Business Tips From Jules
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.
Read MoreOne year later…
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.
Read MoreTales of a client’s success in the world of weightlifting
As a lot of you know, I initially started this business to support artists, actors and musicians. I never imagined I’d be supporting an athlete! But it makes sense. I’ve been working for Isabelle Després for a couple of months now. If you haven’t heard, she’s a weightlifter in Ottawa who has her sights set on the next Olympic games in London, England. Silly Robot set up a website for her and we’ve been doing publicity on a regular basis, particularly online.
So, let me tell you a bit about my experiences in working with Isabelle and my foray into the world of weightlifting.
I attended my first weightlifting competition in Montreal in December. It’s here that I was able to see Izzy in competition for the first time. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I have a sporting background but this sport was completely new to me. From a publicity standpoint, the formula stays the same. She hired me for the following reasons: she needs funding, she wants to bring more attention to the sport and she wants to encourage young people to try out weightlifting. So my goal is to do what I can to help her achieve those three goals. But I needed more exposure to this new sport so that I can sell it to others.
And so far? I love it. I really do. I think a lot of us are familiar with the idea of men lifting heavy weights, but as a woman, there’s something incredibly empowering about watching a woman doing this. When I watch the women’s competition and I see these young women struggle and push and fight to lift that bar, it blows me away. Just as you think they’re about to give up, when you think something’s surely going to snap, they lift it all the way up! It’s incredible. By witnessing something like this, you also end up realizing that we’re all stronger than we think. We’re all able to push our limits if we give it our best shot.
I am proud of Isabelle. I am proud of what she’s accomplished and I count myself very fortunate to not only have her as a client, but also to have gotten to know her well enough to say that she’s the kindest person I know. She’s motivated, she’s determined and she continues to sacrifice a lot of things to try to achieve her dream of going to the Olympics.
This weekend, we went to the Ontario Senior Provincial Weightlifting championship at the University of Toronto in Mississauga. There, she lifted a personal best of 98kg in the clean & jerk, she won in her weight category AND she picked up the award for best overall female weightlifter at the competition. That’s tremendous success and she’s on the right path to beat the third place finish that she got last year at the Nationals.
The Nationals are in May in Toronto, this year. I’ll be there to document the event and we’re continuing to work on a fun publicity strategy that will take place in April and May. I can’t reveal any details yet but let’s just say that people in Ottawa will come to recognize her a bit more after we’re done. 
Stay tuned for more follow-up stories and keep following her progress on her website: http://izzylifting.ca
Lastly, we did something REALLY incredible – that IndieGoGo campaign that we launched a few weeks ago? Yeah, we totally reached and beat our goal of collecting $500 to support her training needs. I’ve been doing a ton of research on this and as far as I know, she’s the first Canadian athlete to use online crowdfunding to get sponsorship money. That’s a huge accomplishment (for both of us!) and we’ll continue to explore this avenue a lot more over the next year and a half.
Having said that, if you want to contribute to Izzy’s training, please visit the campaign here.. .there’s still time to contribute! The campaign ends on April 11th, 2011.
Here’s what Silly Robot wants to do: we will match the next IndieGoGo contribution, up to an amount of $100. Go ahead, make us pay.
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Spring is in the air!
It’s certainly been a little while since my last post so I thought I’d take a few minutes to post a quick update about life with Silly Robot.
Web Services
Business is still going strong, in fact, I’m almost fully booked for April already! Not only am I taking on new clients, but I’m getting repeat business from former clients who have new projects or want more customization done. What’s interesting is that as much as I had initially planned to target artists and arts organizations, it seems that there’s a greater desire for my services from the small business community. It makes sense, I think that businesses are finally catching up to the idea that they need a web presence and they can afford to pay for someone to customize a website for them. Arts organizations are getting on board too but the money isn’t there and artists are slowly starting to become open to the idea of promoting themselves online. In those cases, I always advocate the use of a free service, like the free version of WordPress, until the artist or organization can afford something a bit better. BUT!!!! They should still keep the site simple, keep the design simple, keep it user-friendly. Some would say that any web presence is better than no presence at all but I strongly disagree with that one – you still have to make sure that people won’t hate you more because your site sucks so much. 
Publicity
I got my first non-arts related publicity client earlier this year: an athlete! This has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in business so far because it’s been such an interesting challenge: how to promote an athlete who is training for the Olympics. I don’t know traditional media very well. My world rotates around technology when it comes to publicity and I think that has been a huge advantage so far. So, I did what was natural: I set up my client with an IndieGoGo campaign and we have now surpassed our goal with more than a month left on the campaign! She’s excited. I’m excited. And there’s so much more coming in the next few months… follow her progress here: http://izzylifting.ca.
