Business Tips From Jules

Posted by Julie Laurin on Oct 11, 2011 in Life with Silly Robot, Randoms | 0 comments

I’m a big fan of the show Dragon’s Den (and Shark Tank, btw).  Today, I saw that the CBC had published an interview with the newest Dragon, Bruce Croxon.  And boy, was it ever a bad interview!  So I thought I’d republish the questions but fill them out with my own answers, which hopefully, will be more helpful to other small business owners or wanna-be owners out there:

CBC News: What was your first business experience? What did it teach you?

Julie Laurin: I tried selling crafts door-to-door in my neighbourhood when I was a kid.  It was a horrible experience.  Some of the paint hadn’t even dried on some of the pieces.  One of the neighbours gave me a quarter out of encouragement but the rest discouraged me from continuing.  That taught me that some ideas are really not worth pursuing!

What elements make a small business successful? What skills do you think a small business owner needs?

A lot of people will tell you that multi-tasking is key, but I disagree.  You have to be able to plan things properly, you have to be organized, you have to have some knowledge of what you’re doing (like basic finances) and then know how to find the missing knowledge that you need to make your business successful.  A lot of people make the mistake of going into business thinking that they can just do what they did when they used to work for an employer, but it’s not like that.  Your employer took care of everything from marketing to sales to finances to customer service.  When you work for yourself, at first, you have to do all of that on your own.  It’s a whole lot of work so I have to reiterate the fact that proper planning is key.

There’s a lot of talk about Canada lacking in innovation and productivity — what do you think needs to happen to fix that?

I agree with Bruce in saying that technology investment is necessary but I’d also like to see a change of mentality.  I’d like to see Canadians become less risk-averse.  Let’s teach our kids to be independent, let’s encourage girls to learn about money, let’s have more grants for young people to learn about things like marketing, merchandising, technology, accounting… we have to create a culture that wants to invent and wants to be innovative.  There seems to be a lack of desire for that here.  I think that the idea that we have low productivity is bullshit.  Canadians have the least amount of vacation and sick days than their other Western-nation counterparts.  We’re extremely productive.  We just don’t tend to move that productivity towards creative work or innovative products. 

What was one of your biggest business setbacks and what did you learn from it?

So far?  Not having properly documented some of my processes early on.  You need to make sure that you keep documentation on things like coding standards, change logs, etc.  You can do a job and forget about it or you can improve what you’ve done in the past in order to provide even better service later on.  I prefer the latter option – it just makes life easier for everyone.

What did you enjoy most about being a small business owner? Anything you dislike about it?

I like that I can define my workload.  At one point, I had 12 clients at once, plus my full-time job, plus two other side projects.  Now, I manage a portfolio of about 3 to 4 clients per month.  What I don’t like?  I can’t think of anything I don’t like about it!

What’s your best advice for balancing life and work as an entrepreneur?

Life comes first… always.  If you properly plan your schedule, develop processes, and hire people to work based on those processes, you can free up a lot of time for yourself to just manage the beast instead of working constantly and not having time for yourself, your family and your continued learning or interests.

What other advice do you have for small business owners in Canada?

Don’t let anyone define what your business should be… in other words, if you don’t want to grow, don’t.  I have no desire to grow this business right now, other than keeping it as a side gig.  People have thrown comments my way saying that I should grow but growth just for the sake of it is stupid.  If things are going well, if you’re enjoying yourself, and if you’re seeing profits year after year, nothing has to change.  Do what makes you happy.  Be realistic about the prospects of your services or products – if people aren’t buying, that’s a pretty good sign that you may not have started with a good idea and it may be time to either change it or abandon ship.  People seem to have two problems: not having the guts to start and not having the guts to quit.

One year later…

Posted by Julie Laurin on Aug 30, 2011 in Business News, Life with Silly Robot | 0 comments

I knew that Silly Robot’s one-year anniversary was coming up but I wasn’t really sure how I was going to celebrate it.  I’ve decided to celebrate quietly and happily on my own as I reflect in what direction I’d like to take this business over the next few years.

