Jeff Golfman (Plan-It Recycling), Ash Modha (Mondetta), and Robynne Anderson (Issues ink) were the featured speakers at a presentation attended by about 50 people November 3, 1993, at the University of Manitoba.
"Entrepreneurship - Capture the Spirit", sponsored by the Career Resource Centre, offered insight into the increasingly popular field of entrepreneurship. In addition to the speakers, an information display was provided by various agencis involved in business development.
Jeff Golfman, 25, founder of the successful Plan-It Recycling Inc., started out operating a Winnipeg-based pool cleaning business. During the winter months he pursued a business degree at the University of Western Ontario.
After "stumbling onto the environmental movement", he researched and developed a business plan for a curbside recycling operation. Plan-It Recycling, now three years old, employs 55 people and is expected to generate over $1 million in sales this year. The service diverts over 350 tons of product per month out of Winnipeg's landfill and services 12,300 homes, a number that is increasing rapidly.
"Definition of opportunity:" Golfman said, "find an industry where prices are high and customer satisfaction is low."
"We did a survey and found that 85% of the people wanted to recycle and would recycle but it wasn't convenient, and if it was convenient, they would be prepared to do it," he said.
Golfman suggested to listeners that the direction government and the economy are taking is beneficial. "Those are creating a lot of opportunities...it's just a shift, a cycle."
"We were able to come in as a private company and provide a service that the government normally does," said Golfman, pointing to health care, education, and infrastructure renewal as other areas of opportunity.
On the pros and cons of owning his own business, he said, "When you're an entrepreneur, there's ups and there's downs...One day you're in the best mood, the next day you're in the worst mood."
Ash Modha, president and partner of the Winnipeg company Mondetta, considers passion vital to entrepreneurship. WHat is required, he says, is "the passion to take something from nothing and make it something, take it from an embryonic stage and sustain it."
Mondetta, which means "small world", began as a promotional goods business in 1987. Modha and his partners set up shop on the beach, selling T-shirts and sweatshirts to the university crowd. But something was missing; sales were terrible and competition was tough.
"Awareness" was the key, said Modha. The next weekend, Mondetta sponsored a skateboard team demonstration. "They were really lousy," he admitted, however, several hundred people gathered to watch and Mondetta sold $10,000 worth of product that weekend.
Modha and his partners progressed from direct retail to agent distribution, starting in western Canada. They developed their uniquely embroidered sweatshirts which, despite an initial skeptical reaction from retailers, met with huge success.
Expansion is a primary concern in the clothing business. "We have to open up new markets," said Modha. "Now we've come to a point where we've sustained the business, we're growing, but we're not doing it in the territories where we started."
Mondetta, now with distribution in the United States, Japan, and Italy, has challenged the myth the Canadians are not internationally competitive. "If you have a good product, you can sell it anywhere. We're starting to ship Canadian products - made in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - to Italy, the fashion capital of the world," said Modha.
Modha admitted that the entrepreneur lives in constant fear of going broke or losing out to the competition. Nevertheless, he believes "the more scared you are, the harder you try."
Robynne Anderson, founder and principle of Issues ink, started up her home-based company in 1991 in Winnipeg. She contracts out her services to clients in the business world, offering expertise in communications and public affairs.
Anderson, who graduated from Carleton University with a history degree, strongly believes in a liberal arts education. "You'll find that an ability to write, to think, and to research is still a very valuable asset in any form of business," she said.
After working in Ottawa for the federal government, she returned to Winnipeg to take up a contract position in 1990.
She soon discovered that "the employer's idea of full-time work was not (hers)" and renegotiated the contract into a part-time arrangement. She has since then developed a broad client base to whom she provides various services.
Issues ink, as her company name came to be called, offers basic communication services, events management, and issues management. The communications services include preparation of press releases, articles and newsletters and also major report writing, speechwriting, and research.
Events management includes "everything from the weird to the wonderful", from organizing press conferences to major conventions. Anderson was recently contracted to organize "Gallery on the Avenue", which promotes Manitoba artwork on Portage Avenue.
