Issue 01 ■ 09 2019
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NEW
BCITSA’s new entrepreneurship magazine featuring student success stories
BCIT Student Association
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hello "We need to make something to showcase student success stories—something to show what our department has done over the last three years." —Darshana Dave This was the idea that sparked the magazine you’re holding. My colleague, Darshana, was excited about the businesses founded by BCIT students and wanted a platform to share some of the successes. While Darshana has moved on from the SA, her idea has come to life in this magazine, APEX, brought to you by our department, SA Entrepreneurship. Now going into our fourth year, SA Entrepreneurship supports current and former students in their entrepreneurial journeys. Maybe you have a business idea and want to learn how to get started, or maybe you’re already running your own business. Maybe you don’t even have an idea yet, but you love the idea of being your own boss. Whatever the case, SA Entrepreneurship has something for you, from panel events to 1-on-1 coaching, mentorship, and more. We love helping new entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground! With a background in social entrepreneurship, I am particularly interested in the concept of using business as a vehicle for change. I get inspired by those who create positive social or environmental impact through business, and by those who forge their own paths by following their passions. I hope that some of the entrepreneurs we’ve featured in this magazine will inspire you as well.
— Laura Barreca
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CALL THE GRANDKIDS
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Brought to you by the Entrepreneurship program at the BCIT Student Association (SA), this magazine is a new initiative to showcase entrepreneurs and innovators from BCIT. APEX features current students and alumni, entrepreneurs who are just starting out, founders with years of experience, and everything in between. Whether you’re running a business already, thinking about starting one, or just want to learn more about how it all works, we hope you’ll find both practical advice and inspiration in these pages. 2
How a mentorship turned into a partnership
TIPS FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS
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Praveen Varshney, Chad Flinn, Brian Rudy and Liam Babbitt
KID TESTED. MARKET APPROVED.
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An Interview with the Founders of Procurify
START-UPS, NETWORKS, AND MINDFUL SPENDING
Jones Baby N Co founders talk about community support and prototyping
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Editorial Ali Pitargue Shaleeta Harrison Entrepreneurship Laura Barreca Tania De Ridder Darshana Dave
Contributors Ali Pitargue Alec Morgana Nigel Halsted Chad Flinn Praveen Varshney Brian Rudy Liam Babbitt
TAKING CHARGE OF YOUR COMPANYCULTURE
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Design Wafe Gara Cover Liam Kennedy Advertising Lili Human
by Nigel Halsted
Would you like to get involved with APEX, or to learn more about Entrepreneurship? Contact beaboss@bcitsa.ca APEX would like to respectfully acknowledge that it is printed and distributed on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples.
with Adam Wicks
THE FRUITS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
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featuring Enactus group Ra Solutions
8 STEPS TO PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
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How an idea evolves into a product
SEEDS OF INNOVATION
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Summit Centre, SE14 3700 Willingdon Ave. Burnaby, BC, V5G3H2 604-451-7087
Produced by BCIT Student Association
ISSN 2562-7988 (Online) ISSN 2562-797X (Print)
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START-UPS, NETWORKS, AND MINDFUL SPENDING AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FOUNDERS OF PROCURIFY
One of the biggest challenges for any entrepreneur concerns the management of costs and funds. You may rely on revenue and investments to build your company, but a huge part of handling income is keeping track of how your company spends. In response to this, three BCIT graduates—Aman Mann, Eugene Dong, and Kenneth Loi—developed a platform that makes company spending more transparent, efficient, and convenient. They founded Procurify, user-friendly spending management software. It is an online and mobile platform that allows organizations to set budgets, approve spending requests, track shipping of purchases, file invoices, and more. APEX spoke to two of its founders, CRO Kenneth Loi and CTO Eugene Dong, about how and why they started Procurify, the importance of spending management, and what it takes to have a successful start-up.
by Ali Pitargue
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Can you tell us about the process of founding Procurify? Eugene Dong It started as a BCIT school
project that was assessing an IT consulting company. We saw how they manage their internal spending, and it’s done through paper forms, emails, and phone calls. They were implementing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, but they still weren’t able to fully see how they spend their money. After the project, we just started talking to other companies and we realized this was a more universal problem. All these new systems were coming out, but it wasn’t enough. So, we got the idea to start our own platform and went from there.
Kenneth Loi We did something that was
very rebellious of us. Normally, after you finish the project, you just write a report. But the three of us decided to actually build something that’s meaningful for the client. So, we put our brains together and just hacked away a very basic version of what’s Procurify today.
What were each of your roles in establishing Procurify? KL Eugene, Aman [Mann, CEO of Procurify] and I
come from different backgrounds. We got grouped randomly by our instructor at that time, and it just so happened that each of us had different strengths that complement each other. Aman has a business background, Eugene comes from a computer science background, and I come from a design and customer experience background. In the beginning, my role dealt with the layout and design of the user interface, as well as testing how the customer tackles the workflow.
ED My role was focused on building the infra-
structure and back-end servers. I was translating what Kenneth’s doing into actual layouts that people can use. I make sure that everything talks internally.
KL I haven’t been designing anything since I got out of school. I had to re-learn it. I’m glad that now, we have the proper team of designers and the proper team of engineers who can actually
take Procurify from where we left off to where it is today. ED Aman met with different potential investors.
