Coach Buffet in Today’s Globe

My business partner (and dear friend) Tanya Geisler recently pulled off Coach Buffet Toronto on her own (I was feeling under the weather and couldn’t travel). As if that is not enough, she also managed to get Coach Buffet featured on the front page of the Life Section in today’s Globe and Mail!  Check out  Speed-interviewing: On your marks, get set – hire!  by Globe writer Zosia Bielski. 

So today we are celebrating being on the front page of the Life section, perhaps the most popular section of our national newspaper. Not bad, Tanya! Coach Buffet is on its way to becoming a household name!

The Globe article speaks of an increasing trend to speed hire (i.e. employees, babysitters, doulas and coaches!). Our inspiration for Coach Buffet came in part from the notion that putting participants and coaches in a room for a high energy evening of coaching would be efficient à la ”speed hiring” AND it was much bigger than that too.

You see, as coaches ourselves, Tanya and I know the power of coaching, even in short 15 min segments. We set out to create Coach Buffet as a way to help coaches offer real coaching to show how they help clients create incredible possibilities in their lives and businesses.

Equally important to us is that Coach Buffet participants (prospective coaching clients) receive real value on the spot, perhaps by getting unstuck in an issue they have been grappling with or by finding a way to look at the situation through a new lens. While we would prefer that participants leave the Coach Buffet event wanting to hire one of the coaches from the buffet, we also see it as a great positive when participants leave feeling inspired and with their eyes opened about the potential of coaching.

Come see firsthand what I am talking about. Our next Coach Buffet Toronto is on Jan 26th and Coach Buffet Montreal is Jan 28th. There is no better time than January to get off to a great start and I feel extremely confident that Coach Buffet can help.

What I Learned This Week: The Hero’s Journey

Most of us go on hero’s journeys in our lives and businesses. The idea of the hero’s journey or monomyth originally came from Joseph Campbell and had 17 steps.  I learned about a 7 step version on a group coaching call this week and raced to draw it for you (I still love that grade 6 feeling of using markers and Bristol board). 

So dawn your metaphorical cape and tights.  As you read through these stages, think about your current business and life journeys.  Plot where you are right now. I would love to tell you where I think I am in my life and business journeys, but I would rather keep you guessing.

The promised 7 steps of the hero’s journey:

1) Innocence-your life or business is ticking along. It might be dull but it’s safe and things are working.

2) Call to Adventure- you start to hear a calling to make a big change and it gets louder and louder (i.e. quite your job, buy the competition, climb Aconcagua…this is a plug for Coach Ian Renaud and his Project R.I.R.E…it is in French only)   

3) Threshold Guardians- as soon as you decide to heed the call, guardians or protectors are sure to emerge. Their goal is to send you back to innocence (i.e.  your wife who doesn’t want you to resign, your mortgage, your own sabotaging voices that tell you that you are crazy and you will surely fail)

Many people return to innocence at this stage, too scared to go on.  Or as my mentor coach says, “they buy a big screen TV” and forget about the call altogether (although life becomes shades of grey even if the TV is in HD).

4) Road to Adventure- you made it past those powerful threshold guardians. Congratulations. You are on a journey of challenges, excitement, intrigue, and learning (i.e. you are building your business, traveling the world).  Times are good.  You feel free and full of hope.  

5) Principal Ordeal- and then…seemingly out of the blue, you start feeling confused and trapped.  You have come too far to go back to safety and yet you don’t know how to go on.  This stage is not called the Principal Ordeal for nothing.  It will really test your metal.  You don’t know how long you will be stuck here and how you will go on, but go on you must (Hint: you need to get really quiet when you are here…the answers are inside you somewhere). 

6) Flight/ Return- Yippee! Somehow you got silent. You found your way out of the fog. Your purpose is clear again and you know what you have to do to get the proverbial treasure back home (i.e. redefining your business offering, moving to a new city).  Whatever the ordeal is for you, you found a way out of it and now you are on your flight to freedom again having “slayed the dragon”.

7) Celebration and Service- You made it. Perhaps you are hometown hero. Perhaps it is just a quiet victory.  Whatever the case, you get to celebrate your success and share your treasures/ learnings. Revel in the victory and innocence of this time of celebration. Serve others. And keep your eyes and ears open.   If you are true hero, your next call to adventure won’t be far away!

Where are you in the hero’s journey of your life or business? Tell us by commenting.

