepreneurial background T

here’s no room for visions of sugarplums when in the practical planning phase of starting a new business. If your expectations, your practices and your plan is not grounded in reality, you’re scuppered before you begin. Sean Wise, teaching at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management and of entrepreneurial experience and stock, offers great advice on Page 13 for the new entrepreneur. Once a consultant to the popular TV show Dragon’s Den, he agrees with the tough love approach taken by show Dragon (in every sense) Kevin O’Leary. You can start an idea with stars in your eyes, but if you can’t prove to yourself true measures of success, then fold the cards before you lose house, home and sanity. There are a million fresh ideas out there – fresh to the world or simply fresh to a geographical

market – but for your product or service to be a success, you need an end user. There is so much advantage to having some form of entrepreneurial background. It forces a learning issue. It forces the necessity of problem solving. It makes people appreciate just how hard management is and just how cruel or kind the business world can be. These lessons of reality are sometimes lost on those who join a larger firm or take on a role in a business serving a very specific function. And sometimes, although very experienced and successful in larger businesses, when all the responsibilities are thrust on a person’s shoulders in an entrepreneurial setting, things can unravel quite quickly. Lessons learned by an entrepreneur can turn into basic life lessons very quickly. For instance, entrepreneurial

business success forces a person to understand how to balance the budget. All too often, even for those successful in business, the practices eludes people in their personal life. Those who abandon entrepreneurial spirit for a corporate or other work environment have that much better understanding of business when they come to the larger firm. Be an entrepreneur, but be wise about what you do. Controlling your own destiny by virtue of an entrepreneurial lifestyle can be a good thing. It is so much easier for an entrepreneur to change course with a business development. That’s part of the fun. But, as Sean Wise will likely tell you, changing course sometimes means knowing when to get out of business. Success lies waiting. But only if you take a realistic approach to entrepreneurial life.

Column

Those who save time will survive S

ave time and you save money. There is never less to do. There is always more to do. As we tailor our products and performance to meet the needs of our customers, we build new processes, offer new services and work hard to attract new customers and improve existing customer relationships. But we haven’t invented a 36-hour day yet. So where does the time come from? For the most fortunate, sometimes there’s the opportunity to expand staff. That’s exciting – and potentially business building – but an increase in staff must come with measurable benefit for it to work. Most of the time, however, the increase in operational necessities comes with the same number of staff hours to meet the challenge. So what gives? What gives are the pieces where it’s hard to measure success. It’s really easy to say this practice sells you two widgets and this other practice sells you six. It’s easy to see which is more valuable to the business and which has the potential to be abandoned in favour of more lucrative ideas. Here’s a simple list of reallife areas to consider for saving time, crafted by my own humble exploits in attempts at costeffective efficiency. Look for silos: No job fits

EDITOR’S DESK

PETER HAGGERT neatly into a 37.5-hour package. Are there any people with positions created to be so tunnelvisioned to one task that they actually have extra time to devote to another activity? Are there some so scattered in what they do that the most important and valuable elements of their job get short shrift at the expense of unimportant or non-valuable tasks? We’ve always done it: I recall an editor once, who every morning noted on every page of the newspaper planning template the position of colour as dictated by the printing press.

question the value The trouble is, that assessment changed constantly through the day, making that first assessment useless or duplication at best. A better process meant that individual could do other more valuable duties in the timeframe. It’s almost cliché to talk about processes that are simply there because no one has ever questioned the value.

The add-ons: Too often, new tasks just get lumped on top of old tasks. They sometimes get handed to the person who sort of handles that kind of job, but not really. Tasks get piggybacked onto existing processes, and new tasks onto those. Suddenly, a cumbersome unproductive process emerges and hampers productivity. When you get that chance, analyze your processes from start to finish. Eliminate the hands to handle a process. It will eliminate time to complete the process. Analyze every piece of work done along the way associated to the process. You may well find practices that were relevant or necessary at one time but no more. Prioritize: Above all, determine priority to everything you do. Understand what you do that directly grows your business. Understand the aspects that are not measurable and provide intangible results – and question and understand the extent of the benefit. Forgive me if this all sounds preachy. It’s just the concepts haunt me daily. We all live in a world where we constantly need to improve our products, our performance and our bottom line. It’s called survival. n Peter Haggert is Editor-in-Chief of Toronto Community News. He can be reached at phaggert@ insidetoronto.com

Opinion

Find your own comfort level with networking N

etworking can be a lot of things. Scary doesn’t need to be one of them. In this month’s edition of Toronto Business Times, a number of our experts explore the networking theme. There are thoughtful approaches within their pieces – both in column and list formats – on these pages and loads of insight. I encourage you to read them. Pondering my own experiences, I find there are several common elements associated with what I would call successful forays. While this hardly makes me an über-expert, they’re guidelines I find steady and useful and reduces some of the fear factor. If you can find what works for you, it’s much easier for networking to come naturally. Networking’s an investment: The payoff may not be immediate. Don’t be disappointed if that is, in fact, the case when you try a new area or method for the first time. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time to see tangible results. Stick with it. Be and know yourself: If you can feel natural, that may also take some of the intimidation factor out of networking. If you feel you have to act to fit in, you may not be in the right place, or you may not have planned your approach properly. Be open to different methods of making connections: I’ve found LinkedIn to be especially handy in recent months in terms of expanding my contacts for this publication, in particular. While

NOTEBOOK

Paul Futhey using it can lack the warmth of a face-to-face meeting, it can deliver some results in a coolly efficient fashion. For the timeconscious person (which would be everyone we know), that’s an incredible opportunity. In turn, if you’re using LinkedIn or any other social media to seek out connections, it’s also a friendly reminder to you to keep your own public profile(s) current. You never know who might be looking for (or at) you. Common courtesy can go a long way: I used to be amazed those times I’d get thanked for calling somebody back. What used to be considered an expectation or mere common courtesy appears to be a bonus in some circles! The lesson? Follow through on your commitments and you may get rewarded unexpectedly. In turn, be mindful of the commitments you do make. Underpromise. Over-deliver. n Paul Futhey is the managing editor of Toronto Business Times. He can be reached at pfuthey@ insidetoronto.com

Join our LinkedIn group The Toronto Business Times Forum is designed to discuss issues of importance to small business in Toronto. This is a place for ideas and to discuss questions of mutual concern.

TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012 - 5

op inion Each month, Toronto Business Times solicits opinions from experts on a question of relevance to the small business community. This month’s question is: Networking is important in order to grow and maintain a business, but it can become time-consuming. What are some efficient networking methods you recommend?

