Photos Courtesy of Tim Hopkins

I like seeing results and the greatest results are in the people.

The 50 km/hour Saskatchewan wind changed Tim Hopkins’ plans that day. It made it impossible to work in Kindersley, but Tim took it in stride, driving to different Advantage Group job sites in Saskatoon instead. He stopped to acknowledge one of his employees, an Indigenous woman he refers to as “a massive success story.” His son Michael jumped into the truck. Michael’s been working with Tim since he was nine. Tim describes him as a great foreman and someone who understand people well.

It doesn’t take long to realize Tim is not just building a business but is most passionate about building people. He looks for success in what appears to be inequality and when he doesn’t believe there needs to be inequality. Tim says, “I like seeing results and the greatest results are in the people. All the policy in the world is just policy, unless there are changes in people’s lives for the better.”

From the boots on the ground to speaking nationally, from hunting and trapping to his biology and education degrees, Tim connects people in many ways. In Tim’s words, “I kind of sit on the fence because I’m Metis – I work well with non-Indigenous people and I also work really well with Indigenous people. I get everybody talking to me and people are very comfortable to say what they want and I’m OK to listen.” Tim, a natural storyteller with an easy smile, perhaps takes for granted his ability to connect with all people.  For Tim, it is just who he is.

What was your background before you founded Advantage Group?

I spent most of my young life in Ontario and went to the University of Toronto to study biology. I understood about plants and animals growing up hunting and trapping, but I really had no clue. My father said to me as a young man, “I don’t care what you do with your life. You can dig ditches for all I care, but you’re going to go to university.” That was back in a generation when you just did what you were told. I graduated with biology and education degrees and it really was a game changer. It taught me not to be afraid and to take risks and do whatever I needed to do to be successful and survive.

I could prove the stereotypes wrong and that was absolutely my goal.

What was the motivation to start your business?

Over 15 years ago, I was living up North but moved South to the Prince Albert area. I had always been involved in construction and had been doing contract work in that area. There were several businesses asking me to come work construction with them. There was a shortage of labour and the biggest complaint from companies was that they couldn’t find workers. The language in use in the industry was fairly colourful, with negative stereotypes about employing Indigenous people. That really infuriated me because I grew up hearing and seeing a lot of that negativity. I decided, based on those kinds of comments, to start my own company instead. I could prove the stereotypes wrong and that was absolutely my goal. I look back now and think that’s probably not the best way to do things, but that’s what I did and how I built the business.

How has your business adapted and evolved over the years?

We started as a truck-and-ladder residential roofing business, then moved to commercial roofing and to working with the federal government through the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB). On average, I’m running about nine office people and can have up to 60 staff. Two years ago, my goal was to have our office online, completely virtual. I saw such value because our staff were everywhere. Over the past two years, we’ve turned everything in our office virtual. When covid-19 hit, we didn’t miss a beat. We lost business, but that didn’t have anything to do with our systems.

How do you find talent for your business?

We find and source talent differently than usual. We complain in the city about not having enough labour and yet in the North, there’s untapped labour. You have to know a little bit about how it works and be comfortable with it. Almost every community will have its own Facebook Buy and Sell page and the first thing you do is post there. You tell them a little bit about who you are because people will be inherently more comfortable with other Indigenous people. That is the first bridge to build. If you do not have that, then you call Chief and Council and there’s some protocol, although not formal, but it’s important to make those protocols work.

What is your vision for the future?

It’s to find a place in a really large market and get comfortable with what it is that we want to do. I still believe, number one, it’s to make money. I mean, we’re an entrepreneurial business and we have to make money to survive. We look for opportunities to support our mandate to train and employ Indigenous people. Indigenous people have a lot of talent and many of them have additional obstacles to overcome. That doesn’t mean the talent’s not there. The talent just needs to be nurtured and that’s the opportunity I present.

What’s an example of how you build connections in the communities you work in?

Several years ago, there was a provincial job for Holy Trinity Anglican Church, the oldest building in Saskatchewan, in Stanley Mission. Access is difficult because it is across water. We hired all local people. In the second phase, we removed and re-installed 1,036 pieces of stained glass. Every single piece of stained glass was removed. The ones that needed to be replaced we sourced from Germany, France, and England.

I knew the community and some of the teachers from previously teaching up North. I invited the teachers and students to come across the water to see our work in progress and to see material that was over 200 years old. There was an inaccessible window at the back that hadn’t been touched since the building was put up. I put up scaffolding and ladders and had people coming from the community just to touch that window so they could say they’d done it. The last time work was done on that building was in the 1980s. I had grandchildren of the staff that worked on it in the ’80s, working on it now.

At the end of the job we recommended to the provincial government that it make two murals out of the broken stained glass that we had replaced and give them to the community. It took time but it did happen. That’s what we do. We make connections. It is not just about the construction project. It is so much more than that.

First published in the September 2020 edition of The Business Advisor.

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Rob Phillips, Brent Trombley, and Don Berry were in Calgary for a pre-job interview with a client before being awarded a project. It was 2019, and their business, Commercial Sandblasting & Painting, would be working on two large pieces of equipment in an industrial facility. The months-long project was scheduled to start in May but the client had just informed them of a delay. The work would begin in August. The team looked at each other and realized they were all thinking the same thing – scaffolding would be a problem.

“OK, folks,” Phillips said to capture the client’s attention. “We have not accounted for snow load on the scaffolding. It’s going to cost more than we quoted. Please understand we’ll add 10% to the scaffold price. That’s it. And if you would like to put in place a site-wide scaffolding contract with some other service provider, please take scaffolding out of our scope.”

This was not what the client expected. Most suppliers fight for every dollar on a contract because extras are often a source of high margin. But Phillips and his partners thought differently about the situation. Scaffolding is not their core business.

Relationships are based on trust. And when it comes to working in the industrial sector, relationships are important.

The client looked at Phillips, Trombley, and Berry and said, “You’re the kind of people we want to work with.”

That project went ahead smoothly and was completed two days ahead of schedule. It captures the essence of how Phillips, his partners, and his employees work with people. Relationships are based on trust. And when it comes to working in the industrial sector, relationships are important.

Commercial Sandblasting & Painting does most of its work on equipment in industrial facilities. For example, the company might work with a mine that needs to dissolve potash ore. The fluid used in the process is corrosive; a protective coating can be applied on industrial equipment to prevent wear. That’s where Commercial Sandblasting & Painting has built its specialty. It prepares the substrate (the base layer) of fabricated equipment and applies the appropriate coating. If the company does the job right, the equipment lasts longer than it would if it had a typical coat of paint.

Most of Phillips’ time is spent with Commercial Sandblasting & Painting – he is president of the company. It is the largest of six related businesses with shared ownership. Each business has an important role within the group of companies based on its own specialty. Western Urethane, for example, works primarily with spray polyurethane foam, while Core-Cut Industries specializes in concrete cutting and coring technology.

If you shake a hand, it’s done. To the letter. Whatever you said, it’s done.

Buying in

In 1989, Phillips was a young mechanical engineer working for Kilborn Engineering. He volunteered in the business community and was on a committee organizing a technical event. In a turn of fate, Jim Christie was on that committee. Christie owned Commercial Sandblasting & Painting at the time, and he was impressed with Phillips’ organizational skills and drive. Christie told Phillips, “If you’re ever looking for a job, come and talk to me.”

Phillips’ career continued to progress after his work on the committee. He had a background in electronics and computers and worked in the IT department for the Saskatoon and District Health Board before taking a job at SaskTel. But Phillips had an interest in materials science. He also had a desire for entrepreneurship. He looked around town and considered which company might provide an opportunity for ownership. Phillips ended up with a shortlist of one. Jim Christie had left an impression: he was one of the most honest people Phillips had met and was the type of person Phillips wanted to work with.

“I called Jim up and said that if he ever planned to transition his company outside of his current employees or family, I would be very interested.” The seed was planted.

Nothing happened for some time. The economy moved up and down and other items filled Christie’s agenda. But timing is important, and one day in 1999 Christie called Phillips. As Phillips recalls, “We got together and had an hour-long discussion. We shook hands in front of his office. I went home and confirmed with my wife I was going to resign from SaskTel.”

Building the team

When Phillips started working at Commercial Sandblasting & Painting, the arrangement was that he would commit to one year and decide after that if he would buy into the business. Phillips got to know the company’s 35 employees and talked with senior people in the company. He discussed the opportunity ahead with a small number of employees to see if they wanted to be owners. Phillips was laying the foundation for a strong team.

“We all had different skills,” Phillips remembers. “We all had strengths and weaknesses. Jim had always hinted that not everyone needs to be a golfer or banker, but it is good to have someone on the team that likes to golf. You want a good group of technical people and customer-focused people.”

Phillips and two other employees went to Christie with an offer. By year’s end they closed the deal. The three employees would buy a certain portion of the company in phase one of the arrangement and then another portion in phase two. The plan defined how they would eventually buy Christie out completely. The arrangement worked well for everyone. Two more employees joined the ownership group in subsequent phases of ownership transition. Eventually, the partners completed their purchase of the entire company as planned.

We got together and had an hour-long discussion. We shook hands in front of his office. I went home and confirmed with my wife I was going to resign from SaskTel.

Phillips finds it difficult to discuss these early days of working with his mentor and former business partner because Jim Christie recently passed away. Christie was well respected for his approach to business. You can hear the emotion in Phillips’ voice as he remembers his friend. “Jim would work with good people and stay away from bad people. He believed in partnership. He realized people never forget when someone had not been fair and honest. If something went right, he got paid and if something went wrong, he stood behind it.”

