Larry Wilkins, Antler Creek

Outfi tters, West Kelowna,

see story page 4

of the CENTRAL OKANAGAN

Optimistic outlook for small business

Z2 www.kelownacapnews.com Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Business LeadersDL#30922 3260 Highway 97 N. Kelowna

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Award Winning TeamJOHN KOT | Dealer Principal

Born and raised in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. John started selling cars at 18 years old. He has held several senior management automotive positions over the past 15 years in Edmonton and most recently aquired Kelowna Hyundai in November 2011.

TANNER CAOUETTE | General Sales Manager

An Edmonton boy born and raised, Tanner has spent the last 10 years in the automotive industry, where he met John Kot. Joined Kelowna Hyundai in July 2012.

BRENT GRAINGER| Assistant Parts Manager

Has been with the dealership for one and a half years, but has over 35 years experience with parts. Originally from Calgary, Alberta.

DARIN MOORE | Technician

Now at Kelowna Hyundai for a year and a half, Darin was born and raised in Penticton. He has over 25 years of technical experience.

DAWN LOOP| Detail Manager

Born and raised in Kelowna, Dawn has previous experience at Kelowna Flightcraft, but has been detailing for the last 8 years.

NIKI MUMANT | Detailer

Another local Kelowna girl and also from RSS, Niki has been at the company for 1 year.

KYLE PAVEY| Detailer

Has been at Kelowna Hyundai for only 3 months, Kyle is locally raised. He also drives a zamboni at Puckmasters on the Westside.

LEAH BABINGTON | Financial Service Manager

Raised in Penticton. Leah was previously a professional skater for Disney on Ice. She recently joined Kelowna Hyundai as Financial Service Manager.

SANDRA SCEPANOBIC | Accounting

Originally from Vancouver, she graduated from the University of Toronto. She has only been at the dealership for 2 months.

DARREN STOCKHAUSEN | Accounting

Born in Kingston Jamaica, but raised in Manitoba before moving to B.C. Darren has been working for the dealership for over 3 years.

JILL FYLYSHTAN | Administration Assistant

Born in Vernon and raised in the Okanagan, Jill graduated from RSS and studied Administaration at OUC.

BRENT PETERSEN | Parts and Service Driver

A local Kelowna lad, Brent is a graduate from Rutland Senior Secondary and has been with Kelowna Hyundai for 5 years.

ROBIN GILLBERG | Technician Foreman

Was at OUC to get his trades, and then has had a variety of dealership experience before starting with the dealership some two and a half years ago. Originally from Vancouver. Has over 22 years of technical experience.

CHRIS D’AOUST | Technician

From Edmonton originally, he moved to Kelowna 12 years ago. Chris has been past president with the Kinsmen as well as 12 years experience as a technician. He has been with the company for 1 year.

CURTIS WASYLENKO | Technician

Kelowna born and bred and graduated from Okanagan College. Has been at the dealership for 2 years.

JORDAN CHEN | Technician

Graduated from Vancouver Community College, and has now been at Kelowna Hyundai for 6 years.

KYLE SELLERS | Technician

Another locally born and raised fellow, Kyle graduated from Rutland Senior and has been with the company for one and a half years.

STEVEN GLADU| Technician

Originally from Fort McMurray, and then moved to Kelowna where he attended Okanagan College. Has been at Hyundai for 3 years, though has been a technician for 7 years.

RIC BIDOKA | Sales & Leasing Consultant

Ric had over 13 years in sales working for Saturn. A lover of the outdoors, he joined Kelowna Hyundai in 2010.

TANYA LE BARRON| Finance Director

Tanya was born and raised in the Comox Valley, Vancouver Island. She has spent the last 8 years, 4 in sales and 4 as Finance Director.

ROB THOMAS “TURBO” | Inventory Manager

From Victoria, Vancouver Island, Rob has had a number of jobs within the automotive industry in both sales and as an inventory manager. Has been with Kelowna Hyundai for 5 years.

DEBBIE KORBYCK | Service Advisor

Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Debbie has worked for Hyundai since 1983.

KATIE CANDIDA | Service Advisor

From Vancouver, BC but moved to Kelowna in 1992. She started at Kelowna Hyundai just a month ago. Had previous work in warehousing in Fort McMurray.

DAVE DORS| Service Advisor

Born and raised in Woodstock, Ontario, Dave has bodywork experience in the automotive industry, including 9 years with Harmony Honda.

MIKE NORLIN | Parts Manager

From Armstrong, B.C. Mike has 27 years experience in the parts industry, moving to Kelowna Hyundai 3 years ago.

PERRY PANADOGONAS | Sales Manager

Hailing from Edmonton, he has been in the automotive industry for the last 17 years, moving to Kelowna 2 years ago.

KACY MILLER| Sales & Leasing Consultant

From Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island, Kacy has a major in both English and also Hospitality Management and was previously at Boomers, where she was recruited. Has been at Kelowna Hyundai 7 months with great success.

KEVIN PYLYPOW | Sales & Leasing ConsultantBorn and raised in Edmonton, Kevin played junior hockey for many teams, as well as working in the wine and restaurant industries. Has been with Kelowna Hyundai for 8 years. Kevin has been Salesman of the Year for the past 3 years.

