Go Green or Sink

As a business consultant we review reports and studies regularly that talk about the trends, and we also learn about local trends - just by the shear number of questions and ideas that come across our desk on a daily basis from our clients. Increasingly we are seeing clients that are starting (or running) a business with a 'green' or environmental twist. Is this a trend?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was a trend, and now it's simply an expectation. Last year, a business could get away with being cutting edge or a trendsetter if they found a way to do what they do but in a green way. It would give them media exposure, viral marketing benefits, etc. These days?..it's just the norm. If you do business and haven't included some component of being green, then your not only missing the boat, but you're probably sinking too.

Not only is it an expectation to be green, your customers will research how green you really are, so be careful using 'green' as a marketing gimmick. Changing a candescent light bulb and suddenly claiming to be green just won't cut it any more.

So pull out your business plans.. go on.. do it. If you've cited 'being green' as your USP (unique selling proposition) or competitive advantage, it's time to make some revisions and redefine what makes you unique for 2008 and into 2009. You don't want to find that your business is a sinking ship.

Don't pack your bags yet...

Kingston, Ontario is a city that is very much dependent on tourism. With record high fuel prices and the strength of the Canadian dollar, many residents and businesses might be worried about how these global changes will affect our local tourism industry. Despite a report released last month (http://www.tiac-aitc.ca/english/documents/MediaReleaseJuneCompetitivenessReport.pdf) by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada warning that the country's tourism industry is on the brink of an "unprecedented decline", some of Kingston's largest tourist attraction operators are optimistic the city will dodge the forecasted tourism crisis.

Patricia Macdonald, CEO and general manager of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission (the provincial agency that runs Fort Henry), believes that, "Kingston is on the cusp of opportunity." With help from the city's link to the Rideau Canal UNESCO world heritage site designation and proximity to large urban centres, reports from both the operators of Fort Henry and Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises say they are well positioned for the 2008 season. I agree with Macdonald and believe the combination of these developments, coupled with the recent completion of the K-Rock Centre and Invista Centre (west-end multiplex), are helping put Kingston on the map and strengthening the 'destination' component of travel, making Kingston more attractive to tourists.

However, Ken Wong, Marketing Professor at the Queen's School of Business, suggests that these factors are not enough. "These days, it's not enough to rely upon a destination. You've got to start packaging all of your attractions and creating what's considered a customer experience." Wong and Macdonald believe that the local tourism industry must work to make Kingston a more compelling place to visit. A recent example of this can be seen in the lineup of special events scheduled for this summer at Fort Henry, including Prince Edward's recent visit last month.

At the Entrepreneurship Centre, our business consultant often comment on Kingston's tourism industry as being an advantage to local entrepreneurs and small businesses. Kingston is a city that is very much dependent on tourism, and it is believed that the typical visitor to Kingston has changed from an overnight traveler to a day-tripper. Regardless of whether this is good or bad for your business, what is more important to determine is how you can make this change a business opportunity for yourself. Being aware of trends and changes in your target market, and finding a way to incorporate tourists into your business idea will help increase your chances for success (especially in the summer!). For example, what are the transportation arrangements to and from Kingston’s popular tourist activities, like Fort Henry and the Rideau Canal? What childcare options are available for parents who want to enjoy an evening at the Grand, or on the 1,000 Islands Cruise Ship? Can tourists rent a bike or canoe to go exploring for the afternoon? Are hotels offering feature packages to out of town guests? If no - why not? If yes - how can you be included?

As either a start-up entrepreneur or existing small business, use Kingston’s destination strength to your advantage and create an experience with your business that is unique to both you and your city and you will see the benefits now and in the future.

Information in this review was based on The Kingston Whig-Standard Article, 'On the Cusp of Opportunity'. Posted last month. Link: http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1060101&auth=BY+FRANK+ARMSTRONG+WHIG-STANDARD+BUSINESS+REPORTER

What we can learn from The Last Lecture

I am currently reading an excellent book titled The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - www.thelastlecture.com

I have said many times before, when I read books, it is not necessarily about the specific content or context, but what lessons can be learned that can apply directly to life – and when I say life, this could be your personal, business or perhaps both.

While the book tells a very powerful and emotional story, the underpinning theme is about ‘Really Achieving your Childhood dreams’. From this, I see many lessons that small businesses can learn from and apply directly to the way they approach their entrepreneurial endeavours.

