You Can Do That Here

I really want to start my own business; I just don't know what to do. Have you ever had that thought, or known someone who has? Whether it's starting a business for the first time, looking to add a new product or service to your existing business or launching into your second, third or fourth business, sometimes the answer of what to do, is sitting right in front of our nose.

If you're currently working at a job, presumably you have some skill or combination of skills that make you valuable to that employer. Presumably that employer has customers. Finally,the skills you offer to your employer would be valuable to those customers and likely to others. Yes, often the best idea for a new business is to take the existing skills you are putting into your job, repackage them and offer them directly to the customer.

Wayne Kelly has long been a staple in the radio morning show scene. Throughout his career he's had both great guests, and some truly terrible guests. Many other potential guests never even made it past the email trash folder.

Inspired by a chance meeting with a certain wealthiest woman in the world's husband and a host of other rock star, celebrity motivational speakers and authors he had his epiphany. While he looked at himself in their presences as merely the radio guy, they looked back at him as someone who can help them reach their target market. That's something people will pay for.

With the light bulb on, Wayne got to work, and quickly realized it's not as easy as simply posting an e-book online for sale. A decade in, he has customers worldwide, and has turned the skills from his job into a healthy business.

I sat down with Wayne in his home studio in Montrose, BC to talk about his journey,

In Part 1 with Jean-Marc, we learned that we've got a behind the code "Weblebrity," of sorts in our midst. From building Yahoo, Expedia, Westjet and more, we learned how he shunned the high paying gigs in Silicon Valley that come with being one of the original and best web producers in the game. Trading that entrepreneurial hot bed, for the outdoor recreation hub of Revelstoke,BC he went out on his own with two new startups aimed at disrupting big industries.

The first, Seedups Canada is disrupting the investing world, allowing everyday people to buy equity shares in growing companies and opening up new capital pools for startups. In a unique piece of serendipity, the first customer to test Seedups in raising capital through the platform was Jean-Marc's other startup, JumpOn Flyaways.

In part two we learn more about how Jean-Marc is now attempting to disrupt the airline travel industry with a new business model. We then dive deeper and learn more about what inspires, motivates and drives him to do what he does, and pick up some tips on how we can raise our own games. And of course, in a natural progression we end up talking about a future world of android actors, and gigantic snow shovelling Roombas.

Enjoy. Here is part two picking up where we left off, just as Jean-Marc begins telling us about JumpOn Flyaways.

What happens when one of the original builders of the web decides he prefers the ski and mountain bike valley of Revelstoke, BC over Silicon Valley California? What happens when one of the top web designers in the business, opts to take his experience having built such websites as Expedia, Flickr and westjet.com among others, and goes out on his own? Finally, what happens when you're an ideas guy, who is regularly coming up with new solutions to problems and new businesses to fund and launch? 

The result is the development and launch of a cutting edge new website, the first of its kind in Canada, opening up the investment world to everyday web surfers. He's also helping to open up and make accessible a vast new pool of capital for small businesses seeking investment.

 That's just a small part of the story. I connected with Jean Marc Laflamme via Skype to talk about his impressive backstory, how he shunned Silicon Valley for Revelstoke BC, the importance and value of crowdfunding for entrepreneurs, and a few of his latest projects including a new solution to crowdfunding. 

Jean Marc's story was so impressive, trying to hold it within the bounds of a 30 minute show was a challenge, and we'll definitely connect with Jean Marc again in the future. Not wanting to cut out any of his story, I've broken this week's show up into two parts. In part one we learn about Jean Marc's backstory, talk crowdfunding and learn about his latest startup aiming to disrupt the small business investment world. Check out part 2 to learn about how he's disrupting air travel, what drives and inspires this uber entrepreneur and what might be next on the horizon.

Freelancer, contractor or project worker. Whetever you like to call it, we are living in the age of the entrepreneur for hire. With the web connecting potential contractors to employers across the globe, anyone and everyone has the ability to sell their services to the highest bidder. Putting your talents up for sale however, does come with a few critical dilemmas.

Jack of all trades, but master of none? We've heard that many times before. In the digital arts field however, it can often be a case of requiring a broad set of skills in order to get clients and survive. Yes the specialist might get paid more, but without a team to complete a project, the work is fewer and the risk higher.

What about the concept of selling your talents to others in the first place? Do you suffer through potentially soul-sucking projects, building what others want? Or do you put your skills to work for yourself and build a business of your own?

Zeb Hansell, of Rossland BC is both an artist in general, as well as having a deep quiver of highly specialized skills. His company Zebontheweb has been doing video, audio and graphic production as well as animation for more than half a decade. Putting them all together while building a community of contacts and talent around himself has led him on a successful path as a digital arts freelancer. Just the same, the desire to do his own thing never lies too far below the surface.

I caught up with Zeb in Rossland to learn how he's navigated his way through the wilds of digital media contracting.

I quit!At some point all true entrepreneurs must break the bond between their future and the comfort and security of their job. How that exit is made can often determine the trajectory of what comes next.

There is no right or wrong answer, but certain routes may make setting up your own shop easier or more difficult. You could take the Youtube sensation route and film your "I quit," video for all to see online. You could simply walk out and never look back, or, you could do such a great job at your company that your bosses wish you well on your departure, and you are able to bring a host of your previous clients with you. That's how you lift off of the launch pad at top speed.