When it comes to networking, make the time and just do it

‘I

f you believe business is built on relationships, make building them your business,” says Scott Stratten, president of UnMarketing (with more than 120,000 followers on Twitter and 7,000 on Facebook) in his book called, yes, UnMarketing. Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. I’m not ashamed to say a book that turns the concept of marketing on its head has changed the way I run my business. Getting audiences to engage with brands and convert on specific objectives is my reason for being in the nine-to-whatever (or unreasonable facsimile of what passes for a workday these days) world. So, how do small business owners and consultants maintain a healthy relationship with their network? Sometimes, in practice, we don’t, it’s true, but in theory... 1. Keep social networking profiles current People are connecting with us all the time, and we don’t even know it. It’s important to ensure we’re communicating the right information. The main players in social networking for business are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and there’s no quick fix or easy way

mikeconnell.ca

mike connell to update all three at the same time. I have weekly, monthly and quarterly reminders in my calendar to ensure that everything I would ever want somebody to know is readily available on my social networks. It’s possible I might miss a weekly update, but monthly and quarterly reminders make sure the gaps don’t get too big. 2. Don’t be shy Connect, like and follow. This is how it works, right? Someone “likes” or “follows” us, generally we like or follow them back. Not always, and often depending on who they are, but generally we’ll reciprocate the action. You need to set aside 30 minutes every week (at a minimum, and for each social network) to proactively identify people to connect with, like or follow. 3. Practice Inbox Zero The biggest time suck in my life is email. Managing subscriptions, notifications, personal and, of course, work correspondence can be overwhelming. The problem? An out-of-hand inbox

hides a lot of networking opportunities. When I learned about Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero, email overload didn’t go away, but implementing the process (Delete, Delegate, Respond, Defer, Do) ensures that we slowly but surely address all communication points and clean house at the same time. A clean inbox makes each touch point that much easier to address and (eventually) frees up more time to focus on those other networking opportunities. Ultimately, what’s the single most important thing to remember when it comes to networking? Do it. Even if you feel you don’t have the time. “You need to return this book if you say, ‘I don’t have time to build relationships online!’ and yet will drive 45 minutes to a networking event, stay three hours, and drive 45 minutes back home,” Stratten says in UnMarketing. What’s important to you and how are you going to grow your business? What’s the ROI on your networking activities? Figure it out. n Mike Connell is a digital content strategist and relationship builder. He strives to align his clients’ marketing and sales strategies with distinct, clear and compelling stories.

Networking plan will help you maximize time, money and effort

usiness networking can be one of the strongest marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes. Make the best use of your time, energy and money by creating your personal networking plan. Before heading out the door to a networking event or meeting: n Create and practice a one-minute business introduction that catches people’s attention and triggers a desire for people to ask for more information on the spot or book a future meeting. Try use rhyming words or fun phrases that are memorable in your oneminute introduction. n Confirm what your target market is so that you can ask people if they happen to know anyone that matches your market. Someone at that meeting knows a potential client for you. Everyone knows 100 or 1,000 or even more people – it is up to you to help the people you meet know who to connect you to. n Talk to other business owners to get feedback on the event or meeting you plan to attend. You can even use social media to ask for suggestions and feedback about the event. n Have an appropriate

fit for business

cheryl rankin business card and/or flyer to give people your contact information so they can call you. Not having business cards signals your laziness or your arrogance, so be prepared and bring some cards with you. When attending the event: n Be pro-active in meeting new contacts. Ask them to tell you about their business so you have extra information before doing your one-minute intro. n Connect people at the event who can help each other. When you meet a real estate lawyer, suggest they meet the two real estate agents you just talked to a couple of minutes ago. Follow up with everyone you saw at the event: n Follow up to keep the sales process going. Sometimes a group email works well to give a quick note; remind them what you do; remind them how they can help you; but most importantly, be sure to offer to help them. Private emails and phone calls are the best

way to connect to potential clients and referral sources. n Schedule your future contacts with the person based on the conversations you have had and their needs. Maybe you email within a day or two, phone after a week and then they get your monthly newsletter. Definitely stay in contact with your new list. n Continue to be helpful to everyone so they remember you when they are finally ready to buy. Send potential clients articles that may help their decision to hire you, include tips and articles in your newsletter, and connect them to any other business owners or potential clients that can help them. Creating your own networking plan will definitely improve your efficiency and your time, money and efforts will get much better results. My personal networking plan includes a combination of regular meetings (Business Connection Exchange) and special events (BizNetworkNews. com and TheNetworker. ca). n Cheryl Rankin is president of Fit For Business, a business consulting and training company.

Stand apart from the crowd and Think about networking as a start networking for fun and profit habit and practice every day

etworking comes in all different sizes and shapes and no one size fits everyone. Let’s look at three ways you can help your business go from one-to-one to oneto-lots to one-to-the-knownuniverse. n The “do you know a good plumber” method: In our business, marketing consulting, the most successful people are those who find new business by extending their networks through their contacts’ contacts. The place to start, of course, is your own contact list and making sure you aren’t just a fair-weather friend. This is a face-to-face activity so you need to reach out and not wait by the phone hoping for a call. When I started out as a young twiglet, I had a boss who said I was never to have lunch alone (easy for him to say – he had an expense account). These days with a much embellished waistline, we have an annual Robbie Burns party to celebrate the birthday of the great Scottish poet. It gives our network a gentle reminder of why they should be

st. clements group

glEn loo partnering with us or recommending us to their own networks. But perhaps what’s best is that it is a great excuse to share a glass of single malt scotch and haggis. n The Professor Higgins method: Become an expert: blog, write articles, give speeches at conferences, be a mentor, start a social media conversation. It’s a way to show off to potential clients and partners your expertise and why they should be doing business with you. I know being the “fount of all knowledge” and shining a light on yourself isn’t for everyone. If you can overcome your modesty or shyness, though, there are big benefits that come from being front and centre. n The social butterfly method: The big noise on the block are social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Twitter. Each

has a different use, different tone, different audience and different effectiveness. Social media is most effective if you are part of a conversation and not just lurking. There are several hundred big social network sites out there catering to different interests from research and experts sites to those attracting different industry sectors and professions. If you work or sell internationally, you might consider networks such as QZone (China), Orkut (India), or Vkontakte (Russia) – each one a top dog in their market. Which networking method is right for you depends on your ambition, the time you have, how shy you are and the type of business you have. A combination of all the methods is very likely your best bet. It’s all about relationships, regular communications and making yourself stand out from the crowd. n Glenn Loo is the managing principal – Toronto – of the St. Clements Group. He has over 30 years experience in marketing management as an organizational executive and as a consultant.

ristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” The same can be said about networking; it’s thought about as an activity, but the productivity of it increases if you think about it as a habit. In all the people that you meet you should be thinking about how they can help you and in turn how you can help them. Everyone is an opportunity. The first step is being prepared for that opportunity.