Phillips has adopted many of Christie’s traits. As he describes Christie’s character, the tone of his voice changes. He becomes a bit more forceful, as if to emphasize a point. “The man was always true to his word. If you shake a hand, it’s done. To the letter. Whatever you said, it’s done.”

Growing the business

The new ownership team was young and hungry for growth. One of the groups businesses tripled in size in less than ten years and another quintupled. They did this by staying within their expertise and embracing Christie’s perspective on partnerships.

“We find customers whose operating environment we understand and work with these customers to introduce a solution that solves their problem,” remembers Phillips. “Then we expanded as our customers expanded.” The straightforward description Phillips provides seems simple, but it worked.

The size of operations fluctuates with economic activity. The business group has 110 employees today. Peak employment was 350 people, with group revenue of near $70 million.

Phillips is quick to point out that Commercial Sandblasting & Painting was able to respond to market opportunities because it had a strong team. Each member of the team has a different role. “There are people all over Canada who call our management team members to seek solutions for their corrosion and asset protection challenges.

Always focus on the solution to the problem at hand. Not just finding a solution, but understanding the technology and people involved.

“One day I got a call from a client, and he said, ‘Rob, we’ve done an analysis on a job we need completed and your company keeps coming up. Would you take on the entire project?’ And I said, ‘Yes, sir. I think that’s something we can do. I’ll talk to my partners and I’ll call you back.’” Phillips went to his partners and asked if everyone was interested. It was a huge commitment. It required collaboration between several of their operating companies – roofing, sandblasting, and protective coatings / linings. They decided to go ahead. The team felt they were ready for the challenge.

Phillips’ role has changed over time, with several employees taking on greater responsibility. He used to be heavily involved in operations, dealing directly with 30 people in the business. Commercial Sandblasting & Painting now has four vice-presidents, and Phillips now deals directly with eight people. “I deal with my office manager, vice-presidents, and my partners. And I reserve the right to be able to meet with my site supervisors just to hear how things are going and listen to any concerns or challenges they may have.”

Staying true to who they are

Being able to do what you promise comes down to competence. Phillips and his partners always focus on the solution to the problem at hand. Not just finding a solution, but understanding the technology and people involved.

“We consider our suppliers of liquid systems to be partners. I don’t necessarily want to meet the salesperson or the president of the company. I want to meet the chemist,” Phillips explains. “With a new supplier, I get on a plane. I want to tour their factory. I want to get to know the chemist, know their background and interests, and find out how long they’ve been around. I want to know what they are like to deal with.”

For Phillips, doing business comes down to finding the right people to work with and treating them fairly. The biggest joy in life is meeting people and forging relationships that turn into friendships and relationships of trust. Life is finding partners you can work with.”

Phillips then reflects on advice he received from his mentor. Before Phillips bought into the business, Christie gave him some advice. “Jim said to me, ‘Rob, if you decide to take this on it’s going to be the loneliest thing you ever do.’ And those words are as true as true can be. Who are you going to talk to? Everything is confidential. When there’s trouble, there is no manual or course you can take.”

Despite the difficulties of entrepreneurship, Phillips speaks favourably about his experience. It has been both challenging and rewarding. You can hear his pride when he describes the business he and his partners have built. “Some of our bigger customers come into our business and audit our financials. When they find that there is not one thing off from where it should be, that’s very satisfying.”

When asked what advice he would give an entrepreneur in the early phases of owning a business, Phillips pauses to consider his own career. “Go out and meet people,” he says. “Sometimes it’s going to be uncomfortable but as a businessperson, you’re not allowed to have fear. Get over it.”

First published in the September 2020 edition of The Business Advisor.

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Klassique Designs is the oldest independent women’s fashion boutique in Saskatoon and will celebrate 40 years in business in 2022. At the heart of Klassique Designs is Kajoo Kamal. She is as unforgettable as the exclusive brands she carries in the 2nd Avenue downtown store.

Kamal was born in India but grew up in Major, Saskatchewan. Her father, Gurcharan Kamal, known as Kammy, a teacher, arrived in Canada in 1962. His wife, Harbhajan Kamal, known as Jan, soon joined him with Kajoo, who was almost two years old. Kammy and Jan came to Canada partly for their children’s education, but partly for adventure. Even with little money when he arrived, Kammy’s attitude was, “It’s going to be fine, we’ll figure it out.” Kajoo Kamal has operated her business with the same philosophy. Her passion, intuition, and adaptability have been the right accessories for success.

Kamal’s first job in Saskatoon was at a bohemian clothing store called Sanjusha. She later got a job at Jack Fraser’s Menswear. One quiet evening at work she picked up a copy of Style magazine that listed Canadian clothing manufacturers’ representatives. Her adventure began.

I do not have processes, but I have a great accountant and lawyer and people who help me.

How did Klassique Designs start – what appealed to you about the fashion industry?

On a lark I typed up a letter saying, “I’m thinking about opening a store and I might be interested in looking at your product.” I mustered all the money I had to do 150 photocopies, plus stamps, and sent the letter to all the manufacturers in that magazine. Then nothing.

But one evening, several months later, a man named Owen Grimley called. He said, “My boss, Mr. Warsh, said you sent him a letter and that when I was in Saskatoon to give you a call. Do you want to meet for a drink at the Park Town?” I said, “Sure, of course.” He didn’t know how young I was! I arrive at the Park Town and ordered a scotch, which surprised him – scotch was my dad’s drink. We talked for 45 minutes. He convinced me this is what I should do. I talked to my parents, and it kind of rolled into this.

I love fashion. I worked one whole summer to buy a beautiful dress for $300, which is still a significant amount. I wore that dress endlessly. It taught me the value of high-end clothing. My mother was from a wealthy family in India and liked dressing well, and my dad was also very stylish.

What has changed about doing business in Saskatoon since Klassique opened?

Saskatoon is a big enough city, but still has this wonderful sense of community. I don’t want to sound like an old person and say it was more wonderful before – it’s still wonderful. But I don’t think our young people make connections like we did. Before, a handshake or your word meant everything. I never asked anyone for ID for a cheque and I let people take things and come pay me whenever. My dad always said, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Simply prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I think of young people today starting a business and the difficulties – and the lack of patience people have. They’ll come to a place once and if it isn’t perfect they won’t come back. I opened at a time when, I think, people were more generous and patient.

What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?

I never had a business plan, so how can I give advice? Even to this day, I don’t go shopping for inventory with a budget. I completely fly by the seat of my pants. A good friend, who is an accountant, said, “This should not work for anybody, but somehow clearly it works for you.” I do not have processes, but I have a great accountant and lawyer and people who help me. My grandfather, whose family had lots of businesses, used to say, “Do not go into business unless you’re prepared to lose your shirt.” You have to be prepared to lose everything. There are a lot of circumstances beyond your control.

People need to rethink how they shop. It doesn’t have to be me, but support your local businesses because they contribute to the community.

What impact has online shopping had on your business?

I don’t want to be only an online store, ever. I want the store to remain a special place to go. I recognize the need for an online presence because people have to see before they come in. That’s just the way it’s evolved. However, people need to rethink how they shop. It doesn’t have to be me, but support your local businesses because they contribute to the community. They pay taxes and employ people. They support the non-profit organizations and charities.

How have you built such a loyal clientele?

The majority of my clients come through referrals, or they came in once and had a great experience, and go from needing one dress for an event, to two years later, I’m doing their entire wardrobe, from casual to formal. They’re texting me what they need and it evolves to where they only come in when I ask them to, or I drop a parcel at their house. This business is about building relationships. It’s never one sale. It’s about the experience. I love serving people and helping them get ready for events. I get to be part of milestones like promotions, getting awards, weddings, and convocations.

What’s your biggest challenge in your business?

I started working with a marketing specialist and through interviewing my best clients, he realized the reason clients shop at Klassique is “Kajoo!” The consistent responses were that it’s my knowledge of what looks good on every person and knowing the right look for every event. It’s the personalized service, the attention, and my passion. He told me bluntly, “Here’s the problem: if it’s all about Kajoo then Klassique cannot scale up without you.” That’s good for the ego, but how can I transfer that to Klassique when I retire?

What does the future hold?

I want to work till I’m 70, that will take the store to 50 years, have a big party, and shut it down. I never imagined I would be doing this my whole life – the store opened my second year of university! But just because things didn’t turn out the way you expected doesn’t mean you didn’t succeed. Whatever decisions you make, it’s OK to change your mind. You must believe that when you make decisions, they are based on the parameters of the time. There are no bad decisions. You just do what you think is best.

First published in the June 2020 edition of The Business Advisor.

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Photos Courtesy of Sheldon Dingwall

At the Cher concert in Saskatoon last year, there was a group of unique fans in the audience. Sheldon Dingwall and members of his team were interested primarily in the musicians in Cher’s band and in Chic, the rock group that opened the show. Specifically, they were focused on the bass players, Ashley Reeve and Jerry Barnes. They were playing instruments that only the day before had been hanging in Dingwall’s workshop.

It was an evening Dingwall will never forget, “hearing all those famous hits that I had heard as a kid, being played using our instruments.” The anecdote behind how this all happened illustrates how Dingwall’s reputation and his business have grown over the past three decades.

Our product requires a very narrow band of skill sets and a particular psychological profile. It’s been very difficult to find the right employees and then delegate to them. When I have been able to do it successfully, the people have been far better at their job than I ever was.