KIA LIPKOVITS | Sales & Leasing Consultant

Originally from Holland, Lia has been in the automotive industry for 34 years, and in Kelowna for the last 21 years. She has just joined the dealership.

BRANDON KOT| Sales & Leasing Consultant

Born in Saskatchewan, Brandon graduated from Immaculata in Kelowna. Brandon traded his hockey ambition to join the team at Kelowna Hyundai and is a top performer.

DAMIAN DE CIANTIS | Sales & Leasing ConsultantDamian was born in Toronto but moved to the Okanagan in 1999. He was previously a bartender at Cabana Bar and Grill, where he was recruited by John Kot. Has been at the dealership for a year with great success.

KEITH RICHARDS | Sales & Leasing Consultant

Born and raised in Toronto. Keith was a service advisor at Harmony Honda before moving to Kelowna Hyundai. He made the transition to sales in March 2012.

GUY LEMIEUX | Managing Partner

Guy was born and raised in Montreal. He specializes in fixed operations and used vehicles. Guy worked for Ford and GO Auto for 20 years in Edmonton. He joined forces with John Kot in November 2011 at Kelowna Hyundai.

DOUG CUNNINGHAM | Sales & Leasing Consultant

Hailing from Nanaimo, Doug has spent the last 30 years in the industry, and their family owned a Hyundai dealership before selling to the Pattison Group.

Business Leaders Tuesday, October 16, 2012 www.kelownacapnews.com Z3

Barry GerdingEDITOR

The Central Okanagan is a mecca for small business entre-preneurs.

Whether starting out as a service provider, a retail store operator, or generating new entrepreneurial ideas, surveys consistently point to the Oka-nagan region as a great place to start a business.

Why? Robert Fine, exec-utive director of the Central Okanagan Economic Develop-ment Commission, says there are several reasons.

Most notable is the lifestyle and climate in our region, he says, but equally important is the relatively low unemploy-ment rate which refl ects a healthy work base that has money to spend, and the infra-structure additions that govern-ment funding has provided in recent years.

“Enrolment at both the uni-versity and college is at an all-time high, there has been a ma-jor expansion in health care ser-vices and the airport continues to set new records for the num-ber of passengers,” Fine said.

“That by itself creates a lot of niche opportunities for busi-nesses to be developed to serve those markets.”

As well, Fine notes that the population continues to attract

more people to the region. “That is a huge asset, that

people want to live here, but we have to also remember there are a lot of nice places to live in the world, there is a lot of com-petition out there, so we have to keep getting the word out about what we have to offer.”

Fine recalls a recent conver-sation with an engineer from Alberta who has created a start-up business in Kelowna.

“What he said to me was, ‘Why isn’t everybody coming here? The weather is great and I love living here. It’s a wel-coming place and there is lots to do.’ Attracting people like that is what creates a strong business sector.”

But for all the positives, Fine acknowledges that lo-

cal small business owner face challenges, from a feeling of being over-taxed and buried in red tape bureaucracy, to the economic turbulence of the last three years.

Fine was among the par-ticipants in the Business Walks survey carried out in Peach-land, West Kelowna, Kelowna and Lake Country earlier this month.

The results from that sur-vey and will be released at the inaugural Central Okanag-an Economic Summit taking place later this month at the Bottega Farm Inn, 4485 Sal-lows Rd. in Kelowna.

“I did my walk in West Ke-lowna, and the general sense I came out of that with is people are starting to feel a little more positive about their business, about how things are going,” Fine said.

“I think people are tired of hearing the negative economic news all the time, and want to get on with things. I think com-panies that survived and thrived through the recent challenging economic times are still with us and in better shape than before the recession hit because they had to be.

“You are starting to see signs of stores ordering high-er levels of inventory, becom-ing more active and involved in what they see are signs of a

brighter economic future. Busi-ness owners seem to be feeling more positive I think.

“Call it a cautious optimism but people are starting to feel better about things.”

Another aspect of Central Okanagan business growth is refl ected in the numbers. Prov-incial numbers indicate about 16,000 businesses operate in the Central Okanagan, with about 57 per cent of those are an owner-proprietor.

Fine said what that refl ects on the downside is if you move to the Okanagan looking for a job, your choices are limited because what we don’t have is the larger companies and head offi ces here.

“So the challenge is to help those companies to grow here so that instead of being owner operator or having two or three employees, they have 10 people working.”

While there is help for the small business community, both through direct grants or information sources provid-ed by various government pro-grams, Fine said getting that information into the radar of people who need it often gets lost in the translation.

“Some of the feedback we get back is small business owners don’t have the time to keep current on what programs are available at a given moment

that may help them. They are too busy just trying to run their business day in and day out,” Fine said.

“It’s an ongoing challenge to get the message out there.”

Fine said the chamber of commerce helps in that re-gard, as does the Uptown Rut-land Business Association and Downtown Kelowna Associa-tion.

Fine says social media can also help, as does a new in-itiative at area municipal halls where business license appli-cants receive information pack-ages on programs and services that can potentially assist them.

“The fi rst point of contact often for new business owners is the business license or plan-ning department,” he said.