Planning Never underestimate the fundamentals. Networking is about connection and you can’t do that until you’re able to answer the question of who you are and what you’re about in a direct and concise manner. Master and own your elevator pitch. Once you have that, be selfish and construct a plan based on the things that you need. Be specific and meticulous. It’s not enough to want advisors, you need to

students in free enterprise

piotr makuch

Every person is an opportunity, but that doesn’t mean everyone is a connection. Embrace the idea of simply making a friend.

Follow up know what kind of advisors. Know what you want and execute.

Interaction Treat it like a date. You want to get to know the other person in a relatively short period of time, so make sure to pose plenty of questions. Your needs will define the questions that you ask, and conversation will be shaped by what you do ask and what you omit. Make sure to take away at least one unique point from every person you meet, this will allow you to start the conversation again outside the context of wherever it is that you met. Keep it natural. You shouldn’t shy away from talking about things that aren’t business. At the end of the day, you’re engaging in a conversation and if it’s not interesting it won’t be memorable.

We live in a world of 140 characters – embrace it. Increasingly, more conversations are happening online, professionally though LinkedIn and more casually through Twitter and Facebook. Make sure your online presence is in order and ready for those opportunities when they arrive. Likewise, you can make the transition between physical and digital conversations really easy with applications such as CardMunch, which allow you to directly add a person on LinkedIn through their business card. Your habit will soon deliver you dividends if you’re organized, keep things light and embrace the online sphere. n Piotr Makuch is a fourthyear sociology student and vice-president, external communication, Students in Free Enterprise Ryerson.

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opinion

Successful networking doesn’t Smart business types know the mean you need to sell yourself future of media is about you

ne of the biggest fears among my coaching clients is what to say when networking. Most human beings freeze in fear or get sweaty palms at the thought of entering a room full of strangers to do business. Clients often say, “I’m just not very good at selling myself.” So, I suggest that you don’t. We have a natural aversion toward being “sold” goods. Visions of used car salesmen come to mind. A heavy-handed sales approach is unwelcome in any business situation, and that includes at a networking event. It completely makes sense. If you are not fond of being “sold to” then you will, of course, never feel comfortable selling yourself. And that’s fine. Promoting yourself and your business product/service should evoke pride and enthusiasm – not fear and anxiety. So, why do we feel we may have to sell ourselves in promoting our business? It comes from a pervasive mindset that we must “get” business when we network, so we go directly to that tactic. It’s simple, but leaves us feeling fraudulent, inauthentic and desperate – not

Coach’s Corner

Sonia Byrne to mention fearful of rejection. I encourage clients to hear others’ networking introductions and ask, “How can I help you?” When you ask someone this, they are initially taken aback. Then, both parties become more relaxed, at ease and open to sharing with each other. When you ask how you can help someone, you may or may not always be able to assist them right there in the moment. You might know someone they need to know or you may be in possession of information that can help them. You can always keep their request in mind for your travels and you never know when you will meet two people you think should be connected. When you approach networking as an experience of truly connecting, rather than selling, you never know who you will meet

and who will become a part of your growing business network. Here are some tips for networking more authentically: 1. Prepare. Networking authentically still means networking professionally. Have your networking introduction ready. 2. Focus on listening. Plan to listen twice as much as you talk. It’s the old adage of two ears versus one mouth. And it can take the heat off having to converse for shy or introverted people. 3. Only promise what you can deliver. If you make a commitment to call someone, propose an introduction or agree to send along information, be sure to follow up and make good on your commitment. Doing so is not only good business practice but will make you stand out; it’s amazing how few people actually do what they say they’re going to do. Networking authentically takes a bit of practice, as it goes against what we know about doing business. These tips can help you feel at ease in networking situations. When you are more relaxed you will be more open to meeting people – and to new business!  Sonia Byrne is a business and life coach. She can be reached at www.soniabyrne.com

here’s a war going on. It’s part of a never-ending salvo from so-called “old media” industries, hell bent on keeping what’s left of a post-scarcity media culture intact. It’s now been going on for nearly the entire life of the Internet, showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. It’s the war for control of media properties and what people do with them. Yet I’m going to take a different tack in this column. I’m not going to write in this space about which bills are before Parliament to reform copyright or defend a position on the ability of culture creators to get paid in the digital age. I want to talk about a deeper principle in digital culture here. We’re in the midst of a profound transformation that technology only speeds up every year. It’s a force that’s tearing down the old models faster than creating new ones. The meme is clear: you – the individual – are the media message now. Now, there are a few caveats here. I’ll be the first to admit that living in a post-scarcity media culture is sometimes hard to wrap your head around. We’re now starting to live out some of Marshall

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GREG HUGHES McLuhan’s most prescient claims about the mass media, fully embracing the idea of a self-defined media sphere. The “medium is the message” mantra McLuhan waxed philosophical on decades ago was so far ahead of its time. In 2012, we’re only just starting to grasp what he really meant. What this means has profound implications for business, governments and individuals alike. It’s not just a technological shift, but a cultural one in which the individual’s actions are of greater and greater importance, contributing to a bigger and more confusing media, economic and political landscape. Nora Young explores this idea in her new book, The Virtual Self: How The Casual information You Create Virtually Is Changing the Physical World. In her book, she describes how our self-tracking

methods are creating vast streams of data on everything from our music listening habits to weight loss to food preferences. And we’re doing all this voluntarily because the tools are here for us to use. Unlike previous economic eras, where data collection was done as a marketing tool and business optimizer, this Age of Digital Discovery we’re in is something we’re creating by ourselves. We often have control over an entire new realm of data that used to be beyond the reach of even the smartest business types. This is the beginning of something radically new in the history of human expression. This “you are the message” ideology is in a nascent stage right now. However, these forces are only going to get stronger. It’s going to fundamentally transform how business functions, how government delivers services and how people interact culturally. Of course, these powerful forces of an old economic model are pushing back harder than ever. New laws keep coming down the pipe. Yet this is only because the future is not about them. It’s about you.  Greg Hughes is a writer, editor and Web 3.0 junkie. Follow him on Twitter @ ghughesca

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TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012 - 7

l i s te d

Top 10 tips for networking success Toronto Business Times is introducing a new element to its coverage: lists. We asked Toronto entrepreneur Bobby Umar to come up with his list of networking tips

etworking is fundamental to how I run my business and how I create relation-

ships. I love networking because it has given me so many amazing opportunities and experiences in my life and I have met some incredibly inspiring and nurturing individuals with the advent of social media. I learn something each day with every connection. Networking is something we all can use. Networking is something we all need. Networking is something we can all improve upon.