Follow your heart - There are many things to do in this life but we must follow those good pursuits that we are most drawn to. Often we don’t follow our heart out of fear, laziness, lack of confidence, apathy, or other reasons but we must learn to overcome these negative feelings and follow our hearts desires. A lot of start ups fail to get off the ground because the owner is just not committed and always looking for excuses for not starting. Get over it.

Focus on what you want to become - too often in life we focus on ourselves, often worrying selfishly about what we are getting. In life, rather than focusing on what we get, we should focus on what we become. In many consultations, would be entrepreneurs (and even established businesses) want us to tell them where they are going and decide what they should become. Decide that for yourself – we can help facilitate and enable your dream but we can’t achieve it for you.

Never underestimate the importance of having FUN – being your own boss should be fun – yeah, of course there is hard work involved but we chose this path for a reason. We chose it for fun, laughter, challenge, risk, ownership, accountability – In business we often get caught up in our daily projects and hurdles. Give yourself and your employees’ permission to dream and, above all, have fun while you're at it. I encourage you to always have fun as there is just no other way to play it.

Brick walls are there for a reason – too often people complain about the brick walls that are put in front of them. They are there for a reason. As Randy Pausch says "They are there to test how bad we actually really want something". Entrepreneurs and small business owners are faced with hurdles every day, some seemingly insurmountable. But if you're passionate about what you do, those brick walls are easier to scale and you will have more fun on the climb. If we want it bad enough you will get over the brick wall. Otherwise the walls just become an excuse.

The last point I leave you with is this - Do not give up striving for your childhood dreams: Even if you do not achieve them, there is still a lot of FUN to be had from trying.

Communication!

Communication in a small company can be difficult, and in a large organization is nearly impossible. Making sure the activities of your company are at least in some part familiar to everyone who represents you takes constant effort, but if it is not done consistently the image of your business will quickly fall prey to the old adage of "The left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing".

Each individual who represents your organization may come into contact with an internal or external client, potential client, supplier, or media personality and should have a resource they can turn to, to be able to keep informed of the goings-on. With the advances of technology, this can be as simple as an email folder for events and distribution procedure, an up to date online calendar, a notice board in a place everyone has access to, a communications department, or a well-informed receptionist. The best systems are clear, uniformly available, updated regularly and accountable by someone.

As obvious as it may be, when you don’t communicate your wishes, you take a risk that people won’t guess what your preferred response is. The benefit of a closely knit team is that you learn to read each other, can forecast reactions and preferences, and then formulate responses that reflect your group. When you don’t have this advantage yet your best bet is to be extremely clear – and let it be known that you welcome questions and will make time to clarify any issues.

The most amusing example I've encountered lately (business or residential) of a communication blip was aired over my radio this morning. The excited announcer was placing a live call to the just-announced winner of a pair of coveted concert tickets. After several rings, the phone was answered by a woman whose tone gave the impression that she was employed at the residence. The DJ asked if he could be connected with the individual and gave both names of the person he was looking for. She replied he lived there, but she wanted to know who was calling for him. When the announcer identified himself, he stated that "John" was a listener who entered a radio contest. The woman then politely responded that it must be the wrong number, that the "John" who lived there would not listen to that station, and hung up the phone. I hope "John" wasn’t listening from his vehicle, because if he were things may be a little tense tonight.

Facebook is really ADbook

Over the last 3 weeks I have spent a majority of my consultations talking about the power of social networking for business. It's not that my clients don't believe that it can be effective they just can't see how, they have no desire to sit for hours chatting to their highschool friends -- and what does that have to do with business anyway?


Well, from my own experience, for both the Entrepreneurship Centre and my own 2 businesses this is what has worked for me on Facebook alone:

• The Marketplace -- I bought a bed from one of my closest friends that I didn't even know she was selling! I bought it within 18 minutes of her posting it.
• The Calendar - We've listed workshops and special events and had enrollment due only to learning about it through facebook.
• Status Updates - whenever I use my status update to say I've uploaded new product to my jewellery website, my personal web stats go up and the first time I did that I sold a piece within 18 hours of posting it.
• Photo Album - again with my jewellery, sold a piece just by creating a photo album with images of my jewellery.
• Groups - After creating the Young Entrepreneurs of Kingston group we had over 20 members in the first day.
• Business Page - the Entrepreneurship Centre has a page, and without inviting anyone to become a 'fan' we have18 fans signed up. It's a great audience to use as a focus group when we need them.