KL He was the hustler. [laughs] ED Aman did a lot of talking to customers and
market research. He showed what we have developed and designed, and actually tried to get users for it. He reached out to investors to see who is interested in funding this company.
KL He was also a man with no shame. We
attended a lot of networking events where we got to pitch in front of small angel investors. One time, Aman did the “Gangnam Style” dance in front of an audience. It was quite frightening, for me anyways [laughs]. But that got the attention of one of our incubators.
What was your strategy to acquire investors to get Procurify off the ground? ED All three of us were relatively new to start-
ups. So, our strategy was to meet as many people as possible. We met with people who have done this in the past. We even took a flight to San Francisco, where we didn’t know many people. We just started networking to see what it takes to start a successful start-up. From there, we got introduced to an angel investor who wrote us one of the first cheques to fund the company.
KL We were just three kids trying to hack their
way in to see if there is a market. We made a lot of calls. Once, we called a tofu company and said, ‘Hey, do you want to try and use this software for free? We’re BCIT students.’ We weren’t students anymore, but we pretended we were just to get different companies to take meetings with us. They gave us feedback on what works and doesn’t work for that product.
Your mission statement says you want to help organizations align their organizational spending with their values and objectives. Can you elaborate on that? KL At the end of the day, what we want to do is 5
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help make work life a lot easier for organizations. A lot of hidden pains comes around spending and we realized that gap. We noticed there was a lot of hidden dollars that are just flowing through the company without them realizing it. That affects a business’ core values and objectives because we believe that you don’t necessarily have to add more revenue or do layoffs in order to save money. There are ways to improve your bottom line by managing your spending.
What makes Procurify different from other spending management systems? ED When we were building it, we wanted to take inspiration from a lot of the consumer applications that we’re using day-to-day. We noticed a lot of the business systems were quite hard to use. It required extra steps that weren’t necessary to accomplish a task. With Procurify, a user can understand pretty easily without much training. And we make it a pretty enjoyable experience,
I think. That kind of sets us apart from other competitors. KL A lot of corporations still use very old systems. Even when I went to school at BCIT for Operations Management, they taught us how to use the ERP systems, which required a whole 4-month course. Workers in a company shouldn’t have to go through that horrific training process if they need to spend for work. It should be as simple as buying from Amazon or Google. That’s what differentiates us from our competitors. We’re not trying to overblow the system, we want to make something very simple and easy-to-use.
How did your clients respond to you propositioning this feature? KL Most companies buy us because of UXI
(User Experience Interface). The first thing they see with our software is how easy it is. [The software] is something that you can pick up in a couple of minutes, versus a lot of traditional software where you actually have to go through
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training. That shouldn’t be the case for today’s technology. ED Companies should focus on what the company is good at, not the admin work.
How is Procurify an ideal software to use for entrepreneurs? ED For any entrepreneur that’s growing their
company, they have to manage their spending. We facilitate that quite well, so you can proactively know what your team members want to spend their money on, and approve or deny as needed, as well as make comments on requests.
KL As an entrepreneur, [it’s beneficial for] get-
ting funding from your investors. You’ll have an investment board, and they’d want to know how you’re performing in terms of your spend and cash flow. They want to know if you’ll be running out of money any time soon. With Procurify, you are able to track all that, and it provides confidence to investors.
How important is it for companies to identify their spending culture? KL It’s very important for any company to
identify their spend culture because companies shouldn’t just be relying on cutbacks, layoffs, or revenue. They can also achieve positive savings by actually understanding how they spend. Everyone in the company needs to have that mindset of making the best use of the dollar. Spending culture facilitates not only the ability to buy, but it instills trust. You can trust team members to be able to go buy stuff that’s beneficial for the team. It gives confidence to the executive and it gives the autonomy to the team members.
One of the company’s core commitments pertains to sustainability—where you say you constantly challenge destructive and unsustainable business practices. How does Procurify promote sustainability? ED With most companies we’ve talked to, the
still make purchases using paper. They’d send couriers to deliver paper requests across multiple 8
offices. And that is unsustainable because you’re taking up extra time and money even if it’s a 20-dollar purchase. They probably spent more on the courier service than the actual cost of the product. So, what Procurify does really well is making that all electronic. You can submit a request within seconds and have an approver look at it, which can be done in 90% less time.
KL We once had a client who had a studio
stationed in Vancouver, as well as headquarters in the US. The Vancouver office got their purchases approved by having to physically sign a piece of paper and send it through FedEx to the States. Then the request has to make its way back to Canada before they can make that purchase. If you imagine the amount of gas that’s wasted, that’s a big carbon footprint. So, it’s not just reducing less paper and cutting less trees, but actually lessening pollution.
ED At the same time, there’s the added value of a better business process.
KL And less angry employees! What advice do you have for upcoming entrepreneurs who want to venture into a software start-up? ED Just talk to people. When we were starting
out, most people were pretty receptive to new entrepreneurs wanting to do something different. If you ask someone for a coffee, most likely, they could have some time and say yes. Also, people at speaking events tend to stick around after the conference to talk. Go to as many as you can and get to know the community and learn from them. Be prepared to be rejected a lot. If you’re asking someone for funding, you’re probably going to get rejected quite a few times, but eventually you’ll find someone who’s a good match.
