Amplify Your Business

Amplify Your Business Tradle

For Episode 178 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Blyth Gill, the founder and CEO of Tradle. Tradle strives to make parenting easier for parents of young children who tend to outgrow clothes very quickly, often before they’ve even had the chance to wear them. So instead of buying clothes, Tradle allows parents to have high quality clothes with the convenience of being able to return them and not worry about where they go after their children have outgrown them. They are keeping clothes in circulation as long as possible, reducing the need to always be manufacturing more clothes. 
 
Tradle helps parents have a convenient clothing system of constantly circulating clothing for their children, while also helping brands keep their items in circulation as long as possible. It pushes brands to make clothing more durable and last for a long time. It’s the opposite of the new fast fashion trend while focusing on sustainability and durability, and taking some of the stress out of new parenthood.To learn more, visit the Tradle website or check them out on Instagram.
 
00:00 - Intro
01:25 - Can you tell the audience what you think three key things are that every entrepreneur should know?
03:52 - In terms of your business and your experience right now with Tradle, can you speak a bit more, what have you experienced from the ecosystem of small business support we’re seeing in cities across Canada?
05:30 - Tell me a little bit about Tradle. What problem does Tradle address?
07:26 - How do you address this idea of fast fashion, and manufacturers not wanting to create long-lasting pieces as it doesn’t benefit them if people aren’t coming in to buy more pieces?
08:49 - How does Tradle differ from clothing rental models we’ve seen cropping up recently?
10:29 - Can you talk to us a little about how the revenue share business model is going to work for Tradle?
15:02 - How does Tradle’s value prop differ from what parents have already been doing in the hand-me-down economy?
17:48 - If you could write a letter to yourself from before you started your entrepreneurial journey, what would that letter say?
19:52 - As an entrepreneur, how do you prepare for the roller coaster of emotions, challenges, ups, and downs that entrepreneurship brings?
 21:58 - If you could go back in time, and do some things differently in terms of your entrepreneurial journey, what would you do differently?
24:29 - Have you been able to embed your core values into your own company culture yet?
25:16 - Do you have any plans right now to try to incorporate your core values into your company culture?
27:17 - What does success look like to you? How do you define success?
28:46 - If someone wanted to connect with Tradle, or with you directly, how could they do that?
30:45 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Edmonton Unlimited

For Episode 177 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Catherine Warren, the CEO of Edmonton Unlimited. Edmonton Unlimited has a singular purpose: to unite a globally recognized innovation community in order to create jobs and contribute to Edmonton’s enduring economic vitality, resiliency, and identity. They do this through connecting both established businesses and startups with the resources and programs they need to learn, grow, scale, and thrive in a supportive and innovative community.
 
Whether you’re a student with a business idea or an established business looking to scale, Edmonton Unlimited has the resources to help you achieve those dreams.To learn more, visit the Edmonton Unlimited website, and stay tuned to Amplomedia for more information about Launch Party 13, happening this Thursday!
 
00:00 - Intro
00:43 - Can you tell me three things that you think every startup entrepreneur should know?
03:41 - If a startup comes to Edmonton Unlimted and takes advantage of all of the resources you have available, do you then connect them to this broader range of services offered to Startups in the City of Edmonton?
4:55 - How do you define a startup?
6:48 - How many organizations do you work with at any given time?
7:42 - Is there a cost for businesses to participate in any of the programs at Edmonton Unlimited?
9:24 - Can you tell me about the event you are hosting on Thursday night?
11:52 - What are the different challenges startups versus established businesses face?
15:19 - From your perspective, what is it that startups generally get wrong from a marketing perspective?
19:43 - How would you encourage a business to not get caught into too small of an echo chamber when they’re doing social listening and customer outreach?
23:14 - Do you have a sense as to how many startups there are in the Edmonton region?
27:09 - Could you list two or three businesses that have come through your doors that have made a profound impact in Edmonton?
31:13 - What is the best way for people to learn more about what’s happening with Launch Party 13 and everything else going on at Edmonton Unlimited?
32:45 - What excites you most about the position that you have as the CEO of Edmonton Unlimited?
34:47 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Business Link

For Episode 176 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Paul Cataford, the executive director at Business Link. Business Link is a government-funded non-profit that offers business advice, business plan reviews, market research, networking events, workshops and webinars, and helps with government grants to small businesses and entrepreneurs in Alberta. For 25 years they’ve been working with small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them get up and running or provide advice and a push in the right direction to those who’ve become lost in the overwhelm.
 