So far, this business has been a heck of a lot of fun!  I’ve had the time of my life working for really interesting clients, from actors to an athlete and from non-profit organizations to small and medium sized businesses.  I’ve built websites, I’ve created ad campaigns, I’ve used social media to generate buzz and to help with fundraising efforts.  I’ve expanded my knowledge of everything from web programming to publicity and e-marketing.

And I’ve also used my powers for good as I’ve proudly sponsored two anime conventions, one in Gatineau and another as far away as New Brunswick!  Silly Robot has also sponsored some materials and an ad campaign for weightlifter, Isabelle Despres.  I’ve hired local artists to create artwork for this company.  I’ve always wanted to give back to communities and people that need the help.  This business was never meant to solely focus on profit.  It has a greater purpose.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been any challenging moments.  I learned very quickly that business is not always about saying ‘yes’.  Sometimes, you have to say ‘no’.  Sometimes, even if it would be easier to just do things for the money, you have to go with your brain and be confident enough to do what’s really hard but must be done, like firing a client or letting go a contractor.  Things don’t always work out the way we wish they would.

Oh, and you also quickly learn that juggling twelve clients at a time is probably not a good idea.  I managed to make it work out in the end, but that was pretty challenging.  It’s always best to create a waiting list and have a bit more work/life balance rather than trying to keep up with demand by giving everyone your time all at once!  People are very understanding and the flexibility sometimes has to go both ways.  I’ve pushed a few deadlines at the request of clients when they felt overwhelmed with life.  It all comes down to being reasonable.

So where do we go from here?

Well, I want to explore the world of web comics a bit more so you should see something new coming up in the fall.  I’d also like start offering custom themes but that’s a pretty big endeavour and may only be offered early next year.  But for now, it’s steady as she goes.  I have a lot of work to do for one of my clients, an Olympic weightlifter, who is on the path to competing at the Olympics in London 2012.  Silly Robot helped her obtain funding through crowdfunding campaigns (a first for a Canadian athlete, as far as I know!) and now we have to start seeking sponsorship from corporate sponsors.  I also have a few more clients who are seeking my services for marketing and publicity-related ideas and I look forward to working with them this fall!  In the end, I love what I do.  I love that I can help people with their objectives and their goals.  I also love that I’m a woman in business and I can shape this company in any way I want.  I can use some of the profits to support projects that I believe in, too.

This time last year, I was taking a giant leap.  It was terrifying.  And now?  Being in business isn’t scary anymore.  It’s beautiful.  And I encourage everyone, especially women, to pursue the ideas they have and to make it real.  Be brave and take a chance.  It’s worth it.

Web Comic #5: Here come the zombies…

Posted by Julie Laurin on Jun 29, 2011 in Business News, Web Comic | 0 comments

We take a break from our regular scheduled web comic series to introduce the undead into the mix!

This is because Silly Robot has sponsored a film and some merchandise for Animaritime, a yearly anime and gaming convention in New Brunswick!  So, a big huge WELCOME to all convention attendees!  We’re extremely happy to have sponsored the viewing of the film, “Summer Wars“, and you should see our zombie robots on the official convention bags for sale at the convention.  We wish you a fabulous time at this year’s con.  Having said that, we’re declaring July “Zombie Month” here at Silly Robot!  Expect a bunch of weekly zombie web comics to celebrate the occasion.  We welcome fan art, too.  So, if you want to zombify our silly green robot, feel free to do so (as long as you’re not selling the image or making it available to be sold anywhere).  And send us a copy of your art – we’ll post it here!

And so it begins…

Web Comic #4: RoboPup!

Posted by Julie Laurin on Jun 22, 2011 in Web Comic | 0 comments

This is just all kinds of adorable.  What’s that you’re eating, RoboPup?

Copyright Silly Robot 2011 - By Jessica Scholze

Web Comic #3: Robosaur

Posted by Julie Laurin on Jun 15, 2011 in Web Comic | 0 comments

What happens when a robot archaeologist discovers a toy dinosaur that accidentally gets activated by a curious robot?  It scares the crap out of everyone in the museum, that’s what. 

All of these ideas in the whimsical mind of the artist…

Copyright Silly Robot 2011 - By Jessica Scholze