KL Be prepared to fail. Things will screw up, and in the end, it’s about how you’re able to learn, move on and get back up. As an entrepreneur, you’re always going to have ideas, but [be resilient] in how you execute them. Don’t be afraid to try different stuff. That’s how you move forward and grow up. There’s going to be investors that shut you down, but don’t be discouraged.
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Procurify announced in June 2019 that they have raised an additional 20 million USD in funding, which includes investor contributions from Runa Capital, HarbourVest Partners, Manulife, and Kensington Capital’s BC Tech Fund. They remain committed to educating businesses about how to manage their spending culture.
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KID TESTED. MARKET APPROVED.
Jones Baby & Company co-founders Max Jones and Chelsea Reed designed a new kind of onesie using fabric that is safer and more comfortable to put on infants and young children. The couple tells APEX about the importance of prototyping their product. by Ali Pitargue 10
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Prototyping can be somewhat like updating a growing child’s wardrobe; babies grow out of their clothes fast, and their guardians have to keep up. Like developing a product, it takes time for children to become fully-grown. Building prototypes—or base models used for developing a product’s concept—is essential to not only ensuring the quality of a product, but also for implementing improvements for further growth. Chelsea Reed and Max Jones initially underestimated how long the prototyping process would take, but it ended up being the largest component of their entrepreneurial journey. Their company, Jones Baby & Company, produces unique baby onesies that do not use any buttons, snaps, or zippers. The product is designed as a romper that has one entry point through a stretchy elastic neck hole, where the infant’s body can slide right in. To achieve this, they repeatedly tested bamboo fabric for thickness and stretch. The couple saw through seven different prototypes before they came to a design that satisfied their vision. Max Jones says that prototyping should be an ongoing ordeal “If you want to make a successful product and you want to make people happy, I think you need to be constantly prototyping to make improvements,” Jones advises. “You’re never going to see an improvement unless you make one in the prototyping phase.” Prototyping can be thought of as a cyclical process involving three stages: determining user needs, building the prototype, and evaluating it. Both having worked with kids, Chelsea Reed and Max Jones were familiar with their users’ needs. Reed is a preschool educational assistant and a nanny, while Jones is a lifeguard and swim instructor; their jobs acquainted them with the comfort needs of small children and the types of clothes that would suit them. “Kids move around so much, so we need something stretchy and not something that’s super constricting,” says Reed. “Kids are always on the go, so we decided to create something that works for them and also for the parents.” Stretchy rompers for babies were also not readily available locally and are expensive to order online. In developing their product, they went for a more 11
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localized design by adding a hood. Reed explains, “We wanted to be unique and add a hood to it, just ‘cause it’s kind of cool, right? It’s Vancouver! It’s always raining.” To prep for the prototype, Jones puts it simply: “Dream it. Draw it. Do it.” They showed sketches of how they envisioned the product to designers, manufacturers, and suppliers they sought out in Metro Vancouver. In turn, their partners would point out possible vulnerabilities in the prototype’s design, creating a back-and-forth feedback loop. They were often questioned about how exactly they could fit an entire baby through the neck hole. The couple were intent on omitting buttons, snaps, and zippers from their design, so what mattered most was achieving the right level of stretchiness in the fabric. Jones recalls that it’s not as easy as going up to a designer and enlisting them to create a product to your specifications. “Like anything you’re doing, [making a product] is some form of art, and everyone paints differently.” After consulting with their partners, Jones and Reed would actively express their input to prevent the prototype from diverging too much from their vision. Jones recollects, “We kind of asked questions back and say, ‘Are there different ways you can stitch it?’ or ‘Are there different materials that have different stretch?’ and that’s kind of how we get the ball rolling.” When they set out to build the prototypes, there were also industry standards that they had to adhere to, particularly the safety aspect. For one, the clothes have to be appropriately-labelled with the materials used in its creation, plus the OEKO-TEX® certification that the clothes do not contain any harmful dyes or chemicals. Jones and Reed say that tackling the prototyping process is a matter of patience and active communication. Often, however, it also comes to hard decisions. They initially started with a different de-signer, supplier, and manufacturer altogether; the first team ended up being under-equipped to execute their vision. Jones & Baby Company’s first prototype is a far cry from their most recent, improved model. The 12
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romper’s hood, for one, underwent a transformation after it went from being oversized to having a threepanel, double-layered stitch. For the material, they opted to use bamboo cloth from the beginning, but the initial prototype’s fabric was too thin for their liking. “We’ve changed it up to a different type of bamboo, so it’s a bit thicker and has more stretch to it to allow more movement,” says Reed. Following their consultations, Jones and Reed also tested their prototypes by having children try them on. They were able to summon volunteers through social media. “We saved so much money by reaching out to these awesome parents who were willing to have their kids try on the romper.”
According to Reed, the parents were surprisingly open to helping them. After having kids test the product, they would ask for the parents’ opinions, such as how easy it is to put on their child. They amass the feedback given to them, then it’s back to the prototype drawing board. Prototyping takes a long time, and it’s an ongoing process. Like clothes, products can also get worn out, and prototyping routinely could help sustain a product’s growth.