Risk/Reward: The Entrepreneur’s R&R: Grab Life with Entrepreneur of the Year Rivers Corbett

Rivers Corbett is a force.  His entrepreneurial story is epic.  He’s a charismatic, experienced business leader and his passion for helping entrepreneurs is contagious.  Read on to find out why the interview with Rivers was special for me.

We will pick up the story around the time when Rivers borrowed $1M as a young man to buy out his father’s hodge podge of businesses (an old marina, convenience stores, a nursing home and a wholesale meat operation).  The loan enabled him to return to New Brunswick, the province he loves, as an entrepreneur with an income right off the bat.  In hindsight it was a good decision although it was not without its pain including a hostile takeover by the board of directors of the nursing home.

All those original businesses have since been spun off or closed. Rivers’ main business is now The Chef Group which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary. 

The Chef Group is like the Ford modelling agency but for chefs in the Atlantic provinces.  We create culinary adventures and push the envelope on food delivery and food education.

Even the Chef Group story is epic as Rivers lived through embezzlement by his now ex business partner which was uncovered just last year.  Fortunately, The Chef Group (now with 15 full-time employees) has come out strong and this year’s focus is on maximizing efficiencies to increase profits.  

For an entrepreneur like Rivers who likes to chase shiny lights, buckling down to focus on efficiencies to increase ROI takes discipline.   Fortunately, Rivers knows how to keep focus on his main business and indulge his passion for new business by helping other entrepreneurs through coaching and mentoring.

Named as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005 by the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, Rivers is a life- long advocate for entrepreneurs as he believes they are the backbone of our economy.  Beyond the award, his most proud moments came when he reached a million in revenue for the first time and successfully battled depression twice.

What’s come more easily than he ever imagined is his willingness to expand his risk.  He’s had colossal successes and failures in business and each time his confidence has grown through his learning. 

I can now say with confidence that I will never have to be employed by someone else again.  The money for my kids’ education is in the bank.  I could never have gotten to this place without taking the risks I did.  Each time I had to manage my fears in order to move forward. Now it gets easier and easier to take smart risks because the rewards are so great and I know I will survive.

Rivers has three themes that have served him well as an entrepreneur:

1)      Attitude-he works a lot on personal development and surrounds himself with positive people including a business coach

2)      Cash- he is always looking for access to cash (i.e. credit) for a day when he needs to put it into play

3)      Team- he creates a team not only among his staff and suppliers but also among his family, friends and business supporters like his coach

I have booked Rivers for 39 minutes to share his top 8 things you have to do to survive and thrive in business beyond year five.  Join us for this complimentary teleseminar on December 9th at 8 p.m.  EST.  Click here to register for 39 Minutes with Rivers Corbett. 

Rivers and I have also teamed up to offer a mentor coaching program for start up entrepreneurs called The Business Success Train. I couldn’t think of an entrepreneur I would rather partner with for his depth of experience and passion are so compelling.  It doesn’t hurt that we share maritime roots. We are both so very excited to help start-up entrepreneurs (from year 0-5 in business) through our Business Succcess Train program……join us on the train to your success!

Social Media is Not Social Selling

I am writing this by way of reprimanding myself!!  Just 5 minutes ago I sent out a reminder link on Facebook that I have 5 coaching spots left for my one time ”Business Success in 2 Hours” year end coaching sessions.  The minute after I sent out the link, I clicked on a video posted by Start Up Coach Alain Theriault entitled “Top Five Things You Should know About Social Media”.  Ouch.  I know this stuff. Sometimes it just becomes irresistable not to spread the word via Facebook about things I am offering in my coaching practice. Sometimes, it is entirely justified. Other times it is simply a way to have a feeling of accomplishment at the end of a busy day!

There, I posted my year end coaching offering on Facebook.  That’s good.  I am sure some people will read and some might forward it on and perhaps someone will call…or will they? 

NOT GOOD ENOUGH according to Mikal E. Bellcone, author of Social Media Advisor and contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine.  Watch the video for yourself….it’s worth your three minutes.!

I have a background in marketing and sales so you could say I know better.  But to err is human.  And to be an entrepreneur is to take on the world and fall into the occasional trap of trying to be expert marketer, expert business owner and excellent coach all at the same time.

So back to the Top 5 Things You Should Know about Social Media.  I have summarized the key points for you here:

1. It’s called social media, not social selling
2. Don’t forget what you already know about marketing
3. Choose the right niche
4. You have to engage
5. You have to have goals

The #1 mistake: Selling in social media…first be part of the conversation and opportunities to sell will arise.

The #1 tip: Be goal oriented; develop a strategy and know your ROI on every marketing expenditure. Set objectives ahead of time and measure!

