Last night I had the privilege of attending a special dinner event to launch the Ember Business Exchange. Ember is Ontario’s first entrepreneurial hub for women, providing entrepreneurs with opportunities for engagement with a community of colleagues, collaborators, mentors, prospects and funding channels – in other words, acting as the catalyst to igniting their entrepreneurial spirit.
Following a delicious dinner and witty presentations from their sponsors (Modu Design Communications being a personal favourite), the evening featured Heather White & Lori Joyce – who you may know as Victoria BC’s CupCake Girls – as they gave us a play-by-play of their entrepreneurial journey towards success.
As I listened to Heather & Lori banter back and forth about their frustrations and successes along the way, I looked around the room and realized that every entrepreneur was re-living their own frustrations and successes vicariously through them. No matter what you are in the business of doing – whether you’re providing a service or a good; running your own dental practice or your own bakery, the foundations of a solid business plan, professional advice along the way and sales fundamentals are common languages amongst all industries.
Just last week, I shared my entrepreneurial experience as an Investment Advisor as a coach for Ember’s Real World Coaching event providing honest advice and guidance to entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes in a “speed coaching” type format. At first, I was concerned that I would be stumped by an industry-specific problem but business owner after business owner, the same theme kept surfacing – most entreprenurs are so passionate and consumed in their business that they look past the business plan, forgetting to run the business - or even worse - are so passionate about their business that they aren't willing to delegate anything and try to do everything on their own - from crunching the taxes to changing the light bulbs.
These past two weeks reminded me of the value in professional advice and how much of a difference it can make – emphasizing how proud I am to know that I have the expertise and resources within my team to help those seeking the professional guidance they need to achieve success – however success might be defined.
If you are a business owner or thinking about becoming one, the decisions you make will have far-reaching implications – not only for your business, but also for yourself and your family. Click here for a great article outlining 10 key decisions you need to make to ensure the success of your business.
Enjoy the weekend.
D.
Dian Chaaban
Investment & Wealth Advisor
Chaaban Wealth Management Group
416.842.4234