Two of the newest programs that Business Link has become involved with are the DEP and the CDAP. The DEP, or Digital Economy Program, helps small businesses learn to operate in the digital age by teaching entrepreneurs how to use the tools available to them to launch eCommerce websites, put their businesses on the map, and build a thriving social media presence. The CDAP, or Canadian Digital Adoption Program is a micro-grant of $2400 to help entrepreneurs and small businesses deploy eCommerce capabilities.
To learn more, visit Business Link today.
 
00:00 - Intro
01:08 - If you could give three pieces of advice to entrepreneurs, what would they be?
02:43 - How long have you been in the entrepreneurial ecosystem?
06:11 - Can you tell me a bit about closing your business?
13:23 - What role is Business Link going to have in supporting new entrepreneurs and the growth of existing ones?
17:37 - What do you think are some of the key things that are going to help businesses become more resilient?
23:30 - If you could bend the ear of our next premier, what would you advocate for in terms of programs or tools to help support entrepreneurs?
30:56 - How do we get information about these programs and the kind of advice you give to the right people who need it?
34:47 - How do we reach the people who work full-time jobs but also have their own side hustle?
40:40 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Givens LLP

For Episode 175 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jessica Harquail, a partner at Givens LLP. Givens LLP is a future-focused accounting firm, based in Edmonton, Alberta, with three offices across the province. They strive to empower entrepreneurs to build profitable, scalable businesses with their innovative technology, business know-how, and solutions-driven thought leadership.
 
Jessica speaks about dreaming big, knowing your end game, and why partnerships make specific industries - such as law and accounting firms - successful, and how other industries can use partnerships to scale their own businesses. To learn more, visit the Givens LLP website.
 
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
04:48 - How long have you been a partner at Givens LLP?
05:07 - Can you tell me a little bit about Givens LLP and what you do?
08:12 - When you’re onboarding a new client, what are some of the commonalities you tend to discuss in terms of business growth?
10:09 - What are some of the common mistakes you see entrepreneurs make?
13:05 - When you entered into the accounting profession, was it always your intention to become a partner?
14:23 - If you think back to before you became a partner to now, how has your definition of success changed?
17:39 - Why do you think some industries - such as accounting firms and law firms - have business structures that include partners, while others don’t?
19:11 - What advice do you have for other businesses regarding leveraging partnerships within their company?
22:55 - How do you determine how many partners a firm should have and who should be elevated to partnership?
24:38 - To bring on a new partner, what needs to happen?
26:41 - Is bringing on new partners part of the Givens LLP growth strategy?
28:04 - If you were to write a letter to yourself the day that you became a partner, what is in that letter?
29:22 - If you had a million dollars right now, what do you do with it in terms of the business?
30:52 - Speaking of technology to automate workflows, how fearful are you of AI?
35:42 - What’s the best way for people to connect with you?
35:57 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Signature Guest Zack Storms

For Episode 174 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Zack Storms, the founder and Chief Organizer at Startup TNT. Startup TNT is an organization of like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and community supporters who meet every week to network, have fun, share their stories, and help build companies. 
 
Since 2019, Startup TNT’s weekly Thursday night happy hours have led to 50 startups raising $7 million from over 200 angel and venture capital investors. 
 
Startup TNT - which stands for Thursday Night Tradition, an homage to Zack’s weekly gatherings - has between 25 to 35 startup applications each year, as well as 25 to 35 investors. The investors will screen the applicants and select a top 20. That top 20 will have an opportunity to pitch their businesses at the Top 20 Pitch Night, and afterwards, they each go through due diligence where every week some will get eliminated while others will move on. At the end, they have a finale where the top 5 companies pitch again, and the investors make their decisions live at the finale. Each year, at least one applicant receives an investment on Finale night, but typically, they’ll see two or three investments.
 
This year, the Top 20 Pitch Night is being held on October 6th, and the finale will be held on November 17th. To learn more, visit startuptnt.com.
 
