I was very impressed with the mentor.  He seemed very eager to help the young man succeed.  I thought to myself that he is exactly the kind of person I am looking for in a mentor.  I wondered if he would be willing to take on a similar mentoring role with me.  I read the article again to see if it mentioned his contact information.  It didn’t.  All I had was his name and where he worked (BDC).  I then went on the BDC website to search for his name.  Nothing either.  I could start calling each BDC branch one at a time, but it would be time consuming. Besides, I wouldn’t know what to say to him.  Personally, I’m a big fan of email.  I like getting a conversation going through email first before a face to face meeting.  It allows the exchange of basic information.  There is also less pressure on both sides and it is less intrusive (I find it annoying when I receive a call from someone, who wasn’t referred to me by somone I know, asking to meet me…it doesn’t seem natural).  If the email exchange goes well, I then suggest a meeting in person.

The problem here was that I couldn’t find the gentleman’s email address anywhere.  I then had a great idea…a real ‘long shot’.  Anyone with a corporate email address will notice that  it usually follows one of several patterns:  lastname.firstname@company.com, firstname@company.com, “x”lastname@company.com (where ‘x’ is the first letter of the first name), etc.  What I decided to do was to send an email to all these different email combinations, hoping at least one of them would hit.  I kept the email very simple.  I talked briefly about my startup and the progress I made so far.  I also included a link to my website, in case he was interested in learning more about me.  Here is the email I sent:

Like I mentioned, this was a long shot.  The odds of reaching this person was small and the odds he would reply even smaller.  However, within a few days, the gentleman replied.  Not only was he willing to answer my questions, he insisted we meet in person the following week.  Our meeting went extremely well.  Pending some administrative stuff, we will start our mentoring partenership shortly.  This just goes to show that every once in a while, we need to take long shots in life (whether in our personal or professional lives).  It’s only our fear of rejection that is keeping us from taking these risks.

Why not just pick up the phone and ask to speak with the president of a big company to explain why your product or service can make his or her life easier?  Don’t think it will work?  It worked for a friend of mine who has his own business planning software company.  A few years ago, he called up the then President and CEO of Corel, Michael Cowpland.  He didn’t know Mr. Cowpland in person so he called the general number and talked to the receptionist.  Amazingly, there were very few barriers and within a few minutes, he was speaking directly to Mr. Cowpland himself.  He introduced himself and explained how including his software alongside Corel Wordperfect could make Corel’s product offering more competitive and help differentiate if from MS Office.  Mr. Cowpland asked him to visit his office that same afternoon.  My friend then met with Mr. Cowpland, along with senior members of his product development team.  Shortly thereafter, he won a licensing contract to include a copy of his business planning software with Corel Wordperfect.

Take long shots every once in a while (i.e. huge potential payoff, little chance of success but zero downside).  You’d be surprised at how a seemingly crazy idea may end up being one of the greatest decisions you’ve ever made.  Someone once told me that when you take risks, things happen.  You disrupt the status quo and set things in motion.  You create ripples in otherwise calm waters. Yet, one of those ripples can potentially transform itself into a powerful wave.  It’s true that the odds are not in your favor.  But then again, what have you got to lose?

I was at a  networking event a few months back and while having dinner, I happened to be seated next to a bright young man who was completing his MBA.  We talked about many things, one of them being entrepreneurship.  He was interested in this topic since he planned one day to launch his own business.  Outside of school, he was very passionate about tennis.  In fact, he had been giving private lessons for several years and he was now interested in turning his hobby into a full fledged business.  So what was holding him back?  In order to launch his business, he needed several hundred thousand dollars in start-up cash.  His idea was to create a full fledged tennis school and training center.  The high cost of his venture prevented him from moving forward.

There is nothing wrong with thinking big.  However, that being said, we also have to be realistic and willing to start small.  The ‘big picture’, if too rigid, can get in the way of progress.  With the gentleman and his tennis school, there was nothing preventing him from starting his business.  In fact, one could argue that he was already ‘in business’ since he was generating revenues as a private instructor.  Instead of waiting around for a big infusion of cash, he could still move forward by growing incrementally.  He could think of ways to increase existing sales.  Eventually, he could hire another instructor or possibly outsource the teaching altogether.  With more time on his hands, he could then work on introducing new services, creating partnerships, etc.,  things that will take his small business to the next level.

Another problem with having an ‘all or nothing’ attitude is that it prevents us from developing our creativity.   A small business owner constantly needs to be creative in order to solve day to day problems.  They should never let obstacles get in the way of progress.  If they can’t get a loan for their business, they can  try bootstrap financing (raising the funds from friends, family, co-workers, former clients, etc.).  I once met an extremely successful real estate investor who raised his initial investment capital by writing personal letters to every doctor and lawyer he could find.  He figured people in these professions made a lot of money and some might be interested in being passive real estate investors.  What if you don’t have money to spend on marketing?  You can use low cost marketing techniques like direct mail, pay per click, or referral marketing.  What if you don’t have money to pay for a professional website?  Have you considered bartering with a small web design company who has an equal need for your services?   The point is:  there is a solution to every problem if we’re creative enough.

One final problem I see with the ‘all or nothing’ attitude is that we shouldn’t feel entitled to receiving large sums of money for a ‘great idea’.  Investors are not there to make charitable donations.  Why should I give someone $500k of my hard earned money just because he or she has a great idea?  Investors spend money to make money.  They want to see a great product, new markets, strong initial sales, an experienced management team or board of advisors, exclusive partnerships, etc., thing that will support the future growth of the start-up.  There is no problem with dreaming big.  But as the saying goes:  “A journey of a thousands miles begins with a single step.”

I thought about it again when I was at a networking event this past week organized by the Junior Chamber of Commerce, an association that caters to young professionals in their 20s and 30s.  There were about 50 people in attendance.  Though I didn’t stay long, I met two young people who made a strong impression.  One was Guillaume, a 26 year old who launched his marketing consulting company at the age of 21.  His company, 724 Marketing (www.724marketing.ca), specializes in the student crowd (which makes perfect sense since I’m sure this is a market he knows very well from his own experiences and circle of friends).  Sales must be good since he has a few full time staff already on board.  I also met Amelie, another twenty something, who, along with a few partners/friends, launched their own graphics design company called Magma Design (www.magmadesign.ca).   She checked out my business card and I’m sure she wasn’t very pleased.  My rather simplistic card (courtesy of Vista Print) paled in comparison to her colorful, slim, eye catching card.  Amelie’s story was a little different.  She did the whole 9 to 5 thing for a few years and ventured slowly on her own as her side business grew.

This just goes to show that creativity is not restricted to a particular region, group of people, or whatever other categories people want to use.  It’s anywhere and everywhere.  What’s more, I have a lot of faith in the young people of my generation, the so called ‘Generation Y’.  We traditionally get a bad rep in the media for our sense of entitlement, our impatience, our unusually high expectations, and our constant search for meaning behind a task.  But on the flip side, we are also passionate, highly motivated, technologically savvy, and more socially conscious than previous generations.