Hi, I’m Kevin Franco, the Entrepreneur in Residence at Calgary Public Library.
I’m here today at the Platform Innovation Centre
in front of the great pitch stage — to answer some questions for entrepreneurs.
Alright, let's get started
First question
After thinking about it for many years, I've decided to take the plunge and start my own online business.
The problem is, I'm currently living under a very tight budget. What costs should I be aware of as a startup
and how can I minimize them?
Many entrepreneurs, when they first start out and they decide they’re going to do a startup,
they spend all of their time and their energy and their money on building the
product or building the idea that they had, and the biggest risk in that is to lose that,
and not having that customer market fit.
So, I would say that rather than spend the money building the product, take the time
to learn about the customer first and try and find that product market fit.
When you set out to learn more about the customer there’s some processes to follow and specific
ways of doing it.
It’s called “Customer Discovery” and that’s something you could look into to do
prior to doing a lot of work on the product or the solution.
All right, next question.
Let’s hope this is an easy one.
I started a business last year and am now working twelve hour days, seven days a week, barely sleeping enough to stay upright.
Sounds very familiar
Since it's a new business, I'm not yet making enough money to hire help. How can I balance the demands of my business
with everything else in my life?
All right, so that’s a great question, and I’ve been in this position.
I think almost all entrepreneurs have, and the challenges I think that a lot of people
have the misconception is that entrepreneurism equals risk, and the reality is that good
entrepreneurs look at risk in a different way and they evaluate the risk and they make
calculated decisions based on that.
Some of the risks we take as entrepreneurs are around how much time we put forward in
an idea or into our business, or how much money we’re willing to risk.
And it’s really important at the beginning to set boundaries around both of those things,
on the time you’re going to spend and the money you’re going to spend.
All right, next question.
For Calgarians dabbling with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, what do you think are the advantages
or challenges to starting a business in Calgary?
I love Calgary.
I’ve started all of my businesses in Calgary, and one of the things that I’ve noticed
is that a lot of entrepreneurs when they start out is that they believe that Calgary is their
market and the reality is, with technology and all that’s available to us is Calgary
is no longer the market.
The world is the market.
And I think if entrepreneurs can grasp that concept and break through that barrier you
can have a lot of success being based in Calgary, which is a great place to start a business.
All right, another question
I've had a business idea for awhile, but have no clue where to start. Where can I find some guidance, and what resources
are there for Calgarians entering entrepreneurship?
When I first started my first business in 1995, I came to the Calgary Public Library
to take out a book on entrepreneurship: "How to Start a Business"
There’s a lot of resources that have been built up over the years from some very good
organizations that are built to help entrepreneurs.
Some of the services in Calgary to help entrepreneurs include Platform Calgary, which services mostly
tech entrepreneurs but a broader audience as well.
The Calgary Public Library, which has more than books, they’ve got meeting spaces,
free Wi-Fi, free printing, and courses that can help you in growing your business.
All right, lets do another question.
What business books do you recommend reading for first-time entrepreneurs?
There’s a lot of great business books out there, and I’m sure you’ve heard of
"Good to Great," and "The Lean Startup," and those are excellent books.
But the two business books that I would highly recommend reading are:
"The Startup Owner’s Manual" by Steve Blank and the "Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki.
Thank you for submitting your questions.
Those are some very simple answers to some really complex questions, and you probably
have a lot more questions, especially if you’re starting out.
I encourage you to look at the Calgary Public Library and Platform Calgary.
Both offer some excellent programming and courses that you can look into, dig in deeper,
and get those questions answered as you start on your entrepreneurial journey.
Good luck to you!