In Comm 101 we’ve heavily discussed entrepreneurship and the challenges that come with it, as well as start-up businesses and the strategies that should be put in place to optimize success. Zach Berman and Ryan Slater are two young entrepreneurs with a classic entrepreneurial story.

Two years ago, with little background experience, the two 24 year-olds started selling juice out of a truck in Gastown. Their business was successful, and they have now expanded to create a bottled juice and juice cleanse business, and are looking towards opening their first retail location and production plant.

The success of their business has been greatly due to their willingness to experiment and learn from their mistakes. They saw their business not only in the present, but also paid close attention to their expectations five years down the road. They invested heavily in the marketing of their company, which has been a big part of their success.

The two entrepreneurs sought out advice from business foundations and mentors. They realized early on that something they should value most is customer input. They made sure to make customer connections and listen to their feedback, something we’ve learned is an important business tool from our Comm 101 discussions. Lee quotes Slater explaining that “it’s important to connect with individuals” (Lee). Lee also mentions that expansion into the juice cleansing market was “following customer feedback” (Lee).

Berman and Slater also realize that their success is not just driven by the quality of their product, but that a good value proposition is important as well. Slater explains that “we want to push our brand to be this health and wellness business rather than just juice-centric” (Lee).

For a good read on an inspiring and delicious entrepreneurial story, read Lee’s Vancouver Sun Article here.

Zach Berman and Ryan Slater show off their juice.

Starbucks founder and C.E.O. Howard Schultz stepped down from his position in 2000, only to see his company suffer immensely. This corporate suffering could have been caused by various factors, including rapid expansion, a focus on food rather than coffee, as well as generally difficult economic times.

Schultz could not let his company perish and eight years later he returned to the front line as C.E.O.. He made some changes: shutting down many U.S. stores and “ditching the stinky cheese breakfast sandwiches and bringing back the scent of java to the cafes” (Strauss).

Starbucks quickly soared back up to success, and although Schultz is reaching the ripe old age of 60, there have been no signs of retirement plans. The company is facing many challenges, most significantly aggressive competitors such as Tim Hortons and McDonald’s Cafe. Schultz is quoted in Strauss’s article explaining that “it’s harder today than at any other time in my 35-year career to maintain this kind of success at this level” (Strauss).

During one of our Comm 101 classes, we were discussing the importance of a business’s atmosphere, and analyzing the importance of the C.E.O.’s role in creating and maintaining that atmosphere. From what we can see in Starbuck’s case, the C.E.O. definitely played a big role in the resurgence of the company and its successful atmosphere. Whether the company will be able to succeed or not without the caffeine wonders of Shultz in years to come remains unknown. Strauss explains that “it’s clear that coffee, and cafe culture, is a passion for Mr. Schultz” (Strauss).

Read this Globe and Mail article here for more information on Starbucks and its C.E.O..

Howard Shultz, C.E.O., smiles proudly in front of the Starbucks logo.

Bringing together many business topics we have discussed in our Comm 101 class, such as social entrepreneurship and business ethics, this article describes a successful entrepreneur, Erin Fitzpatrick, who developed a company that makes customized jewelry and hair accessories for private girls schools and universities.

Fitzpatrick started her company in 2009 and currently employs two to four employees, depending on her workload. Social responsibility has always been an extremely important part of Fitzgerald’s business and “she ensures that her employees… are recognized for their accomplishments and allowed to express their creativity” (Smith).

But if Fitzgerald plans to continue growing her business, doing so may jeopardize her ability to continue ethical manufacturing as she will not be able to closely monitor the work environment. She realizes there are many ways to define ethical manufacturing, and she is not sure where to place her priorities or how to achieve her goals.

Three specialists weigh in on Fitzgerald’s problem and give her some expert advice, however, we Comm 101 students could easily do the same! As explained in the article, we know that ethical manufacturing can mean making sure that contractors are treating their employees well and paying them fairly, as well as using materials that are environmentally friendly and of good quality. The term can also involve giving back to the community by supporting charities or environmental causes.

Considering those varied definitions of ethical manufacturing, the three experts advised Fitzgerald to first look around for helpful information and advice from ethical business organizations as well as other companies who are already successful ethical manufacturers. They also advised her to visit the suppliers before picking one in order to experience the conditions first hand, and finally to consider potential ways to give back to the community.