I would add that taking the medium to longer term view in terms of building your brand through social media is also a good perspective to hold.

“Ship, then test!” says Guy Kawasaki

Last night I was invited to Challenge Your World as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (thank you Martin Lessard!). Guy Kawasaki was spectacular as the keynote speaker. For the most part, Guy’s top 10 tips for entrepreneurs make a ton of sense. There are only a couple I dispute. My comments are in italics.

1. Build what YOU want to use- in other words, skip the market research, make the product or service and get going (see #8 too); build your product/ service with a partner for the lowest cost possible and ensure your partner has talents and skills different than your own.
2. Pay $0 for tools- WordPress for blogging is a prime example. I was given this sage advice when I started Chandler Coaches and it has served me well to date.
3. Pay $0 for marketing- there is no longer a need to hire a PR company pre launch or spend $$ on advertising. Agreed and I think you do need to spend a bit of money on a talented graphic artist who can create your company/ product identity…something people will recognize on your website/ blog,  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. 
4. Suck down or across (not up!)- the person who will make your product a success is a “nobody” who will tell other “nobodies” how much he loves your product/ service.  Because you don’t know who the nobodies are, you have to reach a lot of people. Forget about sucking up to stars and other influencers. This makes a ton of sense AND if you can find a way to get the Oprah Effect too, that won’t hurt!
5. Use Twitter and Tweetmeme- there is no better way to reach the masses.  It is brilliant and it is free.
6. Pay $0 for people-get help from people who are willing to do internships or work for free.  Sure, this might be fine when you are truly a start up with $0 cash flow.  After that, once you are making $, it is not ok, in my opinion, to make $ on someone else’s back.  Share and you will be rewarded. And what about hiring a start up coach like Alain Theriault (who is top of mind as I saw him last night) to help a bit on the front end? And then hire me when you are more established and I will help you grow in the direction you want.
7. Put everything in “the cloud”- this was for techies re storing data on servers
8. Ship, then test! Create a product or service that is good enough and get going. Don’t aim for perfection or anything close.  “Cash saves all”.  My partner Tanya Geisler and I recently did this with our new Coach Buffet concept and we got great feedback on our first two events. We couldn’t know what we know today if we had held off to refine the process.
9. Avoid venture capital (VC)- bootstrap your company for the first few years instead of looking for investors.  When you have a proven product/ service and want to scale up, VC can be an alternative.
10. Niche thyself- be the unique/ high value player.  And if you are the marketer, ask how you can convince the world you are the unique/ high value player.
11. Guy’s Bonus: Don’t let the bozos grind you down. In Guy’s world, the dangerous bozos are the rich, famous people whose opinions are given more weight than they should be. Resist the naysayers, especially if they are where they are in business/ life because of luck/circumstances and not intelligence. 

Challenge Your World and Rendez-Vous 09

This week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark.

In connection with Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009, Challenge Your World launched an Idea Challenge entitled Action for a Better World. IdeaMakers from across the globe submitted their ideas for sustainable businesses that have a positive impact on society and the environment. The winner will be announced at Rendez-Vous 09 tonight in Montreal.  It`s not too late to pick up tickets for Rendez-Vous 09 which promises to be an evening of inspiration, action and realization featuring innovative videos, eco-preneur success stories and concluding with a keynote presentation from acclaimed entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, Guy Kawasaki.

This is exciting stuff.  See you there?

Risk/ Reward: The Entrepreneur’s R&R- Brooks Pepperfire Foods

I love hot sauce. My mantra used to be “the hotter the better”. I have since mellowed a bit. Not so for Tina and Greg Brooks, owners of Brooks Pepperfire Foods, and makers of premium Quebec made Peppermaster brand sauces.

Tina and Greg take peppers very seriously. Their livelihood depends on them. And so does the livelihood of many farm families around the world in places like Haiti, Mexico and parts of Africa and Asia. The Brooks spearheaded a movement toward fair trade peppers where no market previously existed and they have come a long way toward sustainable, equitable pepper production.

The Brooks market their hot sauces on line and through local farmers markets and retail. Customer response continues to be amazing. It’s not surprising as this company’s products pack a punch and the company has heart. The Brooks will soon launch an initiative called “Salsa for Change”. Check out this video to get a sense of how the Brooks are committed to change through building community.