“Reeve and Barnes had some time on their hands when they were in town for the concert,” explains Dingwall, “so they decided to drop into a local music store to look at instruments. They spotted our bass guitars on display and tried them out. It was either Reeve or Barnes who commented that they had heard about Dingwall bass guitars from other musicians. ‘Well,’ said the salesperson, ‘if you want to meet the guy who makes them, his shop is just a couple of blocks away from here.’” The two bassists, renowned among aspiring rock bass players, spent the next six hours at the shop, playing Dingwall’s instruments and eventually deciding on their two favourite bass guitars. Fortunately, the two instruments had not been spoken for, so Dingwall was able to let Reeve and Barnes have them.

The ultimate instrument

Dingwall’s business model is as old as the adage, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” It’s the advice restaurant manager Brad Laidlaw gave him when Dingwall, an employee at the time, asked him about marketing: “Just concentrate on building a good product,” responded Laidlaw, “and people will find you.”

Himself a musician, Dingwall “started from zero” as a guitar craftsman. To supplement his income in the late 1980s, he began repairing instruments in the basement of HEL Music in Saskatoon, using the skills his uncle had taught him. His reputation quickly grew; his shop began receiving instruments for repair from as far away as Texas, Newfoundland, and Alaska. That left little time for Dingwall’s passion for building his own prototype guitars, but fortunately he persisted with his dream. Again, word spread. After a while, it wasn’t just guitarists who began to take notice, but also bass guitarists. They started calling Dingwall, asking him if he could try his hand at improving their instrument. It was a challenge Dingwall embraced.

“I developed a prototype bass in 1993, and that’s when things really took off on the manufacturing side,” recalls Dingwall. He moved into a new, larger space and hired three employees. Driven by his desire to impress his new customers, he would often wake up in the middle of the night with ideas to produce the ultimate bass guitar. “Entrepreneurs are motivated by challenges,” he explains.

It doesn’t matter how much traffic a store generates; if we don’t have a brand fan selling our instruments, they sit on the rack.

Oddly enough, his main inspiration came from playing piano. On a piano, each key has its own string; the longer the string, the lower the note. That explains the shape of a grand piano. On a traditional bass guitar, however, all the strings are the same length, which causes inconsistencies in tonal quality. The solution to this problem is Dingwall’s signature “fanned fret” design, which uses different string lengths. The concept is not new, and can be seen on rare stringed instruments from as far back as the Renaissance, with the most recent versions now being developed by luthier Rob Novak. In his quest, Dingwall met with Novak, and the two agreed that Novak would concentrate on guitars and Dingwall could focus on bass instruments. The use of fanned frets solved a common problem plaguing five-string basses at the time.

Dingwall bass guitars are a radical departure from the norm. At the time he developed his first bass prototypes, and even to this day, most bass guitars have strings of equal length and standard spacing of the frets on the neck of the guitar. These typical basses are modelled primarily after those built by Fender, which never patented its design. Thus, it became standard practice for anyone who wanted to build their own version of a bass guitar to simply purchase various parts of the instrument, including Fender imitations, and assemble them for the market. Walk into any music store, and you will see that most, if not all, bass guitars are the standard version, with entry-level models costing around $500. In contrast, it’s not hard to spot a Dingwall bass with its distinctive features – along with a price tag starting around $3,000.

“Our bass guitars are never the first instrument a musician buys,” says Dingwall. “It’s more likely their fifth or sixth guitar.” Thus, when he started developing his prototypes, Dingwall knew he was appealing to a very narrow market. It didn’t matter. His customers were serious musicians who could appreciate what Dingwall was doing, and that was all the motivation he needed.

We’re now more mainstream than we’ve ever been, and it’s motivating us even more to stay ahead of the curve.

His business continued to grow, with customers from across Canada, until a major fire in 1996 that “destroyed almost everything, including all my drawings. I was back to zero again.” Fortunately, Dingwall was able to salvage some of his instruments and reverse-engineer them to recapture his technical specifications. That process took roughly a year; it wasn’t until early 1998 that Dingwall was again fully operational.

Since then, the business has grown steadily. Today, Dingwall has 15 employees at his Saskatoon shop and dealers in 18 countries. Dingwall’s customer focus and pursuit of perfection, though, have not changed, with growth viewed as a secondary outcome rather than a principal goal.

Growth without compromise

A major reason for slow but steady growth is Dingwall’s devotion to perfection. He would rather build the single finest guitar in the world than a million knock-offs. Finding the right employees to achieve that quality has always been a challenge. “We’re trying to build perfect instruments with imperfect materials and human limitations,” Dingwall explains. “Our product requires a very narrow band of skill sets and a particular psychological profile. It’s been very difficult to find the right employees and then delegate to them. When I have been able to do it successfully, the people have been far better at their job than I ever was.”

Finding the right dealers is also a challenge, and has taken Dingwall throughout the world. He’s learned that the secret is to find what he calls “brand fans” – those who understand his innovations and have high praise for his instruments. “It doesn’t matter how much traffic a store generates; if we don’t have a brand fan selling our instruments, they sit on the rack,” says Dingwall. He points out that his second highest dealership sales in the United States come from “a tiny store in rural Missouri.” His highest volume dealer worldwide is another small store, in Warwick, England.

Converting bass guitar enthusiasts into Dingwall disciples has also proven far more effective than trying to get his instruments into the hands of celebrity musicians. “When I first started, I would go to every single concert I could, spending as much as four or five hours backstage talking to the bass players. I think I might have sold one guitar that way,” says Dingwall. He is convinced, too, that the higher the price of your product, the less influence a big name will have on generating sales. That is not to say there are no opinion leaders in the music scene playing Dingwall’s instruments – there are, to the point where he has hired an artist relations manager in the US.

Figure out your weaknesses and address rather than ignore them. You don’t need to keep banging your head against the wall. There are solutions out there.

Dingwall’s biggest marketing success, by far, has come from the internet. While being able to display the instrument globally is important, what is of most value to Dingwall is the ability to connect directly with his customers and the global community of bass guitar players. He points to the UK market to illustrate. “In the ’80s and ’90s, we tried to break into the UK market but were unsuccessful. Then, in 2008, I was able to join the online UK bass forums. To my amazement, I discovered that people still hadn’t heard of us, and those who did recognize us thought we were some kind of joke or flash-in-the-pan. I decided to go online every day and search for our name so that I could respond individually to our detractors. I would calmly explain why we do what we do, countering their emotions with a rational response. After doing that for about six months, I turned the negativity around, and the UK quickly became one of our biggest markets.”

The internet has also made the location of Dingwall’s manufacturing even more irrelevant. In fact, being in Saskatoon has always been advantageous, according to Dingwall. “If I had tried to start manufacturing guitars in a major centre like Toronto or New York, I never could have afforded it. In Saskatoon, wages and rent were feasible, especially back in the ’90s. In fact, I don’t even think I could make it now in Saskatoon if I were just starting out, because of the rent I’d have to pay.”

With the advantages of the internet also come new challenges. Growth is still driven largely by word of mouth within a select community of musicians, but Dingwall’s reputation is now spreading much more rapidly, on a global scale. Knowledge and appreciation of multi-scale stringed instruments (i.e., those with different string lengths) is also growing. “The market is coming to the belief that multi-scale instruments are the way to go. We’re now more mainstream than we’ve ever been, and it’s motivating us even more to stay ahead of the curve.”

With new demands, Dingwall admits it’s become harder to manage his business. In response, he continues to follow the advice he would give to entrepreneurs just staring out: “Figure out your weaknesses and address rather than ignore them. You don’t need to keep banging your head against the wall. There are solutions out there.”

A deep connection

Successful innovators like Dingwall, though, do not achieve growth just through what they do or how they do it. It’s the “why” behind what they do. Of all the memories he has of his more than 30 years in business, Dingwall is moved most by the memory of two of his customers who were terminally ill and wanted to own and play a Dingwall bass guitar before they passed away. “To connect that deeply with our customers through the instruments we make is what matters most. I like to think of ourselves as being a link in the chain of giving something back to the world.”

First published in the June 2020 edition of The Business Advisor.

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“Entrepreneurship is very exciting and nerve-wracking. There are dark days and fantastic days!” says Mike Wesolowski.

As a kid, Mike Wesolowski imagined a future for himself as somewhat of a “mad professor,” perhaps with the signature Einstein hair. Fast forward a couple of decades and he’s a version of that, designing innovative medical technology that’s already transforming the future.

Wesolowski was a science and tech guy almost from day one. His physician father and teacher mother encouraged scientific exploration and indulged his crazy ideas – like trying to build a hover-board for a science fair or conjuring ways to harvest more energy from the sun and direct it to Earth.

Being exposed to diverse perspectives while growing up in Newfoundland gave him an expanded worldview. Higher education loomed large in the Wesolowski family and Mike eventually earned a PhD in physics from the University of Waterloo. There he learned from the likes of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Donna Strickland and pursued research in nanotechnology with his supervisor Dr. Walter Duley.   For his thesis work he used one of the highest intensity lasers in the world to blast materials and use the resulting plasma to create new nanomaterials.

It was only after completing his academic track that Wesolowski remembered the other part of his imagined future – the desire to start his own research company. “I wanted to start the next GE or Bell Labs,” he says.

TERMINOLOGY

Immersive technology:  Technology that aims to digitally emulate the physical world and stimulate a user’s senses to create the perception of immersion. Most commonly, this is done with a headset.

Virtual reality (VR): A fully digital environment with perceptually real optical and auditory sensations, usually experienced through a headset. The environment is interactive and could be based on real life or completely fabricated. Simply put, the headset fools the eyes into seeing things as if immersed in a space.

360 Video: Technology that captures the entire scene around the camera and produces real footage, not simulations. 360 Video can feel immersive when played back via a VR headset and is a great experiential learning tool. While VR is more interactive, 360 Video is more observational.