As a comparison, Fine said a recent conference he attended in Houston, Tex., revealed the difference in optimism be-tween American and Canadian business owners.

“I think the level of opti-mism, or lack there of, is very different in the U.S. Small businesses are not comfort-able where things are at and re-main unsure where the govern-ment is going,” he said. “It’s an election cycle this year, which means trying to fi gure out who is saying what and do they really mean it. I think the U.S. economy has been the primary

economic engine in the world and that is not the case any-more, and the trickle down ef-fect from that is people begin to feel less secure.”

Fine believes despite com-plaints about excessive bureau-cratic red tape and taxation policies, the reality is govern-ment, in particular at the civic level, is making strides to be more responsive to the needs of their business communities.

He adds that the upcom-ing economic summit will see successive business entrepre-neurs such as Lane Merrifi eld, one of the founder of Club Pen-guin, and Al Hildebrandt, suc-cessful in the high-tech soft-ware fi eld, among the guest speakers, along with both De-bra Buszard, vice-chancellor of UBC Okanagan, and Okanag-an College School of Business instructor Heather Schneider.

“We are really trying to focus on small business and provide networking and infor-mation opportunities to grow and expand their businesses,” he said.

Fine added that the Busi-ness Walks survey results is a program worthy of continuing.

“I think business owners were impressed to see council members or the mayor of their communities step into their es-tablishments to see what they’re doing, and to listen.”

Optimistic outlook prevalent in business community

Robert Fine

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Z4 www.kelownacapnews.com Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Business Leaders

Barry GerdingEDITOR

Larry Wilkins did an assessment of his life and realized something was missing.

He felt unfulfi lled with his career as an avi-onics technician. He wanted the challenge of do-ing something that he actually enjoyed doing, where it might not actually feel like work, just making money for someone else.

“I just came to a point where I was unhappy with my working life and I thought I’d better make a change before it’s too late. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last eight to 10 years. I got the bug this spring and made that leap of faith two months ago,” Wilkins recalls.

That leap of faith was to start his own busi-ness, do be his own boss and spend his working time doing something he has been passionate about throughout his life, the outdoors.

Wilkins has opened Antler Creek Outfi tters in West Kelowna, 1767 Ross Road, a business that deals with fi rearms and outdoor recreation related supplies and products.

“I have up to 16-hour days in some weeks but it doesn’t feel like work because I love what I’m doing,” said Wilkins of his initial foray in the business world.

“I just feel a lot healthier and happier, I’ve lost 20 pounds this year. And when a big order comes in it’s like Christmas,” he laughed.

“There is a lot of learning that goes on with starting a business but I’m trying to learn as ago along. My wife has a full-time job but she helps me with the books and I have one other staff per-son at this point.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We want to see the store evolves, and let the community decide how things will go. I want to be careful at the start not to over-extend myself fi nancially, make sure I’m able to pay the bills.”

Wilkins started his career as an avionics technician because he had an interest in air-

planes, acquiring his certifi cation that led him to a job working on water bombers in northern Saskatchewan for 10 years, before moving to Kelowna to work for Alpine.

He said a shopping trip earlier this year to Grouse River Outfi tters got him thinking about a business model for his own outdoors shop.

His sister-in-law, who runs a clothing store in Golden, and a commercial realtor friend in Ke-lowna were both sources to draw on for how to proceed.

“I would say I learned most about it from the Internet,” he said.

Wilkins fi rst went moose hunting with his dad at age 10 and shot his fi rst moose at age 14. Fishing and hunting have been a part of his life ever since.

Although he has been active with the Peach-land Sportsmen’s Association and Summer-land Sportsmen Association in the past, Wilkins said his interest in hunting had waned somewhat since coming to Kelowna.

“Prior to this year, the last time I went hunt-ing was 14 years ago in northern Saskatchewan. When I moved here I didn’t seem to have time for it and I let some of my certifi cation lapse.”

So one of his fi rst steps before starting up his business was to update the various certifi cations required to use and sell fi rearms and for hunting.

He also began to realize the amount of red tape and hoops he had to jump through for the small business start-up process.

“Starting a business is challenging and excit-ing, but it’s also aggravating at times because of the red tape involved, but you just have to jump through those hoops.”

While not oblivious to the risk of business failure, Wilkins feels he’s done his fi nancial planning homework to the extent you can to pre-pare for his new business venture. .

“There is both an excitement and fear to it. But you don’t want to go through life and think back wishing you had done it,” he surmised.

LARRY Wilkins

has opened his

own new business,

Antler Creek

Outfi tters in West

Kelowna, a

refl ection of his

interest in the

outdoors.

DOUG FARROW

CONTRIBUTOR

Making the leap to become your own business boss

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NextNextTHETHE 55YYearsears2013 - 2017

Investment, Revitalization and Community Development • Work in partnership with community associations to revitalize the Rutland Centennial Park and Hall.• Explore funding opportunities and educate property owners on the benefi ts of Façade

Improvement programs, building renovations and redevelopment. • Establish a pedestrian-biking route by extending the Houghton Road corridor through the BIA. • Work with the City of Kelowna and Ministry of Transport on Highway 33 improvements.

