http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/articles/ en sbuck@ivey.uwo.ca Copyright 2013 2013-05-08T16:29:22+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/crosbie_and_ivey_school_of_business_preparing_to_monetize_your_legacy/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/crosbie_and_ivey_school_of_business_preparing_to_monetize_your_legacy/#When:16:29:22Z April 16, 2013Toronto, ON The Ivey Business School collaborated with Crosbie to create a small gathering of leading business owners and CEOs at the IVEY CROSBIE ROUNDTABLE.  The purpose was part of Crosbie’s goal to provide peer-to-peer education. Business owners gain valuable insights from other business owners about how to prepare to sell a business - so when it comes time to monetize the legacy, they are able to do so smoothly. It is critically important that business owners know how to get the best result in order to maximize value.The Ivey Business School collaborated with Crosbie to create a small gathering of leading business owners and CEOs at the IVEY CROSBIE ROUNDTABLE.  The purpose was part of Crosbie’s goal to provide peer-to-peer education. Business owners gain valuable insights from other business owners about how to prepare to sell a business - so when it comes time to monetize the legacy, they are able to do so smoothly. It is critically important that business owners know how to get the best result in order to maximize value.   The Ivey Crosbie Roundtable, held at The National Club in April 2013, featured six accomplished entrepreneurs and business leaders who have successfully bridged the gap between Bay Street and Main Street, and who shared their experiences and perspectives.   Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an active buyer of Canadian companies. Gene Toombs, Chairman Emeritus of MiTek Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire, along with Thomas Manenti, Chairman and CEO of MiTek Industries, Inc., discussed the “scorecard” used by Berkshire Hathaway when buying businesses. Integrity was the top quality, followed closely by good communications and knowing how to sell a business professionally. The MiTek team also covered on cross-border acquisitions and included Ed Giacomelli, Managing Director of Crosbie, who has direct involvement in two of MiTek’s Canadian initiatives.John Hutton, formerly an owner of McNally Construction Inc., David Walderman, former owner and CEO of family business Belmont Meat Products Limited, John O’Connell, Chairman and CEO of Davis Rea, and Colin Walker, Managing Director of Crosbie shared insights into how to build your business and develop a highly compelling value proposition. They provided insights on how to take steps to get to the next level.David Simpson, The Richard Ivey School of Business, Business Families Centre, facilitated the conversations. The survey of the CEOs and Owners attending the event reported that 100% rated the event as highly educational and 98% would like to be invited back to the next Ivey Crosbie Roundtable. 2013-05-08T16:29:22+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/high_growth_entrepreneurs_showing_reduced_confidence_in_the_canadian_e1/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/high_growth_entrepreneurs_showing_reduced_confidence_in_the_canadian_e1/#When:13:01:34Z Ivey Entrepreneurs Index dips in Fall 2012 LONDON, ON, November 15th, 2012 – The Ivey Entrepreneurs Index reveals that two-thirds of entrepreneurs surveyed believe the Canadian economy will grow over the next year, a sharp 12% decline from only six-months ago.  Coupled with a decline in overall economic optimism, high growth entrepreneurs are becoming less likely to hire additional employees.  This past spring 84% of those surveyed planned on hiring, however, that figure now stands at 77%, marking a seven percent reduction.       LONDON, ON, November 15th, 2012 – The Ivey Entrepreneurs Index reveals that two-thirds of entrepreneurs surveyed believe the Canadian economy will grow over the next year, a sharp 12% decline from only six-months ago.  Coupled with a decline in overall economic optimism, high growth entrepreneurs are becoming less likely to hire additional employees.  This past spring 84% of those surveyed planned on hiring, however, that figure now stands at 77%, marking a seven percent reduction.        In spite of diminished economic confidence, the Index found that 90% of entrepreneurs still expect their revenue to grow, a figure which has remained relatively steady over the past two years.  But over the past six months the Index shows that six percent fewer entrepreneurs believe their profits will grow in the next year.   “Entrepreneurs in Canada are becoming more cautious,” says Stewart Thornhill, Executive Director, Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Richard Ivey School of Business. “This may be indicative of a wait and see attitude amongst this normally bullish group. External factors such as warnings surrounding the looming fiscal cliff in the United States and unpredictable economic developments in Europe have dampened the spirits of high-growth private business in this country.  