So, in our never ending quest to create a more welcoming environment for would-be entrepreneurs in Nova Scotia, we are taking the CarbonAccelerator concept in a new direction - or at least we want to, and it will be up to those same would be entrepreneurs to take us up on the challenge.
The notion of Pop-Up stores are fairly hot in retail circles today and we want Carbonstok to be on the cutting edge of this concept.
The magic of a pop-up is that someone can try a concept out for two weeks or a month without any great commitment.
The problem is finding a cool space, a landlord willing to do it, and then having the nuts and bolts in place to make it work.
That's where we come in:
- cool space taken care of - we did win Best New Retail Store in Canada after all...
- we are pretty open as landlords go, don't even like the title of Lord, we're more like landservants.
- we will process all transactions, so the producer/inventor/designer can avoid any need for cash registers, credit card payments, lights, and even having to staff their store all day long.
- we'll clear out a distinct section of the store for the pop-up so you'll be able to make a splash with your concept.
- we'll encourage you to work your store a minimum of 25% of the time, hopefully more, but when you need lunch, or need to pee, or the dog needs a pee, we'll keep your store open - no "Back in 5" signs!
What do you need to do?
- First, and foremost, you need to convince us that your product is cool enough to tempt our customers
- then you'll have to show us what your pop-up is going to look like
- then you'll have to put it all together, set-up your store, stock it, and get ready for opening day.
What we'll do together?
- Market the crap out of your store - we'll use our twitter, web, and email lists to let everyone know you're coming, when you're here, and when you're leaving
- We'll have a launch night party - you'll invite your friends, maybe your favorite DJ, make your own cupcakes, or maybe get some catering from one of our SOMO neighbors.
- We'll talk about what's working and what's not - we'll talk throughout the two week period to see what needs to be tweaked, or just sit back and watch the well-oiled machine do it's thing.
So, there you have it, email gordon@theuncommongroup.com and we can start the conversation.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Event Date
The next CarbonAccelerator is postponed until a later date. Sorry for the late notice - if you have a business idea that you think could benefit from sharing it with a crowd, or a smaller group of Nova Scotia business people who's only mission is to see Nova Scotia be a more prosperous and dynamic place - please contact gordon@theuncommongroup.com
Sunday, April 17, 2011
CarbonAccelerator Event #2 New Date and Call for Pitchers
Bit of housekeeping up front, we need to reschedule the next Accelerator event to Tuesday, May 10.
For this next event, I thought we would tackle the question on many new, and would be, entrepreneurs minds.
How do I take my idea to the next level?
For many people, they have come up with a product and are unsure as to the best way to get their product to market. Should they sell directly to their customers, or should they look for national distribution and become a wholesale producer.
There are many product ideas that could make a good small business, but very few that have a chance at national success. Deciding early on if you are going to wholesale your product or not should influence a lot of other decisions.
Pricing for instance, if something costs you $10 and you sell it to the end consumer for $20 - you've made $10. If on the other hand you decide to put this product in stores, you now need to sell a hell of a lot more widgets to make up for the decrease in margin. These are things that represent "basic" business - but things which plenty of seasoned business people fail to grasp if they are not in the business of building and selling products.
Why am I talking about this? Well, I've had some troubling discussions with people getting started who have been "mentored" by the usual government "experts". Their canned response to him was, "Well, you've got to get a good distributor." While this may be true for widgets, it isn't true for many of the creative/crafty sorts of products that we have an abundance of in Nova Scotia. These people sell their product because they have developed personal relationships with their customers, or personal relationships with a small handful of retailers that they have chosen to work with. Getting a distributor to "pick-up your product" may sound like a great thing - but remember, they can drop your product just as quick if it isn't working for them and those relationships that they fostered may be gone forever.
So, how does this fit into the CarbonAccelerator? Well, in our next session on May 10 we would like to hear from pitchers that are in this type of situation - if you are one of them, or know of one of them, please get in touch with us so we can put you on the agenda.
And remember, CarbonAccelerator is open to the public - if you're going into withdrawal from the season's ending of Dragon's Den, come on down and check things out - 6:00 Tuesday May 10 @Carbonstok, 1235 Barrington St.
For this next event, I thought we would tackle the question on many new, and would be, entrepreneurs minds.
How do I take my idea to the next level?
For many people, they have come up with a product and are unsure as to the best way to get their product to market. Should they sell directly to their customers, or should they look for national distribution and become a wholesale producer.
There are many product ideas that could make a good small business, but very few that have a chance at national success. Deciding early on if you are going to wholesale your product or not should influence a lot of other decisions.