Aerin and Jimmy Guy of Space Race digital, now living in Rossland BC, met while both working in the web / digital industry as employees. Their frustration grew as the companies they worked for began feeling like a ball and chain holding them back from the new ideas they wanted to pursue.

5 years later, they successfully launched Space Race digital, and made the move from big city to small town living seamlessly. I sat down with Aerin and Jimmy to talk about their startup story, striking out on their own, and the digital space race they are competing in.

Food. It’s the fuel; that gets us going and drives our success. You’d never put low quality fuel into your car and expect it to deliver high performance. The same goes for your food.A healthy organic diet can be one piece of a healthy high performance life,

But what about the business of food? Hunting down and seeking out the healthiest options can be a job itself. Trying to find all of those foods under one roof can be a difficult chore. What if someone could do that job for you Research the best food suppliers, buy it from the farm, package it up and deliver it to your doorstep.

Velvet Kavanagh of Ymir BC has been doing just that for the last 15 years with her company Endless Harvest. Inspired by a friend running similar business in the Okanagan, Velvet had her lightbulb moment and got to work. With a long history of working in the health food industry, and with a desire to move to the Kootenays and start a new chapter of her life. she dove straight into the detail and went for it. Within a couple of months she was up and running and has never looked back.

I sat down with Velvet in the Kootenay Coop Radio studios to talk about her start up story, her inspiration and how she has made it all happen creating a growing and expanding business that is fuelling Kootenay residents with the best organic food available.

Why is it that you do what you do? What drives you to get up and get to work in the morning? Are you in love with what you do? Are you chasing down some big goals? Are you trying to make the world a better place? Or perhaps it's simply about making money.

There have been many variations over the years of the same business sentiment. Do what you love and the money will follow. Ultimately the reason Why we do things is the most important factor in whether or not we will succeed. It also clearly lays out what success is and how you measure it. Simply put, the stronger and broader your reason why, the more motivated you'll be to succeed. On the other hand, few things impress a potential customer more than someone clearly pursuing a noble cause.

Darrel Fry, based out of Rossland, BC has been doing just that with his company Passive Remediation Systems International. Driven by a desire to do what he can to help heal and improve our environment, and informed on the trends  from his previous work in financial management, Darryl and his company are committed to a mission. It's reflected directly in their mission statement which is simply "Create meaningful change,"

I sat down with Darrel to learn about how his company Passive Remediation Systems International is making the world a clearner, healthier place, as well making him a living, and why that combination will be the next big trend in business.

A picture can tell a thousand words. If you play your cards right, have the talent, the passion and the energy, they can also pay thousands of dollars. With the proliferation of camera technology these days, almost everyone has a high quality camera sitting right in their pocket. So how do professional photographers today stay ahead of the masses, and maintain their career?

If they are like Bruno Long out of Revelstoke, it’s all about a total commitment to the craft. After years of taking photos here and there when opportunities came up, and working part time jobs in and around the action sports industry, Bruno made the decision to go all in and chase his dream.

With the goal of making money while at the same time hanging out with professional athletes, skiing and mountain biking in spectacular places, he made the move, burned the boats and never looked back.

That commitment, along with a genuine passion has led him to his dream. As that dream continues to unfold, I sat down with Bruno in Revelstoke to talk about how he made it happen, and how you others can follow in his footsteps.

The Internet. For many businesses it's arrival presented new and unique opportunities to build, grow and expand their traditional businesses. Other businesses, saw it as a future competitor and didn't get on board until new upstarts had surpassed them. Take the newspaper business for example. Since the days of the Gutenberg press, newspapers have dominated as the news delivery medium of choice and as such were the go to advertising spot for centuries.

David Rooney of Revelstoke BC was one of the disruptors to get on board the online news trend of hyper local news. With the mass adoption of online news well underway, the new winners in the news wars were those with the best voice and best content. No longer was success limited to who had access to or owned a printing press. Following a long career in the journalism business In 2009 David launched The Revelstoke Current.The rest, as they say is history.

Utilizing new features expanded multimedia and increased, low cost availability that traditional newspapers simply couldn't offer paired with a local voice covering local stories, and doing it all with excellence helped David create a new business, and a new voice for Revelstoke.

I sat down with David at his home to talk about his career, his thoughts on journalism, and how he launched The Current to become what it is today.

There is an easy way to tell who the entrepreneurs are in a small community. Simply ask people about the work scenario in their town. You will most likely here a version of one of these two statements.

"Work? There's no work in this town. Unless you work for (insert single big employers name here), you have to make your own job to get by."

or "If you've got the passion and energy, it's a great place to start a new business."

And so it is, if you're of the optimistic type. For every "There are not enough people here to support a business," there is an optimistic entrepreneur lurking around the corner thinking "There's no competition here, it's a wide open oppportunity."

Scott Duke, Originally from Missasauga, Ontario and now living and playing in Revelstoke, BC is the perfect example of the optimistic entrepreneur who thrives in small communities. The serial entrepreneur has run a landscaping businesses, had a hotdog cart, ran a wakeboarding camp, rented cottages as well as jet skis between Missasauga and Muskoka where he saw the light of doign business in a small town.

Since coming to Revelstoke he found his next niche and has since put together a team to dominate it with 85% of Revelstoke residents saying that StokeFM, the community radio station he launched, is now their preffered radio station.

I sat down with Scott in the StokeFM studio's to learn how he did it, and the result was a resounding endorsement of small towns as the place for entrepreneurs to be.