Jul 27, 2020
Thirty thought leaders step up with profound insights, compelling ideas, and much-needed and deserved inspiration to help small business owners get to where they need and deserve to go.
In Series One, Small Business Matters personalized the stories of 10 small business owners so that we take their dreams and challenges personally. Why? Small business is the heart of our economy, and it is in our collective interest to keep them beating strong. In each episode, three thought leaders invested the time to learn their business and to offer their ideas. In this episode, I share some of their wisdom, thought leadership we can all benefit from.
Presented by RBC.
Mastering the
basics (01:36)
Dr Trung
Ngo advises Paul
Hemburrow in
Ep2, that by mastering the basics, he can better navigate his
challenges and increase his chances of success.
Finding the
silver lining (02:38)
In
Ep 4, Joe’s O’Brien’s whaleboat touring business battles to stay
afloat during COVID-19, but Alexandra
Blum and Ujwal
Arkalgud offer inspiring advice on where his next
opportunities lie, post COVID - if only he can hang in there.
Touch and
Taste (05:48)
Kristi Knowles, Mother Raw
(Ep
5)and Sheena Russell’s businesses, Made with Local, (Ep
10) both rely on “touch and taste”. Our experts, Andrew Black
and Darrell
Jones, share the importance of getting one's product into
consumers hands and encouraging them to share their great
experiences to build word of mouth.
Value
(06:42)
When talking to Paul
Hemburrow’s, at Health Hub Solutions, David
Kincaid defined value: "It's not what a product does, but what
it enables.” In
Ep 7, Joe Jackman,
believes that Jennifer
Menard, needed to communicate her value, taking credit for it
and finding the “tie-breaker”. For Lisa Taylor,
founder of Challenge
Factory, Kelly Peters
advised that she needed to clearly articulate what her customers
were going to get - their results.
Your point of
difference and telling your story (10:30)
In Ep
8, Chris
Barrett, CEO of Operatic, identified a key point
of difference Ernesto Gomezes needed to take advantage of. Duke Mackenzie,
shared his advice on the power of personalized storytelling.
Digital
marketing & fly fishing (13:19)
Chris Barrett and Sabrina
Geremia, VP & Country Director at Google, Canada shared their
advice on how digital marketing can power one's business. From
understanding your customers intent to using online reviews to
build trust and the need for your digital destinations to perform
speedily.
Narrow your
focus (15:27)
Eliminating redundancies, focussing on fewer opportunities and
overall, narrowing one's focus was shared by many of our experts.
Beverly
Hammond and Caroline Paxton
advised Lisa Taylor on where she could narrow her focus.
Broaden your
focus (16:48)
Additionally, many of our experts shared advice on broadening one's
focus. Increased revenue can be had by expanding one's
opportunities. Corby
Fine advised Traci
Shepheard as such in Ep 1.
In Ep
6 , Lisa
Kimmel, CEO of Edelman, Canada and Latin America encouraged
Carly
Shuler, Co-Founder of Hoot Reading to expand from
literacy to STEM. For Jennifer Menard, Stephen
Shaw recommended she broaden her offering to include other
services, such as security. Jeanne
Beker recommended François
Thériault, Co-Founder at Surmesur, expand his business into
woman’s wear. Nancy
Rooney, VP of PepsiCo, guided Kristi Knowles on where she could
expand her business and Bobby Sahni, Partner
& Co-Founder, Ethnicity Matters provided Sheena
Russell with ideas on expanding her product line to cater for
ethnic communities.
Not just a
bank - RBC’s depth of advice (20:38)
Caroline Paxton, provided our entrepreneurs with advice on all
things social media related. Laura
Davey, on the importance of cash flow; Laura Darlington
shared the role of scenario planning in ones business; Kellie
Sauriol planning and knowing ones financial situation is
key to engaging with your financial advisor; Jane
Henderson, displayed her depth of knowledge of the food
industry when advising Kristi Knowles; Eric
Leblanc, shared advice on the importance of understanding what
one is trying to achieve; Kiruba Sankar, on
the advantage of being a certified supplier; Kellie
Sauriol, the importance of budding credibility with your bank;
Lolita
Guerrera, compliments Francois on his quick pivot to save his
business; Sid
Paquette, advises Paul that being transparent allows financial
advisors to truly understand his issues.
Links and References
RBC Business page – https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/index.html
RBC COVID-19 Financial Relief page - https://www.rbc.com/covid-19/business.html
To get specialized support for your business, visit https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/advice/industry-expertise.html
Future Launch - https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/futurelaunch/index.html
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