On Tuesday’s class, three Sauder Alumni were invited as guest speakers to answer questions from students. They were  Paul Davidescu, the founder of Tangoo, Paul Gill who started Naked Coconut and Jennifer Martin who started SIP Soda. All of them patiently answered students’ questions and explained their company’s business models , how they dealt with the difficulties and how they felt as entrepreneurs. The followings are my takeaways from that class. 

It is never too late to start a business. Jennifer Martin started her business when she was retired. I was shocked when I heard it since I always thought only the ” young blood” is qualified for these demanding tasks. Jennifer mentioned how she started to make her own type of drink in the kitchen and did all the market research by herself. She took care all the tasks and did what should be done by a team. I guess when people found what their pursuit, they will  devote themselves into what they really love, let along their ages.

How to establish competitive advantage. When Paul Gill decided to start a new company. He first brainstormed an idea which turned out to be coconut oil in the food industry. Then through his research, he discovered Canada had a huge market.  After that, he started to produce products  and found out the coconut sauce was the most popular product. He then quickly established coconut sauce as its star product and began to produce a large quantity of them. In addition, Paul also gave the company an “naked” image. In the company’s website,  health and originality of the products were emphasized as the website mentioned” We will be honest about our products- from the processes that go into them to their health benefits”. The preparation Paul did before he entered the market and how he established the brand’s image and star products were essential for the business to be successful. To find out what the competitors lack or do not have and establish competitive advantage accordingly is what Paul had done. He mentioned how everyone lied in the industry and he decided to go contrary  to give the company a very stand-out image.