Serenity Now for Entrepreneurs

Spidey Senses In Business or Lack Thereof

In this episode, the Serenity Sisters are joined by Neil Belenkie, a serial entrepreneur who shares some of his key business insights he’s learned over the years.

Neil discusses some of the issues he has gone through as an entrepreneur and how he has recognized through trial and error (lots of error!) how some people have built-in spidey senses in business, and some don’t. However, just because you don’t have this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go into business. To mitigate risk and ensure success, you can adopt a more methodical process to identify red flags in people and companies.

Neil shares some examples of red flags he’s learned to watch out for when considering someone to add to a team. 

For this episode and information about Serenity Now For Entrepreneurs, visit our website. serenitynowforentrepreneurs.com

 

 

 

What Is An Angel Investor?

Vik Khanna, an angel investor for 15 entrepreneurs (to date), sits down with the Serenity Sisters to talk about what is an angel investor? 

 

They discuss; 

• An angel investor will typically help entrepreneurs with a great idea by providing the money needed to make a Minimum Viable Product.
• Angel investors bet on the entrepreneur more than the basic idea, which is why it is a high risk but ultimately rewarding.
• Angel investors usually have smaller stakes, so their investment will not come with preferential shares or treatment.

In addition to finding angel investors, Vik and the Serenity Sisters explore other ways to get funding when you have a great business idea. 

•  Bootstrapping: getting money from your customers.
•  Friends & Family: reaching out for start-up cash from close connections
• Venture Capital: a more significant investment to help grow the business 

 

This insightful episode is full of helpful tips for entrepreneurs exploring funding options.

For this episode and information about Serenity Now For Entrepreneurs, visit our website. serenitynowforentrepreneurs.com

 

Life Lessons From A Serial Entrepreneur

In this Serenity Now for Entrepreneurs episode, The Serenity Sisters sit down with Tatsuya ‘Tats’ Nakagawa, CEO at Castagra and host of the Roofer Reflections & Specified Growth Podcast.

 

We discuss what lessons Tats has learned from being a serial entrepreneur, including many ups and downs along the way.

 

Having built successful service and product-based businesses and fighting many challenges, Tats has a wealth of experiences to share with fellow entrepreneurs.

 

Tats also tells us about an excellent test he has used to evaluate business ideas. The Serenity Sisters were genuinely intrigued by this “3 am test,” but you’ll have to listen to the full episode for a full explanation!

 

This is a great episode for any aspiring or current entrepreneur to listen to for lessons learned on the path to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

For this episode and information about Serenity Now For Entrepreneurs, visit our website. serenitynowforentrepreneurs.com

 

 

The Great Resignation

Is The Great Resignation just about money? Following the pandemic, many people have left their jobs (or not returned after lay-offs), searching for a new career. What was their motivation, mental health, family commitments, higher salary, or flexibility in their life? Listen in as we unpack why so many employees leave for greener pastures during this mass resignation and what makes others stay, as well as answer the question of how we deal with this as entrepreneurs.

(Note: Some of the content in this episode may be outdated because it was recorded earlier in the year, but the advice is still timely) 

For this episode and information about Serenity Now For Entrepreneurs, visit our website. serenitynowforentrepreneurs.com

When Sh*t Hits the Fan

In today’s episode, the full sorority of Serenity Sisters connect to discuss what happens when things go wrong at work, or as we put it “Sh*t Hits the Fan”.

Who can help you when you’ve not encountered a specific problem before? What can be put in place to deal with a crisis situation such as Covid, supply chain issues and more?

Sometimes a business hits a barrier, but is it always bad? Can there be a silver lining?

Remember, entrepreneurship is a roller coaster and every business needs to learn how to take the hits as well as the pats on the back! 

Take a listen and know that you aren’t alone. The journey of entreprenurship is just that, a journey, but knowing where to turn and what to do things don’t go your way is important and could provide you with some Serenity Now.

