ARE YOU READY TO FACE THE DRAGONS?
Auditions for Season Six heat up in Vancouver on March 13th & March 27th

Do you have a hot new invention or the next million-dollar idea? Think you have the moneymaking chops to take on the savviest business tycoons in the country? Then DRAGONS’ DEN wants to hear from you!

The DRAGONS’ DEN production team will be in Vancouver scouting for Season Six of the hit series on CBC Television. The show gives aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to a panel of wealthy Canadian moguls for the chance to earn real cash and real investment – from the Dragons’ own pockets!

Open auditions are taking place on Saturday, March 13th and Saturday, March 27th from 11 am – 7 pm at the Peter Thompson Centre for Venture Development at BCIT downtown campus, 555 Seymour St.

No experience is necessary – just be ready to pitch your business in under five minutes. If you can convince producers you’re ready for the limelight, you could be invited to face Dragons when the upcoming season is filmed in Toronto. And as extra incentive this year — entrepreneurs with an eco-friendly business, invention or idea could qualify for a $100,000 Greenvention prize from Sun Chips.

Please apply online starting March 1st and bring your completed application form to the auditions. More details can be found on the show’s website at cbc.ca/dragonsden.

DRAGONS’ DEN airs on CBC Television at 8 pm Wednesday nights. Full episodes and web extras can be viewed on the DRAGONS’ DEN website.

For further information, or to book an interview with host Dianne Buckner, please contact:

Renee Mellow
Media Profile
416.342.1838
renee.mellow@mediaprofile.com

Justine Lewkowicz
CBC Dragons’ Den
416.205.5991
justine.lewkowicz@cbc.ca

Most of us think of our passion as the thing we love, the thing that makes us supremely happy. But passion is actually anything we have a strong compelling devotion toward, which can also include the negative.

At a morning Coffee Talk recently, I asked the women in the group how many of them spent time criticizing themselves.

“How often do you go over and over past events in your mind, or with your friends, wishing you’d done this or that differently, beating yourself up about how you handled a situation, or criticizing yourself for a decision you’ve made?”

Sadly, the answer around the table was a unanimous, “All the time.”

When you spend time doggedly agonizing over the past and all the ways you screwed up, the ugly side of passion has reared its head.

Stop and think about how much time you spend criticizing yourself. It’s sobering to realize that your devotion — your passion — has become focused on passing judgment on yourself instead of acknowledging and embracing The Amazing You™. The evidence is in how regularly you find fault in who you are.

Yikes! Would you let someone speak that critically about your friends?! I’ll bet not.

Stop focusing your energy on shredding yourself to bits! Instead, channel the beautiful side of passion. Re-direct all that energy and power toward unearthing and appreciating the things that make you wonderful and unique.

————-
Okay, admit it. What makes YOU wonderful? Come on, it’s practically anonymous on the Internet, you can tell us. You know you don’t hesitate to advertise a weakness (that’s such a girl thing, just quit it!)

Take a moment to share what makes you The Amazing You™!

¹Source: Dictionary.com

In addition to doing a market research project, I recommend business owners keep a folder handy in which to capture bits of information as they come across it on an ongoing basis. It’s a great habit to get into, and will help you keep an eye on trends and stay up-to-date on customer feedback.

Here is a summary of a few kinds of market research you can gather.

1. General Industry Information – Take some time to learn about the industry your business will fit into and what companies with a similar product or service are doing both locally and in other regions. The Internet, newspapers and magazines can all be used to begin your market research project.
2. Trends & Growth – It’s important to learn about emerging trends, as well as challenges facing your industry. This may include information on pending changes to legislation, recent innovations, market shifts, and financial or economic factors that industry insiders would be aware of.
3. Industry Statistics – Statistics are valuable in providing a sense of where your business fits in the big picture. They are great for providing perspective, but will not on their own tell you whether or now, or how, to proceed. They do provide a backdrop to the other research you will gather.
4. Interactive Research – This category encompasses many types of primary research, the kind you get yourself. It can include online or written surveys, focus groups, and even verbal questions, such as “How did you hear about us,” at the checkout counter.

Related posts:

Be in the Know
How to Research Your Market

There are a multitude of things you’ll want to become knowledgeable about before you launch your business, including many operational, financial and legal considerations. Even before you start digging into the details on those very important logistics, however, you need to know that there is a market for the products and services you are thinking about offering.

Solid Business Foundation

I frequently remind entrepreneurs that a business idea without a clearly defined revenue stream is simply a hobby. You need to be able to answer some key questions to know which you have on your hands.

First determine the basic business concept:

1. Have I identified a need that isn’t being met?
2. Can I clearly articulate a benefit my business offers which meets that need?

These questions lead to a few more you’ll need to answer to resolve the hobby vs. business question.

1. Who are my direct and indirect competitors?
2. What makes my business different?
3. Who are the people who will purchase the benefit I’ve identified?

Each of these questions is important and must be answered. No shortcuts.