While these companies still expect their revenues to increase, they seem less willing to commit to hiring additional employees until there is more evidence of stable economic certainty moving forward.”For more on this article, click here. 2012-11-15T13:01:34+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/the_next_mark_zuckerberg/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/the_next_mark_zuckerberg/#When:17:04:01Z Monday, October 22, 2012The Globe and MailBy: Bryan Borzykowski Morgan Moe never thought she’d start a business in school – it’s hard enough to keep up with classwork – but in her last year of university she did just that. The University of Calgary alumna, who graduated last April, was earning her bachelor of science in kinesiology when she came up with a novel idea to help stroke patients with their recovery.Monday, October 22, 2012The Globe and MailBy: Bryan Borzykowski Morgan Moe never thought she’d start a business in school – it’s hard enough to keep up with classwork – but in her last year of university she did just that. The University of Calgary alumna, who graduated last April,  was earning her bachelor of science in kinesiology when she came up with a novel idea to help stroke patients with their recovery. In her last year of university she, along with three others, began creating a soon-to-be released iPad app that gives patients regular rehab exercises and allows them to monitor their progress and even create exercises of their own. “It’s an application to empower stroke survivors,” she says. Moe, now the chief information officer of the company, called StrokeLink, is part of a growing cohort of students who are adding “business owner” to their résumé before graduating from school. For more on this article, please click here. 2012-11-12T17:04:01+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/do_entrepreneurs_need_an_mba/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/do_entrepreneurs_need_an_mba/#When:18:28:38Z September 6th, 2012Toronto SunBy: Sharon Aschaiek Noura Sakkijha is about to start an innovative new business — and she credits her MBA with helping her build her entrepreneurial smarts and establish her enterprise.This fall, Sakkijha will launch Mejuri, an online fine jewelry store that will be driven by crowdsourcing: The public will be able to vote on jewelry designs submitted by designers worldwide, and the company will manufacture and sell people’s favourites, sharing a percentage of revenue with designers.September 6th, 2012 Toronto Sun By: Sharon Aschaiek Noura Sakkijha is about to start an innovative new business — and she credits her MBA with helping her build her entrepreneurial smarts and establish her enterprise. This fall, Sakkijha will launch Mejuri, an online fine jewelry store that will be driven by crowdsourcing: The public will be able to vote on jewelry designs submitted by designers worldwide, and the company will manufacture and sell people’s favourites, sharing a percentage of revenue with designers. Sakkijha says what she learned in the MBA she completed this past June at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management helped develop her business idea.“We learned about marketing, finance, strategy, human resources — all key things you need to know to start and grow a business,” Sakkijha says. “Also, being an entrepreneur is all about taking risks, but the MBA teaches how to mitigate and take calculated risks.”For more on this article, please click here. 2012-09-07T18:28:38+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/how_to_find_the_perfect_business_partner/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/how_to_find_the_perfect_business_partner/#When:13:23:09Z July 23, 2012Financial PostBy: Christine Dobby Oleg Gutsol and Evgeny Tchebotarev met in university and bonded over a shared interest in motorcycles.Eventually, they combined their complementary skills (Mr. Tchebotarev has a business background while Mr. Gutsol studied computer science) to launch Toronto-based 500px Inc., a hugely popular photography community that uses an algorithm they developed to rank photo quality.July 23, 2012Financial PostBy: Christine Dobby Oleg Gutsol and Evgeny Tchebotarev met in university and bonded over a shared interest in motorcycles. Eventually, they combined their complementary skills (Mr. Tchebotarev has a business background while Mr. Gutsol studied computer science) to launch Toronto-based 500px Inc., a hugely popular photography community that uses an algorithm they developed to rank photo quality. But like finding a romantic partner, unless it happens organically, finding someone to go into business with can sometimes seem hopeless. With cost barriers to starting a technology company at their lowest and countless programs across the country encouraging entrepreneurship, and with experienced engineers in high demand, many would-be business owners are struggling to find the increasingly elusive “technical co-founder.” For more on this article, please click here. 2012-07-23T13:23:09+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/ivey_entrepreneurs_index_shows_entrepreneurs_confidence_in_the_economy/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/ivey_entrepreneurs_index_shows_entrepreneurs_confidence_in_the_economy/#When:15:31:47Z LONDON, ON, May 15th, 2012 – The Ivey Entrepreneurs Index found 84% of those surveyed are planning to expand their workforce over the next 12 months, showing steady optimism about their business.  The survey demonstrates a healthy increase in confidence in the Canadian economy from the previous survey in Fall 2011 with 78% feeling the economy will grow, up from 65%.LONDON, ON, May 15th, 2012 – The Ivey Entrepreneurs Index found 84% of those surveyed are planning to expand their workforce over the next 12 months, showing steady optimism about their business.  The survey demonstrates a healthy increase in confidence in the Canadian economy from the previous survey in Fall 2011 with 78% feeling the economy will grow, up from 65%. The index found 91% of entrepreneurs expect their revenues to grow, and 88% believe their profits will also grow over the period of the next 12 months.  However, there was a decline in the number of entrepreneurs who expected to seek external capital.  