 

Website: https://serenitynowforentrepreneurs.com/2022/04/22/when-sht-hits-the-fan/

 

 

 

Show Me The Money!

In today’s episode, Serenity Now for Entrepreneurs speak about the most pressing topic when it comes to to business – MONEY. Whether we are talking about start up funds, expansion funds, sales or expenses, money is always on an entrepreneurs mind.

This podcast focuses on funding for businesses and shares expertise that many listeners seek including conversation about the following:

 

• Businesses start up funds
• Funding for capital expenditures or equipment
• How are Grants used and why are they important?
• What is Grants SRED
• What type of grants are available for startups?
• Loans for Business

 

Listen is as we discuss our personal experiences as well as best practices from an accounting standpoint.

Take a listen as we ‘Show you the Money”!

Firing a Client

In this episode of Serenity Now for Entrepreneurs, we chat about something that many companies have considered doing, but aren’t doing….firing a client.

This can be a tough topic but we believe its something every company should discuss – especially service providers.

When do you consider taking this step? Is there a point in time you know this could be a challenging client to work with? Are you seeing red flags?

We discuss our personal experiences as entrepreneurs and what systems our companies have in place. Peggy discusses this being an annual ritual that involves the team. Rita discusses what red flags look like for her company. Candace discusses alignment and on going evaluation of clients.

It’s not a subjective exercise, by any means. We also discuss what happens when a decision has been made. How do you fire a client?

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there that may feel stuck or don’t know how to move on from certain clients in their roster. Take a listen and learn how some business veterans have done it so that it can give you insight and perhaps some serenity now!

I won that bid!

In this episode,  Serenity Sisters Rita Kim and Candace Nanke speak to Tess Menges  of  Procurement Assistance Canada now referred to as PAC and previously known as the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) . PAC helps businesses understand how the government buys goods and services, and how a business in Canada can navigate the process to find opportunities. The government buys everything from toilet paper to software so there are opportunities for companies that sell both products and services.

 

In this podcast, Tess introduces us to  Lee Brighton and Cydney Mar. We loved hearing the journey that each of these amazing entrepreneurs went through to win bids with the Government of Canada!

 

Tess explains some specific steps both Lee and Cydney took that helped them to win bids. Lee and Cyndey also explain their success stories and what their experience was like navigating through bids, opportunities and to finally winning a bid.

 

We hope this episode helps fellow entrepreneurs in becoming more familiar with the process of bidding, the resources available to help you through this and finally winning your own bids!

 

Please listen and also share this episode with fellow entrepreneurs as well.

Incredible Entrepreneur Resource

In this episode of Serenity Now for Entrepreneurs, Serenity Sisters Rita Kim and Candace Nancke chat with Charlotte Ferreaux of Community Futures BC.

 

We discuss the mandate for this organization and how to they help business owners? Charlotte explains how Community Futures differ from other lending institutions? As lots of businesses recovering from the pandemic, Rita and Candace share their insights about the importance of resources like Community Futures.

 

We hope you enjoyed this episode where the Serenity Sisters chats Charlotte of Community Futures who discusses the programs available to entrepreneurs in rural areas in BC. As she mentions, there’s a lot of support available for business owners in large cities, but the economic development of rural businesses is also critical to the growth of the province.

 

If you are a rural business owner, or perhaps you know someone who could benefit from this podcast, we would love it for you to share it with your community as it could give an entrepreneur out there, some Serenity Now.

I am an Entrepreneur

This episode is perfect for those wanting to explore entrepreneurship and those who are entrepreneurs already! Lots of laughs in this episode as we chat about what it means to us to be entrepreneurs, the perks, the challenges and the journey. Could you as a business owner go back and get a ‘job’? Hear what the Serenity Sisters say about that! 

 

What we find out is that the journey to becoming an entrepreneur and life as an entrepreneur is unique for everyone BUT you are not alone. So join us  - and listen to what part of our journey resonates with you! 

Visit our website to valuable resources and to listen to other podcasts.