An American by birth, for a number of years he practised his profession in Maine before he and his wife decided they wanted to move to Kingston and start a new life. That meant restarting his career as a mediator north of the Canada/USA border, and it meant getting help to get the business going.

Mann Mediation opened for business a little less than a year ago.

The role of a mediator, especially in family law, is becoming more important and more in demand, and folks like Mann are needed in greater numbers.

“What I do is mostly family matter mediation. This has to do with everything from divorce to separation to pre-nuptial agreements to modification of custody orders – all those are areas that I work in,” he said.

“Mediation can save parties a lot of time and money. They can go to the mediator and work out all of the issues, or at least most of them, and I would help them negotiate their way through that. Then once there’s an agreement, I would draft a memorandum of understanding that they would take back to their lawyers.”

Mediators involved in family law, such as Mann, are not referees, or counsellors, they are simply a tool that allows couples, with or without children, to quickly, efficiently and inexpensively move along the road to settling issues.

A mediation business is unique, in that there are rarely ‘repeat customers,’ but it is a business nonetheless, and coming to a new city, a new country, and not having training in managing a business led Mann to reach out to the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) Entrepreneur Centre for practical support and information.

“I started off just asking them for help in getting the word out about my business. So I met with them, and we went over the options of how we can get the word out, and the various paths I could take towards reaching out to the community. So that was great advice, and dealing with the Entrepreneur Centre was a big help because mediation is not typical. I don’t tend to maintain clients, because when they’re done their business with me, I won’t see them again. So the staff gave me a variety of options,” Mann said, adding that the Entrepreneur Centre also helped him understand that it was important to reach out to others to help in the areas of marketing and accounting if he felt those were areas where he needed expertise.

“One of the ideas that came out of my discussions was the idea for me to hold information sessions over the next 18 months or so. And at those free sessions, I will discuss everything about divorce and separation, with the focus on how mediation can help. With things like that KEDCO and the Entrepreneur Centre has been so helpful, and any time you have any questions, they get back to you very quickly. They’ve been a real help to my business.”

For more information on Mann Mediation, visit the website at www.mannmediate.ca.

For more information on business development programs offered through KEDCO, including the Entrepreneur Centre for small business and start-up support, visit www.kingstonentrepreneurs.ca.

As a registered massage therapist studying for her qualifications as an osteopath, Zizzo has worked hard to become an expert in her chosen field.

But when she moved to Kingston and decided to open her own clinic, as smart and talented as she was, Zizzo knew that she was not an expert on the intricate ways of business.

So in the process of launching Full Circle Health Network on Brock Street in the summer of 2010, Zizzo approached the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) Entrepreneur Centre for advice and practical support.
Now, thanks to support she received, Zizzo is well on her way to mastering the art of business, as well as she has mastered the art of healing.

“I had opened the business for a few weeks, and then I came across KEDCO, and I just contacted them and asked them for more information. They came back and gave me information about the services that they offer and the support that they provide for entrepreneurs. I found it all to be very helpful,” said Zizzo, a native of Ancaster, Ontario.

“The most significant help I received was through the Canadian Youth Business Foundation program run through the Entrepreneur Centre at KEDCO. That was wonderful. Staff helped guide me through the application process and what I needed to do. And they also paired me with a business mentor, a handpicked mentor that I have a wonderful relationship with to this day. I still talk to her on a regular basis even though the program is done,” said Zizzo, adding that she was also encouraged to partake in some seminars to learn more about the actual nuts and bolts of running a small business.

“I went to a lot of those, especially stuff about taxes and websites and those sorts of topics. And I found that to be helpful, especially for someone just starting out, who has no business training. That was great, because I don’t keep my own books. I realize it’s not for me. There are great things that you can learn on your own, but KEDCO and the Entrepreneur Centre was a great step in the right direction in terms of avoiding pitfalls.

“Having a mentor was great, because she was just a third party who didn’t have a vested interest. The only interest was in my business succeeding. A mentor like that can give you a reality check. They can make sure you’re on the ball, and do the decisions you take make proper business sense? To have someone like that who has experience and who has knowledge of how business works, I think it was a really awesome experience to have that support.”

Zizzo has a B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo and a massage therapy diploma from the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy. She has additional post-graduate training in pre- and post-natal care, and is pursuing her Masters in Osteopathic Manual Science at the Canadian Academy of Osteopath and Holistic Health Science.
Osteopathy has been around for nearly 200 years, and focuses on the overall structure of a person’s body as its guiding philosophy.