And none of those things cost me a dime - well, ok the bed did! In total I probably spent about 15 minutes on Facebook to accomplish all of these things. Now what about paid options?

• Ads - Within 30 minutes of posting an ad that targeted 15-29 yrs olds in Kingston and Napanee only we had over 30,000 views of the ad and 18 click throughs! And do you know what it cost? $2.22. There's no other advertising medium out there charging rates that low with such a quick and high return.

With all these options with ADbook, I mean Facebook, make sure you business is taking advantage of this tool, just don't get swallowed up (too much) chatting with your highschool buddies!

Courage

Recipe for an entrepreneur:

Mix:
2 cups of commitment
1 cup of high energy
6 tablespoons of focus

Toss with:
1 cup of tenacity
½ cup self control

Serve with self confidence, and a tall glass of courage.

Whether born and bred, or taking a new and exciting plunge, being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. The world of business is full of unexpected twists and turns, and there is only one guarantee: even the most organized and prepared entrepreneur can expect the unexpected. But tell any entrepreneur “it can’t be done” and you can be sure to hear this answer: “Watch me!”

Courage is tackling new business challenges and taking on the risks of running your own business. Investing your life’s or a loved one’s savings or acquiring a large loan for the business, are just some risks for entrepreneurs. Confidence in your planning and making crucial business decisions is courageous. You may have (what you think) is the greatest new idea, and work hard to prove your passion to the world. Establishing rapport with suppliers and customers, creating a sought-after product or a desirable service, and maintaining a positive attitude are attributes of a brave sole.

Courage cannot be bought or taken in a multivitamin, but it can be borrowed. Mentors in your community can provide support to concerns you have about your new business. Like you, your mentor has experienced the trials and tribulations of small business ownership and can offer guidance in difficult times. Turn to a mentor and borrow their courage in times of need.

It takes a courageous someone to remove themselves from their business and determine if their business is still a lucrative venture. If after a year of business you determine that the idea you’ve become so passionate about and invested in, is not profitable you must decide whether to close your doors or to change your business’ direction. Courage is closing your doors, and saying, “this is not the time or location for this idea’. Courage is redirecting your business’ goals for a more successful endeavour.

Courage takes its place in each stage of your business’ lifecycle; the embryonic stage, growth, maturity, and decline Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk, uncertainty, or intimidation. Courage is an entrepreneur.

What does Kingston need?

Many clients who come thru our office share a common trait – they would be entrepreneurs if only they knew exactly What Kingston Needs. I wish I knew the magical answer to this question.
In pondering several idea streams, and taking into consideration the tourism season that is revving up right now and the World Heritage Designation that was recently received by the Rideau Waterway and Fort Henry, the following thought went through my head; Does Kingston have a water taxi service? If we do, why don’t I know about it? I worked in Kingston’s tourism sector for 10 years! Privately run water transportation thrive in nearby Alexandria Bay, Boston, and other port towns. Could it be a “greener” transportation form than a car? How about bringing bicycles on the boat, or have them for rent at either end of the trip? Why drive across the LaSalle Causeway & pay for parking downtown if you could just hop on a boat? Talk about adding romance to an evening out, cruising across the river to the K-Rock Centre for a concert. My mother swoons over the luxury she enjoys every morning while eating her breakfast on a cruiseship…as she drives her schoolbus onto the ferry from Howe Island.

So it’s not necessarily the brilliant, never-seen-before ideas that need to formulate from thin air, but rather finding that thing that fits your life, compliments your abilities, and that you can be so passionate about, that after the thrill of “doing your own thing” and being your own boss wears off, you are still happy to continue working on improving and making the business thrive.

S is for Stress

Stress is a regular part of everyday life – every situation, conversation or event has the capacity to be stressful. Realizing that stress is all around us, we have the option to ignore it, reduce it, cope with it or use it. Depending on how you choose to respond and use your stress, it can build up and decrease our body’s physical and mental performance, leading to illness or lack of concentration or commitment to our goals. Fortunately, stress can be managed in order to improve productivity and performance.

What is Stress?
Stress is a condition or feeling which occurs when there is a perception that the demands of a situation exceed the personal resources that the individual is able to mobilize.

Although stress is often thought of as a negative word, having the capacity to reduce and cope with it will ensure that at times of great responsibility (stress) comes a great opportunity for performance. Being able to successfully adapt to such situations, by managing their stress and using the external environment to motivate them, is the technique that high performance athletes use to improve performance – they use their stress.