Jones Baby & Company has further plans to grow; they want to test out prototypes for different seasonal styles and colours, and this would entail more re-search and development.
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TIPS FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS SEED FUNDING by Praveen Varshney
Varshney Capital Corp.
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Send an email that grabs investors’ attention
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Network your way to investor meetings
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Find investors who are willing to offer more than funding
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Be ready with your financial paperwork 14
Build a relationship before you ask for funding
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TRADES BUSINESS by Chad Flinn
Electrical Instructor at BCIT
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Know your target market
Have an operating system in place
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Build a business plan before you get started
Always stay educated
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Network
LEGAL
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by Brian Rudy and Liam Babbitt
Set agreements and guidelines with your partners
Synergy Business Lawyers
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Understand your contract in detail
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Reach out to a professional Lawyer
for more details on all of these tips (and more!) visit bcitsa.ca/beaboss
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Know how the money will be distributed
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CALL THE GRANDKIDS
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HOW A MENTORSHIP TURNED INTO A PARTNERSHIP Never before has the world seen so many seniors. The Baby Boomer generation has crossed into retirement age, and soon, the demand for wideranging elder care services could hit a new peak. Alec Morgana, an entrepreneur and a graduate of BCIT Business, dedicated his work towards fulfilling the needs of the aging population. His company, Call The Grandkids™, gives seniors a sense of extended family with teams of caregivers that provide companionship and a range of home services. Morgana’s first brush with entrepreneurship was in high school when he built and sold iPhone apps. When he enrolled in BCIT’s business school, he was able to take his business acumen to the next level. He went on to work for several start-ups and software companies after graduation, but quickly tired of working for others. Eager to be his own boss again, he decided to pursue the path of entrepreneurship with help from the BCIT Student Association’s Entrepreneurial Mentorship program.
With Ahamed’s guidance, Morgana set out to gather research and conduct interviews in order to create the right business plan for establishing an elder care business. Call The Grandkids™ was born shortly thereafter, where he manages the provision of care services to Vancouver seniors in their homes. Call The Grandkids™ describes themselves as a team of friendly companions on a mission to help seniors live well, happily and confidently, wherever they call home. What makes Call The Grandkids™ unique from other home care agencies is their focus on supporting the home environment. As opposed to traditional caregiving, they supplement their services with a family atmosphere. Seniors don’t always need a caregiver, but they could benefit greatly from companionship and support. Clients of Call The Grandkids™ say that Morgana’s company is “bridging the gap”. Morgana and his partner, Penny Parker, manage the day-to-day operations of Call The Grandkids™ and their growing team of companions. After a successful first year in business, Ahamed became their first investor. They are eager to continue making an impact on a population that has always been close to their hearts and are extremely excited to see what the future holds.
The program pairs student entrepreneurs with established BCIT alum, and Morgana found an invaluable mentor in Ashiq Ahamed, the CEO of brewhound. Ahamed guided Morgana through key steps in his entrepreneurial journey. While he was deciding on the perfect industry, Morgana’s family members were experiencing challenges surrounding aging. This inspired him to take a closer look at businesses helping seniors. Morgana felt he could do something truly rewarding while at the same time make an impact on this growing challenge. 17
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SEEDS OF IN
HOW AN IDEA EVO PRODUCT by Ali Pitargue
Pepita Fresh is a healthy milk alternative made creators—BCIT Food Technology graduates Ka APEX about how they innovated and used BCI award-winning product.
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OLVES INTO A
e from pumpkin and hemp seeds. The atie Haddad and Nancy Mach—tell IT’s resources to develop their
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It was a warm day in May when Katie Haddad and Nancy Mach trekked to the Centre for Applied Research and Development (CARI)—the venue for BCIT’s annual Student Innovation Challenge. Haddad and Mach hiked in heels while bearing bottled samples of seed milk in their arms. They sported matching costumes that resembled schoolgirls— their hair tied up in buns, ribbons made into bowties, and paper logos of their company taped on their blouses. When they arrived, their quirky get-up stood out from their competitors, most of whom resorted to traditional business attire. “We were kind of a mess because it was really hard to carry our stuff,” recounts Haddad. “[The organizers] gave us a lot of room because we had this stuff with us, unlike people who just had their notes in their USB.” Haddad and Mach were on their way to present their health food project, Pepita Fresh—a milk alternative made from pumpkin and hemp seeds. The faux-milk comes in sweetened and unsweetened flavours sans any dairy ingredients. Haddad and Mach developed the Pepita Fresh recipe as a class project within BCIT’s Food Technology diploma program. “And being the personalities that we are, we wore costumes,” explains Haddad. For the presentation, they wanted their appearance to match the aesthetic of their product. The taste tester bottles they served the judges were dollar store-bought, adorned with small glued labels and ribbons. Drinking glasses were placed beside the Pepita Fresh bottles, resembling a serving at a wine tasting. “I thought it was adorable,” reminisces Haddad. “If you look at the pictures it’s really cheesy, but it looks cute. Nancy hated the hair, but I made her wear it.” Mach scoffs. This was during the spring of 2018, the most stressful time of the year at BCIT. At this time, Haddad and Mach had to gear up for the Innovation Challenge amidst the maelstrom of exam week. “[The Innovation Challenge] wasn’t our best presentation,” admits Mach. “I needed time to prepare for presentations because I have anxiety. I’m not a public speaker at all.” Pepita Fresh—known then as ‘Hempkin’—was awarded the second-place prize. Haddad recalls how one judge took a particular liking “He was lactose intolerant and he had a nut allergy or something. He told us, ‘This is great! I’m your market. I think it also tastes good.’”