“We look at the alignment of the body and how all the parts go together. It’s all based on anatomy and physiology. It’s like being a mechanic for the body. You look at how all the parts of the ‘machine’ are put together, and how they’re affecting the function of the body, and you adjust them manually to restore health,” Zizzo explained.
Zizzo utilizes this philosophy in her massage therapy work, which differs from what many people know as traditional massage therapy.

“Any of the message therapists can do any of the techniques that I provide, but it’s the mindset of the techniques that I provide that makes it different. My treatments are 1/2–hour long, or a little longer or less depending on the person. And the clients are fully clothed, so you don’t undress and you don’t have any oil or anything like that.”
One of her massage therapy instructors advised her to go into business for herself, and she took that to heart, opening Full Circle Health Network the summer after her graduation.

“I was inspired by that instructor. He encouraged me to work for myself and talked about the benefits of self-employment. And I thought he was right. Why would I want to work for someone else, when a little bit of legwork now could yield a lot of results in the future?”

For more information on Zizzo and the Full Circle Health Network, visit www.fchn.ca.
For more information on business development programs offered through KEDCO, including the Entrepreneur Centre for small business and start-up support, visit www.kingstonentrepreneurs.ca.

A hockey analogy might be an appropriate way to describe the challenges faced by a small business owner or start-up entrepreneur who often has little resources and staff to work with. Imagine your favourite hockey team has one of the top goalies in the game. This player has worked for years to hone his or her skills: the cat-like reflexes, strength, flexibility and mental acuity and emotional toughness. In the crease, he or she is equipped with the latest and greatest equipment in the industry, from specialized lightweight pads to a blocker, catching glove, skates and mask. Game in and game out, the netminder is depending on the player’s specialized abilities and training to play a big role in the overall success of the team.

Now, all of a sudden, the same top goalie is asked to strip off his or her gear, change skates, put on a regular helmet, grab a forward’s stick, skate the length of the ice and try to score a goal. He or she is then expected to race back to his own end, and slap all the equipment on again to prevent a scoring chance from the opposition. Oh, and he is also mandated to renegotiate the contract of the star rookie defenceman at the same time.

Sound ridiculous? Well, in the real world of hockey it may be, but for many entrepreneurs it’s exactly the scenario they find themselves in as they start their business, or expand or strengthen existing business.

The staff at the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) Entrepreneur Centre can assist business owners or start-up entrepreneurs. Using the methodology employed by Italian sustainable economic development expert Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, the Entrepreneur Centre helps business owners understand that taking on every key aspect of their operation is not always the best plan to ensure their business is a success.

The centre emphasizes the value of managing the business as a “trinity”, with three distinct components or areas of specialization. The first is the individual at the core, who is usually the one with the idea for the product or service and the passion behind the project.

The second component of the “trinity” is the financial expertise, while the third is marketing acumen.

While the person with the idea, product or service may have some experience or know-how in these two other areas, there is no way one person can do all three, or often even two of the three, without it impacting the main idea and the overall success of the business.

At the Entrepreneur Centre, an Enterprise Facilitator walks an entrepreneur through this process and helps him or her find the resources to complete the trinity. Dr. Sirolli believed in what has been termed a “person-centred approach to local economic development,” and that someone is never going to be equally passionate about developing a product or service, as well as marketing it and managing the finances. Dr. Sirolli, and those involved in enterprise facilitation, believe that no one will be able to do something well if he or she is not passionate about it, and that small business owners are usually only passionate about the product or service they are creating.

The Entrepreneur Centre can help clients explore their passion, and also help them find the people who will make up the “trinity”. These people may be full-time partners, fee-for-service part timers, or even volunteers, but they are necessary components of the business.

Ideally, the financial manager needs to be someone who doesn’t just look after the accounting for the business. He or she needs to look  ahead to help develop plans to maximize revenue streams, to anticipate future costs, and also help develop financial contingencies in times of difficulty.

The third member of the trinity is someone proficient in sales and marketing. He or she will define who the customers are, what the market is, and how to most effectively and efficiently get the product or service out to these people.

As the familiar adage goes, “solitude is the death of the entrepreneur,” and the myth of the lone wolf, swashbuckling business person is just that — a myth.