Luxsonic: The name comes from two Latin words, lux (light) and sonus (sound). Medical images are formed using either light or sound. Light and sound are the core of all radiology imaging technology.

Sievert: A unit of measurement for radiation (thus SieVRt is an inside joke for radiologists and the software’s creators).

Pioneering medical imaging

Enter Luxsonic. Wesolowski and a colleague launched Luxsonic Technologies Inc. in 2014 while Wesolowski was finishing a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Paul Babyn at Royal University Hospital. Luxsonic is a leading developer of immersive medical imaging technology. Operating out of Innovation Place, a research park adjacent to the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), the company creates products and services designed to improve medical education and training as well as healthcare delivery.

The company’s first project aimed at helping radiologists with their workflow. “Basically, radiologists sit in front of three computer monitors and look at medical images all day. We thought we could create a more mobile workflow for them so they could work when they’re at home, on the road, or at conferences,” CEO Wesolowski explains.

Luxsonic entered a tech venture challenge through the U of S’s Industrial Liaison Office (now Innovation Enterprise). For the challenge, Luxsonic developed a prototype for a dual-screen foldable monitor that would enable users to “stash and dash.” When attached to a laptop computer, it would replicate radiologists’ ideal workflow. Luxsonic formulated a business plan but hit a roadblock when it started engaging with manufacturing partners. “We realized that hardware was hard, expensive, and not really something you could do off the side of your desk,” Wesolowski recalls.

The new VR frontier

Luxsonic temporarily shelved the idea. Then in 2016, the new crop of virtual reality (VR) headsets was released and Wesolowski realized Luxsonic could provide that mobile workflow for radiologists with VR and let somebody else do the hardware. Luxsonic engaged with a U of S computer science class which allows students to work with a company to solve a problem and help it develop something. “We moved forward with a very basic prototype for the software and the students did a great job of building that. We used that as a launching point,” Wesolowski says. Funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), which supports technological innovation, allowed Luxsonic to hire some of the students from that project, one of whom is still with the company today.

Now, as an adjunct professor of medical imaging at the U of S, Wesolowski has a front-row seat to developments and new processes in healthcare. To develop SieVRt, its VR radiology imaging suite, Luxsonic engaged in a lot of customer validation, including several sit-down sessions with radiologists to observe their workflow. The feedback took the original software through several iterations.

That sense of collaboration has continued even after SieVRt’s 2019 launch. “You want to have those key opinion leaders on side, so even after you build your minimum viable product, they’ll be the strongest supporters of you and of your product. If they feel invested in the process, they will naturally want you to be successful and help you launch your product,” says Wesolowski.

Being able to make a difference using this kind of technology is what really excites me. I want to change the world for the better and this is the way it seems I’m able to do that

The business frontier

Early on, Wesolowski wanted to prove to himself that he could build a medical technology company that was self sustaining. He wanted to generate revenue, but he’s a physicist. He had never been an entrepreneur or gone to business school. In 2017, as they were building SieVRt, Luxsonic began offering contract services for clients that were interested in immersive technology, like augmented reality (AR) or VR. If a health authority or medical institution wanted to implement VR, Wesolowski would consult with them and help them develop a strategy for technology integration. If an organization was interested in creating content, Luxsonic would produce 360 Degree Video  for them. Luxsonic also began providing full VR software development for its customers.

The bonus from doing contract work is that Luxsonic has its finger directly on the pulse of their customer’s interest in the applications of immersive technologies. It also gives them a great sense of what customers are willing to pay for, which can help drive further product development. “Basically, we’ve self-funded and bootstrapped the company and we’ve been fairly successful so far,” Wesolowski notes.

Early projects producing 360 Degree Video led to a recent opportunity to create an immersive pediatric MRI simulator for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). The goal was to reduce children’s anxiety before they go into the MRI machine – a lower anxiety can lead to improvement in scan quality and may even reduce the number of canceled scans.

Luxsonic developed that pediatric MRI simulator with the SHA over the past year, and it was put into service clinically in September 2019 at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital for its MRI Ready program. “We’ve been seeing pediatric patients go through the MRI with less anxiety and without the need for sedation. That’s a huge win!” says Wesolowski.

I think the biggest mistakes I made were chasing ideas without really validating them with customers.

From hospital rooms to deep space, it’s about relationships

Several other emerging Luxsonic technologies are geared to improving patient experience. A new project in palliative care being developed with academic collaborators could help patients briefly “escape” the Palliative Care Unit by virtually transporting them elsewhere. Another project, with Dr. Susan Tupper, a pain consultant with the SHA, will help family members of dementia patients identify pain in their loved ones using immersive VR to teach and train caregivers.

In 2019, Luxsonic landed a contract with the Canadian Space Agency to develop a concept for medical training on deep space missions. The program will help astronauts refresh their skills while they’re travelling into the cosmos. The project is currently expanding into product development. “It’s another interesting way we can develop customer-centred products by working with our contract customers, to develop something they can use, and we can then co-monetize,” explains Wesolowski.

Taking an idea from concept to product is no mean feat. Wesolowski credits his success in part to building relationships. “For some reason, I seem to have a good ability to form relationships with people and I’m pretty enthusiastic about what we’re doing as a company, so that seems to resonate with people.” He has a genuine interest in the work people are doing and is up front with them about how Luxsonic can potentially help with their processes. He’s been able to grow his network across the world and to form relationships and collaborate with academic institutions, large corporations (including major MedTech companies like Siemens and GE), and lots of clients. “We’re starting research collaborations with some of the biggest medical research institutes in the world, like McMaster, Harvard, and the Cleveland Clinic.”

Wesolowski finds that entrepreneurship is a learning process that includes making little mistakes on most days and absorbing the lessons. “Early on in my career, I was still trying to figure out this whole entrepreneurship gig. I think the biggest mistakes I made were chasing ideas without really validating them with customers,” he says. He learned to keep the company’s focus on areas where it had expertise and to ensure the ideas Luxsonic pursued would solve a real customer problem.

Currently, Wesolowski’s biggest challenge is trying not to take on too much personally in the business. In some respects, as a small startup, everybody at Luxsonic has to do everything. “Focusing on the bigger challenges for a CEO can be a struggle sometimes when I’m dealing with day-to-day problems.” He’s looking into equity financing, which would allow him to bring in more people to manage routine business matters so he can focus on higher-level strategic planning, raising money, hiring the best people, and moving the company forward. Wesolowski says the firm has a pretty good system for hiring tech staff and product developers. The talent pool in the tech field can be fairly small in Saskatchewan, but when the company puts out a call, people apply from all over the world, including South America, the US, and India. Growth is anticipated and Wesolowski ponders how to scale a company up from 10 people to 100 or even 1,000 people.

 A related challenge is carving out time for family and personal wellbeing. At home, he has a wife, two kids, a cat, and some fish. “It’s a balancing act to have a good family life and regularly take care of physical and mental health while averting crises at 3:00 am.”

Leadership is not one-size-fits-all. I think the key for any leader – not that I’m an expert – is to quickly be able to identify the needs of people you work with and understand how to support those needs.

Building trust through transparency

Wesolowski’s management style is fairly transparent. “Everyone on the team knows everything about the business.” He finds that transparency builds trust and increases staff buy-in. It helps people feel they are part of something and that they have impact. “Leadership is not one-size-fits-all. I think the key for any leader – not that I’m an expert – is to quickly be able to identify the needs of people you work with and understand how to support those needs.”

In the broader tech universe, Wesolowski admires aspects of the work of Elon Musk and Bill Gates for the ways they are using technology to shape the world. But as an academic and a physicist, his greatest admiration is reserved for inventors. Earlier examples include Archimedes, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, and Marie Curie. He also greatly admires John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain, who created the first working transistor in the 1940s. “The transistor is the fundamental piece that makes all our modern electronics work. It completely changed the world,” says Wesolowski.

Luxsonic has benefited from being in Saskatchewan. The first trial of SieVRt in a hospital setting, is being supported by Innovation SK and its Made in Saskatchewan Technology (MIST) program, as well as by the SHA. The company recently completed the world’s first international medical diagnosis, accomplished by two physicians separated by a continent but sharing the same virtual environment. No doubt healthcare in remote areas of Saskatchewan will soon benefit from this use of VR.

Wesolowski first tried VR back in the early 90s at the base of the CN Tower in Toronto. It left a lasting impression and he was hooked. “Being able to make a difference using this kind of technology is what really excites me. I want to change the world for the better and this is the way it seems I’m able to do that,” he says.

First published in the March 2020 edition of The Business Advisor.

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The Prairie Lily has graced the shores of the South Saskatchewan River for the past seven years and has become an icon in the City of Bridges. But how does a ship named the Fiesta Queen, plying the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada, find its home in Saskatoon? Who knew there was another steamship, the Lily, that went up and down this river in the 1800s, unknowingly foretelling the modern day Prairie Lily?

The story of The Prairie Lily began between Mike and Joan Steckhan and previous Saskatoon boat operators Peter and Val Kingsmill. Mike Steckhan was in the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve, and 2010 was the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy. Planning for celebrations had begun and the Navy wanted something high profile and on the water. Steckhan approached Peter Kingsmill – he owned the Saskatoon Princess and the Meewasin Queen, small tour boats. Peter’s grandfather was Admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill, the first director of the Canadian Naval Service.

