Monthly Archives: November 2014

This is a response/commentary on Philip Monagan’s blog post titled “Moving Forward? The Keystone Debate Approaches its Conclusion”.

The issue of the Keystone pipeline ranges through many fields of discussion. From environmental, social, and economical issues, the Keystone pipeline pushes the limits of many. How does the creation of a new pipeline affect the triple bottom line of the company? Of the government? Of the people? Of the Environment?

The basics of the situation is that there will be huge monetary rewards with the potential of massive destruction to the environment. There are typically two political forces at work here as well; liberals tend to favour the environment while conservatives tend to favour the economy. This is a real toss up and situations can be decided just because one or the other political parties happens to be in power.

The oil pipeline debate is ongoing even in Canada. Generally regarded as a more liberal country there is a big push for pipelines. Canadians love their environment and do not like the idea of the potential spills, however, the government may be persuaded entirely by the economic benefits.

This debate is even happening in my hometown of Burnaby British Columbia! I am personally against it, I think that companies should have more safety plans in place and that the potential cost to the environment is still not outweighed by the economic benefits a pipeline may bring.

Philip’s Blog Post: http://blogs.ubc.ca/philipmonagan/2014/11/09/90/

I believe that the Social Enterprise are completely different. Even if the UN were fully funded, social enterprise and projects such as ARC would still be needed to ensure long-term development.

My theory on the development of countries is that they all have to undergo a period of industrialization. This allows the community in question to expand, export products, and generally produce income. As a company does well, the workers do well, and by extension families do well. Parents that do well generally spend their money on their children, especially for education.

This increased education then sets up the future generations to transition out of the industrialization into a more developed economy. Obviously this process takes a considerable amount of time and energy, but I believe that the ARC Initiative has the potential to help a lot of people for a long time.

The ARC Initiative’s tagline is that it is not a “let’s save Africa” project. While this may be a deterrent to the ordinary person who wants to participate in a charity, it, by the same token, attracts a much different audience that just wants to participate just as eagerly.

As the ARC Initiative helps set up businesses and educates people in its areas of work, it helps ensure long term self sustainability. This is because it is the constituents of these areas that are promoting change, fending for themselves, and providing a future for generations to come instead of an outside agency providing temporary change.

Further reading on the ARC Initiative: http://www.chnook.org/partner/the-arc-initiative/

Testimony on the ARC Initiative: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/going-global/in-a-crowded-market-ethiopian-entrepreneur-finds-a-sweet-way-to-stand-out/article17912688/

Response to LUC PARLANGE’S BLOG

After reading Luc’s blog I find myself agreeing and wanting to expand on other points. I agree with the idea that bigger firms must have some more general, financial incentives to satisfy their broad range of customers. Their customers are generally very diverse but there is also simply a large amount of them. In order to satisfy customers but also keep costs at a reasonable level, companies are forced to issue the financial incentives instead of building a personal relationship with its customers.

The second issue that is discussed is how to satisfy previously dissatisfied customers. I agree with timely intervention and contact with the customer after an unpleasant experience are essential for remedying the problem. I believe that once a company is generally established and has a customer base, there should be a focus to the retention of customers as opposed to acquiring new ones.

Obviously, companies should continue to expand their customer base, but for a company such as a telecommunications company such as Telus or Rogers customer retention should be a big priority. The cost of acquiring a customer is generally regarded as more costly because of all the promotional features that are provided to attract new people.

Luc Parlange’s blog: http://blogs.ubc.ca/lucparlange/2014/10/05/the-dissatisfied-customer/

Further reading on the subject: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexlawrence/2012/11/01/five-customer-retention-tips-for-entrepreneurs/ , http://www.contactme.com/blog/advice/why-its-easier-to-retain-current-customers-than-acquire-new-ones/

Commenting on the blog “5 Skills You Must Acquire Before You Can Lead” posted on www.entrepreneur.com by Kate McKay.

I normally do not like reading this style of list. I used to find the content not relatable and very general and at other times extremely obvious. I believe that what I was lacking was an understanding, or a real life example of how these qualities actually manifest themselves in people. After Class 18 with the Sauder Alumni, I gained a completely new understanding of how entrepreneurial qualities can be demonstrated in people and how they can be used in effective ways to create businesses.

Reading through the listed qualities one can clearly see how they relate to the entrepreneurs that came to speak. For example, the number two skill is to “be proactive rather than reactive”. Tom Dobrzanski is a perfect example. He saw an opportunity opening up in the market and reacted before other people realized. He also came through the challenges of building his own studios and negotiating with the municipality.

Jenny Duffy clearly portrays number 4: “Feel passion for what you do”. When Duffy was presenting I could really feel how much she loved what she was doing. She works so hard, takes on so much, because she has that passion carrying her the whole way.

Both entrepreneurs share the fifth quality “Being prepared to do what others won’t”. They both have created unique businesses and have put in more work than most people would be willing to. For me, that is the most inspirational part.

Tom Dobrzanski of Monarch Studios and the Zolas

Jenny Duffy – Vancouver Dance Choreographer

Blog Post by Kate McKay: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239365

Information on Tom Dobrzanski: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-money/business-funding/how-to-build-a-world-class-recording-studio-on-the-cheap/article4585699/

Information on Jenny Duffy: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/vancouver-student-turns-love-for-dance-into-thriving-business/article19240476

Images:

Tom Dobrzanski: http://theindiefiles.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/up-vertical_studios___christine_mcavoy1.jpg?w=440&h=240&crop=1

Jenny Duffy: http://www.jennyduffy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Jenny-Duffy-dark-headshot-1_cr.jpg

The Euro zone is an organization that consists of representatives from a great deal of European countries. Each of the countries in the Euro Zone such as Italy, Germany, France, Greece, and Spain all share a common currency called the “Euro”. The central bank that manages all these countries is called the European Central Bank (ECB). The complexity of the ECB’s task of managing a stable economy is incredible.

The Euro Currency Symbol

The European economy has been in trouble for some time now. This partly has to do with policy decisions in countries such as Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, where government debt has grown too high. The Euro zone has been in recession three times in the past six years and is in danger of doing so again because of slow growth and low inflation.

The struggle for a solution has run into some problems however with Germany and the ECB disagreeing of what the appropriate plan of action should be. Essentially, Germany wants countries to decrease their debts and the ECB wants countries to spend more in an effort to stimulate business.

There are obviously economic downsides to both plans however I believe that the Euro Zone should stick to Germany’s plan. Countries with such high levels of debt need to get it under control so they can provide for their people, get better credit ratings, and just generally be in a more stable position.

Extra reading on the situation: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/germany-ecb-policy-standoff-over-economy-worries-markets/article21152134/

Image: http://img.freepik.com/free-photo/euro-currency-symbol_318-41919.png?size=318&ext=png