The journey to become an entrepreneur in Windsor starts here

It all starts with the passion to be independent — that’s the justification to embark on the journey of being a problem solver and an innovator, ultimately an entrepreneur.

Students who have this kind of ambition set out to figure out for themselves how to run their own business and they usually do that by researching available resources, reading books, and going to seminars that educate them about being an entrepreneur.

In Windsor-Essex the resources are varied, and students can get educated about the process of becoming an entrepreneur.

A good example of a resource place that helps students is the Epic Genesis Centre at St. Clair College, this place is an on-campus linked accelerator, funded by the provincial government as well as the college.

The services are available for current students and alumni of the college.

The centre runs programs specifically geared towards students and their level of understanding.

Catherine Mombourquette, program manager at the Epic Genesis Centre, said most students they accommodate at the Epic Genesis Centre don’t have a business background, so they educate them on what the business aspects of entrepreneurship are.

“We help them with the tools, we help them with one-on-one mentorship, with workshops, and if they have a new product or services idea we can help them go through with the validation process,” Mombourquette said.

“We also help writing the business plan and then we also help with growing the business we have a lot of students that already started a business and they come to us to grow their business.”

Students can gather funds for their entrepreneurial ventures in many ways and according to Mombourquette, the government is a strong supporter of entrepreneurship.

“It’s an economic driver, approximately 98 per cent of the businesses in Canada are small business started by entrepreneurs, so it’s a huge economic driver and the government recognizes that so they throw a lot of support to it,” she said.

“They have programs like special financing, low rate financing with great terms and also business mentorship, so you can have programs at the provincial level at the federal level and there is a whole number of them.”

However, when asked about the outlook of entrepreneurship in Windsor-Essex, Mombourquette thinks it’s not very good.

“What we found is that Windsor-Essex is at approximately 3 per cent of our residents become entrepreneurs and the provincial average is 26 per cent, so we are far below the provincial average,” Mombourquette said.

“We will be applying for some large grants to develop entrepreneurship in Windsor-Essex, we are working together on a joint proposal for the government.”

The Epic Centre continues to help despite the current situation in Windsor by linking students to the proper funding sources.

“We are able to refer you to the programs, and when you apply to these you must have a business plan, and there are local organizations that provide grants because they applied for different grants so they have these pockets of money and then if you are into more so of a new product or service such as an app, there is what you call venture capitalists, angel investors and we do have an organization called the Windsor Essex capital angel investment network, and they are part of a regional or a provincial angel network that provides funds so you’d have to pitch in front of them it’s just like dragons den and they bring investors from all over the place and a lot of them join remotely at the meetings, so they are a network of investors so we can arrange all of that locally to get you in front of those investors,” said Mombourquette.

So, what makes a good entrepreneur?

That’s the question Janna Hallam, an instructor of Media Entrepreneurship at St. Clair College considers frequently.

“Someone who is passionate, someone who is clear about what they want to do, motivated, someone who has ambition, and someone who can get up when they are knocked down,” she said.

‘So overcoming obstacles and being a multitasker and just confidence.”

Hallam also thinks that there is a trend surrounding entrepreneurship now that makes the process seem like it’s an easy thing.

She credits the Internet for creating a false impression of entrepreneurship and then puts a great emphasis on the daily grind that the process requires.

“Somebody says ‘no’ to you, or your first client declines you, are you going to just quit? Or are you going to keep going?” Hallam asked.

“And with that comes self-discipline, you must do the work nobody else is willing to do, it goes back to the why, why are you doing it? It’s very different than having a nine to five because you will get paid no matter what, as an entrepreneur, you will be putting hours and hours potentially before you get that first paycheck.”

Steve Garinger is a graduate of the University of Windsor, with an honours degree in Economics and Political Science and holds an MBA from the Odette School of Business and is a good example of a student who graduated and embarked on the journey of entrepreneurship.

Garinger runs a successful construction firm called Riverside Restoration.

“I started it in 2004 as a side business while I worked as an assembler at then Daimler Chrysler. Since then, it has grown primarily through word of mouth, having a good reputation that has spread through homeowners and independent contractors,” he said.

“I’ve spent 15 years building this reputation and personal relationships among the people that I have worked for and with. I find that this is one of the best ways to maintain a positive brand association and to continue to grow brand awareness on that association throughout Essex County.”

When asked about the difficulties and mistakes, he faced when he started his business, Garinger said that the mistakes are better addressed as learning experiences.

Garinger also pointed the scariest part of going out on your own as an entrepreneur.

“Is the feeling that you are now operating without a safety net. You will be responsible for your own destiny, which is both liberating and terrifying at the same time,” he said.

“There is a lot to be said for punching a clock in a secure job in a business that someone else manages. This is where we all start, I would assume, and is what we become used to.”

In Garinger’s opinion, the biggest difficulties a new business owner faces can be reduced to “budgeting costs and maintaining steady sales as well as learning to manage your talent, time, labour and people.

“This is the most difficult as it speaks to how you develop your leadership style, deal with multiple egos, balance wants and needs and handle new and growing responsibilities,” he said.

Success can be defined in many ways and understood by people differently, from a business standpoint Garinger said his business is defined by his “worker and customer satisfaction.

“It’s measured in my balance sheet, income and cash flow statements. If the bottom line (Net Income, for instance) is where I want it to be, then the business is successful.”

Garinger defined how he measures success by his work-life balance.

“Having been an economics student in my undergrad, I basically place a dollar value on my free time (called the Hourly Cost of Leisure, in academic terms). If I can operate my business in a comfortable margin and have time to de-stress and spend with family, then it’s all good. Finding myself now a middle-aged man, I want to be able to do the things that I want to do,” he said.

“I don’t need to drive a Rolls-Royce to work and I don’t need a huge house to clean. In short, I don’t need a bunch of crap that shows everyone how successful I am. You’d be surprised by how many people, in my observance, do.”

Lastly, Garinger defined the characteristics that make someone a potentially good entrepreneur.

“The two most important personal characteristics of a successful entrepreneur are discipline and determination, patience,  guts,  fortitude, a willingness to fail, a willingness to succeed and a willingness to try again.”