You know the guy.  He is a very good talker, has a lot of confidence in what he does and convinces you that you need his services.  Now there isn’t one single person that I dealt with that I am talking about as there were quite a few but they all can be lumped into one group.  I never liked the way they did business and they thrived on taking advantage of those that just didn’t seem to have the confidence in themselves or they were in desperate need of assistance to get their business going before everything went south.

One individual used to hold regular seminars and events throughout the city and it was always a different topic.  He loved to take others under his wing to milk them for all they were worth until they had no money left and no business.  I’ve seen computer companies partner with him to the point where they faced lawsuits because they got caught up in the behaviour all the way to turning good people into bad.  I never did get caught up with this person since my spidey sense kicked in and I avoided them at all cost.

But once I ridded myself of that person I quickly found myself caught up with another.  I look back now and boy did I feel like fresh prey to these guys.  They saw a young guy who was starting a business and they wanted to get in there as much as possible.  The second guy managed to get some stuff out of me since I felt there might have been long term benefits (it’s been over 4 years as I write this and believe me, no benefits).  But as I quickly realized how it wasn’t good for my business, I got out.

Most of these guys tour the business networking groups in Calgary and some start their own networking groups.  I’ve been in many networking groups and I’ve found some that work and others that simply don’t.  It all depends.

So now this all leads me to a dilemma I have during this present day.  I don’t trust anybody that’s a “consultant” as I think back to when I was burned over $9,000 or these guys that managed to be good talkers and pulled a fast one on me.  I have trust issues and I know it.  If you ever get into a job interview for my company I will flat out tell you that I don’t trust you and you need to earn it.  I’m currently exploring bringing on a business coach right now and there is a couple of individuals that I’ve met that have “systems” and they do scare me off.  I love systems, heck I run a computer / IT consulting firm, but it is just I didn’t like the first one and I find that some of it is quite expensive and useless.

But we will see.  I’m waiting to see who can gain my trust since the whole scam artist thing really through me for a loop back in 2008.  One thing you find out as an entrepreneur is that you will make mistakes, there’s no doubt about it.  What really matters is how you respond to those mistakes and learn from them.  My problem is learning to get past some of the mistakes.

Everything really changed for me though when in 1996 my dad took me to Office Depot in Calgary to purchase our first full colour computer, the Compaq Presario.  Probably the most significant thing that I experienced with this computer was Compuserve and dial-up Internet.  This would forever change my life.

Oh and not to mention cost my father several hundred dollars.  For many of you folks who didn’t experience the dial-up world, then you didn’t have to go through the limits of how much time you could spend on the Internet.  Cadvision was the local ISP in Calgary and limited you to something like 5 – 10 hours of Internet time per month.  Well, apparently I went way over that number and cost my dad about $400 in extra charges.  As much as he hated paying the bill I think he did get the feeling that I was onto something at this point.

In 1997 I really started to get involved in HTML and web page design.  I was very curious and I would search out on how to make different web pages and such.  I spent more time in front of that computer trying to learn new things than I would with any homework or friendships.

After getting pretty good with a few programming languages (Perl/CGI) I started contacting people all over the world to do contract work for them.  What was nice about the Internet?  Well, nobody knew I was 13 years old.  I was as anonymous as you could possibly be and these guys were desperate for web solutions and they didn’t want to pay much for it.

I convinced a small computer store in Texas to pay ole’ little Canadian me $300 to create an online ordering form.  You would be able to login to their website and completely customize your computer.  I made it easy for them to add new products such as motherboards, network cards and other peripherals.  It would then automatically calculate the total cost of the purchase and then calculate shipping based on their zip code.

Yeah I even shake my head when I think about it.  Now, the look on my mom’s face when I showed her that cheque was priceless.  ”Where the heck did you get that from?” was her response.  I think from that day forward my mom and everyone in my family had a good idea that I wasn’t going to be your typical kid growing up nor adult.  I wasn’t afraid to ask and to go after things.  Those traits are the same things I carry to this day.

I always like to reminisce about my adolescent days since it reminds me a lot about who I was then and who I am now.  Although that small Texan computer store is no longer around I can say that I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that they gave me.  I certainly delivered for them and it’s exciting to think back to that as one of my first paying jobs.

I have to admit I was extremely fortunate to bring on the person that I did.  He was by no means the most technical person when it came to managing computers but he was certainly a very creative person which showed in a lot of web work that we did.  I wasn’t really ready to have an employee in my world at that point but we ended up working together for a good 1 and a half years.  Many ups and downs, but also many successes.  It’s too bad we left on bad terms since I still have a lot of respect for him to this day.

