A Creative Entrepreneurship Conference held at the Harriston Community Centre boasted a line up of speakers that left everyone in attendance talking after each session, town officials state.
“Speakers like this all in one room is never seen even at large conferences. To have it in Minto where we don’t have to drive far to see them, is amazing,” stated Joe McLaughlin of Harriston-based McLaughlin Financial.
The day began with a leynote address by Gregory Smith entitled “Specific Intent.”
Smith explained why it is so important for entrepreneurs to have a clear plan on where they want to go and what they want to get from their business. After years of trying job after job and business after business, it was with the help of a key business mentor that Gregory was able to learn how to harness his abilities and become a successful speaker and motivator.
As part of Gregory’s keynote address, he made it clear that an entrepreneur can’t be successful unless surrounded by successful people.
“Seek out people that will help you grow your business,” he urged.
Stephanie Keeping from SpaceshipsandLaserbeams.com shared her of leaving corporate job she had to drive over an hour to get to, in order to become self employed and work from home. Her main motivation was to be more involved in raising her son on a daily basis. In the course of parenting she realized there were no online printable items like birthday party invitations aimed at boys. Today she is the only blog and store on Etsy that offers these items.
Julian Bayley and his late wife formed Ice Culture in Hensall, 31 years ago. From this small, rural Ontario town they now ship ice sculptures and ice lounges all over the world.
The 2008 recession however forced them to revisit everything they do. Without a clear plan and a willingness to change their business operations they would have lost everything when there business dropped 60 per cent in 2008-2009. More focused offerings, new services such as plant tours and customer service turned Ice Cultures into a company that boasts clients in over 50 countries world wide. Companies such as Disney have hired IceCultures to create a 50 foot Disney Castle in Times Square in NYC and Canadian Tire’s Ice Truck has been deemed the most successful marketing campaign ever for the Canadian company.
Seth Partridge helped everyone understand that chasing a dream and making it a reality is achievable. After bouncing around for a few years unsure of which passion he wanted to pursue, drumming, leadership or programming, he found a place where he could combine his passions at Intrigue Media, a Guelph company with a culture that includes weekly leadership sessions around a table to discuss leadership books, blogs and ideas, JungleHeat
After the loss of their best friend life took a dramatic shift for Ron and Adrienne Kelly from Oshawa. A trip that was meant to give them a simpler life ended up being a life altering journey that created an award winning Hot Sauce. A few years later and nearly 50 awards later the couple has taken the business they started in the heart of Costa Rica and returned to Canada after 7 years in South America living a dream to run a dream business. Today they tour around in a decked out hearse and and ship bottles of hot sauce by the shipping container throughout the world. The story was inspirational and demonstrated that success can be found and implemented from any where in the world. A trip that began with no plan, a business that began with no plan has resulted in a couple that is closer than ever and a business with seven stores and a growing distribution business world wide.
The afternoon sessions began with details on how businesses in Guelph and Wellington County can start, grow and thrive by Innovation Guelph CAO Jamie Doran. Focused around the Speedway program Innovation Guelph is not only helping businesses start but helping to ensure they grow and develop and succeed long term. So far to date the Speedway program has helped 515 companies, helped get $12M in investment.
Ward and Uptigrove principal John Padfield offered advice on how a business can be structured, financed and succeed in this area.
A presentation on online marketing and social media by Collingwood-based WordJack was also part of the conference.
The event was sponsored by Launchit Minto, Guelph-Wellington Business Entrprise Centre and the Saugeen Economic Development Corporation.