Well, you can ignore me and skip them now, but you’ll only need to come back and answer them later. And trust me, that is a HUGE time-waster. Not to mention, money-waster.

Like any journey, you can only make real progress
when you have a clear destination in mind.

Whether you’re just starting out, or have been at it a few years and need to adjust to meet market shifts, be sure you can easily answer these questions. Remember, what you uncover will determine whether you will have a viable business and not a hobby.

I urge you, do not wander! Instead, play the game smart and start out right. Then you can hit the ground running instead of playing hit and miss.

Related posts:

Tips & Tricks of the Trade: Market Research
How to Research Your Market

The greatest tools you can bring to your market research are curiosity and observation. Think of this valuable exercise as a fact-finding mission that will help you make well-considered decisions.

In addition to a spirit of adventure, here are some different types of research you can use to gather valuable information for your business:

General Industry Information

Spend some time both in person and on the Internet observing how companies like yours do business. Take a look at the local landscape, as well as how things may be done in other places. Learn what products and services are offered, how the company communicates with its customers, and how their customers feel about them. Note where there may be opportunities for you to fill needs that are not being met.

This includes a view of the competitive landscape. Direct competitors are those companies quite similar to you, but with some differentiating factors. Coffee shops are a good example. Each offers something slightly different but in essence they are there to provide coffee. An indirect competitor may be a juice bar or tea house. Each offer beverages, but they are not going head to head against coffee.

Trends and Growth

Read industry related publications, located at your library or business resource centre or online, to learn about trends and growth areas. This is valuable information as you continue on in business as well, to ensure that you stay current with what customers want and need, as well as ideas on how to grow your business.

The volume of information can be overwhelming, so remember to scan. Take note of new legislation, industry challenges, and economic influences which may affect the industry in future. And be on the lookout for up-and-comers who are trying new things. When an industry becomes saturated with competitors there are always a few early birds creating new trends. It pays to take note.

Industry Statistics

Statistics are collected by government agencies and provide perspective to understand the larger landscape in which your business operates. Statistics are available at your library or business resource centre, and include a variety of data including general industry and consumer demographics.

Statistics can be overwhelming, so look at them for specific information. For example, collecting demographics for your geography can help determine where to set up shop. The mistake of leasing retail space to sell children’s ware in a neighbourhood full of seniors can be avoided when you understand the demographics of the area.

Interactive Research

There’s nothing like learning about prospective customers directly. Officially known as “primary research” because you are obtaining firsthand information rather than relying on others’ data collection, it’s the only way to get a genuine sense of how people will respond to your product or service. Even then, it can be misleading if it’s not objectively gathered.

Face to face surveys (always keep them brief), online or print surveys, and even focus groups are all tools to engage with people and test both ideas and assumptions. “Do you prefer red or blue” is a leading, non-neutral question because the real answer may be neither. “Select the colour you prefer” and listing several options as well as “other” is a more neutral way to frame your question.

Keep an Open Mind

The key to gathering valuable market research, both primary and secondary, is remembering to stay objective. That means not relying on the people who love you to be your primary source of feedback. As much as they love you – because they do – they cannot be fully objective.

It also means staying flexible to adjust your business proposal, in light of information you uncover. Good market research ensures you have a solid business case with data to support your decisions.

Related posts:

Tips & Tricks of the Trade: Market Research
Market Research: Be in the Know

I was in a waiting room today, flipping through a magazine, and came across one of those 3D print ads that were popular about 20+ years ago. On paper it just looks like a repeating pattern of nonsense colour and lines, but if you look right at it, with your eyes out of focus, and gradually bring your eyes back into focus, you suddenly see a 3D image that wasn’t there before, hidden amidst the pattern.

I don’t know what that process is called (leave me a comment if you do, I’d love to know) or how it works (the geek in me really wants to know!), but it is WICKED. Do you know that the image on paper will actually move as you move the page? Trippy. And I tried it a second time, just to see if I could bring up the image again — trick my eyes and brain — and the image was slightly different the second time.

Hmmm, so what does that have to do with passion. Well, when we’re staring straight at it, sometimes the answer isn’t readily seen. Even when it’s right there. It’s worth it to take the time to relax, lighten up your gaze, and be open to something new and alive making an appearance where you’re not expecting it.

Work is so much easier when you’re doing stuff you love and tapping into what comes naturally. It’s worth it to take the time to find out what that is for YOU.

Earlier this week I met a woman who has the skills to be an architect, a furniture maker and a fashion designer. She likes them all and can’t decide which one she should sink her heart into. I suggested she try another tack. How about looking for something new and different, maybe an non-traditional approach, that combines what she loves about each of those industries.

Maybe she creates furniture designs that are reminiscent of architectural lines, or designs homes using principles of fashion. Whatever she comes up with, it’s not about picking the right industry, it’s about combining the elements that jazz her about each type of work in ways that create something new and unique.