The Entrepreneur Centre is working hard to ensure enterprising, talented, hard-working entrepreneurs never have to work in solitude, and never have to go at it alone. All services are confidential and free of charge. For more information visit www.kingstonentrepreneurs.ca or contact KEDCO at 613-544-2725.

When I wrote about Idea Validation the other day, the part of the process that was taken for granted, was that you have an idea to validate.  But where do business opportunities come from?  Knowing the fundamental characteristics, of any good business opportunity, makes it much easier to identify them, when they cross your path, or how to seek them out.

Identifying Business Opportunities Through Gaps In The Market

Identifying a business opportunity is built on identifying ‘gaps in the market’, the opportunity to provide something that people want, or need, but have insufficient access to.  Notice that I say, “something people want or need“.  This is critical, and why basic Market Research and Idea Validation is so important.  Just because you could provide something people can’t currently get, doesn’t mean you have identified a good business opportunity.  Some gaps in the market exist for a reason; no one wants to buy.  There are several ways to use gaps in the market to identify business opportunities.

Innovation

Have you ever thought, “I wish there were an easier way to do this,” or “If someone could just make a product that would … I would totally buy that.”  This lies at the heart of innovative business opportunities.  In fact, innovation is one of the most important aspects of most business opportunities.  Innovation means that you are doing something new, different, something that will set you apart from the competition and give you an edge.  There are two types of innovation: Process and Product.

• Process Innovation is all about how things are done.  A better system of delivery, communicating or tracking data.  Look at Groupon, they don’t offer anything new; they just found a new and better way to deliver it to customers.
• Product Innovations are new or improved products & services.  You don’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel; sometimes you just need to make it work a little better, or look a little prettier.

Read The Full Article: 

Originally published on APM Consulting Services November 29th 2012

Research, planning and goal setting will only get you so far, without a clear strategy in place.  If your goals are the destination, your strategy is the GPS & map that will lead you there.  Your strategy needs to provide you with a clear step-by-step path; but how do you choose the best route, and ensure it will lead you where you want to go?  Experience has shown that the best method for creating a strong strategy is to first identify your Critical Success Factors, then build your strategy on meeting them.

Critical Success Factors

Identifying Critical Success Factors

Critical Success Factors are elements that will have a disproportionate effect on your business’ success.  Get them right and success is highly likely, get them wrong and failure is almost assured.  In order to identify critical success factors look at these 5 key areas:

Marketing 

How will you create a compelling message that will convince your target to become your customers?  How will you effectively get that message out and promote your product or service?

Sales Process 

What is your method of delivery?  How will this affect the customer experience and encourage repeat business?

Production  

How will you produce what you are selling?  How will you manage your costs related to production and ensure a profit.

Financing 

How will you finance your plan?  How will you repay any debts moving forward and how will this affect your operations

Personnel 

What skilled people will you need available to you in order to succeed (Accountants, IT, etc.).  What will your staffing needs be?

Achieving Critical Success Factors

Every critical success factor will be built on 6 root factors.  Identifying, which factors apply to your critical success factors, and making a plan to address each as necessary will form the essence of your strategy.

Technology 

IT or Equipment.  Do you require specific systems, tools or equipment?

Resources 

Raw materials & inputs.  What resources do you need access to?

Skills 

Certifications, designations & experience.  What skill based requirements do you have?

Personnel 

How many & qualifications.  Who will you need to hire or train?

Money 

Implementation costs.  What will it cost and how will you provide it?

Timeline 

Deadlines and order.  What deadlines must be met and in what order must tasks be fulfilled?

Implementing

Once you understand what your critical success factors are and the underlying factors they require you have the underpinnings of a strong strategy.  All that is left is to create an implementation timeline, which clearly lays out the tasks required, who is responsible to see them done, the resources necessary, and dates and times for action as applicable.  Check out Gantt Project on our Resource Page, a helpful free tool for creating Gantt Charts.

Originally published on APM Consulting Services November 26th 2012

I have been working with a few clients lately who are in the initial planning stages of their business.  The toughest, and most critical, part of this stage is taking what you think your business should be, and figuring out if you are right.  This is the process of Idea Validation.

How many times have you seen or hear of businesses open and almost immediately begin to fail?

• A restaurant that opens and fails to attract any real attention or good reviews.
• A new product launch that quickly fades after failing to catch on.
• Someone with the next big thing online, or a smartphone app, that never makes back the cost of development.

Whenever I hear these stories the very first thing I think is, they probably didn’t go through the process of idea validation. 