Pricing for instance, if something costs you $10 and you sell it to the end consumer for $20 - you've made $10. If on the other hand you decide to put this product in stores, you now need to sell a hell of a lot more widgets to make up for the decrease in margin. These are things that represent "basic" business - but things which plenty of seasoned business people fail to grasp if they are not in the business of building and selling products.
Why am I talking about this? Well, I've had some troubling discussions with people getting started who have been "mentored" by the usual government "experts". Their canned response to him was, "Well, you've got to get a good distributor." While this may be true for widgets, it isn't true for many of the creative/crafty sorts of products that we have an abundance of in Nova Scotia. These people sell their product because they have developed personal relationships with their customers, or personal relationships with a small handful of retailers that they have chosen to work with. Getting a distributor to "pick-up your product" may sound like a great thing - but remember, they can drop your product just as quick if it isn't working for them and those relationships that they fostered may be gone forever.
So, how does this fit into the CarbonAccelerator? Well, in our next session on May 10 we would like to hear from pitchers that are in this type of situation - if you are one of them, or know of one of them, please get in touch with us so we can put you on the agenda.
And remember, CarbonAccelerator is open to the public - if you're going into withdrawal from the season's ending of Dragon's Den, come on down and check things out - 6:00 Tuesday May 10 @Carbonstok, 1235 Barrington St.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
CarbonAccelerator #1 recap
So, last night we had our first ever CarbonAccelerator event. With no expectation or agenda going into the event, we ensured certain success and I think it is safe to say that we exceeded expectations by 400%.
4 Pitchers showed up and 4 interesting conversations ensued.
First up was Bob Jackson from Greenwood. Bob has created a device, Heat Help, that is essentially a fan box that sits on top of your typical baseboard heater. The fan is heat activated and creates efficiency by distributing the heat throughout your room. Bob is an inventor at heart and really needs someone to take his idea to the next level and get more information about the potential energy savings from his product. Several people in the room were intrigued by his invention and introductions were made.
Next up was Clara Fasset, the Litter Queen. Clara created a bio-degradable, flushable, wheat based cat litter right here in Nova Scotia. Clara has been selling her product at a few retail stores in Nova Scotia and direct to customers at the Market. Clara's been focused on getting her product listed in more retailers, but probably needs more focus on getting end users to start demanding her product from their retailers. Good discussion around her product and how it fits into the HRM waste stream, different ways she can position her product, etc. If you've got a cat, check her out the next time you're at the Market - Clara's going to get there 1 customer at a time.
Third was Michael Christie of Red Spruce - a Nova Scotian based rug hooking company. Armed with a stack of international magazine articles praising his creations, there is no question that Red Spruce is showing up on the radar of interior designers and collectors around the world. With an ultra-luxury product such as his, Michael needs to have a very compelling value proposition when he is pitching his wares. Lots of questions and ideas in the room and we were all excited to see such a fantastic product being made in the brothels, er.. hooking rooms of Nova Scotia.
Our final pitcher of the night was Aaron Bihari - Aaron is working on staging a February Festival on the Waterfront - "Bonfire". With 4 businesses with vested interests in outdoor pursuits, beverage, and the waterfront in attendance there was lots of feedback and ideas directed towards Aaron. Given the recent success of the Concert Series for the Canada Games, we've proven that Haligonians will come out any time of year as long as we are entertained. With a winter like we just had, one can't help but get excited thinking about making Smores on the waterfront, catching a great concert, having the kids run around an obstacle course and finishing it all off with a nice cold HopYard from Garrison at the end of the night.
All in all, I think everyone that came out was entertained and intrigued by the business ideas that they heard. We didn't solve any of the world's problems, we didn't land the million dollar investment, but we succeeded in fostering conversations about business. For those of you that thought we needed structure, you were wrong and just didn't get the point. Perhaps you should come to our next event to see what it's all about....
So there you have it - CarbonAccelerator #1 is done. And to keep the ball rolling, CarbonAccelerator #2 is now on the board - May 3, at Carbonstok again, at 6:00. Remember, these events are OPEN to the public, so tell your friends. As with the first one, we need pitchers to come forward, so if you want to get on the agenda for May 3, we still have spots, just send me an email, gordon@theuncommongroup.com
Finally, thanks to all the Advisors that came out last night, Kenzie MacDonald from Avison Young, Joachim Stroink from the Trail Shop, Brian Titus from Garrison Brewing, Leo Artalejo from MT&L, Christian Weisenburger from Beyond the Box Law and Joanne MacRae and Tracey Boyer from the Hub.