For more on the Ivey Entrepreneurs Index, please click here. 2012-05-15T15:31:47+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/finding_your_replacement/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/finding_your_replacement/#When:14:01:25Z May 11, 2012By: Deborah BacalThe Toronto Star Entrepreneurs dedicate their lives to building businesses, but rarely give enough consideration to their legacy. Now, as baby boomers begin to retire, many business owners are starting to see their mistake. And those running family-run businesses are realizing they need to plan ahead to ensure a smooth transition for the next generation. May 11, 2012 By: Deborah Bacal The Toronto Star Entrepreneurs dedicate their lives to building businesses, but rarely give enough consideration to their legacy. Now, as baby boomers begin to retire, many business owners are starting to see their mistake. And those running family-run businesses are realizing they need to plan ahead to ensure a smooth transition for the next generation.According to a new survey from the Washington-based National Association of Corporate Directors, only 23 percent of private companies have formal succession plans in place, while 25 percent have no succession plans whatsoever.“The most common problem businesses face is a potential buyer that looks at the leader’s leave as a potential risk,” says Peter Corbiere, senior partner at BDC Consulting. Preventing this requires early planning. This helps owners take an objective look at their company’s future leadership needs, preventing last minute decisions. This is especially critical when businesses are family-run. “I think most of the businesses I have encountered seem to converge around the notion that genetics is not the best way to choose a company’s next leader,” says Stewart Thornhill, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the Richard Ivey School of Business. For more on this article, please click here. 2012-05-14T14:01:25+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/the_race_to_enter_world_markets_is_on/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/the_race_to_enter_world_markets_is_on/#When:15:41:49Z April 10, 2012By: Eric LamThe Financial Post Expand into international markets or die.It’s a maxim small business owners in Canada have been hearing for a while now, but a new survey on global growth conducted by the Financial Post in partnership with Ernst & Young suggests entrepreneurs are finally getting the message — or at least they think their competitors are.April 10, 2012By: Eric LamThe Financial Post Expand into international markets or die. It’s a maxim small business owners in Canada have been hearing for a while now, but a new survey on global growth conducted by the Financial Post in partnership with Ernst & Young suggests entrepreneurs are finally getting the message — or at least they think their competitors are. While businesses surveyed cited many popular reasons for looking abroad for new opportunities, such as new potential customer bases and increased revenue, a whopping 69% said their competitors had already expanded internationally, while another 17% said they were working on it. As well, 60% said they were concerned about missing out on significant opportunities for growth if they do not make the jump into international waters.Related“It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Brian Anderson, an assistant professor in the entrepreneurship group at the Richard Ivey School of Business. “If I believe my customers and competitors are doing it I will end up going global, too.” For more on this article, please click here. 2012-04-10T15:41:49+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/moving_beyond_thatll_never_work/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/moving_beyond_thatll_never_work/#When:13:08:10Z March 27, 2012By: Stewart ThornhillExecutive Director, Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship Like the old adage “success breeds success”, there is much to learn from the experiences of successful Canadian entrepreneurs, particularly those who never gave up and pushed beyond when they were told their ideas wouldn’t make it. Their confidence and perseverance is inspiring. That’s the premise behind the new book, That’ll Never Work: Business Lessons From Successful Entrepreneurs , compiled by KPMG Enterprise™.March 27, 2012By: Stewart ThornhillExecutive Director, Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship Like the old adage “success breeds success”, there is much to learn from the experiences of successful Canadian entrepreneurs, particularly those who never gave up and pushed beyond when they were told their ideas wouldn’t make it. Their confidence and perseverance is inspiring. That’s the premise behind the new book, That’ll Never Work: Business Lessons From Successful Entrepreneurs , compiled by KPMG Enterprise™. Published by Portfolio Penguin and released on March 6, the book profiles 19 entrepreneurs who beat the odds and built successful businesses despite the doubters around them. By sharing insights and advice, their stories are hoped to help other entrepreneurs to tap opportunities. On March 29, I’ll be interviewing some of the entrepreneurs profiled in That’ll Never Work during a panel discussion on entrepreneurship to glean additional insights from their experiences. The event is part of the Ivey Idea Forum, a series of interactive presentations to explore new ideas, perspectives and solutions for evolving business issues with thought-provoking leaders, writers and academics, and will run from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Ivey’s ING DIRECT Leadership Centre. Our guests will include: • Tracey Clark, the Ottawa-based founder of the fair trade coffeehouse chain Bridgehead Coffee, whose business chain was born from a mail-order coffee company and weaves into it a thread of social responsibility; • Gayle Robin, a founding partner of StrategicAmpersand Inc., who was the brainchild behind the company specializing in the technology industry, which was a factor in its success;• Turtle Island Recycling Co-Founders