Quirky Promo
That has not been going as well as I’d hoped. And it’s taught me a great deal about human psychology. Whenever people inquired about my services and couldn’t afford my rate (for a blog), I’d tell them about this promo. Every single time, I got the response “Oh, I’m not quirky enough” or “I’m not that interesting!”. So what’s happened is that I’ve only had two ‘winners’ so far. Nobody applied for the March promo. How come? Is it a problem with my copy? Is it that the people I spoke with are too humble? Or is it a Canadian thing – that we don’t think we’re interesting enough to blog? I don’t know. But I’ll keep exploring. I’ll promote it in Toronto and Vancouver and see if that makes a difference.
Video Blogging
I will be resuming my video blogs soon! In the meantime, I have an idea: I’d like to invite other small business owners to blog with me. So far, I have two people who have confirmed that they want to do this and I have about five on my “maybe” list. If there’s enough interest, I’d be willing to start an actual web series. If you’re interested, send an email to julie@sillyrobot.ca before April 1, 2011. You don’t have to be in Ottawa! Anywhere in Canada works for me.
Tax Season
Bugger. I’m doing business taxes for the first time this year and I am not looking forward to it. I’m a personal finance junkie but this is a whole new frontier for me. If you have any tips, books or tools that you want to share with me and our readers, please leave a comment!
So there we have it. A tiny update. Spring is on its way and that may mean a few tiny changes here and there.. I *may* be introducing an affiliate program for the general public sometime this spring. Send me a note or subscribe to this blog if you want to be notified when that happens!
Aaaannnnddddd… something really, really fun is coming soon too. But I can’t say a word. Not yet!
Read MoreThe Last Blog
I was surfing the web after dinner and happened upon Guy Kawasaki’s blog where he posted an article about people coming up with their “Last Blog” – essentially, what would you write if you could only write one last blog entry? Tough question eh?
I have recently been invited to give a talk at WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) at U of Ottawa. I can talk about anything: my life, my business, my projects, what it’s like to be a woman in a male dominated field. I have some time to think about what I want to say. Mostly, I’m just getting used to the idea of being asked to speak! What on earth could I have to say that would merit such an invitation? Why me?
Why not? We all have life experiences to share – whether it’s through our work, our personal projects or our achievements (and failures!). It’s one of the reasons why I launched the Quirky Personalities promo: to get people to tell their stories.
I wanted to post a video blog this week but I came down with a pretty bad flu. I wanted to talk about how a business should be more than just a way to earn an income – it should be the realization of a dream. Your business should be something you believe in, something you really care about. Sure, some people care about ideas that shouldn’t be converted into business ventures but the market takes care of that problem, in the end. I just couldn’t imagine trying to promote a product or a service that I didn’t believe in at all. If it’s just for money, I lose interest. If I lose interest, so will everyone else.
So, what would be my last blog entry – as a person and as a business owner? What would I talk about? I don’t know yet. Maybe after I’ve prepared my talk for WISE, I’ll have a better idea of what I would say. If I could share one last video with you, it would be this one. Yep, it’s over an hour – make yourself comfortable and watch it.
Trust me, it’s important.
The never-ending quest for better tools!
After months of thinking about it, I finally bought myself an iPad. I had been spending far too many nights sitting in a computer chair, at my day job and then at home. Sitting all the time does not do the body good! I wanted to be able to work but in a more comfortable position. I wanted something lightweight. Since a lot of my time is spent doing research for some of my clients, particularly for new publicity ideas,it made sense to get something smaller than my laptop but powerful enough to do the job.
And now, I’m typing this blog entry with two fingers while listening to classical music on the CBC radio app. I’m super impressed with this thing. Ok so the keyboard is a pain to work with… But other than that, it’s proving to be just the tool I needed!
I have a long trip ahead of me this weekend as I head out for a speaking engagement at Laurentian University in Sudbury. But I’m confident that I’ll be pretty productive during the 7 hour bus rides there and back.
And speaking of tools, I finally purchased a Basic membership for 37 Signal’s project management web app, “Basecamp”. I’m loving that so far, too!
If you’re curious, here’s a list of tools I’ve purchased for this business:
1) iPad
2) Basecamp
3) Freshbooks (invoicing and more)
4) Elegantthemes.com and woothemes.com licenses
Technically, the theme licenses aren’t tools but if I hadn’t invested in them, I’d have to develop custom themes for each client and that would be much more time consuming and much more expensive for the client! Plus, Woo themes and Elegant themes come with built-in admin panels that make them so much easier to administer. If my coding time is diminished by these features, then I can pass on the savings to the end-user AND give her a product that is easier to use in the end. That makes me happy.
Got any tool recommendations for me? I’m still hunting down cool apps to use on my iPad, so feel free to share those with me too!
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