As the “goat pepper” is a signature pepper used in Peppermaster products, the Brooks turned their attention to Haiti, a large producer of goat peppers.  They are working with Roland Hyppolite, a Haitian pepper producer. Together with several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) the Brooks and Mr. Hyppolite are striving to improve the Haitian economy through the export of fair trade organic certified or biologically grown agricultural exports.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Brooks. Their business was born in its current iteration about 7 years ago when a previous partnership ended in a lawsuit. The biggest risk they took was having the courage and faith to keep building the Peppermaster brand during the suit given that they could have lost it all. Fortunately, they not only won the suit but also an appeal. With the lawsuit as ancient history, the company is poised for serious growth.

Current constraints are not having enough employees to do all the work and not having enough operating capital to fund growth….a real catch 22. Enter another catch 22: the federal government will secure an operating loan through a stimulus program for small business for companies who can obtain a loan from a commercial bank but the company must first obtain the loan on their own.

When we were first in business, the banks didn’t want to touch us. A few years later, they didn’t like the way we were doing business and now seven years in, we are still having difficulties seeing eye to eye. The process is really cumbersome and slow and we really need it to move in order to take advantage of the federal program.

Fortunately, the Brooks have a plan B: private lenders and a Plan C: an equity partner. However they fund their expansion, they plan to significantly expand their manufacturing (a much larger commercial kitchen) and their workforce from 3 employees to 20 over the next year and a half. Look for the launch of “Sexy Salsa” soon!

Tina gave me many examples of the good things that have come when they trust the flow of the universe and the goodness of human beings. Whether it is Salsa for Change or Sexy Salsa, you can count on hearing a lot more about Peppermaster sauces. Try some yourself and be a part of the change.

Risk/ Reward: The Entrepreneur’s R&R- Savon Populaire

Savon Pop Chai Soap

I am hitting on a theme lately: woman entrepreneurs who have given birth to new businesses around the same time as starting their families. I just interviewed Alysia Melnychuk, owner of Savon Populaire, a Montreal based organic cosmetics (soap etc.) company. Like Kim Fuller of IDG Communications, Alysia started her business just before the birth of her eldest child more than six years ago. And like many entrepreneurial moms, she used her maternity leave time to further develop her ideas so that when she returned to work she was rearing to go.

And she has been going strong ever since. Even the birth of her second child almost 5 months ago hasn’t stopped her. Though this time, she wishes she could pull back more. Her biggest challenge has been finding a way to replace herself. Her solution, by necessity, has been to farm out various aspects of her role to four different people on a part-time or project basis. Not surprisingly, no one person had her entire skill set. Parcelling out her roles and caring for a small baby has necessitated that this entrepreneur truly assume her company management role, leaving technician type soap production issues to others. As it is, she is putting in 20-25 hours a week still (often at night when her children go to bed).

It is hard for me to let go because I pride myself on creativity in our soap making and on quality. This is forcing me to do it and it’s good practice.

Her current situation also made her question her ability to continue with the current company set up. And selling is not an option as Alysia is too excited to walk away as the company is poised for a growth spurt. After very careful consideration, her answer is to create a co-operative.

Over the coming months, Savon Populaire will become a co-op with 3 partners who have an equal voice. There will be a lot more “letting go” to come for Alysia. Fortunately, her passion for creating body friendly, environmentally friendly products and her love of working in collaboration with people instead of in a boss/ subordinate role will continue to drive her. Savon Populaire will be all the better for it as one of the new partners is a herbalist who brings many innovative ideas and know how. Happily, the third partner is a current employee who is being groomed to step into a partner role.

The biggest risk Alysia ever took in business was to start the company in the first place. She did it with no capital and no cash flow. There were some very lean years at the beginning where Alysia’s resourcefulness is all that kept her company going. She told me of how she retrofitted a clothing iron to be her product sealer in order to save $300. It seems there have been many ingenious moves like this. She’s most proud that she has created something that now has worth in terms of brand equity and company assets that she could sell.

Alysia’s biggest failure (and greatest learning) came from realizing that remaining foggy on details where money is concerned is a recipe for big problems. Her initial naïveté didn’t serve her well and she’s now very careful to stipulate clear terms when money is involved.

Soon Savon Populaire will move from their Montreal Parc Extension workshop and manufacturing shop to new larger retail location (TBD) with local shopping traffic and launch a whole new product line. With two new partners, a new retail location, a new product line and a great deal of enthusiasm for what is possible, we can expect to see great things coming from Savon Populaire in 2010.

Risk/ Reward: The Entrepreneur’s R&R: IDG Communications

Kim Fuller is the mother of three. Her oldest is a corporate communications company called IDG Communications. After giving birth to IDG ten years ago, she went on to have two sons, aged 9 and 6.  It was Kim who said her business is like a child that she “raised” from conception to maturity.  She makes parallels to the dedication required, the thousands of hours spent, the messiness, the nurturing and the tough decision making along the way.