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Haddad and Mach have since graduated. As BCIT Food Technology students, their initial project was more focused on the food science behind the recipe. Now, they have ventured to launch Pepita Fresh for real. This meant no more trips to the dollar store. Rather, it entailed the coordination of suppliers, labelling, licenses, and other necessary steps to have the product ready for the market. With the help of BCITSA’s Mentorship program and other resources on campus, they were able to introduce Pepita Fresh to the health food business.
BLENDING IDEAS Pepita Fresh started out as a class project between Nancy Mach, Katie Haddad, and several others in BCIT’s Food Technology program. In the project, they were tasked to innovate a new product using Canadian agriculture. After their groupmates conflicted with the product’s vision, the team was eventually reduced to the Haddad-Mach duo. Before resolving to make a milk alternative, they bounced from idea to idea. They decided that they wanted to work with seeds, so it was a matter of deciding which product to turn it to. Initially, they wanted to make a salad topper, but the inspiration for a milk alternative came to Haddad when she opened the refrigerator at her dorm. Her roommate, Rachel, always kept soy milk at their fridge, until one day when Haddad noticed that the soy milk was replaced with almond milk. She approached Rachel about the switch to almond, and it turned out soy contained a hormone-like compound that was harmful for Rachel’s skin. “Then she went on a 30-minute rant about the cons of soy and almond milk,” recalls Haddad. “She was [lamenting] about how there’s no good milk alternatives and how she was really struggling.”
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Haddad then went to her room and proceeded to research. Upon extensive googling, the information available urged readers to balance the benefits and side effects of milk substitutes. She recalls, “You can go online and read about milk alternatives, but
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nobody ever tells you about which milk alternative’s better. It’s usually a pro and con list.” Her light bulb flickered on. She realized that pumpkin seeds were not commonly used as a base for milk substitutes. For the class project, Haddad and the team set out to blend pumpkin seeds into plantbased, non-dairy milk. “And to get even more innovative, we realized that nobody’s combining things to make milk alternatives!” exclaimed Haddad. They experimented with different seeds to blend with pumpkin. They started with flax seeds, but eventually switched because it made the taste bitter. Then they started looking into hemp seeds, which made for a more complementary mixture. Pumpkin seeds still comprise a majority of the mixture, but hemp seeds were added for extra nutrients. Mach and Haddad both attest that BCIT provided them with a flexible and nurturing learning environment. They credit their instructors for being accessible with constructive feedback. Mach and Haddad’s educational background in food technology equipped them well with the research and development stages. However, if they want to set a path for further growth, they had to consider the business side of things. “The [Food Technology] class wasn’t about developing a business,” explains Mach. “It was more about developing product with ideas based on criteria.” BCIT, through various competitions, resources, and connections, allowed the duo to strike at the right opportunities.
A COLLABORATIVE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS It took Katie Haddad and Nancy Mach many months until they finally agreed on the name, Pepita Fresh. When they competed, they went by ‘Hempkin’, which Haddad hated and was eager to change. In the end, they set on integrating the word, ‘pepita’—meaning ‘pumpkin seed’ in Spanish.
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“It’s a cool word, so everyone was [encouraging us] to roll with it,” says Haddad. “Someone in our Mentorship program [suggested], ‘Do Pepita Farm, you should be a farm!’ But we’re not a farm!” One instructor, thankfully, advised them that they should not label themselves something they’re not. Haddad and Mach had the recipe covered but creating a business plan was unfamiliar territory. The two quickly realized the extent of factors that need to be considered in order to start a business. “You have the product design, the business, the [legalities], and then you have the funding. Your mind’s constantly getting split,” remarks Haddad. “You get up and running on one thing like labelling, but then you forget something like the insurance!” In order to overcome this hurdle, it was a matter of opening themselves up to opportunity and making connections. “We had a lot of different people pushing us,” explains Mach. “With [BCIT’s] connections, they put us in touch with other people.” 22
They were receiving advice and feedback left and right. Even though they sometimes felt disoriented about which deeds to prioritize, the guidance came very handy. The opportunities opened up as they eagerly spread the word of Pepita Fresh through competitions and meetings. Most notably, the nation-wide Marvin Tung Product Development Contest and the Innovation Challenge. After they competed, they started receiving email offers. They were asked if they wanted to take part in the Live Entrepreneur program, as well as BCITSA’s Entrepreneurial Mentorship program. BCITSA’s Entrepreneurial Mentorship program put them in touch with Jordan Rogers, a BCIT alum and the founder of Lloyd-James Plant-
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with Haddad and Mach to advise them on their business plan. The organization provided guidance on managing start-up costs, which proved crucial for sending out banking applications to get more funding. Once they had the funding, then they needed to consider the production side of things such as supply, equipment, and labelling. They had to acquire heavy-duty blenders, test shelf life, and acquire health permits for their operations. According to Haddad, finding the right bottles was the hardest part of production. Luckily, they managed to find a bottle supplier in Burnaby. “They let us buy a dozen at a time, so yay, we don’t have to buy 500 and find a place in storage at my apartment!”