Hiring your first employee should be a thought out process.  It took me almost 3 years to find the perfect person to come work for Eligeo, who has since become a business partner.  Back when I started the company everybody said to avoid hiring friends and family.  So I did exactly that and went through a lot of people I never knew until the hiring process.  I went through a lot of good people throughout but there was always issues that I ran into whether it was commitment, level of mentorship required or simply work ethic.

The first employee I hired was simply the wrong person.  I wasn’t entirely settled on the business model for the company but he was incredibly loyal to me as I was to him.  I worked hard to make sure he was always paid appropriately and did so at the expense of my own salary most times.  But the problem was I was building a tech consulting company, not a web design firm.  His expertise was web design.  I had him in the wrong job and not only that he was very young so he needed more mentorship than what I would be able to provide as a new business owner.  I felt that I failed him in his path to success.

When we finally parted ways it was during a period that became one of the most critical in the 5 years of running Eligeo.  We had experimented in building our own CRM product but ultimately abandoned it as it really wasn’t what I was trying to build in a business.  We went quickly to 5 employees and quickly down to only me in a matter of months.  I attribute this suddenly change in some bad business decisions and personel decisions.

From this point forward I got smarter.  I went back to the drawing board on the business and re-focused a lot of the business model.  This was all happening in 2010 when the re-structuring occurred.  I brought in some good friends to help out throughout the year and the business model was starting to take shape.  We were finally becoming a very solid I.T. business.

I learned that hiring friends wasn’t such a bad thing at all.  The employee I mentioned in the second paragraph is Karim who has since become a valued shareholder and partner in Eligeo.  He not only brought expertise and knowledge to the business but he finally set us on the path to building my vision that I had started working on earlier that year.

I also learned that the process to hiring people you don’t know changed as well.  I actively sought out a variety of resumes from different resources and I learned to evaluate people a lot differently and objectively than I had ever before.  We have now a real strong team of individuals that are helping make this company a real success into the future.

To close off, here are a few points:

• Hiring friends and family can be risky, but if you have trust issues like I do, sometimes it isn’t a bad thing.
• Learn to evaluate talent either through third party resources (recruiters) or by picking up a book to learn how to evaluate talent.

I’ve met a lot of interesting people so far in my life when it comes to business.  Many of these people have the “answer” to everything.  They feel so confident in their products or services that they’ve even convinced themselves of many false things.  I hate to say it but just because you incorporate a business, create a logo and slap up a website doesn’t mean you’re an expert at anything.

I got taken for $9,000 in my first year of business because of the things I spoke about above.  There were a lot of ethical issues with the whole situation today that should have caught my attention but I never did catch on.  In 2008 it was an extremely tough year for me so I thought that there must be quick fixes to my problem.  Here I had thousands of dollars in the bank and I was ready to hire an expert.

This person came along with the golden marketing planet.  It was full proof.  It was going to generate more business for me than I could ever imagine.  What did $9,000 end up getting me?

• 2 big boxes of books
• Tons of templates
• Some audio CD’s from a guy I’ve never heard of before
• A crappy guarantee letter

I will start with the crappy guarantee letter.  The guarantee was that if I didn’t have results I would get my money back.  But the way the guarantee was laid out put all of the onus on ME rather than on the consultant.  In addition, you were set up to fail from the beginning.  The coaching sessions were more like berating sessions than actual progressive meetings.  It was a really bad situation.

The big boxes of books were full of templates.  It had sales letters, marketing materials and a lot of stuff that was to be used to be customized for my business.  The $9,000 basically gave me a ton of templates that I had to fill out.  As many of you starting out find out, you really don’t have time to do that stuff.  You need to hire people to help you out and I recommended finding an all-star marketing person who can do this for you rather than trying to be an expert at everything.

The audio CD’s were, well, they were garbage.  I love listening to audiobooks by Stephen Covey or other Dale Carnegie type audio’s but these were simply no good.  They were short and just missed the point.

Now, this person ended up referring clients to me in the end which probably paid for the $9,000.  The sad thing is that those same customers went through the same experience, and they are all customers of mine to this day, but we all feel the same in the let down.  I actually keep the 2 big boxes of books near my desk at my office as a stark reminder of that expensive lesson.  I know others do as well.

So basically, my point of choosing allies is be careful.  They may seem good on the outside and may be a nice person but at the end of the day business is business and you need RESULTS.  Experience is extremely important and having a strong ethic proposition is important too.

I’m the type of person that works incredibly well with a strong handshake.  I notice when people make commitments and don’t deliver when they say they will.  I also accept that I’m not perfect either.  But I am 100% ethical and respectful in my business dealings so I try to make an effort to treat people the way that I’d want to be treated.