What causes Stress?
Social stressors – noise and crowding
Psychological stressors – anxiety and worry
Sociological stressors – pressure at work, a new job or a change in relationship
Biochemical or Physical stressors – injury, illness or intoxicants
Philosophical Stressors – results from a value-system conflict, or from a lack of direction or purpose in your life perspective

Signs and Symptoms of Stress:

• Headache or migraine


• Difficulty sleeping


• Difficulty concentration


• Irregular mood changes


• Anxiety, fear, worry


• Fatigue


• Increase in colds and infections


• Digestive problem


• Lack of enjoyment or sense of humour


• Depression or feelings of despair

The Stress Curve
Everyone has a level of stress that enables them to work at a high performance level. Up to a certain point, our performance improves with the amount of stress or arousal, but once over the peak of performance, we experience distress. Stress levels can be easily affected by both internal and external factors; it is up to you to know yourself and control these factors so you can be working at your peak performance level as much as possible.

[Source: Fit To Lead Newsletter, Queen's School of Business]

If you find yourself not motivated in the workplace, it is very possible that you have either too much stress or not enough. If it is too much, try to find ways to relax and reduce the stressors that exist. You might want to switch environments or focus on fewer things. If you realize that you do not have enough stress, you may want to set higher goals, ask for more responsibilities or broaden your horizons.

Tips to Reduce Stress:

• Recognize your symptoms of stress and see what can be changed – in your work, your family or individually


• Use relaxation techniques: yoga, meditation, deep breathing, or massage


• Exercise. Physical activity is one of the most effective stress remedies


• Manage your time. Do essential tasks and prioritize the others. Consider those who may be affected by your decisions, such as family and friends


• Watch your diet. Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, fats and tobacco all put a strain on your body’s ability to cope with stress. A diet with a balance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and foods high in protein but low in fat will help create optimum health. For more information on this, check Canada’s Food Guide at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/


• Get enough rest and sleep


• Talk with others. Talk with friends, co-workers, family members or enroll your own personal coach


• Leave yourself some time that’s just for you. Read a book, watch a movie, play a game, listen to music or go on vacation


• Work off your anger. Get physically active, dig in the garden, start a project, get your spring cleaning done


• Tackle one thing at a time. Don’t try to do too much at once


• Don’t try to be perfect


• Ease up on criticism of others


• Have some fun! Laugh and be with people you enjoy!

Is your business customer centric or process driven?

Many times in business people already have a product or service developed and then they go and try to find a market that fits their product/ service. We hear stories of companies who continually push a product/ service and then can't understand why it won't sell. They have a great process in place, a wonderful product/ service (in their eyes), completely understand the product/ service capabilities, but one thing lacks - they forgot to ask the customer. I refer to this as product centric thinking.

A business that follows this process focuses its time, energy, and money into creating products/ services with fantastic features and benefits for an undifferentiated consumer market whose actual experienced outcomes are greatly unknown. There is no iterative process.

Let's flip it around and put the customer first. Whether in start-up or growth it is important to know your market, what the consumer pain points are, and develop or adapt your product/ service to resolve them. By starting with the customer, you will save a lot of time, money and energy in the process and therefore create stronger efficiencies throughout your organization. This, I refer to as customer centric thinking.

In this model, a business begins by understanding the experienced outcomes expected by different customers. They can then translate these into strongly correlated features, benefits, and expectations, meaning they produce their product/ service at a lower cost, with short cycle time, superior diversity, and consistent performance. This model involves a double iterative process (demonstrated by the arrows).

But how do we do this? One of the main points I always raise in consultations is before you do anything, ask your customers (in particular your loyal ones). Host focus groups and allow them to provide you with feedback on your product/ service. By doing this you are going to get direct feedback from the end user, and possibly, because they have been part of the process, they will become champions of your product/ service - a very powerful marketing tool.

Organizations who are excellent at customer centric thinking are car manufacturers. At every major car show, they will have a prototype on display for customers to touch, feel, and view. The potential end user provides critical feedback before it is put on the production line. How many times do we see a model on display but it never makes the market because of the consumer feedback ? Toyota is doing this - they are manufacturing their cars based on what customers told them, not what Toyota people think looks great.

A smart example of the power of involving the customer from the very beginning.

Entrepreneur. Multipreneur. Entrepreneur.

