For me, when it comes to business development
it really comes back down to what are my chances of winning as opposed to yours. What I mean by that is, whenever I look at
an opportunity I need to look at whether I have all the key components and whether I
have the resource to make sure that these key components are all taken care of. To give you a little bit of an example. With 720 Sweets, what is one of the major
hurdle or major advantage that we would have when you're developing a dessert chain or
a dessert shop? Number one thing is your supplier because
at the end of the day it comes back down to the quality of your products. So, for me, because I knew the owners of the
biggest Bubble Tea suppliers in Western Canada and he has a farm in Taiwan. So, for us, it became a very good strategic
partner for us to partner up together. When I have the marketing skill set and I
understand exactly what's going on in the marketplace and he has the resources to support
me when it comes to research and development and when it comes to supplies.
A lot of people … That's one of the biggest
costs when it comes to developing a product, especially in the food and beverage industry,
is your supplies. So, if you can really control that, that's
a really big plus. So, for me, finding him as a resource and
as a partner is super, super important when I was deciding whether I want to enter this
business or not. If he wasn't on board, I most likely wouldn't
be choosing this business to be in. A second component and a second resource is
that for any business, because I'm handling multiple different projects at the same time,
every single business that I'm handling with there must be a spearhead. What I mean by spearhead is someone that is
fully dedicated, 120% into that project, because you're not. That person, that spearhead, needs to be super,
super dedicated and committed right form the get go and all the way to the end. Luckily I was able to find Brian, who became
my partner and he's been amazing and he's been super dedicated throughout this whole
term, which really helped support the operation on the business.
I feel like because of the fact that I have
these two components and also with my experience with sourcing in China, I was able to go ahead
with this business because I was resourceful when it comes to this business. I feel like that if I were to open this shop
versus you were to open this shop, I would have much more advantage in doing so. My percentages of winning would be at least
60% to 70%, in comparison to everyone else in the market. That's when I decide to enter into business. So, when you said resources, being resourceful. How does someone develop that? At the end of the day when it comes to being
resourceful, a lot of times when a budding entrepreneur, they try to do something, they
try to start a new business, whether it be online, offline, doesn't matter, E-commerce,
they handicap themselves by thinking that it's all them. That they are the ones that are in charge
of developing the whole business. That they're not going to reach out for help. So, this is what I teach all my mentees and
clients, is to look at your circle on influence and look at basically and just jot down what
exactly they do.
Whether it be your relatives, whether it be
your uncle, uncle's dad, or your dad's friend that does cup designs or manufacturing or
packaging designs. You'd be looking at basically all of your
friends, what do they do, what kind of resources they have. When you're able to really fully audit your
whole resource and your whole connection, you would start to fill in the gaps and fill
in, hey, you know what? Jason's the guy that knows all the foodies
and bloggers, so if I were to do anything to do with food, I would talk to Jason.
My other friend that does packaging, if I
am to create a product to sell online, on Amazon, packaging is one thing that I'm super,
super anal about, then I would talk to my friend that's in packaging because now MLQ,
instead of a 10,000 piece packaging order it would drop down to 5,000 or 500 for that
matter, because I know him. That would give me more room to play with
when it comes to my resources. That's a resource that not every single person
has. When you can start being creative and resourceful
around the people that's around you, that's going to increase your level of success. The chances of you succeeding in the business,
is when you become resourceful to the people around you. That's exactly how I determine whether a business
is a go or no. Is it look at whether I have all the key components
to make this business successful or not. Right, I think a lot of times … I hear a
lot of this. A lot of people that come and ask me when
they're first starting out.
It's like, "Hey, you know what, I don't know
anyone. I don't have any network. That's hindering my success and I can't start
this business or I can't do E-commerce because I don't know anyone in the game." That is only an excuse. Quite frankly, I didn't start off with any
network in Vancouver and it takes years to develop these relationships that you can count
on, but that doesn't hinder your level of success just because you don't have the connection
to do so. There are a lot of meet up groups out there. There are a lot of … Nowadays especially,
with meetup.com, with all your business networks within your own city. These are a lot of different good places where
you get to meet new people in your industry. That's one place to network and another thing
is that when I say it's an excuse is because if you don't know something you're going to
find that, oh, you know what, I don't know any resources around me, I don't think I can
count on anyone because you never really have that perspective of seeing your friends, per
se, or your family members as a resource.
As a resource to give you insights or introduction
to people they know. So, if you put out the intention of seeing
these people as a potential resource, then you would see it from a different perspective
and that would open your eyes and they then become your resource. It's a matter of the perspective, I think. The fear of rejection from your friend as
a resource is … Just to clarify a little bit more. When it comes to seeing your friend as a resource,
I'm not telling you to partner with them or rub anything off them or anything of that
sort. It is seeing them as a resource or potentially
putting it out there as, "Hey, can you make an introduction to someone you know who does
this?" When you put that intention out there, automatically
they would have someone in mind. So, for example, if someone asks you, "Hey,
I want to start an ice cream shop.
Who would you go to automatically?" You would be like, "Oh, Wilson. I know Wilson. He started an ice cream shop." Or Amazon, "Yeah, I know this guy. He does Amazon." Or business development, "Oh yeah, I know
that guy. Wilson does business development." These are things that come to top of mind
when you have those conversations and when you put the intention out there of trying
to look for a certain type of people. Or, "Hey, you know what? I'm thinking about creating baby product." Then, I talk to my friend who's a parent. Perhaps they would know someone that's in
the industry of baby products. I don't know, right. Manufacturing, let's say in China or let's
say in the States, doesn't really matter.
It is putting the intention out there and
seeing it from a different perspective. Not seeing them as someone that you poach
or someone that you take advantage of because that's taboo right. That's like, oh, I don't want my friend to
see me in a different light. I don't want to mix friendship with business. It's not mixing friendship with business,
it is putting the intention out there and people love and would want to help you if
you just put the intention out there..