Craig Schoen

Explaining your business model for money is kind of like explaining to someone how you are going to play a game of hockey before you play it, you are telling them what they want to hear but it is not necessarily how it will play out in real life. This is the gap between a business model and an actual business.

For business model competitions it is important not only for yourself but also the judges to make your gaps between business model and real life as short as possible. If you can do this you have instantly brought credibility to your project and the rest ABC (always be closing).

From my experience as a competitor and winner of business model competitions on the local and national level, as well as starting my own business selling custom promotional items and Mural Arts Project in Ottawa. I have found that there are some common keys to success to make sure not only you win but after you win you actually make some money and start a business.

Key to Success #1 - Go to the Entrepreneurial Culture Website, founded and maintained by Bruce Firestone entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School of Management and Founder of the Ottawa Senators NHL Franchise. When you click on this link read and take notes. Take more notes talk to your friends about everything you learned and explain to them why it will help you do well as an entrepreneur. This is your foundation.

Key to Success #2 - Watch Elevator Pitches go to youtube and go to www.fundfindr.com which also has great pitches. Study their moves mannerisms and what they stress. You do this because for the most part your pitch is your story, it’s 2 minutes to get people interested and you always start a business model presentation with it. If you do it right judges will want to hear more, that when you go into the guts or logistics about how you can make this story happen.

Key to Success #3 - Bring Something tangible. If your business model involves e commerce or an online business have something online. Even if it is a well made picture that is on the homepage of you website. If you can type in your URL and have something show up on your browser your creditability shoots through the roof. If you have a tangible product but it will cost you $1000000 to make a prototype, change your idea. Always follow bootstrap entrepreneurial principles, “start something small and with in your reach but has the flexibility and potential to grow as you do.” If you are making a website, make sure your web developers make your project on a version basis. That way when you add something you pay for it and it allows you to control your cost and take small bites to make sure your idea can grow. My web developers are http://www.csedev.com which is an Ottawa based web company and they did a fantastic job for me. You don’t need any knowledge to start a website, you just need $30 and a credit card and you can have your own website, go to boot strap websites to learn how to get on the web pain free and fast.

Key to Success #4 - Start With The Easy Money. When you pitch your business model focus on the part of your business that has clients who are readily available to give their money to you in return for your start ups services. For example when I started www.draugh.com I pitched it as a Virtual Design Studio where design professionals could share their screen with the client and communicate in real time to create logos and other design elements. This had never been done before so I built the system put it all together and looked around and said, “where are my customers?” I realized this was not the easy money. So I re worked my website. Now draugh.com is a website that allows the user to build custom promotional items through one easy to use interface where they can upload their own design and text or use our stock designs supplied by other customers and artist. Now I’m making the, “easy money.” I have virtually no overhead, no inventory or any other costs. The client generates the inventory by placing orders which I place with my suppliers. With this set up people are coming to get promotional items on my website, now I can take it to the next level allowing artisit to use my screen sharing system for a flat yearly fee creating logos for clients who can now in turn use those logos to create promo material for their business.

Key to Success #5 - Make a Local Value Proposition you can execute. How do you know if you can execute value to a customer, they give you money, that is the test. If there is one thing I learned if people are giving you money for something you are on the right track. Draugh.com used to be known as vinyltees.ca and we made custom hand made tee shirts for clients in and outside the class room, and they gave us money. We executed on a small scale locally which is ok as long as you keep in mind that it is you r job in the end to create a system where you reverse out the work, and your profits are based on the amount of orders you do, not the amount of hours you put in. If you actually put cash money down on the table in front of the judges and say that this is the money people have paid you for your services or product, its small but it is a start and only a small indication of our up coming success. “please someone do this; sell me something, I would gladly buy it to see you put money down in front of the judges.

Thats it, do these five things and your well on your way to win the competition but also start a real bonified business.

If you have any questions, email me at craigschoen@draugh.com

Cheers

Craig Schoen

Founder and Studio Manager Draugh.com

Program Manager Mural Arts Program of Canada

After an entire summer of hard work, the Mural Arts Program in Ottawa has completed its goal, by creating a great mural in Ottawa. The mural is located on Highway 174 east bound lanes on the sound barrier just before the St. Joseph Street exit. There have been many twists and turns and countless set backs, but as the founder and program manager, the only thing to do was to keep going. After the city initially rejected our idea for the mural, we searched for support and sponsorship. We found our sponsorship in two ways. The first was by gaining the permission of the Firestone Collection to create prints of three original Group of Seven works. These are the three prints that are for sale, contact Craig Schoen 613 292 2826 or email me at craigschoen@muralarts.ca for purchasing information.