Cleanliness & Security • Continue to monitor issues related to the Rutland town centre and surrounding neighborhood

including planning, social/street issues, economic changes, parking, transportation and development.

• Work with URBA members, public media, RCMP and City of Kelowna to implement programs and initiatives that promote safe neighborhoods.

• Develop a town centre security, cleaning and education program to assist our members with safety concerns, clean streets and public spaces and good neighbor practices.

Marketing • Establish programs that will market Uptown Rutland merchants to UBCO Students and Faculty. • Install Gateway Signage to draw residents and visitors to the Rutland Town Centre. • Develop interactive 3D mapping that will show the URBA vision for the Rutland Town Centre. • Develop a Business and Retail Recruitment and Retention Strategy that will attract new retailers and

position Uptown Rutland as an attractive opportunity for investment

Information & Engagement • Develop and implement a marketing program for members to gain maximum exposure for them

and promote the Rutland neighbourhood as a whole. • With input from our members develop programs that support businesses in our town centre with

facade improvements, streetscape, technical expertise, marketing and forecasting. • Continue the support of programs, such as the Uptown After Hours, that showcase the successes of

established Uptown Rutland businesses and introduces new businesses. • Continue to conduct regular evaluations of all programs, promotions, events and initiatives to

ensure eff ectiveness, fi nancial responsibility and value to our members.

Promotions and Events • Continue to expand the URBA established events to engage the business community and highlight

the Rutland Town Centre’s best attributes: shopping, dining and services. • Continue to explore grant opportunities and potential sponsors to leverage BIA funding and sustain

events and promotions. • Partner with other associations to co-promote events and showcase the Rutland Town Centre in

other areas of Kelowna.

FORFORTHETHEworking futurefuture

2013 - 2017

Together we grow.

Dan Van Norman President Crystal Maltesen 1st Vice-President

Susan Rayner2nd Vice-President

Alan Kirschner Treasurer

Nicholas Aubin Past-PresidentVik Bains Director

Len Cardiff Director Joe Iafrancesco Director

Kevin MacDougall Director

Aron Meier DirectorFrank Pohland Director

Gerry ZimmermannEx-Offi cio

Colin BasranEx-Offi cio Alternate

The 2012 Board of Directors are:

Business Leaders Tuesday, October 16, 2012 www.kelownacapnews.com Z5s

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Z6 www.kelownacapnews.com Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Business Leaders

Barry GerdingEDITOR

Peggy Athans and Deborah Guthrie know better than most what is happening at the grass-roots level of a signifi cant part of Kelowna’s small business community.

In their jobs as executive director of the Downtown Ke-lowna Association and Uptown Rutland Business Association respectively, both women hear their fair share of what is good and bad in any given economic cycle from their constituents—small business owners.

Athans feels a mood of opti-mism is beginning to take hold in the downtown core, a feel-ing that she says refl ects seeing the backside of a recession and a hopeful sense that things are moving in the right direction.

“There is a renewed opti-mism because of the revitaliz-ation things that people are see-ing happen in the downtown,”

Athans said.She points to the Bernard

Avenue upgrade, a propos-al for Interior Health to locate about 1,000 workers under one roof downtown, the new pub-lic marina project and signs of movement on the high-rise de-velopment proposed by the Aquilini Investment Group be-tween Ellis and St. Paul.

“I think relative to two years ago, things have changed. If you remember back, at that time, the CD-21 proposal for downtown development had just failed and there was noth-ing imminent on the horizon,” she recalled.

Athans said the mantra for small business owners in the downtown core is likely the same as all across the re-gion—the businesses are large-ly owned and operated by the same person, without a lot of support staff.

It’s a huge commitment of time working fi ve to seven days

a week, with 12-hour days be-ing the norm rather than the ex-ception, she says.

“It’s hard for business owners because they are deal-ing with business customers during the business day, so the administrative work, dealing with marketing or promotion

needs is left to after-hours.”Athans said the role of the

DKA is to help on the mar-keting side, whether to pro-vide useful information to busi-ness owners or to organize events such as the recent Taste of Downtown, which recorded about 1,000 participants.

Athans was also a partici-pant in the recent Business Walks survey, saying a theme of optimism was evident as were several frustrations from business owners, such as the ongoing truck traffi c along Ellis Street and the diffi culty of fi nd-ing and keeping good staff.

“Having caring employees go the extra mile and provide customer service is important to small business owners when you consider that the average age of customers in Kelowna is 59. Customer service is always important,” Athans said.

“But small business owners live and breathe what they do, so it is nice to hear a feel-ing of people being more posi-tive from where we were at two years ago.”

Guthrie said for small busi-nesses in Rutland, slow but steady seems to be the general attitude, some doing better than anticipated and others really struggling to get by.

“Some are laying off em-ployees, others are just trying to tighten their belts and work less hours, but some business-es are doing well and seeing an increase in business,” Guthrie said.

“We’d like to wave the ban-ner and say business is great, but we’re not getting that. Things are still very slow over-all at this end of town. “

Guthrie, who also partici-pated in the Business Walks in-itiative, said the remnants of the economic downturn two years ago is still being felt in the Rut-land small business sector.

