I was out of action the last 3 days. No posts on my blog. No working on my business plan. No sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. All this stress because of a trojan (malicious software) I accidentally downloaded called ‘Virtumonde’. It absolutely crippled my computer. Although I had a backup of all my important files, they weren’t the latest versions. I was also afraid of losing all my emails in the past year, which I neglected to backup. Read more »
There was a post on lifehacker a few weeks ago providing free access to a great “Small Business Resource Guide” put together by Sarah Gootnick. It contains information on everything from free anti-virus software to Voice Over IP to where to find virtual assistants. A must have for every start-up, so here it is in its entirety.
Though I am growing more and more attached to Montreal, I have to say that I’m still relatively new to the city. Naturally, when a Montreal’er “de souche” (which essentially means ‘born and bred’) tells me something, I put a lot of weight on their words. A twenty something I met not too long ago told me that the young people in Quebec lack the entrepreneurial spirit. The school system in the ‘belle province’ teaches them to conform and be content with being just a ‘good worker’. I didn’t tell him that I thought conformity was a key lesson in pretty much any school. Regardless, his comment left its mark on me. Read more »
I was headed downtown with a friend of mine this past weekend. It was a little late at night so I decided to grab a coffee not to feel the effects of sleep. I wanted a coffee from Tim Horton’s, but alas, there was no Timmy’s along the way. The nearest one I knew of was 5 minutes in the opposite direction. “Don’t worry about it”, I was advised. “There are tons of coffee shops along the way.” I’m sure there were, but they weren’t the same as Tim Horton’s. So I went out of my way and drove the extra mile to get my french vanilla.
Not a big deal? I didn’t think so either at first. But the fact that a company can influence me to the point of altering my route just to buy a two dollar coffee is pretty impressive. So I thought it would be interesting to analyze the factors that influenced me in making this decision: Read more »
When we think of entrepreneurship, we typically think of the bold, courageous individual who, without a penny, overcomes great obstacles in order to create something of value. I’m sure there are many examples of this ‘rags to riches’ type story, but I’m convinced that ‘flying solo’ is not the best approach.
The fact is, entrepreneurs, whether they want to admit it or not, are at least partially subsidized by public money. Imagine trying to set up a business in a place with no financial backing, crumbling infrastructure, little or no public transportation, no access to adequate health care, limited means of communication, etc. I don’t care how brilliant you are. This lack of public investment will take its toll on your plans. Here are some of the things that have helped me in the last few months as I ventured into the world of entrepreneurship in Montreal, Canada: Read more »