Based Sales & Marketing— Canada’s first plantbased food brokerage firm. Rogers was brought in to help them make the transition from food production to market distribution. Mach recalls how they would set up one or two meetings every month with Rogers. “He’d give us several insights on what we should strive to do to become a part of this industry.” The program has since ended, but Rogers agreed to stay in touch. If they ever need to seek more of his guidance, he is just an email away. Asked what the biggest challenges were of getting their business off the ground, Mach immediately answered the business plan and the cash flow—the amount of money being transferred to and from a business. Pepita Fresh got help from Futurpreneur, an organization that arranges loans, as well as mentors for young enterprises. Alongside funding, Futurpreneur would do phone calls
When the product gets launched, it needs to stand out in the market. This meant formulating a Pepita Fresh signature, both in branding as well as the recipe. Haddad and Mach were able to get the Pepita Fresh name registered at the business bureau, but having the recipe patented is more complicated. “Unless we legally have to share the recipe with someone, we don’t plan to share it,” says Haddad. Designing products, managing costs, setting up meetings, and filing paperwork—entrepreneurs have plenty to juggle, especially when they first start out. For Haddad and Mach, it was a matter of taking advantage of available resources and guidance, but it’s also about self-motivation and allowing for time. Studying at BCIT helped Nancy Mach and Katie Haddad get acquainted with the entrepreneurial process, but after graduating, their training wheels are now off. They have come a long way since participating in school-organized contests. Since their bouncy and spirited appearance at the 2018 Student Innovation Challenge, they nurtured their vision of Pepita Fresh to retain a key ingredient— personality. Pepita Fresh will plan their first roll-out in farmer’s markets and The Stand stores later this year. 23
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STEPS TO PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT by Nigel Halsted So, you want to make a prototype. At this point, you’ve decided on a problem to tackle, and you might have some ideas for a solution that you could build (and sell). You’ve researched the problem, and thought about some challenges you might face. Maybe your prototype will be a tool that could improve lives or maybe it fills a gap in a specific industry—there are so many kinds of products to create. So, what’s next?
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1 NEED STATEMENT
This explains the rationale behind your project. The need statement contains three elements: the problem, the beneficiary to a solution, and why they benefit.
2 DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
These are the characteristics that the product needs to fulfill. The design requirements remind you of the project’s goals. To identify your design requirements, make a list of stakeholders and their needs. Now, list the requirements that your product needs to fulfill for each group. Requirements aren’t solutions, but end-results, and they can be divided into five categories: performance, function, safety, usability, and regulatory. For example. functionally, a phone should be able to make and receive calls.
3 HYPOTHESES
Now you can start to dream up solutions. It’s best to do this in groups as different people can have different perspectives or insights. If there are risks, list them and find ways to mitigate them.
4 CONCEPT
Write a clear statement about what your product does, why it exists, and how it will work, along with drawings that illustrate anything that may be unclear. Once you’re done, have it reviewed by someone external to the project to ensure that you haven’t missed anything.
5 DESIGN
Now the vague concept becomes a concrete idea. Determine if you will need electrical or mechanical engineering, or software development. Remember that you may need to accept things may change at this stage. Simple designs are usually the most elegant and reliable.
6 BUILD
It’s time to build what you designed. You can contract a company to do this, but if you do, stay involved, and keep track of all changes made. The prototype doesn’t have to be perfect, it only has to fulfill the purpose. The design may be revised multiple times.
7 VERIFICATION
Set up tests to ensure the device meets the design requirements, and resolve any issues. Is everything working? Repeat steps 2 to 7 until it is.
8 VALIDATION
In validation, the device is assessed to see how effective it is at achieving its intended use in real-world conditions. If you’re building a car, for example, it will need to pass several tests before you can begin production. If you’re wondering where you can build a prototype, talk to your entrepreneurship advisor about Make+ at BCIT.
