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Category: Entrepreneur

Student Spotlight: Sandra Bencze

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Sandra Bencze is a fourth year Dalhousie University student in the Bachelor of Commerce Co-op program. During her studies she realized her passion for entrepreneurship and not only decided to pursue the field as her major, but also started her very own business venture, Sandy Tees. Her hard work and initiative won her the Sagewood Award for Entrepreneurship.

“During my studies I have realized my passion for entrepreneurship, and decided to pursue the field as my major. I had always envisioned myself owning and operating my own store, and through the Co-op program I was able to embrace the opportunity and start Sandy Tees. Sandy Tees specializes in handmade tie-dyed goods and are available for sale in the Ottawa ByWard Market.

In preparation of launching Sandy Tees I began applying for licenses and permits to sell my products. I also searched for a variety of venues in Ottawa for Sandy Tees to be available for sale. These venues included local music festivals, outdoor markets and online sales. As I wanted Sandy Tees to be a vendor in the summer of 2015, deadlines for festivals and markets were due in April. Although school was hectic during this time, it was important for me to keep in mind the deadlines for Sandy Tees to meet.

I am excited to have completed my Entrepreneurial Work Term because I pursued my passion, creating handmade tie dyed goods and growing as an entrepreneur. I am grateful to have had the support of faculty members from the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship, and am honored to have received the Sagewood Award for Entrepreneurship.

Many students in the Commerce Co-op program are not aware of the benefits an Entrepreneurial Work Term can bring you. Students may also be hesitant to pursue new ventures because it takes a lot of confidence to put your ideas out there and assume the risk of trying something new. I am excited to share my experiences with my fellow classmates and encourage students to follow their passions. I hope to inspire others, and create a supportive community for entrepreneurs and soon-to-be entrepreneurs within the Dalhousie community.”

Interested in doing an Entrepreneurial Work Term? Submit your Expression of Interest to Mary.Kilfoil@dal.ca by 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, 2015.  Spend a co-op work term developing your own business venture and experience the challenges and benefits of working for yourself!

Upcoming Business Competition Deadlines

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Don’t miss your chance to hone your skills, build your professional profile, and compete to win. Deadlines to register for these business student competitions are fast approaching!

Competition Deadlines:
Holt Valuation Challenge RevJan. 25  Project Firefly – Emerging Leaders
Compete for a chance to win an all-expenses paid invitation to the world renowned Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference (AIC) in Hong Kong, March 2015. Current students can now register for Stage 1 of the Emerging Leaders Competition which requires a video and essay submission by Jan. 25. Students graduating in 2017 can compete to win an interview for positions in Credit Suisse’s 2016 Internship program.

The Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference (AIC), now in its 18th year, is one of the most exclusive business gatherings in the Asia Pacific region featuring an impressive range of thought leaders. Past attendees include:

  • Yoshihiko Noda, Former Prime minister of Japan
  • Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Black Rock
  • Jack Ma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alibaba Group

Top Ad ExecJan. 26  Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec   
Are you extremely interested in marketing and advertising? If so this is the competition for you! As part of Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec you will be required to write a two-page summary outlining your solution to a problem proposed by Chevrolet Canada. The top 25 submissions will be selected to move on to phase two of the competition for the chance to win your very own 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS, cash prizes and a number of career beginning positions. Submissions will be due on January 26th, 2015 at 12:00PM EST. Make sure to head over to www.topadexec.com and click “register now” to receive more details. The brief outlining Chevrolet’s proposed issue is now available online so make sure to check it out! You can work individually or with one other person. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email Nicola Woods at n.woods@dal.ca or Mitchel White at michelwhite@dal.ca.

Focus2040_site_2014-e1386603464860Jan. 31 Focus 2040

What will the world of work look like in the year 2040? What trends will influence different business practices? DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University organizes Focus 2040, a national student competition. The competition invites all university students from across Canada to predict what the world of work will be like in the year 2040. Focus 2040 also offers an opportunity for Top 10 contestants and Campus Ambassadors to get interviews for Top internships! These internships include; BPI in France, Ford Motors, Arcelor Mittal Dofasco, and more!

PHASE 1 of the national student competition is now live!!!

When: Deadline on Jan 31, 2015 at 11:59 pm
What: Win $5000, $3000, $2000 + paid internships (even in Paris!)
Who: Canadian university students across all faculties, programs and years.
How: Participate by submitting your answer to our ask and win Focus 2040 swag, for free!

Visit www.focus2040.ca (under the Competition tab) for more information on Phase 1, deadlines, networking opportunities, real world wins of $5000, $3000, $2000 + internships with sponsors like Ford, WestJet and more! Questions can be directed to info@focus2040.ca.

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Feb. 16  Innovative Ideas
Submit your business ideas for a chance to win your share of $20,000! This competition is open to any student with a creative idea that has the potential to make change. Innovative social, technical, product and process ideas are all welcome. There are two streams: one for Innovation ideas that are STEM (science, technical, engineering, mathematics) related and one for Social Enterprise (addresses social, environmental or cultural challenges).