Louis Anagnostakos and Ted Manziaris, who truly know the meaning of bootstrapping and started their business with Manziaris’ family station wagon and a 10-foot by 10-foot room to collect garbage throughout Toronto. Their stories are beyond just inspiring, they’re actual proof that you can make it as an entrepreneur with the right expertise on execution, leadership, competitive strategy and innovation. Below is a sampling of their advice and I hope you’ll join us on March 29 to hear more about their stories and the factors behind their success. Full details can be found at Ivey Idea Forum: That’ll Never Work. KPMG Enterprise™ is also looking for entrepreneurs and business owners with an interesting “That’ll Never Work” story to share it at http://www.thatllneverwork.ca/ for consideration for the next edition of the book.Advice from the entrepreneurs from That’ll Never Work*From Chapter 1, COMMUNITY IN THE CUP, Tracey Clark, Bridgehead Coffee The best advice I can give to people who may be starting out in business is to have perseverance. You need to feed the business before you feed yourself. Have a very strong, clear picture of what it is you want to achieve and continue to build on it. Sometimes you have to be a bit “blind” in business. In retrospect, if I knew how much work would be involved, I may not have taken on the challenge of opening Bridgehead, especially when others were telling me it wouldn’t work. I needed to put on my blinders in order to stay focused on my clear picture of where I wanted to be – determined and willing to take on the events at hand, like the closing of the Montreal store. To be successful in business, you need to stick to your decisions without regrets and be willing to ask for help when you need it. *From Chapter 7, TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP AND THE ART OF TAKING CONTROL, Gayle Robin, StrategicAmpersand Inc.... you also need to keep a lens focused on the bottom line. You need information. You must have a financial infrastructure in place. We still do a P&L on every single project, including monthly financial statements, monthly cash flow forecasts, and monthly sales forecasts. We’re never surprised. We always know what our financial position is, and I think most small businesses don’t. This is a crucial mistake, because without this information you don’t know when you should reduce or increase your staff, reduce or increase your office space, reduce your expenses, reduce your salaries, reduce management salaries,  reduce your benefits improve your cash flow, reduce or increase your pricing, reduce or increase your profit margins, or renegotiate with your bank. You won’t have the power to do any of these things.  *From Chapter 11, FROM AN IDEA TO AN EMPIRE: THE LITTLE RECYCLING COMPANY THAT COULD, Louis Anagnostakos and Ted Manziaris, Turtle Island RecyclingLOUIS: I think the key to success is to always focus on your core competencies and on your customers. When someone cancels our service it’s the biggest wake-up call because it’s like getting a divorce. If this happens a lot, you’ve got problems. You have to quickly figure out what went wrong and try to improve. Sometimes it has happened because of a bad driver and sometimes because off a better price. Either way, it probably happened because we forgot about the customer. You really need to be on edge. If you’re on edge you’ll be okay because you will react swiftly. When people tell us it’s not working and they throw us out, we regroup and hit back fast.*From: That’ll Never Work by KPMG Enterprise™. Copyright © 2012 KPMG LLP, a Canadian limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Group (Canada), a Division of Pearson Canada Inc. 2012-03-28T13:08:10+00:00 http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/ivey_idea_garden/ http://www.iveyentrepreneur.ca/index.php/site/ivey_idea_garden/#When:15:38:44Z March 22, 2012 On Friday March 10th, a group of Ivey entrepreneurs came together to network, share business ideas, and find potential co-founders at the first of many “Idea Garden” events.  Hosted at ING Network Orange in the heart of downtown Toronto, in partnership with Multiplicity Accelerator, The Pierre Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship sponsored a night of networking for Ivey entrepreneurs.March 22, 2012 On Friday March 10th, a group of Ivey entrepreneurs came together to network, share business ideas, and find potential co-founders at the first of many “Idea Garden” events.  Hosted at ING Network Orange in the heart of downtown Toronto, in partnership with Multiplicity Accelerator, The Pierre Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship sponsored a night of networking for Ivey entrepreneurs. “The event was a great success, said Eric Janssen, a Director at Multiplicity Accelerator.  “We kept it informal, and simply provided a group of Ivey entrepreneurs the opportunity to see what interesting projects they were working on, and discuss opportunities to work together in the future.” Attendees had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the group, speak briefly about their project(s)/company, and of course enjoy food and drinks with their fellow alumni.  This will be the first of many upcoming events hosted in partnership with Multiplicity, who hopes to hold these events quarterly. For more information about the “Idea Garden”, or on Multiplicity Accelerator, please contact Sarah Buck About Multiplicity Accelerator -www.multiplicityaccelerator.comMultiplicity is a sales-focused business accelerator and co-working ecosystem, based in the heart of downtown Toronto.  By connecting entrepreneurs with startup experts who help to solve strategy and execution-related problems, Multiplicity accelerates the growth of early-stage technology businesses focused on software, internet, and digital media. 2012-03-22T15:38:44+00:00