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THE FRUITS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Enactus group Ra Solutions is developing solar dehydrators that help farmers reduce waste of fruits and vegetables. Project manager Brendan Banks discusses what it means to venture in a social enterprise that helps combat socioeconomic and environmental issues. by Ali Pitargue
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One-third of the food produced in the world becomes landfill, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes of waste each year.¹ In developing countries, most food waste occurs earlier in the supply chain, particularly in the agricultural and production stages. Crops can be vulnerable to spoilage due to a multitude of factors: inefficient farming technology, overproduction of crops, and the changing climate. For some farms in Colombia, wasted fruit and vegetables can amount up to 100 kilos per week. One way to salvage portions of these products is by providing farms with adequate storage units, but this is often not affordable. BCIT Enactus group, Ra Solutions, wants to make adequate storage more attainable. Led by project manager Brendan Banks, they plan to sell solar dehydrators of their own design to farms in Colombia, Guatemala, and other countries from the Global South.² Solar dehydrators store fruits and vegetables for long durations post-harvest. These dehydration units use energy from the sun to keep the food product dry for extended periods, which prevents fruits and vegetables from spoiling as they enter the market. Ra Solutions’ venture is not poised for profit, but rather, it is a form of social enterprise—the use of business practices to generate positive outcomes for society and the environment. If Ra Solutions were more focused on revenues, then it would fall short in accomplishing its core mission: to reduce food waste by providing farmers with sustainable technology. Ra Solutions hopes that their dehydrators can not only to help farmers better preserve food products, but also flesh out their source of income.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2011. SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction.: fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en 2 “Global South” is a term used by the World Bank referring to countries in Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa that are considered to have middle to low income. 1
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“We had to remember who we were selling this to,” says Banks. “It’s not to make money. It’s to change someone’s life for the better. We want to reduce food waste, while also giving farmers a secondary revenue stream.” This prioritizes the overall benefit for these communities, taking into account its socioeconomic and environmental effects. They are not targeting a profitable market, but rather are facilitating the fruition of better livelihoods. Manufacturing these dehydrators could provide even more jobs in their target countries. As the project manager of Ra Solutions, Banks leads a team of ten—three business students and seven engineers. They are guided by BCIT’s Enactus and MAKE+ teams. Enactus is a worldwide network for student entrepreneurs who engage projects that positively impact social, economic, and environmental issues. MAKE+ provides resources and supports the execution of student initiatives. The concept behind Ra Solutions’ solar dehydrators came from their previous project manager, Kase Overes, who got the idea from one of his business peers. Banks then took over for Overes and helped refine the concept. Ra Solutions initially looked into countries like Grenada and India, but one of the team members, Emilio Angel, happened to have an aunt in Colombia who owned a farm. They established direct contact, and through her, the team was able to scout the market and obtain feedback from local farmers. To conduct further market research, Ra Solutions consulted government websites and non-profit organizations. They made connections with non-profits in Colombia who are willing to help coordinate the distribution of the dehydrators.
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Banks notes that farmers in Colombia only make up to $2,700 CAD per year. Existing dehydration facilities are often out of the range of what farms can afford. “We find it’s very hard,” recalls Banks. “A lot of these developing countries that we’re targeting don’t have the same technology as we have.” Ra Solutions had to consider what would be costeffective for their clientele. They had to take all these farmers’ needs into account. “It has to be affordable and also durable so it could last a long time,” cites Banks. “And also, be very simple, so then if anything goes wrong with it, we can fix it and ship them a new part.” Banks intends to ensure these products not only function well in the long run, but also have a positive effect on the farmers’ livelihoods. He says, “It’s an opportunity to reduce food waste on a global scale and then also create a secondary revenue stream, so they can make a little bit more money to provide for their family and boost their own economy.” Eco-friendly and sustainability mandates are becoming more and more of necessity for entrepreneurial ventures. According to Brendan Banks, it is crucial for entrepreneurs to be conscious of the environmental and social impact of their business practices. “I don’t think it’s as much as having a choice if we should [be ecoconscious]. You have to be, if we want to have a sustainable future.”
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MENTORSHIP MAKE CONNECTIONS. LEARN FROM THE PROS. The BCITSA Mentorship program is designed to give entrepreneurial students & alumni an opportunity to connect with and learn from experienced entrepreneurs.
Chad Flinn
Mentees will meet with their mentors on a regular basis over the course of six months in order to ask questions, gain insight, and get support to meet their business goals.
Sebastien Nault
Successful mentees have clear goals in mind, are open to receiving valuable advice and feedback and ready to act on suggestions made by their mentor. bcitsa.ca/beaboss/mentorship
Kalpna Solanki
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Luke Closs
Eric Lee
Dom Kwong
Mandie La Montagne
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M Looking for a Mentor? beaboss@bcitsa.ca
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TAKING CHARGE OF
YOUR COMPANY CULTURE CEO Adam Wicks conducts a team of professional electricians under his company, Wicks Electric Inc.—the most highly-reviewed electrical contractor in the Lower Mainland. He discusses his HR tactics and how he cultivates a company culture that complements his business goals. by Ali Pitargue
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Assembling a team of skilled collaborators and workers is a key component for business growth. Companies thrive from summoning ‘human capital’— or value derived from workers’ skills, knowledge, and experience. In order to draw the best team, entrepreneurs are tasked with creating a desirable work environment that conveys a clear company culture. Company Culture refers to behaviours and customs within an organization that shape the ‘personality’ of the company. It can be comprised of a company’s values, beliefs, systems, practices, and working conditions. Skilled job seekers take into account a company’s culture alongside the position’s salary and benefits. Entrepreneurs usually run tight ships when they start off, and therefore they don’t have much room for idle employees. Drawing and retaining the best employees would depend on a leader’s company vision and workplace management. Adam Wicks, the founder and CEO of Wicks Electric Inc., feels it is important to define a culture that encourages the best work from employees. He currently runs a team of 20 staff that have varied skills—small renovations, commercial construction
projects, and installing green energy apparatuses, to name a few. “[My employees] work 8 hours per day, maybe 10 or 12,” he cites. “It’s a huge portion of their lives. It needs to be enjoyable, but it’s enjoyable because you’re doing great work and we hold each other accountable to that.” According to Forbes contributor William Craig, company culture is something that is pre-existing in a company’s genetic code. It is up to the company to ensure their staff nurture this culture. Wicks desired to exceed expectations in the trades industries, and this meant he had to find the right personalities to help further his ambition and manage a positive work setting. Wicks’ vision has materialized. Wicks Electric stands as the highest-rated electrical contractor in the Lower Mainland. It was dubbed 2018’s ‘Best Company’ by Small Business BC, recognized for their dedication to quality assurance, the scale of their services, and deep client relations. Adam Wicks expects hard work from his employees, and that can best be mustered if the team is working towards a company vision in a positive environment that nurtures their skills and potential.