The 100^th Anniversary celebrations were a success and Steckhan and Kingsmill continued to build their relationship. They helped each other, and Steckhan helped fix Kingsmill’s boats. When Kingsmill was getting ready to retire, the question would have been, who could afford to buy a large brand-new tour boat and was crazy enough to do so? The successor was obvious, and soon “Captain Mike” and “Purser Joan” were shopping for and eventually purchased the Lily and brought her to the South Saskatchewan River.

It doesn’t matter what business you have, you’re always subject to economic swings.

Mike, after 27 years in the Canadian Naval Reserve, was it a big transition to owning The Prairie Lily?

I always had a sole proprietorship as a backyard mechanic. Also, we own an on-water industrial and marine technology company called Inland Marine Technologies (IMT), so it wasn’t a big leap to buy The Prairie Lily. IMT provides support services to The Prairie Lily because there is no dockyard in Saskatoon that can provide the needed services. Most importantly, IMT’s ability to produce 3D sonar images of the riverbed ensures The Prairie Lily has a navigable channel to cruise in – important to the safety of our passengers, crew, and ship. Another simple example is that an IMT barge is pushed up against the side of The Prairie Lily for the winter. We have a lot fewer worries about the ship getting away in the wintertime and I can sleep at night. It’s a big industrial piece of equipment but in the off season, it’s certainly handy here. These little things save us money. Our staff on the operations side of the river cruises is cross-trained for the industrial technology work.

Anything strategic, we do together. Working together has become part of our lifestyle. You don’t leave work, which has its own drawbacks, and there is no such thing as work-life balance.

Joan, was this always part of the plan to work alongside Mike?

Originally, I am from the Yukon and have a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan, which originally brought me here. I am also a CPA and spent 20 years running not-for-profits, including 12 years with the Kinsmen Foundation. Originally, we thought I could continue as executive director of the Kinsmen Foundation and take care of the financials of our business. As things changed, I took on a larger role here and simply couldn’t do both. It was difficult for me to leave the Kinsmen Foundation because the work was meaningful.

So how does it work as a couple in business?

Mike says, “The beauty is we each have our individual talents and as a couple, we have both sets of talents in use. There’s the business part, which Joan runs. Then there’s the on-water part, the ship and marine technology, which is my end. We’re not interfering with each other.”

“No, I will never change the oil,” says Joan.

Mike replies, “I’ll never poke at her programs. Anything strategic, we do together. Working together has become part of our lifestyle. You don’t leave work, which has its own drawbacks, and there is no such thing as work-life balance.”

Joan replies, “I really enjoy Mike’s company and we spend a lot of time together. We have our own little worlds, but it works for us. We can wallpaper together too.”

Mike, thinking about the viability of a riverboat on the Prairies, did you feel this was a risky venture?

Right from the start, it was Joan who did the business analysis and plan. I just had a hunch that we would be fine. I just look at a ship and know whether it’s the right ship for the environment it’s in, whether the machinery is good; can I get it here and make it work?

The Prairie Lily has done well and on par with expectations. It doesn’t matter what business you have, you’re always subject to economic swings. When we bought this ship, the economy was pretty good. What if it all goes south? We rely on income that people spend and that’s a competitive market. We’ve found from an economic perspective, when things are good, we have done well. But if money is tight, rather than the Caribbean cruise, Saskatonians have a staycation, which includes The Prairie Lily. It appears we do well either way because we’ve had consistent growth and been able to adapt to the market.

Other than buying the ship, what business decision had the biggest impact on where you are today?

Before we even bought the ship, we discussed what the intent was going to be. We had looked at a couple of boats in Winnipeg, and when we met the owner all he could talk about was how much money the party boats make doing booze cruises. We decided we were not going there. We are a cruise boat that serves meals. The baseline of a party boat means you can make a lot of money in a short time.

Our decision was strategic. You might not make money quickly, but you’ve got longevity and that’s the core of the business plan. When you’re the only riverboat option in the community and 90% of your customers are from Saskatoon, you live and die fast. Saskatoon is a word-of-mouth town and if you have a nice product, you win. But the reverse is also true. You screw up once and you’re finished.

What keeps you going?

Customers are already happy to join us, so you start on the right foot. It’s about an experience, and the river valley is so beautiful. We get to do what we want to do and make money doing it, and we have the ability to share something that people can’t otherwise engage in. One of the most common comments we get is that the city looks so different from the river. Until you are on the ship, you don’t believe it.

The experience on the boat means something different to everyone. There’s one fellow, over the last couple of years, that I would see every Friday for the 4 o’clock cruise. He would get a pint of cold beer and lean on the rail on the port bow for the whole cruise. He’s a small business owner of a software company with a lot of stress, and he says, “It’s the only way I can get away.” So, every Friday he comes for a beer in the boat to just relax. It’s the only way to get away in the middle of the city.

First published in the March 2020 edition of The Business Advisor.

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By Andrea Hansen

Chelsea Stebner grew up around cars, going on Sunday drives with her family, cruising car lots, and playing “name that car.” Her dad was an automotive mechanic and was always fixing a vehicle, snowmobile, snow blower, or boat to help someone. However, it was by accident that Stebner entered the auto body industry. Today, she is one of five partners and the Managing Partner at Parr Auto Body, which was established in Saskatoon in 1952. She didn’t join the industry on purpose, but Stebner discovered that people who are passionate about cars are passionate people. It was the people in the industry – people like her dad – that convinced her the industry was where she wanted to grow. Cars were just the catalyst.

TELL US HOW YOU ACCIDENTALLY ENDED UP IN THE AUTO BODY INDUSTRY

I completed a business administration diploma and was cold calling businesses for a work placement. I happened to get referred to an auto body shop and that’s where I met Tom Bissonnette. The employee at the front desk of the collision centre had quit that day. Tom wasn’t interested in the work placement and he gave me a job on the spot. He was an awesome and crazy first boss. He trusted me just to handle things and I got thrown into the fire. Fast forward years later and I joined Tom when he bought Parr Auto Body.

HOW DID TOM MENTOR YOU IN THE INDUSTRY?

Tom is a great mentor and provided many opportunities for me to learn and understand the business. He was the guy that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I can remember the first time he came to the shop and told me, “By the way, it’s my turn to speak at my club meeting and I told them that you are going to come do it.” I went home that night and was so mad at him. He always said, “You’re always an expert when you’re talking about what you know and what you do every day.” He gave me no choice. From there, came more opportunities. He started bringing me to events and I started to understand what was going on in the industry across Canada and making connections. Seeing the impact he had on me, there was something in the back of my mind hoping I could have the same impact on others.

When you’re working with partners, you have to give up some control.

WHAT WAS THE BIG PICTURE FOR YOU?

The bigger picture was the impact I could see having on the people in our industry, our team, and our customers. People are passionate about cars, but it’s bigger than the car itself. It’s interesting to find people who are passionate about something. For example, Nicole is a young apprentice on our team and she originally applied for a receptionist job. When I asked her why she wanted to work at an auto body shop, she said, “Actually, I really want to work on cars.” My reply was, “How about we hire you to work on cars?” And we did. I am so excited about Nicole’s future. She drives a race car out at Wyant Group Raceway. She
raises money for pediatric cancer research. She’s won Gold in Skills Saskatchewan and Silver in Skills Canada, which is like the Olympics of our trade.

WHEN EVERY JOB IS CUSTOM, HOW DO YOU CREATE EFFICIENCIES?

We have to react to every custom job. It’s becoming more of a challenge with technology changing every month, so we are continually refining our process. Traditionally a technician would get a job and they would disassemble, repair, paint, and then reassemble the car, which meant one technician on one vehicle. We just have a different way of doing the job. Is it more efficient? Not necessarily yet. We have one person who takes the cars apart, one person that does repairs, one that paints all the cars, and one that reassembles. We are trying to figure out the process that works best.

HOW WAS YOUR TEAM BUILT AT PARR AUTO BODY?

The team members are very dependent on each other because more people are touching each vehicle. Ideally, we touch cars more, we earn more dollars. Traditionally in our industry, technicians make a flat rate wage, meaning they earn whatever hours are on that job. For example, there’s 10 hours on a job and that technician gets paid 10 hours whether it takes him or her 4 or 12 hours. There’s lots of good things about that method, but it doesn’t create teamwork. Tom recognized years ago that we needed to start training more young people. When he initially made that shift, he brought somebody on that had lots of experience to mentor a younger team. Those younger team members are now my business partners and they all grew up at Parr as apprentices. We now work as a straight time shop. Maybe it’s not as efficient, but we’re working as a team. That’s our priority and how we continue to build and develop our current team.

We want our team to have a vested interest and take pride in their work to make sure it’s done right.

WHAT IS THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP?

Partnerships are hard. When you’re working with partners, you have to give up some control and I like control. We were a typical small business; nobody had any defined roles. You generally knew what you were supposed to do, but we did that major buyout with Tom and just kept doing what we had been doing. We didn’t have a clear leader. Tom always said, “Chelsea just lead.” That’s awkward when there’s other shareholders and not that easy to make it all come together. We needed defined roles and an organizational chart, and we were almost two years into our partnership when we finally put that together. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to define roles and the structure of the organization ahead of time as part of your succession planning.

WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON HOW YOU MANAGE THE BUSINESS?

We have open book management, which is transparency in our numbers with our team. When Tom first asked us to buy in, we went to Springfield, Missouri, and trained on the Great Game of Business based on a book by Jack Stack. It was part of Tom’s succession plan. When Tom switched from a flat rate shop to build young technicians, he knew it would result in a reduced net profit because you’re teaching people and it costs the business more. We went back to the drawing board to look at how we could have our team take ownership in the business. We opened the books and created this system where the business needed to earn a threshold of profit and we would share profits beyond with our team. We talk about numbers every week and the cost of running the business, including our donation, advertising, and promotion budgets. Employees might think business owners are rolling in dough, but it’s our skin in the game. If something goes wrong, that’s on us. We want our team to have a vested interest and take pride in their work to make sure it’s done right. They understand the impact on the bottom line and on the dollars going into their jeans too.