Anderson describes issues management as her favorite area of work. Clients hire her to asses public response to and practical implications of public policy proposals. The analysis, research and liaison work is "challenging, and really quite exciting", said Anderson.
"I believe a large reason for the success of my enterprise is the fact that I'm part of the growing trend toward home-based businesses and contracting out of services", she said.
The advantages to having a home-based business range from flexible work schedules to personal security and comfort. "The only downside," she said, "is that clients grow used to 24 hour access...I've been known to receive phone calls well into the late hours and the next morning be woken by a client calling from the east at 6:30 a.m."
Anderson encouraged the audiennce to "investigate the possibilities before opting into the conventional workforce."
Following their presentations, the three speakers addressed questions and concerns from the audience. Information displays set up by the Federal Business Development Bank, the provincial government, the University of Manitoba's Entrepreneur Club and the Career Resource Centre provided additional details on small business development programs and other services available to entrepreneurs.
Career News Questions and
Answers
Q. When I was in high school, I did some computerized career
testing. I did not find the results to be helpful as I had no interest in
the career paths identified as possible matches for me. It has been
suggested that I take some tests again. Would there be any advantage to
this? Do the results change over time?
A. Since the high school years are a major transition time for most people, it's quite possible that you may have gone through some significant changes since coming to university and that you might get better results from career tests now. However, two things are really important if you plan on taking career tests.
First, be sure you answer questions about yourself spontaneously and as honestly as you can. Don't try to second guess the meaning of questions, for example.
Second, it's really important to spend time with a career counsellor after taking tests so that you can get the full benefit of your results. Each career test attempts to assess something about you (your interests, personality, values, etc.), but most people need help integrating all this information and relating it to appropriate careers. This is a very difficult decision, so get all the help that you can from the career staff at the Student Counselling and Career Centre.
Q. I am currently sending out resumes to employers as I will be graduating in May of 1994. I have been including a cover letter with each resume, addressed "To whom it may concern". A friend recently told me that a cover letter should always be addressed to a specific person. Is this true?
A. First of all, you should be commended for starting your search now, even though your graduation date is months away. Many students wait until shortly before or immediately after their graduation dates before they start looking for work.
Your friend has given you sound advice - a cover letter should always be personally addresssed. A letter addressed "To whom it may concern", may not concern anyone. However, if a letter is addressed to a specific individual, that person has a greater obligation to read it.
If you personally address a cover letter, you will also know who to follow up with to ensure that your documentation has been received. A telephone follow up call increases your personal contact with the employer and the more personal your contact, the better your chances for success.
Mentor Spotlight: Clinical
Psychologist
Because of these diverse demands, extensive and rigorous academic and practical training is required for entry into the profession. To be registered as a clinical psychologist in Manitoba (and most other provinces and U.S. states), one must have a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from a recognized educational institution, complete several hundred hours of supervised clinical experience, write comprehensive registration exams, pass an oral registration exam, and have one to two years of full-time supervised post-doctoral experience as a clinician. Typically it will take six to ten years of post-graduate and postdoctoral training to qualify for registration. Combined with a four-year undergraduate program, then, it takes most students a total of 10 to 14 years to become a full-fledged clinical psychologist.
The daily activities of clinical psychologists are varied and usually rewarding, but there can be a high level of stress associated with the position. Good organizational and time management skills, good interpersonal skills, resourcefulness, resiliency, and an ability to "think on your feet" are basic requirements. Interest in helping otehrs, solving problems, and contributing to society are other prerequisites.
If you are interested in a career in this area, planning should begin very early in your academic program. An honours degree in psychology is the usual requirement for admission to graduate clinical psychology programs, along with a graduate school admission test (GRE) and letters of recommendation. Admission to graduate programs is very competitive, so excellent GPAs are required, and successful applicants usually have volunteer experience as a research assistant or community worker to supplement their academic accomplishments.
Whether you decide clinical psychology is worth the time and effort it takes is an individual decision based on your interests, resources, and ability to delay gratification.
Should you decide to pursue this career, however, you will be entering an exciting profession at the forefront of mental health services and research.
For further information on careers in psychology, drop by the Student Counselling and Career Centre.