Guthrie said she read a re-cent article that talked about

how middle businesses in Can-ada continue to struggle, how during this past recession the ‘mom and pop’ businesses have been able to ride out the recessionary wave and larger businesses have had the ability to absorb the tougher times.

“What that article said was the middle guys aren’t pros-pering, the businesses with 10 to 20 employees are dis-appearing,” she said.

She also cited the challenge of educating small business owners to government pro-grams that can provide them assistance, from direct grants to resource information.

She said marketing is one area where many new small business owners struggle out of the gate, contributing to the high rate of start-up business failure.

“A lot of people go into business with what they think is great idea and get fi nancing for the idea or use their own re-sources to open their business, but they don’t have the skills or recognize the importance of marketing or having a well

thought out business plan,” said Guthrie, noting that a good idea is not an instant path to instant business success.

“Word of mouth is not a plan. You are not going very far if that is what you relying on.”

She cited the example of Mosaic Books opening a new store in Rutland, in the wake of becoming being a fi xture for many years with their store in the downtown core.

“They have a brand in the community but they also ap-pear to have done their home-work and understand the audi-ence they are trying to reach here,” Guthrie said.

“There are a lot of pension-ers and people on limited in-comes in our area of town, so they are not likely to spend $25 on a new book, but you also no-tice their new store has a major bargain book section. They are in the business of selling books but they are likely to spend money on a book that is $5 or $8 as opposed to $25.

“Since it opened, I see a lot of people in their store and it looks very busy. I think that is about kno wing their area.”

Guthrie says doing your homework is important before any new small business opens its doors.

“If it does end up a fail-ure, at least you know you did everything you could have done to try and prevent that. Sometimes businesses are up against things that can’t be an-ticipated, such as restaurants with the HST and changes to minimum wage, but the ones who do homework and get es-tablished tend to be ones that weather the storms.”

Guthrie said a hallmark of Rutland businesses in the pride they have in themselves and their regular customers. “That speaks a lot about our com-munity. Business owners are in for the long haul and are just trying to make it work.”

Business associations feel all aspects of economy‘‘

…SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS LIVE AND BREATHE WHAT THEY DO, SO IT IS NICE TO HEAR A FEELING OF PEOPLE BEING MORE POSITIVE FROM WHERE WE WERE AT TWO YEARS AGO.

Peggy Athans, executive director

of the DKA

‘‘SOME ARE LAYING OFF EMPLOYEES, OTHERS ARE JUST TRYING TO TIGHTEN THEIR BELTS AND WORK LESS HOURS, BUT SOME BUSINESSES ARE DOING WELL AND SEEING AN INCREASE IN BUSINESS.

Deborah Guthrie,executive director

of URBA

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Business Leaders Tuesday, October 16, 2012 www.kelownacapnews.com Z7

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fr

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Barry GerdingEDITOR

Jeanine Reiss, is the Oka-nagan’s only female licenced home inspector.

No stranger to the real es-tate business in general, buy-ing homes in need of renova-tion and then selling them, Re-iss has taken on a new career path.

She has turned her passion for homes and a keen inter-est in helping people fi nd out what they need to know about a property so they can make in-formed decisions about buying, selling or maintaining their real estate investment into her own business opportunity.

“I think I have found my niche in the home inspection trade because I want to keep learning, I am helping my cli-ents and I just love houses,” she said.

“I would do this for free, but I have to eat.”

Reiss, 49, was born in Hol-land and was raised in various countries.

Upon graduating from college, she visited Vancou-ver in 1986 and stayed. Young and single, she then moved to Whistler to fi nd work.

“I have been lucky to have had a few interesting day jobs over the years, but it was what I initially did in my spare time that eventually led me to be-come a home inspector, she re-calls.

During the late ‘80s, it was near impossible to fi nd afford-able rentals in Whistler.

Fleiss was eager to stay in the community, but the only way to do that was to buy a house for $38,000 to provide herself with a roof over her head.

“This tiny and neglect-ed home was in dire need of TLC and since there were few trades in Whistler at the time, I learned to do things myself and came to realize I liked it,” she recollected.

“And so it began. My pas-sion for everything house and home was ignited. I started buying, renovating, then rent-ing out or re-selling proper-ties.”

Her passion became her full-time job. At one point Fleiss had nearly 40 rentals and accumulated an array of power tools she said most guys would drool over, to work on home renovation projects.

“Construction work is not gentle on the body and as I be-came better (read older) aches and pains started to rear their ugly heads on a regular and prolonged basis. Twenty years after I swung my fi rst (real) hammer, I came to the conclu-sion I had to shift gears.”

She says in the 1980s and ‘90s, home inspections were the exception rather than the norm, and if one did hire a home inspector, it was like that proverbial box of chocolates—

you never knew what you were going to get.

Only since 2009 has the home inspection profession be-come regulated in B.C.

So in 2010, Fleiss hit the books, graduated from the Car-son Dunlop Home Inspec-tion Training Program, and completed her practicum with Brian Sanjenko, one of the most knowledgeable and well-respected home inspectors in the Okanagan.

She passed her fi nal exam, and fi nally became a licenced home inspector in February.

“I feel confi dent about go-ing into business in this fi eld because I know about construc-tion and the trades and what can go wrong with a house,” Reiss said.