Having two real children while building her communications company was the biggest risk she has ever taken. Interesting, she links her biggest risk to what she is most proud of: controlled and steady growth.   Kim says that the attention her children demanded required her to be steady and cautious about how she grew her business.  And the controlled growth is what created a rock solid foundation that she and her team are building upon ten years later.

And rock solid it is. Now the clients are more prestigious.  And they come with bigger budgets, wider scopes of work and bigger expectations.  Meanwhile, IDG Communications stays quiet about their successes.  You won’t see them self promoting at awards shows. They are too busy serving their clients and creating deep business relationships that ensure that the marketing work they create truly works for their clients.  Some of their most rewarding work is done through Phil Communications, a division of IDG Communications focussed on the not-for-profit sector.

If up until now you are thinking that Kim is a quiet, risk averse mom, make no mistake. She’s a driver! She told me about wanting to reach a place of stability in business and then quickly self-corrected when she realized how the entrepreneur part of her would actually find stability quite uncomfortable.

Her biggest lesson came in year two when a major account ended and necessitated that she let go most of her staff to stay afloat.  She not only learned to diversify, she also learned to stand up for herself and the company. The big account was keeping the company busy but was too demanding to be profitable. In asserting her company’s needs, she lost the account but opened up many new opportunities to do things differently.

Finance has been a challenge for Kim who has a degree in Fine Arts and not Accounting! To respond to this gap, she surrounded herself with smart people and a management accountant who is integral to her business success.  Ten years later, she may still be a creative at heart and she knows her ways around her books too.

She’s most amazed at the trust her staff place in her decision making ability. I reminded her it is not by accident that she garners trust. She has proven herself time and time again and her people know they can count on her.   She calls her current team a “dream team” which says to me it is time to systematize business processes to ensure that if key people leave, the business is not vulnerable. 

These days, Kim is more business development (BD) and less art direction and creative. BD is the hat that is needed and she’s more than capable of wearing this hat.

2010 will see IDG launch a new offering that helps their clients through the marketing process. Her team likens it to a microbrewery who carefully crafts their brew with careful attention to every step.  I won’t reveal more.  You can check out their offering early in 2010.

Are you ready to Tungle (in the time jungle)?

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tungle CEO Marc Gingras a few months back.   Tungle is a free calendar accelerator… that helps you schedule meetings online and publish your free/ busy calendar (so your clients and colleagues can see when you have free appointment slots, for example, without having to call or email you).  This short video on Tungle’s capabilities will impress you:

While Tungle is a great fit for any business professional, I see a fantastic opportunity for coaches and therapists who run a busy practice and want to make client appointment scheduling much easier by having clients book their own appointments online.

For Marc, Tungle is his way to positively change the world.  His goal is to have all business people using Tungle to schedule their meetings.  His biggest obstacle is the status quo.  Changing people’s entrenched behaviours is challenging so his team works to make Tungle easier and easier to adopt. 

The key to running a successful business, according to Marc, comes back to people almost everytime: having the right people in the right positions, creating a “get it done” attitude at Tungle, and aligning all the people (management, employees, the board and investors) toward the same objectives. 

Getting the right people is not about technology, marketing or the competition; we need people with the right attitude and we have to put them in the right spot so they can shine.

Sometimes the people who are great at the start up phase are not the people who can build a successful mature company, Marc has learned. 

Letting go of one of my initial start up people was the hardest thing. The reward is that the company turned around 100 percent so my decision was the right one and it was confirmed right away.

He’s proud of the team he has built and how he has transformed Tungle from a successful start up to a successful company.

Marc started his web career in 1998.  During the time the tech bubble burst, he was managing a team of 30 at another company. While he feels that he let them down as he didn’t see it coming, he knows he won’t get caught like this again.  He’s  rounded out his finance and R&D expertise with sales and marketing know-how, surrounded himself by amazing people and now pays close attention to financing and budgets.  Business lessons are painful AND effective!

And now what would Marc like most? Having more money to enable things to move faster and having more people using Tungle to reach a tipping point toward Tungle’s objective of having all business professionals scheduling their meetings through Tungle.   

Be a part of this tipping point. Save yourself time every time you schedule a meeting .  Avoid the time jungle. Tungle. 

Bonus: Marc’s book recommendation for CEO’s on the move: From Good To Great by Jim Collins