1) Networking is the new certainty in life Benjamin Franklin once said the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. I propose that there are two more: delivering presentations and dealing with people. No matter where you go, you are giving presentations at school, at work and at home. Throughout your life you will always need to deal with people whether at home, work or in public. Networking is both presenting and dealing with people. Once you acknowledge and accept this, why not start invest-

ing now to become better at it? 2) The 80-20 rule of networking The 80 per cent of jobs and opportunities are found through networking and 20 per cent are not. Twenty per cent of people use networking effectively and 80 per cent do not. So if 20 per cent of all people are using networking to get at 80 per cent of all the opportunities, what should you be doing? Networking! 3) Give without expectation Networking is not asking for a job and it is not just taking what you can from a connection. My personal philosophy is to give without expectation. I always ask every contact, “What can I do to help you?” I give my ear and spend a good amount of time just listening because every person has his or her story. This philosophy will help build up your reputation, integrity and personal brand. That good karma will come back to you. 4) Know your value With any networking scenario, there will be give and take. Many people, especially youth, don’t realize what value they can provide. Every person has value and it comes from your experiences, your energy and enthusiasm, your personality and your contacts. Beyond that, you should get comfortable with knowing your personal brand and elevator pitch. Take to the time to understand what you bring to the table. Remember that networking is not just “I want to meet you” but also “I want you to meet me.” 5) Build the relationships

Networking is just the start. Your ultimate goal is to build a relationship. That is where the true value of networking comes into play because you will get advice, support, mentorship and a higher likelihood of opportunities coming your way. 6) Everyone is a bridge We forget that every single person we meet can be a bridge to someone else. Perhaps that cashier has an uncle who works at the company you have targeted for a new job? I have discovered opportunities from random meetings in an elevator, a subway seat and a New Year’s Eve party. Know that you can network anywhere, anytime with anyone. 7) Learn the tactics Every networking article talks about the typical strategies – have business cards, create your pitch, have a plan, etc. But very few talk about actual tactics. You need to learn how to enter a conversation, ask the right questions and leave the conversation. The best tactic to enter a conversation is to use your “power words” such as “Hi!” “Excuse me...” “Sorry to interrupt...” and “Pardon me...” These words will get you into any conversation. Just make sure you are clear and loud enough to be heard. You should also ask open-ended questions such as, “What are you passionate about?” and “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” These questions invest, engage and open up the conversation. When you need to leave, again use your power words from above and mention the next step

you’d like to take (e.g. email, call, coffee, LinkedIn connection). 8) Leverage online networking is now expected, so build a compelling presence Networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ are huge right now. Start building your profiles in these spaces if you are there. If you are not sure where to be, think about who you want to network with. For example, if the majority of the people and companies you admire are engaging on LinkedIn and Facebook then you need to be there. Having a strong profile, responding to articles and updates, and connecting with people you have networked with will build your online personal brand. 9) Not following-up renders networking useless So often people exchange business cards and never contact each other. Or they add each other on LinkedIn and the networking dies there. Remember you are building a relationship and you want to be memorable. Following up is critical to making networking work effectively. In fact, by following up you are setting yourself apart from most networkers. I once spoke about networking at a national conference of 500 young entrepreneurs. I personally asked them all to take my business card and contact me; 75 people took my card, 21 people followed up and only two maintained a relationship with me. So you can either be in the top 15 per cent of taking a card, the top four per cent who actually follow-up or

the top 0.4 per cent who created a relationship. Where do you want to be? 10) You gotta want it! Networking, like leadership, is something you have to want and demonstrate. This mean you have to do everything – be prepared, plan your questions, rehearse your tactics, offer to help, use social networking, follow up and build the relationship – to make an impact with networking. The person who called and emailed me seven times in order to get a coffee meeting finally got one, because he got my attention. The person who waited for 30 minutes while I was talking to dozens of people after my keynote then got me for one-on-one for 10 full minutes. The student who offered to help me with a project eventually got hired for a job and then later I recommended her for another job. The more you want it, the more you will do and the more you will find success with networking. n With a background in brand marketing, engineering and the performing arts, Bobby Umar draws on his diverse 20-year career to lead Raeallan, a transformational Bobby training and Umar speaking company. Bobby is a passionate entrepreneur and speaker on connection, personal branding, career development and leadership.

8 - TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012

d i ve r s i ty

Diverse SMEs: ‘cauldrons of economic activity’ >>>from page 1 diversity policy on procurement. “Our current practice doesn’t have a component for diversity, and we’re going to change that,” said Thompson to applause from an audience of 350 conference goers gathered at the Allstream Centre in Exhibition Place in March. A majority of Canadian corporations are still dragging their feet when it comes to accepting diverse economic actors as legitimate business partners, despite the growth of businesses ownership in the Greater Toronto Area among visible minorities, women and members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community, the panel argued. “Too many organizations view diversity as a handout, and not a hand-up,” said Betty, who helped facilitate the panel. Like the previous year, the conference brought together corporate executives and diverse small business owners for a day’s worth of discussions, networking and information sessions with which to build a potential partnership. Representatives from the provincial government were also present to provide information about procurement opportunities arising from the upcoming Pan American Games, which will be hosted by Toronto in 2015. Having a diversity mandate in place for this year’s Summer Olympics

Staff photo/Nick Perry

Jennifer Tory of RBC Royal Bank speaks during the Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference at the Allstream Centre. The conference aimed to promote partnerships between executives and diverse small business owners. in London was essential to a smooth planning process, said the Games’ head – Alejandra Castillo, deputy director for of diversity and inclusion. Simon Frost, who served “We’re not a charity,” said as the conference’s keynote Frost. “We were tasked to speaker, said the London deliver the games on time o r g a n i z i n g c o m m i t t e e, and within budget. We had to known as LONOC, awarded deliver everything, and some two-thirds of its procurement of our plans were scribbled budget to SMEs and made on the back of cocktail napkins.” diversity a central facet of its overall strategy. Frost said large firms

Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said the Obama the Minority Business Development Agency administration has been eager to divershould be proactive in iden- sify its procurement budget, tifying potential barriers to which accounts for one dollar diversity that may exist in for every six dollars of govthe workplace and imple- ernment spending, in order ment strategies to eliminate to stimulate small business growth. them. Alejandra Castillo, deputy Castillo said data from director for the Minority the most recent U.S. census B u s i n e s s D eve l o p m e n t indicated steady growth of

‘Our research clearly shows that every dollar invested in a minority-owned company increases ROI by 125 per cent.’

minority-owned businesses, particularly enterprises with women as majority owners. “Our research clearly shows that every dollar invested in a minority-owned company increases ROI by 125 per cent,” said Castillo. She said Canada should consider examining the American example. “Ours is only one model,” said Castillo, a native of New York. “But it has been successful in some respects.” Also taking part in the panel were RBC regional president Jennifer Tory, Wendy Cukier from Ryerson University’s department of research and innovation, former chair of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Pradeep Sood, Liberal MPP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East), and Tom Turpin, who called on high-ranking corporate leaders to show more leadership on diversity. “The executive level has to buy in on the business side,” said Turpin, executive vice-president for hiring firm Randstad Canada. Prior to the conference’s start, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair received the conference’s annual award for leadership for his role in improving diversity within the force numbering nearly 6,000. Under Blair’s leadership (he was appointed chief in 2005), recruitment of visible minorities has risen by 86 per cent, according to the Toronto Police Services website.

TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012 - 9

d i ve r s i ty

Pictures from left, City Councillor Michael Thompson, Dr. Wendy Cukier of Ryerson University and Courtney Betty of the Diversity Business Network spoke at the Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference at the Allstream Centre in late March.

Photos/Nick Perry

Diverse direction abounds on infrastructure Opportunities available to diverse entrepreneurs for Pan Am Games RAHUL GUPTA tbt@insidetoronto.com

f there’s an excuse to be made about the lack of diversity in company supply chains, Mo Ettehadieh has probably heard it. He’s been told by companies that diverse suppliers don’t speak English well enough, act too entitled and haven’t earned the opportunity to be considered, to name a few reasons. But Ettehadieh, CEO of construction consulting firm Mettko, says the “best” excuse he’s heard from company execs slow to increase supplier diversity is that workforces are already diversified enough. “Yes, but not in your leadership and not in your supply chain,” said Ettehadieh to a small group of diverse business owners during the 2012 Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference in Toronto in late March. Ettehadieh was part of an information session titled Infrastructures Opportunities (More than Bricks and Mortar), featuring a panel of private- and public-sector representatives presenting available procurement opportunities within their organizations. He said Mettko, a firm of 30 employees, spends almost 14 per cent of its procurement budget on goods and services provided by diverse-owned business. “We’ve got a bigger and better spectrum, whether it’s a Korean guy who has done scheduling on a smelting plant in Brazil, or a Middle Eastern person who has built a high-rise in Dubai,” said Ettehadieh. Bill Zakarow spoke at length of the approximately $300 million in contracting and sub-contracting opportunities available to diverse suppliers due to the Toronto Pan American Games, from supplying 800 giant tents to manning cameras at all venues for the host broadcaster.

‘We’ve got a bigger and better spectrum, whether it’s a Korean guy who has done scheduling on a smelting plant in Brazil, or a Middle Eastern person who has built a high-rise in Dubai.’ – Mo Ettehadieh, CEO of Mettko The Games are expected to cost $1.4 billion. The majority of the contracts will be awarded closer to the start of the Games in 2015, ranging in value from under $10,000 to more than $100,000, said Zakarow, the Games’ head of procurement. Larger bids would require companies to submit a request for proposal (RFP), which will be scored on a variety of factors, including diversity. Competitive pricing is not the sole criterion for winning a

bid, he said. “The last time the lowest priced bid was accepted by a government, cheap o-rings were bought for the Columbia and we all know how that turned out,” said Zakarow,

referring to the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster. Zakarow said interested suppliers should register at the Games website at www. toronto2015.org to be eligible for consideration.

Also making presentations on their organizations’ procurement policies for diverse-owned businesses were Charles Varvarikos of RBC Procurement and Peter Wilson from Infrastructure Ontario.

Dan Wright from the accounting firm MNP facilitated the session. Following the session, Chris Ashkewe, a roofer of Ojibway descent, said he was impressed with what he had learnt from the presenters. “It definitely helps to hear from them,” said Ashkewe.

10 - TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012

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p eop le

women with vision Elyse Allan is being awarded the 2012 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Business

Introducing the winners of the 2012 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards for Business and for Entrepreneurship

Judith Humphrey is being awarded the 2012 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Entrepreneurship.

CEO recognized for Entrepreneur promotes helping women succeed women as leaders MARIA TZAVARAS tbt@insidetoronto.com

eing one of Canada’s most successful business leaders, Elyse Allan has never forgotten to extend her success outwards to enhance the lives, and offer support to others. As the president and CEO of General Electric Canada (GE Canada) since 2004, Allan has facilitated several programs both within and outside of GE Canada that have helped women and their families not only work and live better, but also to help them succeed. Allan’s exceptional contribution to women has earned her a 2012 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Business. The Women of Distinction awards are given annually to women whose vision and determination have significantly improved the lives of women and girls at home and abroad. “I think this (award) really acknowledges two things: One is that for most of my career I have worked for great companies that have supported the efforts I wanted to do that I thought was important to do to help women...the second thing is I think it acknowledges some great organizations and teams that I’ve had the pleasure to work with,” she said. Allan said she feels lucky she works for a company that supports new initiatives, many that were sparked by the needs and challenges expressed by their more than 7,000 employees. “We want to make sure that we continue to not only recruit, but retain the women that we hire and that we’re developing and try and create a flexible

‘By promoting the importance and benefit of women’s leadership, Elyse is sowing seeds of change that are enriching Canadian businesses, Canadian society and the lives of women and girls in Canada.’ – YWCA Women of Distinction Awards work environment that also accommodates the needs for young families,” she said. Allan has also been instrumental in establishing GE’s scholarship for women in engineering, a national program that provide university scholarships for women in that field. Each year, Allan said the winners are brought together for two days where they participate in leadership development, introduces them to business leaders in their field and also to have the opportunity to meet. “We also bring back the prior years’ winners so that they get to meet one another to build some sense of networking and camaraderie among the scholars,” she said, adding they are also offered internships with the possibility of a job at GE once they graduate. Another program GE is proud of is its Global Women’s Network, which Allan said wasn’t as estab-

lished as it could’ve been when she arrived at GE, so she worked with other women in their company to build it up to the awardwinning program it is today. Allan explains the program is a networking and event organization providing women across the company the opportunity to work with one another and connect with other women around the world in mentorship and idea sharing. It also gives them the opportunity for the women to get more involved in the community. “We talk about the value of networking in their community, doing volunteer work, but also getting engaged in boards for... other charities and how they can become a good member of a board or volunteer organization and be a good leader,” she said. Allan said she is proud of their women’s programs and plans to continue to make every effort to ensure they continue to be relevant and effective in supporting and inspiring women.