The second form of sponsorship was by selling advertising space itself on the mural. Decorators Choice in Ottawa donated and supplied the paint and we offered to put their logo on the mural. Local Ottawa Web Design Firm CseDev sponsored the Mural Arts project as well. There are three more spots available for prime advertising space on the side of the 174 just before the St. Joseph exit in Orléans.

Our support came from two strong community members. The first is City of Ottawa Councillor Bob Monette. I approached his office in the early planning stage looking for a city partner to help with the program. His staff worked side by side with the Mural Arts Program under his direction to make sure this mural would turn into reality.

The second form of support came from Bruce Firestone himself. It has been his goal to bring a community based Mural Program to Ottawa for some time and with his initial vision and support we have taken an idea on a chalk board and involved a whole city in the making of the first community Mural by our program. Here are some initial pictures of the design.

The Artists for this piece did such an amazing job. Using real sketches and actually going out to farms and observing cows, they were able to create a breathtaking representation for the whole city to see. The first artist is eighteen year old Natan Moura of Canterbury School of the Arts. The second artist is eighteen year old Amelia Hartin also of the Canterbury School of the Arts. They took on this project because they wanted to create art on a large scale and they look forward to being commissioned on similar works.

If you are looking to see this mural it is easy to spot. As you are driving to Place d’Orléans, look right and on the side of the highway you will be able to see the mural which is approximately 320 square feet. To get a closer look turn onto St. Joseph and turn right on Dussiere and follow all the way to the bottom of the street.

This mural is not just a summer spent starting a community-based art not-for-profit organization. It has created a venue for local artists from Ottawa to share their work on a large scale. Also, on the mural, local Graffiti artists have added their designs to complete the transition from traditional to urban art. If you have any questions or want a mural in your area, email craigschoen@muralarts.ca.

As for being a young entrepreneur, this has been a great experience and I would suggest devoting your time to helping your community wherever, whenever.

Cheers

Craig

Every company or organization needs a logo. This is no different for non profit organizations such as the mural arts program in which i am a project manager, we have come up with a great logo check it out.

If you have been in a down town of any city you know that graffiti is a problem. What if you could change that graffiti into art and improve the surrounding community. This is why the Mural Arts program in Ottawa has been created by Bruce Firestone and supported by exploriem.org to beautify the city and encourage community involvement through mural creation. As a start up non for profit organization we are doing all the normal things that you do for a boot strap start up except the goal is to make the city of Ottawa look better through the power of art. Our first mural will be an aquatic theme, for this project the design was created by Angela Evans a art graduate student from Nipissing university and the painters will be recruited from the local art academies in Ottawa. I will be posting more about the mural program as it develops, if you have a great idea for a mural or want to get involved, leave a comment or email me at craigschoen123@hotmail.com

Every business starts with an idea. From that idea a business model is formed and now you have something you can tell other people about. As you tell people about your idea the more feedback and exposure to potential clients you will receive. Some entrepreneurs worry about telling people about great ideas because they might be stolen by potential competitors. This is a danger for any start up but the key test is to know what your secret sauce is, ” the one thing you can do better and more efficiently than anybody else.” So its safe to say keep the secret sauce secret, but if your going to Macdonald’s their secret sauce on the big mac’s is actually thousand islands dressing, who knew.

Now that your telling people about your idea and model, keeping the secret sauce to yourself; wouldn’t it be great to present your idea formally to seasoned business professionals and have them give you honest, realistic answers about your model and if it will work. Kind of like Dragon’s Den on CBC but for younger people who just want some good feedback. So where to go for this type of environment, look no further than the Wes Nicol National Business Competition. For University Students only, you can compete at the school level and receive prize money in the thousands of dollars, sounds interesting. There is more; you also have the chance to compete at the national level in Ottawa at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. So who pays for all of this, one man, Wes Nicol. He is an entrepreneur and lawyer himself and genuinely likes to hear young peoples ideas and enjoys helping start up businesses. I competed in this competition for my business Draugh Virtual Design Studios and it was a great experience not only to engage the business with potential clients and competitors, but it also feels good to hear some one say, “thats a great idea go for it.” To me that confidence is better than any grant or loan you need for a true boot strap start up. So if you have a great idea and you are not a university student or don’t have access to a business competition here is what i suggest. Do a 2 minutes elevator pitch and put it up on you tube and send me the link in the comment box, get an audience and see what they think, build your confidence and launch your start up.

I am a young entrepreneur writing about the trials and tribulations of trying to build something from the ground up. I share my experience and I want to help people who want to make something new and want to be their
own boss.