It has been seven months since the recession hit which means that the downturn is already longer than the average for all recessions since WWII. Unemployment has reached 8.4% in Canada, the highest rate in 11 years. Businesses are struggling, profits are dwindling and more and more operations are closing their doors.
Many of those hit the hardest are small-businesses and entrepreneurs, which represents the vast majority of Canadian business. Many who are self-employed are struggling to keep their businesses afloat and bread on the table. For many coaches times have been tough and things don't seem to be getting any easier.
To top it off, when a recession hits the very innovation and risk-taking that fuel the economy, activities characteristic of entrepreneurs, come to a halt. Removing innovation and risk-taking from an economy is like cutting off oxygen from a fire – it doesn’t take long for the flame to dwindle and disappear.
While businesses struggle and entrepreneurs fail, most hope that things will soon make a turn for the better. Yet hope is not enough. Run a business on hope and you can hope for bankruptcy – and the same applies to the economy.
Everyone seems to be waiting around for something to change, in patient and passive anticipation of better things to come, but no one seems to be doing anything about it.
Thinking, waiting and hoping do not produce change, but action does.In NLP terms, being reactive isn't likely to change anything, so why don't we try being proactive?
While everyone is waiting for the economy to improve, some of Montreal’s brightest business minds are teaming up to shift the mindset and empower others to succeed in tough times. July 14th at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel is The Empowered Entrepreneur (www.e2connect.net), an all day event featuring presentations from some of Montreal’s most accomplished entrepreneurs... individuals who are seeing stunning success, event during tough times.
“We realized that we couldn’t just keep waiting around, we had to do something,” says Mathieu Tanguay, one of the events co-organizers. “Too many professionals are struggling. They need support and strategy, and so we’re bringing people together to turn things around. Right now while the public is waiting out the recession, we are taking action, making connections, and sharing the secrets to success.”
“So many are held back by a competitive mindset, not realizing that if we were cooperating, we could stimulate growth and jump start the economy together,” adds Mitch Vaughan, another of the event’s organizers. “Almost everyone is waiting around for someone else to do something, and so we are.”
The event features an line-up of speakers whose accomplishments prove they have some useful words of advice for Montreal’s business community:
Chris Advansun will reveal to attendees the secrets of raising capital to build a business. He has raised over $500,000 in venture capital and has offered consulting services related to online marketing and program design for leading organizations such as World Interaction Mondiale, The Nature Conservancy and the Ontario Board of Education.
Peter Vogopolous will divulge the “14 Marketing Mistakes that that Every Entrepreneur is Making and How to Avoid Them.” Known professionally as "The Real Results Guy™”, is a marketing expert, successful business coach and Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach™, not to mention a Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.
What about the secrets of public speaking success? Suzannah Baum (www.idealcommunications.ca) is a public speaking trainer, presentation coach and writer who has helped entrepreneurs, business professionals and students unleash their ultimate public speaking potential. She gives public speaking training and seminars at corporations, universities, job search agencies and non-profit organizations. A member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) and Toastmasters International, she has had her articles about public speaking published in womenentrepreneur.com and e-zinearticles.com.
CANLP vice president David Kynan will be presenting The Instruction Manual for the Entrepreneurs Mind, a talk on the uses of NLP for business and entrepreneurship during which he will reveal some of the traps entrepreneurs fall into when it comes to how they run their brains. NLP will be in the spotlight and it will be the perfect venue for practitioners and coaches to attain some marketing tips and tricks and network with potential partners and clients.
When the economy shifts, the natural tendency is to respond with fear, worry and pessimism, three things that do not lead to entrepreneurial success. As the name of the event reveals, the all-day conference aims not only to provide tools and tips to local entrepreneurs, but also to shift the mindset and help those in the Montreal business world become Empowered Entrepreneurs. As I would put it, to win the outer game of success you first have to win the inner game – to succeed you have to program your mind for success.
The event promises attendees the opportunity to learn the secrets to success of Montreal’s top entrepreneurs, network with other entrepreneurs and business professionals, and leave the event with a bag full of tips and tricks to help you get more clients than you could ever need. And with the growing popularity of “mastermind groups” attendees will have the chance to match themselves with others to form such a group to ensure continued success.
The goal of E2Connect is to take Entrepreneurship in Canada to a whole new level by giving Entrepreneurs the knowledge, know-how, skills, connections, support, and by getting everybody to work together. The organizers, who have delved into the world of NLP stressed the benefit and necessity of coaching and the use of performance technologies for business success.
Indeed, what holds many Entrepreneurs back is they lack skills in running a business, the persistence in tough times, and the connections and support they need. They have the idea, the dreams, the vision, but they lack the knowledge to turn it into reality. Or they are missing key pieces to their puzzle. On top of that, they fall prey to fear, self-sabotage and procrastination.
“We want to change that by Empowering Entrepreneurs with marketing know-how, business knowledge, support and accountability tools, new styles of communication, and much more, explains Mathieu. “We will bring Entrepreneurs together so they can share and connect. We are giving them what they need to make their vision real, so they can provide real value to Canadians and show the world that Entrepreneurship is alive and well in Canada.”
The recession may very well transform the way business is being done. As entrepreneurs band together for greater success and as business team up to work together to fuel the economy instead of battling for business, what it means to run a business is being redefined.
Many will find out just what is possible for them as they become Empowered Entrepreneurs on July 14th.
For more information on this event or for tickets, visit www.e2connect.net