But if I am betrayed once, I’m not usually a nice guy to deal with.  I’m extremely forgiving but when someone attempts or sometimes succeeds in cheating me it gets ugly.

But to recap:

• Avoid the “consultant” programs unless you’ve found a very very experienced individual with lots of references to back their work up.
• When you’re starting out, you might be anxious to find the quick fix like I tried but really, take a step back and see how you can deploy your resources more appropriately
• Finally, hire a good lawyer.  I did and haven’t looked back.

Now, this isn’t happening with every woman I meet but it certainly is something I’m noticing lately with some women who have amazing confidence in themselves and I find them very interesting to talk to.  I associate those types too much with the business professionals I deal with everyday and it is a bit scary.

This post is nothing about dating except the intro.  I’ve noticed over the last 4 years that there’s been a significant change in the way that I communicate with people in social settings.  I’ve been finding myself so used to talking business to the point that all I want to do is talk about business.  I feel amazingly comfortable talking about business and everything there is to do with it.  I’ve been told that I’m a very good conversationalist but I think it is only during my business conversations, not my social setting conversations.

The last 4 years certainly did change me and a mistake I’ve found and learned from is that you must have a solid work and life balance.  Your friends and family are some of the most important people in your life and it is really important that you make sure to spend time with them and get out and do things that have nothing to do with your business.  And I know, your business is your life, hobby and everything above.  I feel the same way but as I’m getting old I certainly am feeling the need to separate myself more from the business and simply becoming a business owner.  I love what I do and love how I help clients day in and day out but it is evident that my dedication by day, night and weekend is becoming a wear on me.  Things need to change and they already have.

Some of the things I started doing included taking up snowboarding a year ago.  I haven’t done any skiing since I was a kid except for some cross-country skiing I did back in Grade 8.  This is fun stuff.  I’ve also taken up a lot more hockey to keep myself active and as of the last few weeks I’ve re-focused my health and the time that I spend at the gym each day.

There’s nothing wrong with sacrificing yourself at the beginning but I must encourage everyone to keep their social life.  I made that mistake and I’m paying for it through a variety of different social habits I’ve acquired.  I’m working to fix those things but I think many others can avoid all of the headache.  I have a really good friend of mine who’s on the same entrepreneurial journey and she has consistently maintained a social life that I envy.  She’s maintained a very close group of friends but still kept the work ethic that’s continued to make her successful.  I’ve seen her to her very last penny but yet she’s still remained positive, didn’t shut out her friends and maintained that social aspect of her life.

But keep in mind that you’re still a business owner.  You’re still the person in charge and running the show.  There will always be some times you can’t get out but I think making a point of including social activities in your weekly schedule is a must.  I’ve certainly learned the lesson over the last few years and I’m sure I’ll continue to grow and stop talking shop when I’m out.

Then again, I am a big Vancouver Canucks fan so many people might not want to hear me talking about how good the Canucks are!

On January 1st, 2008 I started Eligeo officially.  Although I had incorporated the company in 2006, I finally went into business offering up services via the Internet.  I was still at my day job over at Jim Pattison Group but it was my intention to get out and finally start my business.  Money was the only real barrier at this point but I was determined to quit my job and follow my dream.

That January I settled on several ways to round up money to start my business including:

1. Selling my beloved pick-up truck for a more fuel efficient vehicle
2. Re-finance my home
3. Doing as much work part-time as possible to fill the bank with money
4. Contacting banks, including CYBF to obtain financing

In January I started doing a lot of one off projects for people all over the Internet.  A lot of these were contract jobs found through websites like Freelancer and Elance.  I quickly worked up enough cash to put $15,000 in the bank and I refused to touch it.  It probably took me about 6 months to get that money in the bank.  I had specifically opened a business banking account to ensure that I wouldn’t touch any of the money for my own personal use.

The next step was to re-finance my home to settle all of my credit card and line of credit debt.  I was able to extract about $20,000 out of there which literally wiped out all of my debt and I was now debt free except for my condo that I own.  And in 2008 you were still able to max out your mortgages to 40 years, although I only did 35.  Not only that the recession fears were about to hit so I was able to get a favourable rate on my mortgage.

Next up was selling my truck.  This was a tough day as I loved my 4×4 Colorado Truck.  It was the metallic orange colour along with black accents that made it really sharp.  I also had the truck bed tent that went with it and also had a nice tonneau cover as a final touch.  I sold this truck and was able to pay off my remaining loan and shift some of the left over money into the company to help purchase a company vehicle.