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HARDWIRING VALUES IN COMPANY CULTURE
THE POWER FACTOR OF HIRING PRACTICES
Adam Wicks knew he wanted to build an organization that goes beyond the standard, but he also wanted it to be a place where people loved to work. He completed several internships before he graduated from BCIT, and through his experiences, he made a keen observation: when a company is passionate and proud of their work, it was reflected in their productivity.
Hiring the right people is crucial to preserving company culture. Wicks sought people who understood his vision for Wicks—a team of hard workers who go the extra mile to put quality and customer service above all else.
His crew’s passion and pride are derived from the culture at Wicks Electric, which commits to being an industry leader in workmanship, presentation, professionalism, accountability, and client care. Wicks set out to unify his team under this commitment to excellence. Wicks describes his company culture as a cross between a family and the army. The company’s approaches are systematic with ardent qualityassurance procedures in place. There is a firm line-ofcommand among his project managers, senior staff, and apprentices. Wicks stresses that these structures are important for accountability and organization. Much like the army, “It’s very clear who reports to who, and as you climb up the hierarchy in trades, you get more experience and more responsibility.” However, while the Wicks crew works hard, these company structures are enveloped by a comforting atmosphere. “We’re very on-point and precise when it comes to our projects,” he says. “Having said that, it’s also very warm and understanding. It’s built on the back of EQ—emotional intelligence—and understanding each other.” Wicks says that if he finds the right people, then he does not worry too much about his crew being distracted by a casual atmosphere. “We support them through just having a great culture,” says Wicks. “It’s openness and that kind of positivity in a healthy workplace. That’s enough initiative to make people want to work hard.”
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“It’s about building a team that echoes your entrepreneurial vision, your values and what you want to achieve,” says Wicks. To date, Wicks recruits team members mainly through word-of-mouth and various speaking engagements. Since he started Wicks Electric, he managed to come across people who had special things to offer. “It’s kind of serendipity in that way,” he describes. “I find people who’re wanting to be part of something special, in a company that kind of does things differently—people that want to be part of building something big.”
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When it comes to good hires, Wicks advises you to be honest about your own capabilities. “You have to be self-aware enough to know your shortcomings as an entrepreneur,” he says. “Then, hire people who can capitalize and maximize on your shortcomings.” This is especially important because the day-to-day operations at Wicks Electric are no walk in the park. Their projects are meticulous and detail-oriented, but what sets them apart from other contractors is their long-lasting relationships with their clients. This means his workers have to not only do the technical work well, but also be personable with the clientele. To build a sturdy client base, he had to hire workers with social skills. According to Wicks, his hiring practices spare him from engaging in too many team pep talks. “I think finding the right people is more important than motivating,” he opines. Connecting with people who can contribute to the company’s growth is crucial, but just as important as that is having a good judge of character.
ENERGIZING A POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT “I’m a very positive person,” says Adam Wicks. “I always see positivity in my people and on my jobs.” Wicks’ positive attitude is reflected in how he promotes comradery, as well as how he assesses employee performance. “I let my guys know that we look at failures as gifts,” he says. Through surveying clients and job site visits, he keeps close tabs on his employees’ work. This way, he can anticipate areas of improvement, then use it as a way to inspire his crew. “I always look forward to failures because it gives us a chance to do better.” Furthermore, if things go by the wayside, the Wicks Electric team have each other’s backs. There is a reliable support system among crew members, to the point of putting in extra work to ensure a project’s success. Wicks recalls, “If one project manager wants
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to get a job done and wants to stay four or five hours late, almost every time—unless the guys have some kind of important engagement—the whole team will stay and help him out.” In order to enhance the team dynamics, Adam Wicks makes sure that his workers’ attitudes are in sync under a collective ‘can do’ attitude. This is important for the work they deliver, but it also maximizes their potential. Wicks emphasizes that a good attitude is especially important. “I’ve seen it happening before in other companies. You have one person who’s negative and condescending, trying to flex their power aggressively and that ends up really ruining the culture of the company.” As a leader, Wicks also advises that his interactions with the team can be a bit of a balancing act; he has to refrain from being too friendly. He says, “You need to be stern when you need to be stern, and you have to communicate what you will and will not tolerate.” “Motivating out of relationships and enthusiasm and love instead of hate and fear is what I’m about,” professes Wicks. Just as Wicks Electric specializes in their businessclient dynamics, working relationships also flourish internal to the company as well. Eventually, Adam Wicks wants to expand his crew to over 40 staff members. In order to do so, the company has to not only sustain its best practices, but also its positive work environment. Wicks Electric may deal with technical matters like repairs and installations, but Wicks says it is still important for trades industries to be people-oriented. Wicks says that having fallible HR and company culture could cost you your entire company. “It’s humans performing a service, and if you don’t have happy, efficient, healthy, respected humans, then your business will dwindle and eventually fail.”
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