MARIA TZAVARAS tbt@insidetoronto.com

hen Judith Humphrey wakes up every morning, she wonders, ‘Who is Taking the Stage today?’ Taking the Stage is a program Humphrey created in 2001 that teaches women how to achieve a strong leadership presence every time they communicate. “It teaches them not to pull back, not to minimize themselves, but to step out into the spotlight, that’s why it’s called taking the stage, whether that stage is a meeting room, on the telephone, at a podium or simply in a conversational space,” Humphrey said. Today, Taking the Stage is used locally and around the world by companies and major corporations like IBM Saudi Arabia and Wal-Mart Mexico, and to date, more than 100,000 women having taken the program. Humphrey’s exceptional contribution to women has earned her a 2012 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Entrepreneurship, part of

SEEDS OF CHANGE The YWCA is celebrating women who have planted seeds of change and are improving the lives of women and girls. YWCA Toronto’s Women of Distinction event supports more than 35 YWCA programs across Toronto. As YWCA Toronto’s signature fundraising event, the awards expect to welcome more than 1,500 professionals, community and business leaders, volunteers and young people to be inspired. The awards will be handed out Wednesday, May 16, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, Constitution Hall. Visit www.ywcatoronto.org/page.asp?pid=59 for details on the event

‘Judith Humphrey has planted seeds of change as an entrepreneur by helping women around the world become confident speakers and strong, dynamic leaders.’ – YWCA Women of Distinction Awards a series of awards that are given annually to women whose vision and determination have significantly improved the lives of women and girls at home and abroad. “I think being the entrepreneur of the year is the best possible award I could have had because when you are an entrepreneur you’re really creating something out of nothing and out of yourself really,” she said. Humphrey is the CEO and founder of The Humphrey Group, a corporate communications and leadership development firm in Toronto that she launched in 1988 that teaches people how to be effective communicators. Through running her business, she realized it wasn’t just CEO’s and organizations that needed help with communicating, but that women needed specific assistance. “What really sparked this vision about what we could do for women was that we began to see no matter how much training women had in communicating and speaking they pulled back from really putting themselves out there,”

Humphrey said. They would engage in what she calls minimizing behaviours that involved mind set, for example, not having the courage to speak up, softening their voice to be more appealing and reducing their power and authority unconsciously. Growing up in a household with four sisters, a father that was very supportive and taught them to play baseball, and a mother who was a strong role model, this was foreign to Humphrey. “I was raised to believe that girls could do anything because we weren’t being compared to boys. It was really a good environment,” she said. Taking the Stage is a program that teaches women to bring their thinking forward, express that thinking with clarity and decisiveness and show with their physical presence and voice, the strength of what they feel about their own ideas. “We’re giving them the courage to speak out effectively so their voices and ideas are really heard and they can make a difference in their company,” Humphrey said. And it has made a difference. Humphrey said the feedback she has received from women who have taken this program has been phenomenal, with women relaying that the program has taught them to use their voices with more power and authority and gave them the confidence to achieve whatever goals they wish to fulfill. Humphrey has recently published a book entitled ‘Speaking as a Leader: How to Lead Every Time You Speak,’ and said this book is designed to help anyone, on any platform, be strong and effective communicators.

TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012 - 13

i n c on ve r s a ti on

Chatting about profit with a ‘wise man’ Sean Wise: author, professor, business advisor ERIC HEINO tbt@insidetoronto.com

Q How important is the geo-

graphical location of a business and how do you view Toronto as an environment for small business start-ups?

orn to entrepreneurial parents in Toronto, Sean Wise has risen to be a star in Canadian business, education and television. Currently teaching at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management, he spent five seasons as an industry advisor on the television show Dragon’s Den. Wise is continuing to spread his uncanny ability to invest in profitable businesses through his recently published book, Hot or Not: How to Know if Your Business Idea Will Fly or Fail. While the book has valuable lessons to teach, Toronto Business Times was able to talk directly with Wise to get advice on business, education and making the right choices with your investments.

A There is something to be said

Q Talk to us about Hot or Not. What inspired you to write it?

A After five seasons on Dragon’s Den, I got sad. I was sad that I could only help one person at a time realize that their business was good, but not great, or that it needed work or maybe needed to be put down. In combination with the university who sponsored the textbook for my class, I put together all the lessons I’ve learned behind the scenes at Dragon’s Den.

Q Writing a how-to book is obviously very different than giving somebody advice in a conversation. How do you change your approach? Or do you?

A I really look at it in a different

paradigm. I’ve rolled up all the general advice. I love it because I read on Amazon that it is like a three-hour conversation with a really wise man. That’s how I tried to write the book. Time after time I’ve had to explain valuation, scalability and customer needs. It had to be written down somewhere so people could read it, take time to digest it and go from there. A lot of what I wrote about in the book is just the result of 15 years in the seed funding business: five with the show, five working with Ernst and Young and five as an investor.

Q Can you

explain seed funding and the concepts behind it?

Staff photo/Nick Perry

Ryerson professor Sean Wise, centre, with students Jordy Beale, left, Ian Casterton, Amanda Hutten, Jeffrey Peng, and Zodiac Fantu. than I am in person. I take the same approach. I try to be helpful to this person, but at the same time I realize that most people never get the direct, cold-hearted information that they need to get their business started. Kevin O’Leary and I used to talk on (Dragon’s Den) and he’s not the bad guy. He’s really mister wonderful. At least he is telling people the honest truth. Maybe it’s done with a little bit of wit and coupled with a bit of cynicism, but at least he’s not blowing smoke up the tushes of the entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, if you don’t do that then the worst thing happens and people continue to pursue bad ideas and I always tell them that friends don’t let friends start bad businesses.