First published in the December 2019 edition of The Business Advisor.

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Perry Foster talks about his career as a series of interactions with people. He places great value on trust earned through a long-term working relationship. People are measured by the motivations behind their actions. It’s a perspective that has been present throughout his business career but was shaped early in his life by childhood experiences.

THE EARLY YEARS

A. P. Foster was born in Moose Jaw in 1930. Foster remembers his older siblings encouraging him to help others. “We didn’t have luxuries such as a gas furnace or a rototiller. There was a lot of work to do. I remember my older brother suggesting I help my mother with some household chores. We were always working, always contributing to the family.”

Foster’s mother was educated as a registered nurse and encouraged him to attend university. She had a strong influence on his values. “I remember once when I was telling my mother about something a friend did, but I was really trying to find out if she disapproved of this friend’s behaviour. Of course, she was smarter than I thought. She knew what I was doing. She said, ‘Perry, if you were to do a thing like that I’d have a hard time being proud of you.’”

The influence of Foster’s father in his life is captured in an appreciation for common sense and hard work. “My dad worked for the railroad in the North-West Territories during his 20s. One of the towns he visited had a new library. He introduced himself to the librarian and asked if she could teach him to read. She said yes, and after that he’d ask for help at every library he’d visit. It wasn’t easy, but he learned to read and became a well-educated man. These were pioneering times in the 1800s. He had to make do and take care of himself.”

Perry Foster completed his Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) at the University of Saskatchewan in 1952. He worked in Alberta and British Columbia from 1952 to 1957. He worked for a consulting firm and for the City of Calgary, gaining experience on an impressive list of complex construction projects, including the only concrete high-rise building in Edmonton. Some had doubted the structure could support the weight of the concrete, but the building was a success.

Foster recalls being in a meeting related to a major construction project. Financial issues were being discussed, and he felt he was listening to a foreign language. He quit his job in 1957 and enrolled in the prestigious Master of Business Administration program at the University of Western Ontario.

Foster met his future wife, Eileen Kearney, in 1957 while in Ontario. They were married in July 1959. Foster completed his MBA that same year and took a job in Saskatoon managing the construction division of a local firm, Westcon Engineering and Contracting. The company had a good reputation and was expanding into Regina, Calgary, and Edmonton. But the fact was, it was bankrupt. In December 1959, Foster was unemployed.

Foster did not have the funds – he had only $300 cash to use as working capital. But he had worked hard to build strong relationships with suppliers and customers in the business community. He had a creative idea for how he might finance the business.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Foster considered career options. He had more contacts in Alberta, but he and his wife both felt Saskatoon was growing on them as a place to work and raise a family.

Westcon’s former owner agreed to a meeting. Foster asked if he had plans to continue with his construction company. The answer was no, and he encouraged Foster to start his own business.

Foster did not have the funds because of the cost of his recently earned degree – he had only $300 cash to use as working capital. But he had worked hard to build strong relationships with suppliers and customers in the business community. He had a creative idea for how he might finance the business.

“I’m thinking of starting a business,” Foster told Roger McCaig, owner of Redi-Mix Concrete, “but I don’t have any money. You can be my exclusive supplier of concrete, but I need 60-day terms and a competitive price.” There was some familiarity between them, but Foster’s offer was attractive for a different reason. Redi-Mix was not getting its fair share of business from homebuilders in Saskatoon. Foster was offering an open door to that market. McCaig agreed.

The next stop was the Imperial Bank (now the Canadian Imperial Bank of Foster did not have the funds – he had only $300 cash to use as working capital. But he had worked hard to build strong relationships with suppliers and customers in the business community. He had a creative idea for how he might finance the business. Commerce), where Foster asked for a $6,000 line of credit. “I won’t give this company a cent,” said the bank manager. “I will, however, give you a $3,000 personal line of credit. You won’t have any problem paying that back with your education.”

Foster immediately went to see Al Meyers, owner of Meyers Construction and a former Westcon customer. Meyers was a retired Airforce group captain with a reputation for being someone you could trust. Foster described his financial arrangement with McCaig at Redi-Mix and asked Meyers for his business. “I said, ‘I need to get paid in 20 days. I’m a dead duck if I don’t get paid and that’s not good for you or for me.’” The concept was simple: Foster would prepare a home’s foundation for Meyers Construction, and Redi-Mix would supply the concrete. Meyers would pay Foster within 20 days. Foster would then have 40 days with the cash in his bank account before having to pay Redi-Mix. This creative arrangement took the place of traditional working capital. Meyers had listened carefully to the plan and agreed.

Meyers and Redi-Mix’s McCaig were comfortable with the deal. In fact, when Foster was walking out of Meyers’ office, Meyers called out, “Perry, if you can’t make payroll and I owe you money, you come see me personally.” There was respect between the men, and Foster had a lot to live up to.

Five years later, Foster had accumulated a reasonable amount of capital and was approached to purchase a concrete products company based in Saskatoon, Weldon’s Concrete. Weldon’s grew in value and Foster decided to sell the business in 1975 for cash.

Foster was looking for another business to buy. He had instructed his accountant to prepare his statement of net worth. He provided the document to a few bankers in Saskatoon. “I realized they would know of people interested in selling their businesses. I encouraged the banks to put the two of us together.”

In 1976, a representative from Western Economic Development Bank called with the opportunity to buy Industrial Machine and Manufacturing, a 20-year-old manufacturing business. Foster bought it.

AN UPHILL BATTLE

Industrial Machine and Manufacturing – known as IMM – was the largest machine shop of its kind in the province. It had 25 employees and could put 200 hours a day on a project. The former owner of IMM was a machinist by trade. He was smart, adventurous, and had confidence. IMM supplied many of the potash mines and other light industrial clients in the province.

Foster loved many things about the company but recognized he did not know anything about the metalworking business. “That’s fine,” the former owner told him, “I’m here for advising and consulting if you need me.” Foster paid cash for the business, signing a 10-year lease to operate from the existing 20,000 square foot manufacturing facility.

The situation did not unfold as Foster expected. IMM’s former owner, who was also IMM’s landlord, had set up a competing business in the same building that IMM was operating from. Foster had to figure out how to run the business on his own. He worked no less than 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The business did well over the first several years despite Foster having to navigate a difficult competitive environment. “You’d occasionally see some dirty tricks,” says Foster. “One competitor phoned a customer we had won a job with and said they didn’t have the capacity to take on the project, but if they did, they’d be able to do it for a much lower price.” That business could not have delivered on the lower price. The only purpose of the call was to weaken the relationship between IMM and the customer.

It was a difficult time to run a business that served the potash industry. “At one time, the mines in Saskatchewan were shut down for just over 26 weeks,” remembers Goster. “In the early 1980s, we were serving the potash and power generation industries but not doing much for uranium or anything else. I was scrambling and tried to find work for IMM elsewhere. I was complaining to someone at an engineering firm that it was tough on us. He set me straight: ‘Don’t complain. A lot of guys are going broke. At least you can pay your bills.’ I realized we were doing much better than most. Sure, it was tough, but usually you win because you just don’t quit.’”

Foster has tenacity, but he also has skill in operations. When he bought IMM it did excellent work but had no systems in place to manage operations. In the 1980s and ’90s, Foster was performing time studies on workflow. He’d walk onto the shop floor with a stopwatch. He’d catch some of the staff off guard but explained that he wasn’t trying to intimidate them, he was trying to find a way to be competitive with pricing because IMM was losing work to other shops. The employees bought into the idea and came to him saying, “Perry, I think I can do this. I think I can up my speeds and feeds. But we need to put this pallet closer.” This was before the concept of lean manufacturing really took off.

A YOUNG FAMILY

When Eileen Foster was first pregnant, she had “the talk” with her husband. “She told me that I should be able to bring the bacon home some way, somehow. But she was finished working for money. There was all kinds of work the community needed, and somebody needed to do that.”

This conversation was the start of two important areas of focus in their family life. First and foremost, Eileen Foster was going to focus on raising the kids. They eventually had two boys and two girls. Second, she was going to give back to the community. She was a hard worker and had a kind heart. She poured her time into a variety of causes that touched their personal lives, such as providing support to people with cancer.

As much as education was important to Foster, so was hard work.

Perry Foster is proud of the kind of people his children have become, and quick to credit his wife for instilling strong values during their upbringing. “I remember when one of the kids was leaving the house to shovel the walkway of an older couple that lived down the street. Eileen called out, ‘Don’t let me hear about you taking any money. They just need a little help.’”

As much as education was important to Foster, so was hard work. Lina Foster remembers what it was like to grow up in a family business. “All four of us kids worked at a young age. It was a real job. We were paid. I started when I was quite young. I remember we had this old microphone system with the speakers in the shop, and I picked it up to page him and said, “Dad, I mean Perry, there’s a phone call for you.”

The Fosters’ children were not just integrated deeply into operations, they were learning about the skills needed to run a business. “One of my other jobs was to copy marketing material,” Lina Foster says. “I was a reader, so I’d be learning about the products as I worked. I also filed invoices after they were paid. Dad made sure we knew what part of the process the invoice was for and the fact it had been paid was an important step: ‘Here’s the flow; first you get an order, then you do the work, then you send an invoice to the customer, then you get paid, then you archive it.’ And when I was punching a hole in the invoice before placing it in the binder, I had to make sure my work was not sloppy because someone might have to look at it later.”