Are not all entrepreneurs, in essence really multipreneurs? When looking for a definition of multipreneur I came across the following:

A multipreneur is a business professional that follows many passions and offers quality services or products that enhance other individuals and professionals personal and business lives.

Finding a balance in the juggling act of different job descriptions and responsibilities requires an entrepreneur to be ready for anything and prepared for everything. With business planning, market research, sales and financing on the go – being an entrepreneur is more than a full-time job. The comfort of a “9-to-5” is quickly lost on entrepreneurs, who realize that life happens at all times of the day (and night) and to succeed in this business world, you need to be committed.

Most entrepreneurs think about growing their businses by finding new markets, increasing sales or developing a new product or service. But what about starting somewhere else? Personal and professional development plays an important role in determining the viability of a business. Business growth and development are imperative to survival and often relate directly to growing the knowledge of the person running the company – you! At the beginning of March I had the pleasure of attending my first professional development event – a two-day course on design software. Realizing that I would be improving my technical knowledge, I did not realize the value-added of such a program. Two days out of the office, with no to-do list or schedule of events and I was able to step out of the drivers seat and be a passenger. Without the distractions of a typical work day I was able to take this professional development “break” for a personal development “reflection”. It is interesting how these two experiences go hand-in-hand, but given the chance to take a step back, I was able to critically reflect on my work ethic, personal goals and skill set and evaluate where my strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement were, making me more effective, creative and knowledgable once I was back behind the wheel. As entrepreneurs in a competitive business market, we spend so much time sizing up our competitors, but how often do we have a look in mirror and evaluate ourselves.

If you were to invest 5% of your time and income per year in yourself, you would be able to expand your knowledge in a way that would help you see positive returns that would keep you moving at a high gear for many years to come. Things change fast and it is easy to fall behind very quickly. Unless you consciously put in the effort to stay on top of things, you will most certainly fall behind and get passed.

Keeping up is easier than catching up, and if you keep up, you can usually find a way to stay ahead of the traffic. When things gets busy with detours and roadblocks, this might require you to take off the multipreneur hat and instead be an entrepreneur and look within yourself for the best route. So, the next time you're looking for ways to grow your business, think differently - invest in yourself and see how quickly you go down the road of success.

Can your business link arms and touch its toes?

Organizations require well defined and structured operating systems to ensure they deliver to customers (internal and external) in an effective, efficient, and consistent manner. To make this happen, we first need to consider the factors that make up our operating environment. A healthy operating environment balances all of the following:

• Purpose - the real reason you exist
• Strategy - where you are now, where you are going, how you are going to get there
• Culture - stories, ritual/routines, symbols, org structure, control systems, power structure
• People and Interaction - core competencies of staff, communication, and human behaviour
• Metrics and Rewards - how is success measured and rewarded
• Structure and Process - how you do business

While the above primarily focuses on the internal operating environment, we shouldn't forget to apply it to the external environment as well. I wanted to emphasize the importance of integration and flexibility within this system, especially when the end result, for all businesses, is customer attraction and retention. I have a story to exemplify when an organization became protocol crazy and allowed Structure and Process to become disjointed from People and Interaction.

Griffen and Sabine were delighted. They had just signed for their first mortgage ($200,000) with a leading bank. Everything was in place. They could now start to establish a credit rating and settle in to their new life. Griffen then asked about a credit card. They should be able to get one. I mean they had all their accounts at this branch, all direct debits were being paid on time, and they had just signed for $200,000. Griffen and Sabine were not big spenders but they knew a credit card was an excellent tool for pushing up their credit rating (which must have been good – remember they just signed for a $200,000 mortgage).

The Account Manager plugged all the numbers into the computer and they waited. A ping was heard, the results had arrived. We looked at the Account Manager "I am sorry to say that you have been declined for $5000 credit limit". "What" Griffen said stunned "but we just signed for $200,000 mortgage – how can possibly be declined for $5000 on a credit card". Sabine interrupted "We don't need that much, we probably only require $2000 - can you approve that?”

They waited for the Account Manager to use his autonomy to override the decision and approve a credit card for us (on the back of the mortgage approval - remember they just signed for $200,000). "Unfortunately I can't - the mortgage and the credit card approval systems are in two different departments and I don't have the autonomy to make those decisions".
On one hand they were delighted to get them signing for a mortgage, but on the other hand they were happy to decline a credit card application. Is this a consistent approach?