Q Your book focuses on business ideas and that’s an early stage of any start-up’s development. Are there obvious warning signs that an idea is not worth pursuing?

one: you are the only one that believes. If you have taken it to potential customers and you have taken it to potential investors and you have taken it to potential employees and nobody gets it, well you may still be right, but it’s not likely. The best ideas have third party validation. It’s very simple. Investors hear hundreds, and in some cases, like me, thousands of ideas. All of them are the best idea that entrepreneur has ever had, so we have to discount that personal viewpoint. I always tell people to look for third party validation. Look for sales, look for the Bank of Montreal report saying this is a growing market, look to the history. If you don’t have any of that, you don’t have any traction, no proof of constant, no third party interest, then you need to ask yourself why.

‘Being an entrepreneur is hard enough, but being an enterpreneur with a terrible idea is just a crying shame.’

A Seed funding is really the first

funds that an entrepreneur uses to start up. If you are a student, maybe you have five hundred in credit card debt and then have to go elsewhere. It’s your skin in the game. Sometimes it’s from friends and family, sometimes it’s from angel funders, sometimes it’s from seed venture capitalists, which I have done for a long time.

Q Is there an advantage to giving

advice in written format instead of verbal? Is there a mode you prefer?

A I love people so I love meeting entrepreneurs and learning their ideas. I think I’m a little more subtle and tactful in my book

A Here is

Q Can you give us some exam-

ples of bad ideas that might not be so obvious to the casual observer?

A I don’t know if it was obvious

or not so obvious, but I remember a few seasons ago (on Dragon’s Den) there was the Puzzle Master who came on the show and I’d met him before. For years he had been trying to get people to buy his puzzle books. The idea stumbles because the newspapers started giving away the Sudoku puzzle and so a lot of people’s needs were satisfied for free by the newspaper. Then he tried to get into the business of supplying the Sudoku puzzle to the people who were giving it away for free. Guess what? They didn’t want to pay for it either.

Q How much seed money is too

much of a personal investment? Is there such a thing?

A There is something in the business called, “skin in the game.” That is what you have at stake. As a professional investor I wouldn’t invest in a company that doesn’t have skin in the game. If your money isn’t worthwhile to invest, why would mine be at risk? It then becomes a question of how much skin in the game. Well, for some of my students skin in the game is $500 and to some trust fund babies skin in the game is $500,000. It is really subject by answering this question: what is it that keeps you here when better offers come up? So, skin in the game is when you have sold your children to science, you have mortgaged the house, you have cashed in your RRSP, because you are so desperate. When you make that sort of investment in your own business you also become mostly blind to some of the potential issues. Your question was about how much is needed, well it’s enough that when times get tough don’t go find a job with the government.

Q What is the most overlooked component of a good business idea?

A I think that when I look at

business I look at it as a Venn diagram with three intersecting circles: the entrepreneur, the opportunity and the execution. The entrepreneur is necessary to make everything work. Everything relies on the entrepreneur for its execution. I like entrepreneurs with a good internal locus of control and high adversity quotient. The internal locus of control refers to where you think the world is made from. As an entrepreneur I feel that I can impact the world and change it through my own action and that will result in my reward. If you have an external locus of control you always think it is someone else’s fault. My students often have an external locus of control. For example, they think if they do poorly on the midterm that it is my fault, not because they didn’t study. I like entrepreneurs with a really good internal focus of control who think that through hard work and determination they can really get things done. In opportunity, I look for what I call the 10 X rule. If you succeed, will this be 10 times smaller, better, faster, cheaper than what is in the market today. If you want to overcome these 800-pound gorillas, these large incumbents, you need to be not a little better, not slightly better, but extraordinarily better. That’s the 10 X rule. Email was adopted because it is ten times faster than snail mail. I think the idea that you should create a product, invest all your money and then go see if the clients want it is really 20th century. In the 21st century I think the business has changed to a more agile development strategy to what we call a lean start up. That means instead of trying to build an incredible product and sell it for $100, we are going to create a crappy product and sell it for 99 cents.

for geography. There is an economy of scale theory that says if you put everything near the same location you will get better results. Silicon Valley is famous because you can’t trip over someone without them being a computer engineer. People share and they are a very dense centre of excellence. On the other side, so much opportunity comes because of the scarcity of it. Many times unique entrepreneurs might have new opportunities that nobody else sees yet. So I feel it’s geographically contextual, but then other issues come up, like whether local government encourages entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurship is seen in society. Do most people invest in entrepreneurship or just stick to being an employee in companies? I think Toronto is a world-class city and has earned its reputation as Silicon Valley North. I think Toronto as a corridor with Waterloo and Ottawa forms quite a nice triangle of talent and with the deflation of the United States economy and the devaluation of our American partnerships we are seeing a lot of entrepreneurs return to the Great White North and bring with them their years of experience. It’s almost like we are seeing a reverse brain drain.

Q Do you think the reverse brain drain will continue?

A I believe that will be the larg-

est trend in the next 10 years. In the next 10 years we are going to put the ‘north’ back in North America. I think we will continue to be a very good place to work and live and work, I think the downward trend in the United States will continue and I think places like Brazil, Russia and India will become more powerful in the development and strategic fronts and I think Canada will be the No. 1 place in North America.

‘In the next 10 years we are going to put the ‘north’ back in North America.’

Q Do read-

ers need to have prior knowledge of entrepreneurial business to learn lessons from your book?

A Anyone can read and learn

from my book. You don’t have to be an entrepreneur and you don’t have to even want to be an entrepreneur. My book is written for people who want to be investors and choose between option A and option B. Everyone has scarce resources, be it money, bandwidth or hours in the day. You can only afford to put your time into the very best idea and whether that is to make your product, job or school better, Hot or Not will provide a blueprint to understand how to take an idea from good to great. Being an entrepreneur is hard enough, but being an entrepreneur with a terrible idea is just a crying shame. I was tired of seeing it day after day (on Dragon’s Den) and I only want people to work hard on the best ideas.

14 - TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012

Bu s i n e s s A g e n da Monday, April 30 n Business of Aging Summit: Care and Career presents experts, discussion and strategies to improve health and increase productivity for aging employees and those caring for aging parents; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at MaRS Centre, 101 College St. Visit http:// businessofaging.marsdd.com/ for registration details.