The Provincial Finalists Competition will be held in Halifax at the Westin Hotel on February 23 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..  In addition to the student pitches, there will be interesting presentations throughout the day, open to all interested students (competitors or not) and an evening reception open to the public, including local investors. For more details, visit http://innovationeast.ca/ and click on Start Here.

Student Spotlight: Carlisle Norwood

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Freshman Storage & Moving is a student-run, student-focused storage and moving company that provides monthly storage units, summer storage, local moving services and packing supplies. At the helm of the company is Owner and Operator Carlisle Norwood, a commerce student with a major in entrepreneurship who has completed all three of his work terms running his own business.  In the coming years, Carlisle hopes to expand into other industries such as snow removal and property maintenance. Here is Carlisle on the challenges of starting your own business:

“There are different challenges to each day. Some days you feel like you are on top of the world, other days you feel like you can’t make the right decision. The trick is to make sure you make more good decisions than bad, and that you learn from each experience. Above all else, treat your customers, and the people you work with like gold, because without them you wouldn’t have a company.

The best way to move forward with starting a business is to come up with your hypothesis (your business idea) and then go out and ask your potential customers if they would be interested in such a product or service. Don’t invest time and money with an idea you think is great, only to find out later that you were the only one who thought so.

In entrepreneurship, celebrate the commitment you make to your company, not the results you receive because for a lot of startups it takes years for the business to take flight.”

Students interested in doing an Entrepreneurial Work Term for Winter 2014 must submit an expression of interest to Mary Kilfoil at Mary.Kilfoil@dal.ca in the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship by December 20th. Expression of interest should outline your proposed venture, monthly activities and your proposed goals for the development of entrepreneurial skills.

Student Spotlight : Darcy Plant

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Fourth year Commerce Student, Darcy Plant pursued his entrepreneurial work term in the summer of 2012 as the owner and operator of Plant Fuels Inc. Darcy knew that an entrepreneurial work term would provide him with the opportunity to test run exciting business ideas and operate his own company. After performing some research in sustainability Darcy discovered a need for biodiesel production in Nova Scotia. His idea came to life during his entrepreneurial work term, where he started out in his own kitchen by building a small processor for making biodiesel fuel. He then supplied customers all around Nova Scotia.

“It was a tremendously rewarding experience seeing a small idea develop into a successful business. I had the chance to apply all of the theoretical concepts I learnt in class to a real world setting. From planning business operations to creating strong relationships with my customers, I gained valuable insight into the skills I needed to succeed while running my own business. An entrepreneurial work term is an excellent opportunity to explore your business ideas and to take risks. I surprised myself by what I was able to achieve and I have become a stronger entrepreneur overall.”

 

Student Spotlight: Zach Levy & Michael Brown

Fourth year Commerce students Zach Levy and Michael Brown founded their own company called Red Anchor Media. By pursuing an entrepreneurial work term, they spent the summer developing their business venture as part of their co-op work term.

 

Red Anchor Media provides web development, as well as supplemental marketing materials to small businesses and start-up companies. Specializing in professional and affordable website development, the two spent their summer promoting their services and increasing their cliental.


Zach Levy says, “Doing an entrepreneurial work term, furthering our company (and not to mention our own professional skills) has been an extremely fun and rewarding experience. We’ve learned that in order to be successful you need to be passionate about the problem … and relentless & bold about solving it. As an entrepreneur, if you’re excited and terrified for tomorrow, you’re doing it right.”  

To learn more about Zach and Michael’s company, check out http://redanchormedia.com/ .

Student Spotlight: Cam McDonald and Matt Bairos

Want to minimize the ‘stuff’ in your pocket? Want to protect your phone as you would your cash and credit cards? Entrepreneurial students, Cam McDonald and Matt Bairos have created a solution with their patented product, ‘Cache Case’.

During their entrepreneurial work term the two pursued all aspects of the business including product design, manufacturing, marketing, sales and e-commerce integration. Recently they have launched the Cache Case website, introduced new products and have made a deal with Canadian retailers. It’s a lot of hard work but Cam and Matt are en route to fulfill their goal to make Cache Case a global brand.

Their advice to students wishing to pursue an entrepreneurial work term; “Focus on the problem and not the solution. Accept that your initial business plan will go through several revisions before it is deployed to market. Stay motivated and be persistent.”

Check out Cache Case at:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100003321612197

Student Spotlight: Rebecca Chapman

Bachelor of Commerce student Rebecca Chapman brought her passion to life when she started the Chapman School of Irish Dance in the summer of 2010 as an entrepreneurial work term.

“It was an amazing opportunity to try operating my own dance school, which I hope to continue into the future. Operating my own business, even just for a summer, was exciting and rewarding as it truly was a product of my passion and efforts.”

Entrepreneurial work terms can prove to be a very rewarding and challenging adventure, and can be thrilling if your ideas become a success. “I learned a lot about managing a business and I am certain I want to continue teaching and inspiring students. If I could offer any advice to students it would be to go for it! I was nervous, but surprised at how much I was able to do when it came time to perform.”