“But it’s still a little bit of a scary situation at the outset be-cause you have to market your-self, get your name out there.”

Fleiss said having a part-time job to off-set the fi nancial risk also can make it diffi cult for the business to succeed.

“You have to be really fo-cused on the business, available at any time because you never know when the phone is going to ring. You can’t do that if you are in the middle of a shift for another job.

“So I think it’s important to

be focused on the business and allow yourself a bit of a buf-fer so you are not fi nancially strapped when starting out.”

Now my job is to provide people with a fair, independ-ent and objective evaluation of their home or prospective home.

She wants her home evalu-ations to strengthen people’s knowledge and raise their con-fi dence so they are left less vul-nerable and more proactive when it comes to making their

real estate decisions.“Only a few days ago I was

in a confi ned and pitch black crawl space. Armed with my faithful fl ash light and camera I had to make my way trench-style, on my elbows and knees, through decades of dust and cob webs to inspect the home’s structure, plumbing, and foun-dation,” she said.

“Call me crazy, but at that very moment instead of think-ing, “Yuck, get me out of here,” I found myself thinking, ‘Wow,

this is so cool, this home is over 60 years old and everything I see is still in amazingly good shape, it’s a beautiful thing.’”

“Helping people make in-formed choices toward home ownership hugely gratifying.

“For a moment I become part of their pursuit of making a house a home.

“I get to share their ex-citement, their concerns, their hopes and dreams. I love put-ting people in their place.”

CONTRIBUTED

HEATHER FLEISS checks out the attic crawlspace of a home with her fl ashlight.

Home inspector wants to put buyer’s apprehension at ease

Tips for fi nancing your growing business

Is it time to go shopping for a major purchase for your grow-ing small business? It can be hard not to get swept up in the ex-citement.

Whether it’s a major technology upgrade or shiny new equip-ment, you probably spent hours shopping around for the best product, comparing consumer reviews and talking with vendors.

Then comes the hard part: How to pay for it? Here’s where many entrepreneurs could be doing a better job.

Financial planning for an expansion project may not be quite as sexy as a cool new smart phone or bigger digs for your offi ce. But it’s critical to make sure your investment doesn’t stretch your cash fl ow and sink you.

“Growth can put an enormous strain on the cash fl ow of a company,” says Patrice Bernard, senior vice-president, fi nancing and consulting at the Business Development Bank of Canada.

Small business owners often make the mistake of fi nancing growth out of their cash fl ow or by cobbling together a patchwork of smaller loans for each individual purchase, Bernard says.

PROTECT CASH FLOWThe result can be poor fi nancing rates and repayment con-

ditions. Or even worse—the company may suddenly become caught in a cash fl ow squeeze. And then it may be too late to line up any fi nancing at all.

“It’s as if you used a credit card to fi nance your home renova-tions. Your cash fl ow would be really affected,” Bernard says.

Bad fi nancial planning is especially common—and risky—at fast-growing companies, says Peter Brown, with the fi nancial ad-visory fi rm Deloitte, where he is national leader of private com-pany services.

“High growth can kill you if you don’t have the capital.”“You need to plan more if you’re expanding because you usu-

ally have much higher accounts payable and receivable,” agreed Bernard.

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Barry GerdingEDITOR

Ben Stewart has seen it from both sides.

As the Liberal MLA for Westside-Kelowna riding and the owner of Quails’ Gate Es-tate Winery, Stewart under-stands both sides of the con-fl icts between the business world and government bureau-cracy.

“It’s something I hear all the time from business people about the red tape issue,” Stew-art said.

“And frankly our govern-ment has taken on certain pro-

cesses and done a lot of stream-lining of the paperwork. We’ve seen a 40 per cent reduction in the regulations that businesses have to deal with over the past four years.”

Stewart said that progress is important because the prov-ince can’t lose sight of the im-portance of small business to the economy.

“It is the backbone of our provincial economy, and the statistics are staggering in terms of how much that is true.”

Stewart said the latest count shows there are about 400,000 small business in B.C., the net pre-tax profi t thresold for be-

ing classifi ed in that category recently being raised from $200,000 to $500,000.

Stewart said the small busi-ness growth in the Okanagan is the most in B.C. over the last four years, 7.3 per cent annu-ally and 3,500 new businesses created.

Kelowna is the largest small business creator in the Okanag-an Thompson region, but also ranks 13th within all of Can-ada.

“Kelowna is one of the small business leaders in the country. It’s very signifi cant to our economy,” he said.

Stewart acknowledges that

educating business owners to deal with bureaucratic bar-riers or to pursue new business ideas is a challenge, but he says many sources exist to help with that exchange of knowledge.

He says chambers of com-merce can help a lot, business roundtable discussions, other local business associations and service clubs can become con-duits of learning information.

“I fi nd it’s really valu-able for MLAs and govern-ment ministry offi cials to at-tend those events, because it is an opportunity to hear what is concerning business owners,” he said.

“If we’re not listening or hearing what people are say-ing, then we’re essentially not representing what they’re ask-

ing for as a government.”Stewart said his involve-

ment with the chamber helped him to develop a benefi ts pack-age for his business employ-ees, and his time as a member of Kinsmen also opened busi-ness networking doors.