For example, it’s not sitting behind the computer all day that she loves about architecture. It’s actually the problem-solving and concrete results. There are a couple of clues to help define what kind of work she will gravitate toward, and what she’d be better off to avoid.

Being in business for yourself is hard work, it’s a good idea to be doing something you love to do.

One of the many ways women rock in business is that they naturally look for ways to connect.

I read something recently (the source eludes me), about a possible evolutionary basis for women having this ability to connect. As the article described it, back in the day of the hunter and gatherer, men could get up and go when danger or difficulties arose. Women, however, had babies and children to consider, so they had to stick around, work together, and work it out.

Whether or not that’s true, isn’t so much the point. What is, is the acknowledgement that women are tuned in and perhaps innately suited to communication, negotiation and working together.

The traditional model of business says that in order to succeed, someone else has to fail. We’re supposed to climb the ladder, get to the top, become the top dog, in order to succeed.

In fact, women are busting that theory out of the water and have been for years. Instead, they look for ways to work with not against, and create strong relationships that build both their business and their community.

What Not To Do
I met a woman who chatted with me about her unique business until I mentioned that I’d once spoken on the phone to her “competitor.” Now every time we cross paths she gets all suspicious and makes comments about me checking her out for the competition. It’s really weird. And very old school. Not to mention paranoid and completely inaccurate. She’s actually not moving her business ahead, because she’s too busy looking over her shoulder.

A Better Choice
On the other side of the coin, one of my colleagues is a business coach who has banded together with a couple of other coaches. Together they can now offer a wider range of services, go after larger contracts, and market their services more widely with fewer resources because they are all out there in front of prospects. It’s working well for them and all of their businesses are growing.

Don’t fight your natural inclination to connect, or get caught up in the mistaken belief that you’re better off on your own. Success can be a win/win, no ladder climbing required.

Ladies, we are going to break some rules this year. We’re going to rock the boat. We’re going to quit apologizing and just be ourselves, thank you very much. And, we’re going to challenge some ideas about business and how it gets done.

Historically, industrialized commerce has been a masculine world run in a focused, linear, analytical manner, with no need for emotion or feeling. It was created by men for men, so it has suited them just fine.

News flash! Women are fully entrenched in the workforce and starting businesses at 2-3 times the rate of men. Trouble is, the structure hasn’t changed. We hit a glass ceiling or try to build business in a framework that doesn’t come naturally, and it can be tough going. Like being left-handed in a right-handed world.

But that’s just the way it is. I mean, the “old boys” are dying off, but they won’t ever be completely gone. What’s a gal to do? Well, toss out the old rules for a start. How about this, instead:

We may do business with men,
but we don’t have to do business like men.

Hey, I like men. They are lovely creatures. Some of my best friends are men. But I’m not one. I don’t want to be one. So why would I act like one in business?

News flash! Gentleman, Art of War as an approach to business is soooo last century! There’s a new game in town and here’s how it’s played. Money is a tool, not a scorecard of value or success. We don’t need to crush anyone in order to be successful. We can care more about the community than money and still make lots of money – which we then use as a tool, not a scorecard.

Don’t get me wrong ladies, we may still need to make some concessions when we work with men, just like you would make adjustments to accommodate someone who is, say, hard of hearing. Understanding their communication style, slowing things down, sticking to a single goal-oriented topic…all of these efforts just make things run more smoothly.

But I am a woman in business, so I’m going to act like a woman.

• I will work with people I like and respect and whose values I can support.
• I will be in business with my heart and soul, not just my mind.
• I will be collaborative with no need to outdo my colleagues.
• I will utilize my feelings and emotions to help me make better decisions.
• I will talk about my clothes, my nails, my shoes…and then get down to business and negotiate like a pro.

Ladies, we don’t need to fight the existing business paradigm. We just need to disengage, respect our values, do things our own way, and build strong companies that together create a new model of how the business community can operate.

THAT is some serious rule breaking.

Forget quote of the day, here’s an idea to take with you through the year. Seth Godin answers the question, “How do we rise above the grip of resistance-addicted lizard brain into unleashed, energized, full tilt mojo and artistic moxy?”

Answer:

“The lizard is the prehistoric brain stem, the amygdala, the part of our brain responsible for anger, revenge, sex and safety. It’s what a chicken has, all that a chicken has.

The lizard is mistaken.

The lizard successfully believed, for a really long time, that safety was good. Avoid saber-tooth tigers. Duck your head. Don’t raise your hand. That = survival.

Now, of course, that equals burger-flipping and Wal-Mart greeting. Safety is a recipe for food stamps.

What the lizard ought to be doing is pushing you to do art, pushing you to stand out, pushing you to do work that matters and to make a difference. So, you rise above by seducing and quieting the lizard, and then, when it’s snoozing, do exactly the opposite of what it wants you to do.”

I’ve never wanted fear to be the thing that stops me from being what I was put on this planet to be, or doing what I was put on this planet to do. I mean, fear is just a thought, right? Who’s boss of me anyway, me or my amygdala?!