The entire Foster family worked together – Eileen Foster worked in the office part time for several years as well. The family also played together. They had a passion for the outdoors and spent time at Waskesiu and Lake Diefenbaker. The children cherish those memories.

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

Three of the four children in the Foster family chose to work at the business at some point in their adult careers. Christine Foster moved away from Saskatoon, but Lina Foster managed administration and finance at IMM after completing an MBA. She held that role for several years before choosing to build her career in a different industry.

Craig Foster, the family’s elder son, started part time at IMM when he was 13 but moved to full time once he finished high school in 1981 and was placed in the centre of operations. He manually calculated handwritten timecards that needed to be logged for job costing. Then he moved into estimating and purchasing.

Then everything changed. Eileen Foster was diagnosed with cancer in 1986. The family tried to balance work and personal demands. When IMM moved into its present location in 1986, Craig continued to take on larger management roles. “We all did our best to support each other and keep everything together,” Craig
Foster recalls, “but it was not easy. I was working at night getting material sprayed so the guys could grind it during the day, or I was bringing material in for the morning.”

Business had to continue, and family responsibilities continued to evolve. Tom Foster, the family’s younger son, began working at IMM in 1991 after completing the Mechanical Engineering Technology program at SIAST, since renamed Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

When Eileen passed away in 1992, her illness had taken its toll in many ways. Personally, the family was devastated.

The focus was on building a good team that could acquire and deliver the right work.

The next few years involved a period of growth for the business. The company had a strong base of skilled and loyal employees. New employees were attracted to the thriving company. The right people and systems were being put in place.

The Fosters were hiring people when it made sense. “We only hired people when it appeared the upcoming work was sustainable. If not, we’d rather pay overtime than go through the cycle of hiring and laying people off.” The focus was on building a good team that could acquire and deliver the right work.

One evening the phone rang at the business. Craig Foster was in the shop and picked up the extension in the tool room. “The person told me he worked for an oilfield company. He asked if we could make parts. I said yes. I answered all his questions. He said he couldn’t get anyone to bid on the job the way he wanted it done. I told him we could do it. We were contacted to bid and were awarded the job – for hundreds of parts.”

This new customer was crucial in IMM diversifying into new markets. IMM built trust over time by learning the customer’s business and listening to what they wanted, then used that credibility and insight into how the customer’s equipment worked to suggest product improvements. This customer still does business with IMM.

A TIME OF CHANGE

Perry Foster retired in 1997 and sold the business to his two sons. Tom Foster ran the production floor and Craig Foster ran the office and took the role of president.

In 2007, Craig Foster was 44 and decided to retire from IMM. “I was tired. It was the same work, the same jobs every day. I needed something new.” The two brothers worked out an arrangement and Tom Foster bought his brother’s shares.

Craig Foster left the business in good shape. The company was poised for growth. It was attracting the kind of challenging work that skilled machinists and welders aspire to work on. Tom Foster explains how momentum seemed to build on itself. “We began to get people approaching us even when we were not hiring, saying they admired our company and would like to be a part of what we are building. We firmly believe that a good process needs to be in place, and Dad brought that focus in. We keep all our job files. We still get calls today from someone we built something for in the ’90s, and they want another one.”

To everyone in the Foster family, this momentum was the culmination of years of work. “The long-term vision for IMM has been debated within our family for a long time,” Tom Foster recalls. “Craig was aware of it, I’m aware of it, and we’re able to fulfill that vision that started forming in the ’70s.”

The business had the opportunity to grow, but it also needed to operate in a way that could handle the growth. Much of this depended on finding the right employees, which was important to Perry Foster right from the start. “You need people to work smart and care about what they do,” explains Foster. “You need less supervision with good employees.”

IMM has changed drastically since its days as a 20-person shop. It now has 104 employees and has diversified, regularly shipping products to the Middle East, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. The company operates 50,000 square feet of facilities, and recently purchased an 80,000 square foot building and is
planning its move into this new facility.

Tom Foster is currently IMM’s president and CEO. His role has evolved significantly since taking the position in 2008. “It’s hard to pull myself out of operations,” he says. “I love the shop floor. There is a lot of satisfaction from seeing what you have built. It’s hard to get the same thing from management until you realize how rewarding it is to develop good people within the company. Now that we’ve put a senior management team in place I’m focusing on planning for the future.”

There is a lot to plan for. IMM has doubled its revenue in the past year. Much like what the company experienced with the oil industry, IMM’s growth is largely driven by first listening to the customer and then using their knowledge of the equipment to gradually adapt products around customer requirements.

Growth is exciting, but just like his father, Tom Foster is focused on improving the business. “One of the reasons we bought the new building was that we have made several changes to drive waste out of our processes. The next step with efficiency required a new building, so we were willing to make that investment.”

Tom Foster is facing a situation like what Perry Foster faced years ago. Decisions must address new technology, increasing customer demands, international pressures, and increasing competition. And like his father, Tom is trying to teach his children how to navigate their own lives as they move into adulthood. The business seems to be a natural venue to learn. Tom’s three daughters are quite young, but all have an interest in working at the business. His son, Sean Foster, was recently a summer student at IMM.

A HELPING HAND

Perry Foster will be 90 in April 2020. Some of his stories provide him a great deal of pleasure and some continue to have the bite of a difficult time in his life. “Some guys will kick you when you are down,” Foster explains, but his expression quickly brightens as he finishes his thought. “But most will give you a hand to help you up. Al Meyers was one of the best at helping others.”

Al Meyers, the owner of Meyers Construction, who had cooperated with Foster’s financial arrangement back in 1959, had given Foster a hand when he needed it. Foster smiles broadly as he tells one final story about his former mentor. “Meyers built our house and I was in his office writing him my final cheque. I asked if he made money. He didn’t answer, so I said, ‘After everything you did for me, you better have made some money off me.’ The only thing Al said was, ‘That’s none of your business, but write the cheque.’”

First published in the December 2019 edition of The Business Advisor.

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If there had been a Grandmother of the Year Award in the 1990s, surely Grandma Morrison would have been in the running. In 1996, she gave her grandson Dan and his bride, Garnette, a computer as a wedding gift. Not everyone had a home computer then, and computers were expensive. Almost everyone at the wedding must have thought a vacuum cleaner would have been a much more practical gift. After all, just three years before, in 1993, there was a grand total of 130 websites in the world. But by 1996, that number had ballooned to 257,601. Grandma Morrison may have been among the few who understood that the internet and websites were not just a fad. It’s unlikely, though, that even she would have predicted that by 2019 there would be almost two billion websites globally.

The newlyweds wasted no time putting their gift to good use. They learned how to build a website and earned their first money as home-based entrepreneurs creating a site for a Saskatoon business owner. They were still pursuing their chosen careers at the time – Garnette as a physical therapist and Dan as a researcher. Dan’s work took the couple to Connecticut, but they continued to explore the potential of computers. At that time, quantitative research was a laborious undertaking usually handled by telephone call centres and research teams. Dan realized how valuable computers could be in research, as more and more people joined the rush to be online, thus creating useful sample sizes. Garnette also saw the potential and was the driving force behind the Webers’ expanding business. They were, without question, on the leading edge of a new era of customer reconnaissance.

The majority of their clients were from the northeastern US, but the reputation of Interactive Tracking Systems Inc. – itracks – was spreading just about as rapidly as internet was becoming a household word and desktop  computers a common household possession. “We realized that we needed to acquire office space, hire people, and continue expanding,” recalls Dan. But where? He remembers the night he and Garnette came to a remarkable conclusion. They would move to one of the least likely places to start an information technology company: their home province, Saskatchewan.

Why Saskatchewan? If the Webers had a dollar for every time they were asked that question … and as it turns out, they do. It’s a reasonable question in their case, however. There was only a handful of prospective clients in the province, and they had little or no motivation to use itracks’ services. The Webers’ target market was in heavily populated areas, where the infrastructure was much more up to speed (literally) and where they could obtain valid data because of the sample size. Even today, practically all of itracks’ clients are in the US and abroad, including Disney, 3M, Honda, Crayola, Nielsen Research, and Johnson & Johnson.

WE WERE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE OUR FAMILIES HERE WHEN OUR KIDS WERE YOUNG.

So again, why Saskatchewan? Not all connections in this world are electronic. There were other connections that weighed heavily in favour of the move. “In fact,” says Garnette, “I don’t think we ever could have started itracks anywhere else but Saskatoon.” She and Dan are business partners, but they are first and foremost husband and wife. They wanted to start a family and, as any working parent will tell you, the child-care support of your family can be invaluable. “We were so fortunate to have our families here when our kids were young,” says Garnette, whose advice to parents embarking on a similar path is, “Make sure you build a strong support system first – people you can rely on – because things will come up.” Then, as your children grow up, “Be creative. Children are all different. You’ll find a way to handle it.” Garnette speaks from experience. Their business continues to benefit from having both partners running it full time. She and Dan have a daughter, now 18, and two boys, aged 16 and 11.

Another reason for the move was their network within the business community. Garnette grew up in a business family. Her grandfather owned a hatchery with locations throughout the province. Her father owned a business in Saskatoon, where by grade 10 Garnette was helping with business planning and the payroll. Dan also came from an entrepreneurial background. Their connections to experienced business leaders and mentors was a key factor in their decision.

There was also SaskTel. “Back in the ’90s, traditional lenders weren’t too keen on handing out their money to information tech companies like itracks,” explains Dan. “Thankfully, we were able to convince SaskTel to invest in our idea to set up a call centre in Saskatoon, doing more traditional research by telephone. They saw the fit and agreed to invest several million dollars in us to establish a centre employing around 150 people.”