For more details on this story, check out the Globe and Mail article here.

Erin Fitzpatrick’s company makes customized jewelry and hair accessories just like these headbands.

I greatly enjoyed the last Comm class (November 12th) we had that focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. I found our speaker, Coal Nakatoni, quite inspiring and full of advice. One recommendation on how to become a successful innovator or entrepreneur that I was most impressed with was to figure out what bothers you, and fix it. This trick immensely helped out my team when we were trying to come up with an entrepreneurial idea in our mini group activity.

Following that experience, this article really interested me. Daniel Robichaud is a successful entrepreneur from Montreal, and after effectively initiating and selling several start-up companies, he has a new business idea which originated from something that bothered both himself and many other internet users. The task he has embarked upon is to deal with the internet’s growing excessive amount of passwords.

PasswordBox Inc., an app that will keep track of your passwords, is already looking like a promising start-up business. The company has raised $6-million from ventures and investors, and has gained more than one-million active users since March. The app will store up to 25 passwords for an individual for free, and any more will cost a dollar per month. Although PasswordBox Inc. faces some competitors, they have several competitive advantages to make them number one. These include impressive security allowing the passwords to be “encrypted to the same standard used by the U.S. government” (Silcoff), as well as being an extremely user friendly app.

Daniel Robichaud is a good example of an entrepreneur who found something that bothered him, and decided to fix it. Check out the Globe and Mail article here.

Daniel Robichaud is a successful entrepreneur from Montreal with a new idea to pursue: PasswordBox Inc.

This article caught my eye because of the debate we had in class regarding what Netflix’s next move should be. I was on the side of streaming more popular movies, the direct opposite of what Cliff Edwards and Jonathan Erlichman’s Vancouver Sun article suggests.

Netflix realizes they have a multitude of growing competitors, including Amazon and Hulu LLC. Edwards and Erlichman claim “the company is racing to get and keep customers ahead of competitors” (Edwards et al.), and that providing a mix between their own material as well as already popular movies and t.v. shows will give them a competitive advantage to fight their competitors.

My two main concerns for this idea during our in-class debate were firstly costs, and secondly a concern for lack of demand. In my opinion, Netflix customers don’t really want to see Netflix’s own material, they want to see the popular new movies and t.v. shows that Hollywood has already heavily advertised, and that all their friends are discussing.

The C.E.O. of Netflix, Reed Hastings, shares my cost concern and is not happy that “analysts have suggested the company may raise its $7.99-a-month subscriber price” (Edwards et al.). However, the article suggests that there is a high demand for original Netflix content.

I am excited to follow this story in the news and to see which path Netflix ends up choosing… and to see which group in our Comm class was right! Check out the article here, and follow the story too!

Netflix is considering producing their own movies and t.v. shows.

I’m sure we all remember playing with Lego as a kid, maybe some of us even continue to build with the little blocks today.

Lego is over fifty years old; an impressive feat as it is baffling how a simple toy can successfully survive during this digital revolution our society is experiencing. How does Lego sustain itself amongst all the high-tech video games and digital entertainment? The answer lies in the company’s strategic tactics, a business topic we’ve often discussed in our Comm 101 class.

Although Lego has been substantially successful in the long run, they have encountered bumps along the way. A decade ago, Lego was on the verge of collapse. The company quickly realized their mistake and determined they were becoming too diversified. Michael McNally, brands relations director for Lego, states that “we lost our focus” (Lee). Lego had tried to make T-shirts, shoes, video games, books… and when their patent ran out in 1983, they lost their monopolistic advantage and McNally realized Lego “couldn’t sustain its diversified model” (Lee).

From then on, Lego realized their main goal should be creating customer loyalty by building a strong “customer community” (Lee). Since that realization, Lego has solely been creating bricks, focusing on their brand image. McNally claims the company has realized that “where we really benefit is from the heritage and nostalgia people have for the brand” (Lee).

For an interesting read and some cool pictures of Lego creations, check out Jenny Lee’s Vancouver Sun article “Lego continues to tap into the timeless appeal of imagination”.

