The Fine Art of Seeing Problems as Opportunity

My original intention when I started “I’m a Millionaire. So Now What,” was to create a space where I could share inspirational stories, practical strategies and fun frank advice for self-made millionaires, entrepreneurs and their families. This is your place to be unapologetically wealthy. We're are all here to celebrate you, and each other.

But.

We all had to start somewhere, yes? So, Self Made Nation, while my focus remains on self-made millionaires and entrepreneurs, I also want to expand my net slightly – and introduce you to interesting start-up owners with fascinating and inspirational stories to tell.

The Curse of Knowledge

We all can fall into the “curse of knowledge” trap. Where we are so painfully familiar with something (experience, event, product, story, you name it) that we forget what it’s like to not have that knowledge. What to you is so simple, is to others quite difficult.

You might have started your thriving business years and years ago, and have forgotten the anxiety and frustration of dealing with financing. You might have had product launches fail multiple times before you hit that homerun, but can’t recall exactly what you did to adapt or evolve your approach.

And, with Covid-19 throwing our economy into a coma (from which we are slowly awaking, granted, but there are still no guarantees), you might have been – or still are – struggling yourself at the moment, from a business perspective.

That’s why these stories, these experiences, are so vital to keep sharing within our community. The goal of any healthy community is to grow. So, let’s welcome the start-ups as they begin their journey toward joining the Self Made Nation!

Meet Roderick Costain

Roderick Costain has developed a super-cool product – integrated solar panelling for residential homes. The founder and CEO of RoCo Industries. With a background in chemistry, project management, and construction he’s providing a new option for net-zero homes. He grew up working for his father’s construction company, helping build homes and attending every event that showcased the latest technologies in homebuilding.

After a 25-year career in chemistry, he was able to bring his interest in environmentally friendly, net-zero homes to fruition. His integrated solar siding is an insulated siding product that saves on your heating bill and a solar tile that generates electricity to save on your electricity bill.

His initial goal when developing his product was to create a highly scalable technology that could also be used in a range of other products. As he says, in classic Self Made Nation style, “I've always kind of had this idea of becoming an entrepreneur and starting up my own business and with all the trend toward net zero, I saw an opportunity to solve a problem.”

We talked generational influence, net zero homes, and how a guy with 25 years working in chemistry became a start-up owner!

And he also shared important lessons learned while navigating the financial side of starting a business.

Net Zero What? And Why?

“Net zero basically is a building that can be energy self-sufficient. It produces all the power that it consumes - net zero is just about energy. And as far as that goes, currently, we don't have an NCR standard. What we have is a planned change of regulations to require buildings to become net zero ready by 2025 and net zero by 2030. And what's, of course, driving it is climate change and stuff like that. So, we're maybe a little bit early on the market with our kind of products. It's not, “quote” required yet. But there's definitely a lot of interest in sustainability. There's a lot of interest in energy self-sufficiency, and people are becoming more aware of options - and I hope my solar siding is a good option for people!”

True Entrepreneurial Spirit: Seeing Problems as Opportunity

“Watching my dad run his construction company, and then helping him build homes and neighborhoods and such, I liked his self-determination. I like the concept of being able to be a self-made type person, not relying on someone else for your paycheck. His mentality was, he is not just about himself, it was about providing opportunities for others who wanted to work for him and creating something that was impactful to other people. And I identify with a lot of those themes. I've always had it in the back of my mind while I was being a chemist and working in various jobs, to kind of get back into that lifestyle. I've always kind of had this idea of becoming an entrepreneur and starting up my own business and with all the trend toward net zero, I just saw an opportunity to solve a problem - that is, there's very few products on the market other than solar panels, and, you know, there's Tesla rooftop tiles, there's very few solar producing products on the market as a building material. And I just felt with my background in construction, and science, that I could solve that problem.”

Biggest Lesson Learned?

“If I could do it again, I would spend less time trying to pitch my company, so to speak, to attain pre income finance and angel investment because, in hindsight, I spent a lot of time doing that. What I should have focused on was just simply business development and what I'm doing now. And that is, I'm self-financed to the point where when my product’s going to get to market all on my own dime, and once we start scaling and start having income, then I can attract actual legitimate, not sure what the right word is there, but I can attract investors. You learn as you go, you're told different things by different advisors. You expect challenges. I never expected this to be easy. And I had a pretty good flavor or understanding of how to run an existing company based on my dad and his experiences. But a startup company with new technology is a very different beast to wrestle.”

The Power of Networking

“One thing that I find is fun is the power of your [the Self Made Nation’s] network. I didn't emphasize that enough. Early on in my business development, I was trying to be secret, trying to develop in a bubble, because I didn't really want competitors on the market too soon. However, that should not have prevented me from networking, which it did! I thought, ‘Oh, I can't network yet.’ I should have. And so, the fun part that I've learned is, is the value of the people, the community around you. And I really enjoyed getting to know the various other startup founders in the city, the ones that are established. I've enjoyed going into the various startup communities and seeing what they do and learning from them. And to me, that would be both the fun fact and a bit of advice, in that you can never start networking too early. Because there's a lot of people out there who are truly valuable people as people.”

I hope you can have a listen to the entire episode. And whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to exit, or perhaps a business or start-up owner who has already exited, or an entrepreneur at the helm of a thriving business, I would love to talk with you about your stories! You can drop me a line here.

Plus, if you are craving like-minded conversation with growth-oriented business owners, consider joining me and eight other business owners, investors and entrepreneurs for our next two editions of Elevated Conversations are coming up in September – watch this space for more details!

“I’m a Millionaire. So Now What?” is brought to you by Double to Sell - Canada's Premier Invitation-ONLY workshop for business owners wanting a cash-rich exit in 10 years or less. For more information, or to register, please visit the “Double to Sell” website.