WEDNESday, May 2

tionists.com to register. n Ownership Thinking: how business owners can maximize employee engagement to unleash their company’s full financial potential, with employee engagement expert Brad Ham, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Novotel Toronto North York Hotel, 3 Park Home Ave. Register at www.esopbuilders.com/ownership-thinking.html

n Canadian Research Conference of the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centres), 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St. Visit www.icsc.org/ index.php for details and to register.

n Small Business Network: Learn about small business resources and network with others starting or running a small business. Meet at the Business, Science and Technology Desk, 3rd floor, at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St., 6 to 7 p.m. today and June 12. Call 416-395-5577.

Monday, May 7

Friday, May 11

n Making Your Money Last: 10 Principles for Living in Retirement, a seminar designed for retirees and those planning for a transition into retirement. Learn how to achieve a stable, steady income to live the kind of retirement lifestyle you desire, while helping protect retirement investments from unforeseen events. Takes place 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Eatonville Library, 430 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Register in person or call 416-394-5270.

n 2012 Toronto Entrepreneurs Conference, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Living Arts Centre, Hammerson Hall, 4141 Living Arts Centre Dr., Mississauga; designed to help entrepreneurs expand their professional network, hear from experienced and successful entrepreneurs on tips and opportunities and learn what it takes to become successful. Visit www.torontoentrepreneurs. ca/conference.php for details and to register.

Tuesday, May 8

n Planning For Success – A Business Plan That Works, an Enterprise Toronto seminar covering key factors in creating a sound business plan, what banks look for in a business plan, setting benchmarks and tracking progress; presented by Sera Schipani, TD Canada Trust, Small Business Banking; 10 to 11:30 a.m. at North York Civic

n Nutrition for NON-Nutritionists is a hands-on educational course designed to help businesses leverage the growing consumer interest in nutrition and healthy foods; 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at University of Toronto, St. Michael’s College, 81 St. Mary St. Visit www.nutritionfornonnutri-

Centre, Member’s Lounge, 5100 Yonge St., Lower Level. Free. Call 416-395-7416, email enterprisetoronto@toronto.ca or go online at www.enterprisetoronto.com to register.

Saturday, May 12

Wednesday, May 30

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Thursday, May 17 n iTech Infrastructure Technology Summit at the International Centre, 6900 Airport Rd. Seminar program is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., trade show is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Passes (valued at $295) are complimentary to qualified IT professionals. Visit www. itechsummit.ca

n Jared Martinez Presents: The 10 Essentials of Forex Trading, a seminar sponsored by Toronto’s Forex Traders club, The Team Traders Club. Jared will share his secrets, tips and techniques for successful trading in the forex market. At the DoubleTree Hotel, 655 Dixon Rd., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $150. Visit http://markettraders.com/ toronto/ or call Norm or Nancy Lacasse at 905-840-1966 or email teamtraders@rogers.com

n Social Media and HR: how human resources can harness new media for improved results, hosted by the Conference Board of Canada at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel, 525 Bay St. Visit www. conferenceboard.ca/conf/default. aspx for details.

Monday, May 14

Thursday, May 24

n Small Business Success: Launching Your Business Online, 10 a.m. to noon at the Toronto Reference Library, Learning Centre 1, 789 Yonge St. Use online resources to develop and launch business websites in a quick, cost-effective manner. Includes a hands-on portion on building a multi-page website for a small business. Call 416-395-5577.

n Importing For Small Business, an Enterprise Toronto event presented by Matthew Lawford, Canada Border Services. Learn step-by-step information on how to import goods into Canada and comply with the various laws and regulations; 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Scarborough Civic Centre, Committee Room 1, Ground Floor, 150 Borough Dr. Free. Call 416-395-7416, email enterprisetoronto@toronto.ca or go online at www.enterprisetoronto.com to register.

May 14 and 15 n OCE Discovery 12 brings together key players from industry, academia, government, the investment community as well as entrepreneurs and students to pursue collaboration opportunities; Discovery is Canada’s leading innovation-to-commercialization conference, hosted by Ontario Centres for Excellence at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, 222 Bremner Blvd. Visit www.ocedis-

Saturday, May 26 n Solar and Community Power free seminal hosted by greenTbiz for the Yonge-Lawrence BIA; 10 a.m. at George Locke Library, 3083 Yonge St. To register, visit: http://greentbiz. org/get-involved/events/ and click on the appropriate date.

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n Small Business Information Seminar at York Woods Library, Meeting Room 1, 1785 Finch Ave. W. A Canada Revenue Agency representative provides basic information about starting your own business. Learn about record keeping, fiscal periods, income and expenses to claim, payroll and GST. Register in person or call 416-395-5980. Takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today and June 20.

May 31 to June 1 n Women in Biz National Conference: Join professional women and entrepreneurs from across Canada for two days of networking, learning, coaching, mentoring and more, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at the Admiral Radisson Hotel, 249 Queens Quay W. Visit http://womeninbiznetwork. com/2012conference/ to register.

June 4 and 5 n Store 2012: Canada’s Retail Conference, learn how to begin harnessing the power of engagement today. At the Toronto Congress Centre, North Building, 650 Dixon Rd. Visit www.storeconference.ca to register and for more info.

Wednesday, June 6

p.m. at North York Civic Centre, Committee Room 3, Lower Level, 5100 Yonge St. Free. Call 416-3957416, email enterprisetoronto@ toronto.ca or go online at www. enterprisetoronto.com to register.

June 12 n The Natural Step Canada’s Level 1 Sustainability Course: Foundations in Strategy: become better equipped to take a sustainability leadership role in your organization to capture value, enable innovation, and drive strategy; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave. Contact Erika Aruja at earuja@naturalstep.ca or 613-7483001, ext. 236 for info. Visit www. thenaturalstep.org to register.

Ongoing n Tuesday evenings are seminar nights at Toronto Business Development Centre. The registration fee is $50 in advance or $60 at the door. Visit www. tbdc.com/seminars.php for the schedule. Book online, or call Ted Barton at 416-233-5287 or email eveningseminars@tbdc.com

To submit an event n Submissions can be emailed to tbt@insidetoronto. com. The deadline for the June edition of the Toronto Business Times is Monday, May 14.

n Alternative Careers In Franchise Ownership, an Enterprise Toronto event. Join Gary Prenevost (FranNet of Southern Ontario) to learn about how to harness your skills and abilities to create your own long-term employment security, and leverage your experience to reach new levels of success, life balance and prosperity; 10 to 11:30

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16 - TORONTO BUSINESS TIMES - May 2012

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