Robin Sather, a professional Lego builder, stands next to his Lego pumpkin creation.

Twitter’s announcement in September that they would be filing for an IPO is a reoccurring headline in the News. I found this story interesting to research after our previous class discussing private and public companies, and the financial statements public firms are required to produce.

Twitter has recently provided the public with financial statements that have caused analysts to question the company’s future success on the Stock Market.

Twitter has approximately 200 million users, however, these users don’t provide any profit, leaving the company to rely on advertising as their main revenue source. In a recent Globe and Mail article, Omar Akkad wrote that this dependency on advertiser revenue presents a challenge for Twitter. Even though their revenue has grown substantially in the past several years, Akkad writes that “it’s not yet clear its growth trajectory is enough to translate into big profits” (Akkad). This statement is followed by a quote from a Sauder professor of finance, Kai Li, who claims that “looking at a valuation simply from a revenue perspective is a mistake” (Akkad). Twitter has valued itself between $10-billion and $13-billion according to the company’s filling.

It is interesting to read these statements and opinions and compare them with the ideas discussed in last week’s class that involved calculating share holders equity, and reviewing the ‘value’ of certain brands. I recommend that you check out some articles on this story: “The Short Message from Twitter’s IPO“, “Twitter Takes First Steps to go Public“.

As we’ve been learning many strategies in class for creating and sustaining businesses, including brand positioning, financing, and constructing business plans, the Globe and Mail article ‘The True Secret to Business Success’ by Lisa Bell caught my eye.

The article states that an important trait in a successful entrepreneur is resilience: “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change” (Bell). This statement makes excellent sense. From class, we know that there are numerous aspects to consider when running a company. Management must always be considering threats, opportunities, and must be constantly working on improving. Most industries are extremely competitive, and mistakes can have huge consequences. Mistakes may cause misfortunes such as missed opportunities, higher expenses, or reduced revenues, and entrepreneurs must be able to quickly bounce back from such setbacks.

Bell goes on to describe five tips she believes will help to develop entrepreneurial
resilience, including refining decision making abilities, using the ’10-10-10 test’ to determine the short-term and long-term consequences of decisions, as well as staying positive and being grateful for the good parts of the business.

I encourage you to check out her article and read more about Bell’s observations. There are lots of helpful pointers for the future entrepreneurs out there!

Many are keen to discover the key to entrepreneurial success…

New technology can be a threat for many companies. An example we’ve seen in class would be Blackberry’s financial problems because they couldn’t compete with the innovation of competitors. One industry threatened by new technology is media, such as the Television and Newsprint companies struggling with online video streaming and news being easily accessible and free. Faced with threatening competitors with state-of-the-art technology, media companies are feeling the pressure.

But not everyone! In her article, Mia Pearson writes of companies learning how to fit in to their changed industries. This is an excellent example of companies recognizing and overcoming threats, which we’ve learned is an important role of management. Pearson explains that several establishments have succeeded in combining ‘old’ and ‘new’ forms of media and are attempting to make them more interactive for their audience. One example is Coca Cola, who allowed viewers of a TV commercial to be live on the add by using a hashtag on twitter.

New technology is threatening many companies, but with the right creativity, the menacing threat can turn into an empowering opportunity.

Coca-Cola combines Twitter and Television to interact with their advertising audience.

An advertising strategy many companies turn to is the use of current events to advertise merchandise, allowing consumers to feel a connection with the company and product. This method can be beneficial, but there is risk involved. Companies have to be extremely careful with which current events they refer to, as some references can be seen as unethical.

In her article, Susan Krashinsky reports incidents where companies have gone too far with their references. One recent marketing strategy gone wrong was companies posting on social media that they were ‘remembering’ the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, such as the phone company AT&T, however the posts seemed more like they were using the twelfth anniversary of the tragedy to promote their products.

The article recounts other incidents where companies have made unethical references to current events, such as the riots in Egypt and the potential attacks on Syria.

The use of connections to the media can be a valuable marketing strategy, but companies must be careful with how far they take these references. Misusing this strategy can lead to unhappy consumers and bad company publicity. Personally, I find that the use of the memory of the 9/11 tragedy makes companies seem naive and disrespectful, even if they intended the comment to be genuine and caring.