Stewart feels the biggest boost for any small business owner starting out is mentor-ship.

“I remember I had a friend named Don Carpenter who used to always tell me that cash fl ow is king,” Stewart laughed.

“He used to harp on that all the time, and it’s something that I never forget in dealing with our business. There are going to be years where you are struggling at the outset, as was the case with our winery,

but I always made certain that we had cash fl ow.”

Stewart said the biggest value of mentorship is to re-mind small business owners they are not alone.

“I think at times a lot of people in business feel like they are on their own, a person out on an island and there is no-body they can talk to,” Stewart said, who says as an MLA he often is called upon for busi-ness advice from constituents pondering their own move into the business world.

“Business people are busy but even if you take the time to sit down with someone and have a coffee and talk about an idea, what you learn from that can be invaluable.”

MLA touts business mentorship as an invaluable asset

Barry GerdingEDITOR

Bill Baril has some simple but important ad-vice for new business owners—treat every cus-tomer that walks in your door like he or she may be your last.

He started his business seven years ago and continues to benefi t today from that philosophy.

Baril is the owner of Premium Granite Works Inc., located in Kelowna. Premium spe-cializes in making premium counter tops for kitchens, bathrooms and patio areas as well as mantels, fi replace faces, outdoor barbecue areas, tables and bar tops.

His company works primarily in granite, en-gineered stone and marble product installations. “We are doing well now but like any new busi-ness, you have to put in your time, market your-self and get established. If you survive the fi rst four or fi ve years, generally you will be alright.”

Baril knows something about sales. He was the top salesman for Don Folk Chev Olds for eight straight years, and for one stretch 60 con-secutive months.

The customer service techniques he learn-ed in the car business have been carried over to his business, from providing quality service to

customers and sending followup phone calls and letters, to providing a $150 cheque for every new referral from a previous customer.

“Marketing is all about sales and service, and backing it up by doing what you say you will do. If you are going to advertise yourself as putting out a quality product, it better be a quality prod-uct.”

Baril said in his business, when he started there were three installing companies, and today there are 14.

“The competition aspect has quadrupled. Nobody is interested in laminate counter tops anymore, everyone wants rock and the demand is making the product price cheaper,” he said, a refl ection of the increased competition for cli-ents.

“Five years ago, customers would ask when can you put in the new counter top. And there was a three month waiting list. Today, they ask how much and when can you put it in.”

Barill says he still loves his business, fi nd-ing it more enjoyable and fun with each pass-ing year.

“When you see a customer in tears after everything is installed and so happy at the change, you realize what an emotional experi-ence it is both for us and the customer.”

Customer service is the top priority for any business today

Coni Grande | Amici’s Hair & Body Spa“Friends in Italian”

Refl ecting back on the last 15 years of owning my own business I ponder on what makes a successful and thriving small business in the Okanagan. From the age of 20, I turned to the foundation of my father Peter Grande who owned a successful men’s wear store and tailor shop in Kelowna for over 30 years. Watching my

father work at his men’s wear store inspired me to become a business owner. It also helped me to realize that owning a business is much like designing a fi ne tailored suit. A unique pattern must fi rst be presented; it must withstand the wear and tear of daily life, create a strong respectable appearance and stand the test of time.

In 1997, I decided to create a new pattern for my life; having the opportunity to purchase a salon I began my journey in business creating Amici’s.

I continue to make small changes. It is important to recognize trends, the need to stay current, renovating along the way, providing staff with education and implementing new client services.

In many businesses, large or small there are economic boundaries such as slower months. It is important to recognize these times and fi nd local support to assist in maintaining a strong fl ow to our business. The local newspapers and radio stations, and creating an interesting website have defi nitely been the important factors in developing our image and maintaining our awareness.

I dedicate my business success to the many great staff members past and present, loyal clients of Amici’s and all the local sales representatives that I have had the pleasure of working with in assisting me to continue to grow my business in the thriving Okanagan.

595 Lawrence Avenue, KELOWNA 250-762-3000 | www.amicishairandbodyspa.com | amicis1@shaw.ca

hair & body spa

a dream comes to life!

A passion for the outdoors and determination to own a business were the driving forces behind the inception of this new West Kelowna retail business. The owner, Larry

Wilkins, saw an opportunity for this type of business in West Kelowna and built this specialty store from his vision.

He designed the interior of the store and did much of the work himself, investing many long hours before opening. In addition to hunting, fi shing, camping and archery supplies, the sale

of non-restricted and restricted fi rearms will fi ll a niche that was not available on the West side until now.

Snowshoes and ice fi shing gear will help outfi t the winter sports enthusiast. “Helping you get

into the outdoors!”

8-1767 Ross Road, WEST KELOWNA 250-769-6565 | info@antlercreekoutfi tters.ca

Trevor Kilburn

Telephone/Fax: (250) 764-8089 | Cell: (250) 864-3197Toll Free: 1-888-KILBURN (545-2876)

Email: trevor.kilburn@kowim.ca | Web: www.kowim.ca

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Business Leaders Tuesday, October 16, 2012 www.kelownacapnews.com Z9

Z10 www.kelownacapnews.com Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Business Leaders

Small businesses are often touted as the backbone of Can-ada’s economy, but how much do they actually contribute to the country’s gross domestic product?