00:00 - Intro
00:59 - What do you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
03:52 - What was the reason behind starting Startup TNT?
08:00 - How many startups have you seen receive investments since TNT’s inception?
09:14 - What’s the business model for Startup TNT?
12:17 - The shift from academia to entrepreneurship, was that something that you always aspired to?
14:30 - In working with all the startups that have come through the program, what could you have done differently that would have made your first company a success?
16:15 - After having companies fail when you first started, is there anything that you know now that you would have done differently back then?
18:26 - Did you have a vision for what Startup TNT was going to be back when you first started the happy hours?
21:31 - How did you carve out the space that you found yourself in, in this larger ecosystem?
24:45 - What made you choose to make Startup TNT a not-for-profit organization?
27:29 - What does the future hold for Startup TNT?
29:32 - What do you think are some of the biggest challenges to the entrepreneurial lifestyle that entrepreneurs run into?
31:41 - As an entrepreneur, how do you manage a good work-life balance?
35:21 - Do you have anything you want to say to our listeners?
36:21 - Outro

Amplify Your Business Forward Slash Summit

For Episode 173 of Amplify Your Business, we ventured out to the Forward Slash Summit on September 28th to experience the future of Edmonton’s economy first-hand (and maybe a glass of champagne or two along the way.)
 
Forward Slash is committed to “radically transforming and growing the economy of the Edmonton region.” With efforts to bring together local experts first undertaken during the early days of the pandemic, it was incredible to be rewarded for our patience with an industry-spanning event that could only be described as a big splash.
 
This episode was not only filmed on site, but it provides unique outlooks from a diverse group of entrepreneurs, business owners, and politicians. There’s a lot to unpack, but we hope you come out of it with even a fraction of the excitement we did!
 
To learn more about the summit and its mission, visit Forward Slash online.
 
00:00 - Intro
00:27 - Mustafa Sahin, VP of Investment and Trade at Edmonton Global
05:46 - Catherine Warren, Ceo of Edmonton Unlimited
09:37 - Lisa Baroldi, President and CEO of Boma Edmonton
16:01 - Mallory Yawnghwe, Founder and CEO of Indigenous Box Inc
21:26 - Keren Tang, City of Edmonton, Karhio Ward Councillor
23:46 - Ian Wahl, Managing Owner of Alternate Route Coffee Co
28:38 - Outro

Amplify Your Business NACO Commercial Property Solutions

For Episode 172 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Nadine and Franco Dookhoo, co-owners of Naco Commercial Property Solutions, a company that employs a team of knowledgeable experts to get down and dirty to keep commercial properties running smoothly and cleanly, so their owners don’t have to. Whether it’s snow removal, parking lot maintenance, landscaping, window washing, building clean outs, or anything in between, Naco has it covered.To learn more, visit Naco’s website at https://nacosolutions.com/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:10 - What are three pieces of knowledge that you think every entrepreneur should know?
03:45 - Can you give us a little background as to what Naco does?
06:09 - What have you learned along the way in your 16 year entrepreneurial journey?
09:46 - If either or both of you were to write a letter to your younger selves, what would the letter say?
13:54 - Do you ever have any hesitancy with collecting payment from clients who may be late making them?
17:35 - As business partners who are married, how do you two make it work?
21:09 - Do you see a lot of staff turnover in your business?
23:54 - What is your strategy for working employee ownership into your business?
27:54 - So your strategy is communicate with employees to find out who is wanting to grow within the business and then train them into senior roles and profit sharing?
31:29 - What is going to be the key to your successful growth?
34:26 - What does success look like for you?
40:43 - Outro

Amplify Your Business StrategyPeak

For Episode 171 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Kurian Tharakan, the founder and Managing Director of StrategyPeak Sales & Marketing Advisors. Kurian has been in the business for decades, and when he’s not sitting across the table from companies providing them with sage marketing and sales advice, he’s investing in budding entrepreneurs, and writing books, like his 2020 work The 7 Essential Stories Charismatic Leaders Tell.To learn more, read Kurian’s book and visit the StrategyPeak website.
 
00:00 - Intro
01:08 - If you could give entrepreneurs three pieces of advice, what would they be?
03:41 - Tell us about StrategyPeak and what inspired you to found this company.
06:45 - What motivated you to start a strategy company?
13:51 - What are the key things you see in entrepreneurs that you wish to invest in?
18:16 - Where do you see the ship go off track most often with entrepreneurs?
25:14 - The best thing about digital marketing is the ability to personalize the message specifically to demographics or individuals.
30:11 - Can you explain more about this mathematical system you’ve built around marketing and strategy?
33:26 - Where can people find your book and how can they contact you?
34:32 - Outro