MAKE SURE YOU BUILD A STRONG SUPPORT SYSTEM FIRST – PEOPLE YOU CAN RELY ON– BECAUSE THINGS WILL COME UP. THEN, AS YOUR CHILDREN GROW UP, BE CREATIVE. CHILDREN ARE ALL DIFFERENT. YOU’LL FIND A WAY TO HANDLE IT.

The day the Webers signed that deal counts as one of the biggest days in the history of their business. It turned out to be a profitable investment for SaskTel, which saw a good return and was paid back in full by itracks when the relationship was dissolved. For Dan and Garnette, it provided the cash flow they needed to keep developing their internet-based research products and services. The call centre was eventually disbanded when it was clear that online research was the only viable way forward. Today, itracks has 35 employees, with representatives in their major market – the US.

The company offers online and mobile qualitative software that fits your style of research, along with a suite of unique tools and a strong support system. Essentially, that means that their typical client – a large corporation with a full-time research division – can work with itracks to develop specific web-based tools to conduct research and analyze the data. The newest product allows research teams and executives to collectively observe and comment on focus groups in real time using what could be described as a virtual one-way mirror.

New product development is a major function at itracks, which continuously prioritizes attracting and retaining people with outstanding creative as well as technical ability. Garnette and Dan have visited a number of software development companies with the ambience and open-space layout that evokes Silicon Valley cool. Their repurposed call centre space was the antithesis, which motivated them to purchase a former high-end restaurant building in the fashionable warehouse district of Saskatoon, which had already attracted creative businesses such as ad agencies and production houses. “Buying that building has been one of our proudest moments in business,” says Garnette. “In some ways, it’s a reward for the great people who are already with us.” One of the features of the new space will be what tech development companies call “war rooms,” where teams of four to six software developers will work undisturbed and in isolation from the rest of the office in “sprints” of several weeks, then take a break before returning to the intense business of software invention.

Spend even a few minutes with Dan and Garnette Weber, and it’s obvious the entrepreneurial energy they shared as newlyweds has not subsided. Whereas some husband-and-wife business partnerships have destroyed both the marriage and the business, the couple feed off each other. “As a married couple and as business partners, we understand when one of us has to work late or is stressed out,” says Dan. He and Garnette have managed to allocate their responsibilities by gravitating to them. Dan is the socializer and does the majority of work to get new clients in the door. Garnette is the one who then works on the details of the relationship, ensuring that contracts are clear and effective. “Many people have asked if Garnette is a lawyer,” laughs Dan.

That entrepreneurial tradition continues in the next generation of Webers. “In North America, the typical career model is you go to school, get a job, and that’s it. We’ve told our kids to think outside of that. We tell them being entrepreneurial is a job, so don’t be afraid to take chances.

AS A MARRIED COUPLE AND AS BUSINESS PARTNERS, WE UNDERSTAND WHEN ONE OF US HAS TO WORK LATE OR IS STRESSED OUT.

Our daughter just finished her first year in kinesiology at the U of S, and she did very well. But then she came to us and told us she wanted to switch colleges to Fine Arts and pursue a career as an artist. We told her to go for it. After all, you can’t get any more entrepreneurial than being an artist!”

Dan and Garnette offer that same advice to all people with entrepreneurial ambitions, with one additional piece of advice from Dan: “Do it while you’re young, when you’re used to eating Kraft Dinner. You can work for long hours, and you don’t have a lot to lose.”

He could have added the sage advice to all business owners that to be successful you should treat each day in your business as if it were the first. Intensely immersed in the final stages of renovations to their new space, planning the annual corporate trips to the US and abroad, and working with their team to keep high-powered clients happy, Dan and Garnette have no intention of taking their foot off the gas. When asked if they have ever thought of leaving it all behind, Garnette responds, “There always seems to have been the ‘next thing’ to do.”

Do your research on the Webers and you will be able to predict with 100% certainty that there will always be a “next thing” under way at their trendy new digs. As long as companies want to know more about their customers, they’ll want to know more about this dynamic company.

First published in the September 2019 edition of The Business Advisor.

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By Andrea Hansen
Photographs by Karee Davidson/Concepts Photography & Design

It was a fateful Saturday afternoon over 12 years ago when Coralee Abbott, who had been working as an optometric assistant, went for coffee with her spouse, Mike Dahlen. They choose a quiet, forgotten café off the beaten path called City Perks, a place she had been once, years before.

She was in a period of life when she was looking for a change, but didn’t know what she really wanted to be “when she grew up.” Abbott had always been drawn to people. She had been a pastry chef in Grand Prairie, Alberta, in her early 20s, working under a German baker. And growing up with home cooking and baking coming out of the oven as she got off the school bus, baking was part of everything she knew as a kid. On that Saturday, she imagined the café as her own and the potential for what it could be. Lo and behold, it was for sale, and six weeks later, Coralee Abbott was the new owner. She thought, “All I need to do is to get people to fall in love with the place.”

HOW HAS CITY PERKS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?

We did a second renovation six years ago, when we were ready to take the coffee to the next level. The focus had been on baking and food, but it had shifted as we listened to our clientele. We established a relationship with 49th Parallel, a roaster we loved in Vancouver, and the reno was about what I felt City Perks deserved. Everything was about repurposing… from the tables made of old doors from the Delta Bessborough, neighbourhood church pews, stools from The Pat, and ceiling tiles from a drug store in Wakaw, to the 10 different varieties of hardwood from Habitat for Humanity. Every single thing has its own story.

Everything I’ve done has been based on my gut feeling.

WHAT MIGHT PEOPLE NOT REALIZE ABOUT OWNING A CAFÉ?

The biggest misconception is that just because it’s full, it’s making money. We can’t sell a hundred cups of coffee a day and make money. Some feel prices are high, but they’re not realizing the partnerships with the people that we have and that I pay my team very well. We are very limited in our space and we’re doing magical things with a not-so-magical kitchen. We’re trying to give the best quality for the best price that we can and it’s not a very high margin when it comes to the food side.

HOW DID YOU GROW YOUR TEAM AS THE BUSINESS SHIFTED?

I was fortunate that I took a chance on Daryl Grunau. I saw him on Twitter trying to get into places to be a barista. He never considered applying with us because we weren’t focusing on the coffee at that time. Just before our second renovations, I invited him to join us. There was something about his vibe and energy, and everything I’ve done has been based on my gut feeling. I wasn’t even looking for a manager at the time as I was doing it all myself and I thought, “Why would anyone actually need to be there if I was always there?” Then three years later in March 2016, our son, Roan, seven at the time, was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. Everything changed.

Removing myself from the day to day gave me perspective. I learned that other people can make great choices too if I give them the tools.

ROAN’S BATTLE WITH LEUKEMIA CHANGED YOUR FAMILY’S LIFE FOREVER. HOW AND WHY DID YOU WANT TO KEEP CITY PERKS GOING?

When Roan was diagnosed, I had a six-month-old at home and they told us, “You are going to be in isolation with your son. Someone must be 100% caregiver and be with him all the time.” They told me if I had a job to give notice as “your world is going to change.” I remember thinking, “I can’t do all of this, and the business is going to have to go.” Then Daryl and I had a conversation. He said, “I’ve got this, boss.” He believes that God led him to us for a purpose. And I do too now. He literally saved our family because that would have sunk us in so many ways. The coffee shop is Roan; he grew up on the counter. And City Perks defined us. It is us. However, if I couldn’t be there, I didn’t know how it was going to work. Who was going to make the creative decisions? Who was going to get the payroll done? Who was going to talk to the suppliers? Daryl knew how to lead, how to make sales, and how to keep customers happy, but he didn’t know anything behind the scenes because I hadn’t shared any of that.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BUSINESS IN THAT FIRST YEAR, WHEN YOU WERE NOT AROUND?

We had a terrible year. For the rest of 2016, it was great sales-wise, but terrible on the back end when we looked at all the expenses, all the labour, because nobody knew how to look at the numbers and make sense of them. How could they? Just the fact that they were able to keep the doors open was amazing. I would just make sure that I signed the cheques when things needed to be paid and did the payroll. Daryl was like, “Boss, just keep giving me the tools; let me help.” I had to start sharing and teaching him more. I was also able to be creative on the back end to turn it around and thankfully I had my father’s inheritance to rely on to get us through that dark time. As a business person, I felt it was my greatest failure, how far in the hole we had gone.

HOW HAS YOUR PERSPECTIVE CHANGED SINCE?

I realize now, it had to happen for me to get to this point, where I have a succession plan, where I have people who are capable, that we are able to have our best year ever and double sales from where we were five years ago. Removing myself from the day to day gave me perspective. I learned that other people can make great choices too if I give them the tools.

DO YOU THINK YOU COULD REPLICATE CITY PERKS?

It’s funny that you ask because I have four business proposals sitting on my desk right now. In the 12 years, there’s always been somebody asking us to take City Perks and go other places. The fundamentals of having fresh food, the best coffee and the best baristas… all that can go other places. But my fear is – the energy, I think, is unique to that neighbourhood and space. It’s only been since May 2019 that Roan has completed treatment, and I do think I have the capacity for more. Fear of what may happen next will live with me forever, but I just can’t let that fear hold me back. We have learned so much that I need to pay it forward. I need to channel that fear to live our best life. That could mean going in a new direction with a new café creating this energy in another neighbourhood. I think I have realized that the energy needed is held within me, so the question is, can I move past the fear and realize what could be?

First published in the September 2019 edition of The Business Advisor.

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