Idea validation is easily the most important thing any entrepreneur can do.  Whether you are starting a new business from scratch, making changes, or planning expansions, you need to validate your idea with you customers.  If you can’t prove that people want it, and will pay money to have it, then you don’t have a business.

Idea validation is not limited to startups and small businesses it is a fundamental best practice for everyone.

Idea Validation 101

Put as simply as possible idea validation is just asking your potential customers if they would be willing to spend their money on your idea.  That’s it.  But, how do you go about doing that?  What types of questions should you ask and how should you approach people.  Here are a few ‘best practices’ to keep in mind when setting up your validations.

Validate 1 Idea At A Time

Whenever possible focus your validation efforts on just one thing at a time.  Despite the fact that your idea is likely made up of multiple assumptions, you won’t be as effective if you design a test to validate them all at once.  Start with your riskiest assumptions, the thing that everything else hinges on.  If this is invalidated then so are all the other assumptions based on it.  Focusing on one thing at a time will also help to make your validation focused, and easy to interpret.

Minimum Validation Level

If you are going ask the same questions to 100 people, how many do you need to answer in favor to give you validation? In order to set your level, think about how the people you are asking represent the market as a whole. This will vary, depending on your situation, but setting an acceptable validation level ahead of time will keep you from later convincing yourself that a bad idea is actually a good one.

Validate Your Customers

The opinion of someone, who is not your potential customer, doesn’t count for much.  Asking your friends and family what they think of your idea is only useful if their opinions matter to the business, not to you personally. Even if your validation is focused on determining who your customer group will be, then target specific segments one at a time.  Or, build your validation to capture key information about the respondents.

Idea Validation Should Be Cheap

One of the whole points of going through the process of idea validation is to keep you from spending a lot of money on a bad idea.  Thus, it is important that you design your validations to be as cheap and efficient as possible.  Free online surveys, landing pages or super basic websites to measure traffic and response, hitting the streets or your competitors place of business to interview people, the list goes on.  The important factor here is designing low cost, low effort, yet effective tests to validate your idea.  See our Resources Page for some suggestions of online tools.

Get Honest Answers

Not all questions are created equal.  In order to validate your idea it is critical to get honest and appropriate feedback.  A few to avoid when creating your idea validation:

Leading Questions – Questions that suggest the outcome that you are looking for will lead respondents and skew your results.

Example: I have created this new, amazing tasting, type of ice cream, isn’t it great?

Should be: What do you think of this ice cream?

Loaded Questions – Using language that plays on people’s emotions, stereotypes, and prejudices will prompt them to answer in a certain way.  Keep it neutral.

Assumptions – Be careful you don’t assume people know the necessary background information.  Make sure they properly understand what you are asking them.

Jargon – Similar to assumptions make sure you use language people are familiar with and will fully understand.  Acronyms, slang, etc. will confuse people and they may answer without properly understanding the question

Double Questions – Ask only one question at a time.  Asking “Do you like it and how much would pay?” should be two separate questions.  This will diminish confusion and keep answers focused.

Getting Started

As you can see idea validation is fairly simple in concept, but it can definitely be daunting and complicated in practice.  Figuring out the right questions to ask, analyzing the data you get back, choosing who to ask and what to do when you don’t get a positive response, it can all be a little overwhelming and time consuming.  If you need help visit our Startup Solutions Page, or contact us and let us guide you through your idea validation process.

Originally published on APM Consulting Services November 16th 2012

The Marketing Mix relates to the content of my previous article ‘Understanding True Marketing’, in which I talked about how marketing should be present at every level of you business, from planning to execution.

The classic academic model of the ‘Marketing Mix’, or the ‘4 P’s’, is another method of looking at this.  Around since 1960 thanks to E. Jerome McCarthy, it has been taught to very nearly every business student for the last 20 years.  The Marketing Mix is a method of looking at, and understanding, your business in a holistic manner, asking you to think about how each aspect adds to your unique advantage.  How you approach each aspect will shape your business; your uniqueness and strengths create the basis of your message.

Over the years the classic 4 P Marketing Mix has been expanded, reworked and applied in a variety of different ways.  Below is my favorite version to date.  With 7 P’s I find it to be inclusive enough to cover a wide range of business types and styles, and is also approachable, easy to understand, and most importantly easy to use.

The 7 P’s

Product

What are you selling?  What makes it special and worth buying?