Finally, I approached the Canadian Youth Business Foundation to solidify a loan of $15,000 for the company.  This was the final piece of the puzzle for me.  The first year meant no principal payments and only interest which was about $50 a month or so.  This gave me the flexibility to get things rolling quickly.  The process of going through CYBF was tough since there were a lot of hoops and approvals to get things done (I believe this has since changed with a better approval process thanks to some wonderful people here in the Calgary CYBF branch).

With all of those things out of the way I was ready to start Eligeo.  On July 31st, 2008 I officially left the world of being an employee and began my adventure as an entrepreneur.  Boy was I scared.  The first gotcha was that the CYBF loan hadn’t been approved at this point but it was maybe a week or so into August that I was approved and the funds were finally dispersed on August 28th.  I was ready to go armed with $30,000 in the bank and no debt.

It’s amazing how quickly that money disappears.  And believe me I burned through every single penny of that $30,000 over the first year which include good decisions and some really bad decisions.  But I persevered and continued to work hard to make sure that the business grew.

Money really saved my butt and there were a few times I almost pulled the plug on the business in the first year.  There were some very challenging moments but I was able to get through them because I stashed away enough money to work through them.

I was prepared for a few things going into this including the fact that I’d be fairly poor for the first while, my credit rating was going to take a big hit and it was going to be awhile before I had a really good steak dinner again.  But believe me it all worked out and it continues to work out.

Most businesses shut down in the first year and I believe the number is somewhere around 90% won’t make it 5 years.  Well, I’m in year 5 and believe me we’re going strong and money isn’t an issue anymore.  There are new challenges to face when building a business and that’s something I’m involved with day in and out with Eligeo.

So to recap a few things:

• Work your butt off part-time to come up with as much money as you can
• Look at all sorts of financing options through organizations such as CYBF or other government sponsored programs
• You might have to give up some of the luxuries for the first while but they’ll come back one day, it’s just a matter of whether or not you can force yourself to sacrifice it

Nobody came.

The first few weeks were extremely quiet but I did manage to meet another start up business owner who introduced me to my first customer.  I had met this person by chance when he found my website and wanted to meet over beers.  He was a really nice guy, formerly from a local bank, and he had decided to go into business and provide financing and advice to small businesses.  He had brought along several of his clients from his days at the bank he had worked at and he figured he could help them achieve better financing options through his own business.  Although he would end up ending his business venture months later he did introduce me to my first client who is still a client to this day.

What I learned from this was that people were not going to come to me.  I was going to have to start building my network of people to help provide me with leads to help grow my business.  To this day I’ve grown an extensive group of contacts and it is amazing how you can sit back and draw a flowchart on the connections I’ve made from one client to another.

So how does one really setup a network?  Well, the way I started it out was to reach out to people.  The first thing I need was sign up for several groups through Meetup.com.  I then approached a couple of business networking groups to start building my network with other business owners.  You have to be careful about the networking groups that you connect with though as many of those people are also looking for business.  Many are not looking to spend money.  But that’s the trick.  They know people who can spend money.

With networking groups you need to attend regularly and show your face to people.  You will eventually gain their trust and appreciation as they get to know you.  The best way to also gain this is to offer up referrals from your growing network to show that you are committed to the groups.

When you’re a small business owner just starting out, your network is critical.  It’s all about who you know and what they think of you.  I’m by no means an expert in this field and it is something that I’m continually working to improve on, especially when it comes to retaining my network contacts.

So a couple of tips when you started your business:

1. Before you start your business, start building out your network of contacts.  Go to your local chamber, meet with other business owners and simply get yourself out there.
2. When you open the business, be aggressive in becoming a connector.  A connector is somehow who is constantly connecting people for their mutual benefit.  This comes back in a big way for you down the road.  Plant the seeds.
3. Marketing is important but it isn’t the biggest thing at the beginning.  Pick your battles but focus most of your energy on make yourself known.

I’m a young guy yet I know I’ve accomplished a lot in my 28 years on this planet.  The focus of this blog going forward is really about the adventures that I’m going through and the opportunities that I’ve created as a result of the things I’ve done.  I really hope that I can inspire others to take a chance and start their own business.  But it isn’t entirely about starting a new business as it is changing your entire life.

That’s what happened to me.  My life changed.

Many things changed in my life that I didn’t expect.  Some things were positive and some were negative but at the end of the day I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs to the point where I can recognize where my faults are sitting and how to address them.

I’m currently in the 5th year of my journey and I’ve starting to reflect back on the changes I’ve made throughout the whole process and I’m starting to share those experiences through this blog.  I’m also starting to dabbling a bit into my first book that I hope can share a thing or two about my first 5 years in business and how it was the most challenging thing in my life but also made me into a better man that I am today.

Thanks to tuning in as if you are reading this you are one of the very first to see my blog.  Welcome aboard.