How many small business-es are there, and how many do they employ across the coun-try? And what exactly is a small business, anyway?

In recognition of Small Business Week across Canada, which this year is Oct. 14 to 20, the CBC compiled some of the big numbers behind small busi-nesses in this country based on Industry Canada statistics.

What is the defi nition of a small business in Canada?

1 to 4 employees: Micro-enterprise

5 to 100: Small business101 to 499: Medium-sized

business500-plus: Large business

How many small busi-nesses are there in Canada?

The total number of regis-tered employer businesses in Canada (businesses with at least one employee on pay-roll) as of December 2010, the most recent fi gure available: 1,138,761

Of that fi gure, 1,116,423 of those were small businesses, comprising 98 per cent of all employer businesses in Can-ada.

How many Canadians work for small businesses?

5,137,147 (48.3 per cent of Canada’s total workforce). In 2005, 41 per cent of employed Canadians worked for busi-nesses with fewer than 20 em-ployees.

How many Canadians are self-employed?

In 2010, 2.7 million Can-adians were self-employed.

35 hours: Average work week for employees in 2010

40 hours: Average work week for the self-employed in 2010

31 per cent of self-em-ployed Canadians reported working more than 50 hours per week in 2010, while 4 per cent of employees worked past that threshold in the same year.

Success vs. failureLargest number of new

Canadian small businesses es-tablished in one year: about 115,000 in 2005.

Smallest number of new small businesses established in one year: about 90,000 in 2002.

Largest number of small businesses that disappeared in a single year: about 100,000 in 2006

Net average of small busi-nesses established from 2002 to 2007: 15,000

How active are small busi-

ness owners online?In 2007, the year for which

the latest statistics from the Canadian government are available, 85 per cent of small businesses had Internet access, 99 per cent of large businesses had Internet access, 36 per cent of small businesses had their own websites compared to 91 per cent of large businesses, and seven per cent sold goods/services online (compared to 22 per cent of large businesses.

What do small businesses contribute to Canada’s total exports?

86 per cent of Canadian ex-porters were small businesses in 2009.

Small businesses accounted for $68 billion in exports (25 per cent of Canada’s total ex-port value).

How much do small busi-nesses contribute to Can-ada’s GDP?

In 2005, small businesses accounted for 42 per cent of the country’s private sector GDP. In 2009, 28 per cent of the country’s total GDP came from businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

Are small business owners confi dent about Canada’s economy?

The CFIB’s Business Bar-ometer Index fell to 61.7 in Au-gust 2011, its lowest reading

since July 2009. A score of 50 or higher means more business owners expect a stronger per-formance in the next year than those who expect a weaker per-formance.

Provincially, Alberta’s index was the highest in the country at 75.

Prince Edward Island had the lowest index at 59.7.

The index bottomed out in late 2008/early 2009 at under 40.

What will happen to small businesses when the owners retire?

With the baby boomers reaching retirement age, a large number of companies will like-ly change hands in the coming years.

According to TD Water-house’s early October Business Succession Poll of 609 small business owners, just 24 per cent of small business owners surveyed said they had a suc-cession plan worked out for re-tirement.

Of those polled, whether they had a formal plan or not, 23 per cent said they would simply close their business when it came time to retire; 20 per cent planned to sell their business to a third party; 18 per cent expected to transfer it to a family member; 12 per cent said they’d sell to a partner or employee; and 27 per cent said they were not yet sure what they’d do with their business.

ing investments, preferably at the beginning of each year.The fi rst step is to work out how much fi nancing you’ll need

based on your overall business growth plans.Next, meet with your fi nancial partners early on to discuss

your plans and brief them about your needs for the coming year. This is the time to secure a credit line for your investments in the coming year, which you can draw on as needed and then convert into long-term debt at the end of the year.

PLAN FINANCINGThe idea is to plan your fi nancing to have the best possible

conditions for your debt. The exercise may even show that you need more than one fi nancial partner to give you enough fl exibil-ity.

And never pay for large expansion projects out of your cash fl ow, Bernard says—even if it looks like you’ve got oodles of ex-tra cash on hand right now.

“That’s a big mistake,” Bernard said. “When cash fl ow is good, you think it will always be like that. But if a company is growing, it has to invest much more than other companies. And profi ts usually won’t be enough to cover your investments.”

“It’s always better to seek fi nancing before you need it rath-er than during a crisis. It shows good management. Financiers are much more likely to give fi nancing to an entrepreneur who shows good management,” added Brown.

Rob Read always used self-fi nancing at his quickly growing fi re extinguisher maintenance company, Bison Fire Protection, as it ballooned from fi ve employees to 50 over the past decade.

But when Read and partner Émile Jolicoeur decided to ex-pand into new lines of business, such as fi re alarms and sprinkler services, they realized they needed better fi nancial planning.

They brought in an outside consultant to help them plot out their overall business strategy. That exercise led them to do their fi rst budgeting and forecasting and add overdraft protection and a line of credit to make sure they’ve had money lined up before they actually needed it.

“They’re partners in our business. They’re defi nitely part of the team,” Read said of his new fi nancial advisors.

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