Price

How does your price compare to competitors?  How does it reflect the quality you are offering?  Is it attractive to your customers?

Place

Where are you physically located?  How does this affect your business and your customers?  Where are your customers and competitors in relation to you?

Promotion

How do your promote your business?  What message is being sent by your choice in types of advertising, wording, sales/discounts, etc?  What benefits are you focused on, and how does that influence perception of your company.

People

Your employees say a lot about who you are as a company and their actions will have a profound effect on how people think about you.  How are they trained?  How do they interact with your customers? What are the standards of conduct?  Are they invested in your success?

Processes

How do you do business?  Your processes affect the type and quality of service you can offer.  They affect the speed with which you can address your customer’s needs.  Do your customers see you as dependable and competent?

Physical Evidence

This is what your customers can see and handle.  The aesthetic of your store, the packaging of your product, how your employees are dressed, etc.  These things can do a lot to inspire or destroy confidence in your customers.

The Final Package

All of these aspects work together to create and support your message and identity.  If any one part of the Marketing Mix is deficient then the whole is perceived through the lens of that one weakness, tainting everything else.  Think of a time you had a bad experience while shopping.  It likely was only one small aspect of the overall experience and interaction, a rude staff member, or an overpriced product.  That one part, however, is likely to have a disproportionally negative effect on your impressions of the whole.

Read More Here:

The Synergistic Model

When most people think of Marketing, they are actually thinking of Advertising, the action of spreading your message.  But Marketing is so much more than that.  True Marketing is the foundation of everything you do in your business, from your planning through to every action.  I was teaching a workshop recently on the basics of business planning and developed this model to help people understand True Marketing.

The Synergistic Model teaches the relationship between 8 aspects of business, and shows how each one effects and is affected by the other.  Market Research, Product Offering, Positioning, Target Market, Market Share, Brand Identity, Marketing Message, and Advertising, all working together to define your business.

The Eight Aspects:

Market research collects info on who potential customers are, what they want and who is currently serving them.  This leads to solidifying your vision for your product, how you will position yourself and who your target market is.  From this you can estimate how large a market share you can serve, giving you a basis for revenue projections.  Once you know what you are selling, to whom, and how you are positioned you have a basis for your brand identity, which in turn defines your marketing message and advertising activities.

If you want to change any of these sections it will require you to consider the impact or necessary actions in each of the other section.

Changing Target Markets:

If you want to change your Target Market, or add a new Segment, then you will need to research this new market, consider how your product will meet their needs and can best be marketed and advertised to them.  Also how will this change affect your brand, and your position.

A New Product:

Maybe you want to introduce a new product or service.  Again research will be needed, marketing and advertising designed and targeted on an appropriate market, etc.

Once you come to understand your business in these terms and use these relationships to direct your decision making, the overall quality of your business and your level of success will be elevated.

Read More Here:

How did they get there? As a result of The Home Depot Canada’s partnership program with the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation and the Quebec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade – Innovation for Sustainability. The project opens new retail channels for small and medium Ontario and Quebec-based businesses – bringing products to market that will drive innovation, sustainability and economic opportunity.

This is your opportunity to partner with the world’s leading home improvement retailer – The Home Depot Canada – to bring your product to market. In late fall 2012; The Home Depot Canada will host its third Meet the Buyer event in Toronto, Ontario. Small and medium-sized manufacturers from Ontario and Quebec with an innovative home improvement product or technology are invited to apply.

Manufacturers of promising products will be awarded a trial in select Home Depot locations. A dedicated consultant will be available to help selected manufacturers navigate the various steps and requirements involved in becoming a Home Depot vendor. Products that are successful during the trial will be scaled up to larger markets, with an ultimate goal of national availability.

To qualify, the product must be:

• Innovative
• Made for retail sale to home improvement customers
• Designed, manufactured or assembled in Ontario or Quebec

There are no fees to apply or to attend the Meet the Buyer event. Manufacturers are invited to apply online from August 6 to September 30.

The date for the Innovation for Sustainability – Meet The Buyer Event is Wednesday November 7, 2012.

Apply online at www.innovationforsustainability.ca

For more information, please contact:

Kelly Bryan Murray

Senior Business Consultant
Business Development Unit
Investment & Industry Division
Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation

56 Wellesley Street West, 4th Floor
Toronto, ON M7A 2E7
Ph: 416-326-9621
E-mail: kellybryan.murray@ontario.ca

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