The importance of finding Mentors

Last night, It was the Season Launch of my group The Young Business Network of the National Capital (YBN-NC). During the evening, I had the chance the discuss with several entrepreneurs, few of them shared with me a big concern - they don't know where to go to find answers to their business problems. I mean, they have a group of friends, however most of them are either not in business or they are also young entrepreneurs with limited experience. I explain to them the importance of finding mentors, more seniors entrepreneurs who will help you to grow your business. And don't get my wrong, the best mentors only give you advice, they do not take the decisions for you. However, with their experiences, they are able to guide and help you. I know that these guys are out there and they are willing to help young entrepreneurs - don't forget, at some point in their careers they had the same issues that you have right now. I recommend you to ask, don't be shy, If you think that someone can help you, even if it is big CEO's, email them, call them, or try to meet them at one of their functions. Once again, don't be shy to ask, explain them that you have a lot of respect for what that they are a model for you - ask them for 10-15 min. of their time for a quick coffee. I can assure you, they will rarely say no :) This week, I had the chance to meet with 2 of my mentors, I had an issue and I was looking for advice, well they were there for me and helped me A LOT !!! I feel really lucky to have these guys around me, I think the key in these relationship is to be genuine and real - your mentors will take 1 hour per month if they feel that you are honest and genuine.

Networking or Building True Relationship - Never Eat Alone

Today, people understand the importance of networking and connecting people. I am a firm believer of helping people when needed. I mean, in today's world, everyting is about connections... finding a new job / looking for a good accountant / selling your new products, but for me it's more about building relationship... I've worked in law firm in Buenos Aires for almost 1 year and let me tell you that it's completely different : the first 15-20 minute of every meeting are dedicated to learn more about family, kids, favorite sports etc etc. Obvisouly, when I came back to Canada... people thought I was a bit weird with my personal questions :) However, I strongly believe in building relationship one at the time.... I am currently writing a book on how to help people to build true relationship... it should be available early 2009...

Actually, a few months ago, a friend of mine got me a copy of the book Never Eat Alone , the author is Keith Ferrazzi. it is such a great book, its full of pratical advice, I recommend this book to all my friends. In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps—and inner mindset—he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his Rolodex, people he has helped and who have helped him. Ferrazzi's form of connecting to the world around him is based on generosity, helping friends connect with other friends. Ferrazzi distinguishes genuine relationship-building from the crude, desperate glad-handling usually associated with “networking.” He then distills his system of reaching out to people into practical, proven principles. Keith Ferrazzi is a mentor to me, we share the same vision and philosophy on the importance on building true relationship.

The Chelsea Club

Today, I would like to share with you one of the jewel of this city. For many years, I was looking for a place to hang out, take some clients out for lunch/dinner etc etc. but to also meet other entrepreneurs... The choices are limited in this city... you can try the Rideau Club, however it's old school and extremely serious. In addition, the membership and monthly fees are considerable. I would like to recommend you the Chelsea Club, located directly downtown (Meltcalfe/Sommerset). The Club was founded in 1926 and is now run by Sean Murphy, a Cordon Bleu Chef. The biggest advantage of the Chelsea is the fact that it's much more casual and that you feel like if you are at home. I've joined the Chelsea Club upon my return from Buenos Aires and I am using the Club since then. The quality of the food combined with the exceptionnal services provided by Sean (chef & manager) and his staff, made this Club a real jewel. I believe that it's a great way to take clients for lunch or to only mingles and meet new people, moreover the Club have affilitiations around the world, that's mean that you can also use the facilities of other Clubs when you are travelling. Finally, if you are under 40, the annual fee is only $200 and you have no further obligations (e.i. no monthly fees or bar bills), it's pay as you go - you only reserved for a lunch/dinner or you can just drop by for a coffee.... check it out, it is totally worth it.

Ottawa Small Business Forum & Calendar of Events

Last week, I talked about the Ottawa Small Business Forum , I received several emails requesting more informations about it. I am glad to see that people have an interest in these kind of events and I am looking forward to meet you there. However, the key issue seems to be the publicity, most of the people told me that they never heard of this event before.

Therefore; I've listed below some links to review to ensure that you are not missing any events:

Check out these websites for their Calendar of events ;

OCRI
Ottawa Business Journal
Telfer School of Management
Entrepreneurship Centre
Ottawa Chamber of Commerce
The Young Business Network of the National Capital (YBN-NC)
RGA

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I missed any good website.

Entrepreneurs and Passions

I had the chance to meet today with an entrepreneur who was totally passionnate about his ideas and new products. One of the thing that I find so refreshing is to see someone talking about his/her passion. Actually, even if at first the topic seems a bit boring, when someone with real passion explain it to you.... it is a different ball game.

The most successfull entrepreneurs that I know are passionnate about what they are doing and therefore their ideas are contagious to their company. I believe that I you want to be truly happy in life, you should try to find your passion...once you found it, sky is the limit.

The importance of spending money on a shareholder agreement when you are starting a new business

I have to say that when entrepreneurs start their businesses, they are, most of the time spending the majority of their monies into sales & marketing, however they are often neglecting the legal aspect of their businesses.

Obviously, I understand it's not the real focus of entrepreneurs who are calculating their ROI (Return of Investment), but let me ask you this question:

Would you rather have an agreement in place when the relationship is good or would you prefer to TRY to have one when the parties are in disagreement and bitter at each other?

The answer is quite obvious, just do it when you are starting your business, in addition, most of the time, people will be much more reasonnable in their demands, knowing that a signed agreement is in place. Therefore; I strongly advice to spend the money upfront instead of spending MUCH more money in litigation with no formal agreement in place, that could take months/years and during the process, you are not focusing on your business. At the end of the day, you should try to protect your business and one of the best way is to stay far from Court litigation because it's really expensive.

The Ottawa Small Business Forum

Yesterday, I met with the organizer of The Ottawa Small Business Forum. This year the forum will be held on February 22nd at the Conference Centre. It is already their 4th edition and I have to say that I am quite impressed by the quality of their workshops; in addition, the keynote speaker will be Cora Tsouflidou, founder of the famous Cora's restaurant. At last year forum, around 250 guests were present to learned, get inspired and to also network amongst them. As a business lawyer, I meet entrepreneurs everyday, most of them are telling me that it is difficult to find people who understand their concerns and problems in business; well I strongly believe that these forums are a great place to meet new contacts, business associates and even recruit new members in your team. That being said, I strongly encourage entrepreneurs to attend this conference; it will allow you to meet your peers but most importantly to demonstrate that these kinds of forums and conferences are needed in the Ottawa region.

WELCOME!!

Welcome to my first posting!

The purpose of this blog will be to talk about business law and related business matters . As a business lawyer with the boutique law firm Andrews Robichaud, I give advice to my clients on a daily basis on a wide variety of corporate/commercial matters. My objective is to find creative ways to ensure that my clients are protected and I help them to choose the best legal structure to save taxes I hope that this blog will become your reference for all your legal problems related to your business.

I also intent to blog about my interests in life, (travelling, skiing, networking etc.) Actually, I just came back from a great trip in San Andrews, Colombia, I will post some pictures soon.

If you have any questions/suggestions about my blog , please let me know.

See you soon
Hugues Boisvert