At that moment it struck Griffen. The Structure and Process in one department of the bank was completely out of whack with another department even though they were serving the same customer. The People and Interaction within the bank as a Corporation was not integrated across all functions and the Culture was effectively saying ‘Around here we are not empowered to make decisions because the system makes them for us’.

Think about this situation for a moment – how would you as an organization have handled it? What does your outcome look like? Is every facet of your operating system interlinked to allow this to happen?

Needless to say Griffen and Sabine withdrew their mortgage application, closed their accounts, and moved them to a competitor. They are happy to report that they have a mortgage, a credit card, a line of credit, and several investments.

Ask yourself - what is the value detriment to your company if you lost a customer today because your business operating system was not balanced, integrated and flexible?

Your Priority is Not Someone Else's Priority

I am a get it done kind of person and when I ran my business before I had employees this was easy to do. When you have staff on the other hand, and when you have bosses even more so, this can be more of a challenge. There may be times when what is important to you and your role is not as important to other members of your team. So what does this mean for a small business owner?

It could mean that when you need an immediate shipment of product for a weekend sale event, your supplier may not be willing or able to make it a priority of theirs. It may mean that paying your bills is a priority for you, but your clients paying you on time may not be their priority. It may also mean that when you ask a staff member to help you with something it may not be a priority for them. In a team environment matching priorities is difficult but important, so how can you accomplish this?

1. First you need to ensure that you don't fall in the trap of 'my poor planning is your emergency'. If the only time you're asking your team for something is at the last minute then you can't expect them to be continually dropping their own tasks for yours. Make sure you giving suitable notice when you can.


2. Set timelines, deadlines or assign a priority to it when you ask the other person. Let them know where this fits on your priority list.


3. Come up with a priority system for your workplace - a 'how to get on someones priority list' system.


4. Have your corporate / business priorities clearly posted and distributed to all team members so they know what the long-term, short-term and day-to-day operational priorities are so that all team members are in agreement.

For a team to be effective at priortizing, each team member individually must have the ability to manage their time, prioritize their own tasks and strong communication skills. If you have a team and environment that can do this you should be well on your way to getting everything on your priority list done!

Demographonomics

Recent discussions have centered around the future of work and employment assuming a coming labor and skills shortage, as well as a skills mismatch between the characteristics of workers and the needs of employers.

This is evident in Kingston. We often hear that people are struggling with recruiting the right people. But step back for a moment and consider this – is it really a skills and labour shortage or is it more a demographic shortage? Or are the people who are looking for meaningful work slightly older than the demographic businesses are looking at. This may mean we have to change our thinking when it comes to recruitment.

For Kingston and area, the stats show an 18% drop in the number of 20 – 34 year olds comparative to that of the 40 – 54 year olds. This percentage drop would be even higher if we took out the Queen’s students who are included in the census data but then leave the city upon graduation (this is another issue which is being addressed).

KEYS often invite us along to give labour market and economic trend talks to those who are unemployed and looking to re-enter work. Consistently we see well qualified, highly exprerienced people, sitting round the table who are struggling to find jobs. What is the age range of these people? 40-50 years. There are engineers, medical secretaries, computer programmers, manufacturers, managers to name a few.

These people offer a myriad of transferable skills, 20+ years experience, willingness, and commitment to the job. What if employers were to think outside the ‘we are looking for this perfect person’ box and thought about ‘shaping the square peg to fit the round hole’. Looking at the foundational elements, the core competencies, rather than what direct experience they have in that sector helps to widen the pool of talented people.

You should not fail to see beyond the 20 year old degree of the 40 year old worker. Yes, it is not a relevant today as maybe a young student graduating with their degree. Recruitment thinking needs to go wider than education. Strongly consider work record, employment experience, needs, and goals of the employee.

Don’t get me wrong – younger people do offer fresh thinking, fresh perspectives, and have not been embedded in organizational culture before. But there is a talented group of people out there who could be the stars of your organization and become the mentors to the youngsters who form the workforce of tomorrow.

We just need to be creative and forward thinking in how we view the older demographic.

Welcome to the Small Biz Sizzler Blog!

People keep asking, so we decided to create a weekly small business tips newsletter for Kingston entrepreneurs. Every week, one of the consultants from the Entrepreneurship Centre will post tips to help you grow your business - everything from human resource tips to marketing to finance. We promise to keep the posts short and to the point, as we understand the hectic lifestyles of business owners and how precious your time already is. If you do have time and some of your own words of wisdom to pass on, please feel free to post your comments along the way. So enjoy and let's get your business fired up!