4 Pitchers showed up and 4 interesting conversations ensued.
First up was Bob Jackson from Greenwood. Bob has created a device, Heat Help, that is essentially a fan box that sits on top of your typical baseboard heater. The fan is heat activated and creates efficiency by distributing the heat throughout your room. Bob is an inventor at heart and really needs someone to take his idea to the next level and get more information about the potential energy savings from his product. Several people in the room were intrigued by his invention and introductions were made.
Next up was Clara Fasset, the Litter Queen. Clara created a bio-degradable, flushable, wheat based cat litter right here in Nova Scotia. Clara has been selling her product at a few retail stores in Nova Scotia and direct to customers at the Market. Clara's been focused on getting her product listed in more retailers, but probably needs more focus on getting end users to start demanding her product from their retailers. Good discussion around her product and how it fits into the HRM waste stream, different ways she can position her product, etc. If you've got a cat, check her out the next time you're at the Market - Clara's going to get there 1 customer at a time.
Third was Michael Christie of Red Spruce - a Nova Scotian based rug hooking company. Armed with a stack of international magazine articles praising his creations, there is no question that Red Spruce is showing up on the radar of interior designers and collectors around the world. With an ultra-luxury product such as his, Michael needs to have a very compelling value proposition when he is pitching his wares. Lots of questions and ideas in the room and we were all excited to see such a fantastic product being made in the brothels, er.. hooking rooms of Nova Scotia.
Our final pitcher of the night was Aaron Bihari - Aaron is working on staging a February Festival on the Waterfront - "Bonfire". With 4 businesses with vested interests in outdoor pursuits, beverage, and the waterfront in attendance there was lots of feedback and ideas directed towards Aaron. Given the recent success of the Concert Series for the Canada Games, we've proven that Haligonians will come out any time of year as long as we are entertained. With a winter like we just had, one can't help but get excited thinking about making Smores on the waterfront, catching a great concert, having the kids run around an obstacle course and finishing it all off with a nice cold HopYard from Garrison at the end of the night.
All in all, I think everyone that came out was entertained and intrigued by the business ideas that they heard. We didn't solve any of the world's problems, we didn't land the million dollar investment, but we succeeded in fostering conversations about business. For those of you that thought we needed structure, you were wrong and just didn't get the point. Perhaps you should come to our next event to see what it's all about....
So there you have it - CarbonAccelerator #1 is done. And to keep the ball rolling, CarbonAccelerator #2 is now on the board - May 3, at Carbonstok again, at 6:00. Remember, these events are OPEN to the public, so tell your friends. As with the first one, we need pitchers to come forward, so if you want to get on the agenda for May 3, we still have spots, just send me an email, gordon@theuncommongroup.com
Finally, thanks to all the Advisors that came out last night, Kenzie MacDonald from Avison Young, Joachim Stroink from the Trail Shop, Brian Titus from Garrison Brewing, Leo Artalejo from MT&L, Christian Weisenburger from Beyond the Box Law and Joanne MacRae and Tracey Boyer from the Hub.
Friday, February 25, 2011
March 8 is coming soon!
So, we've got a few entrepreneurs ready to strut their stuff on March 8. Time to mark your calendars for 6:00 at Carbonstok. We'll be providing refreshments to help spur the conversation and hopefully we'll all learn something by taking part.
We're still trying to get the word out to attendees and pitchers, so please forward the information to anyone you think would be interested. If they want to pitch at this, or a future, event, please email gordon@theuncommongroup.com and I'll put you on the schedule.
We're still trying to get the word out to attendees and pitchers, so please forward the information to anyone you think would be interested. If they want to pitch at this, or a future, event, please email gordon@theuncommongroup.com and I'll put you on the schedule.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Accelerator Event March 8
So, this whole notion of the Carbon Accelerator seems to have caught the attention of a number of people here in Nova Scotia - generally a good thing.
We've been contacted by people with business ideas that are in their infancy as well as people with products in the market already but looking to grow their business. We've also been contacted by the usual clan of service providers, lawyers, accountants, insurance guys who see this as a way to get some business and/or actually be an active participant in growing the entrepreneurial spirit in the province.
My reaction? Well, that's all good. The purpose of the Accelerator is to get people talking and to enable the doer's to get in front of people that can make a difference.
We've also heard from some of the "venture capitalists" in the province who say we're being naive in our thinking that this type of approach will have any impact on getting businesses off the ground. These of course are the same venture capitalists/funders that think innovation means copying what other jurisdictions have done and giving absolutely no credit to the thousands of Nova Scotia business owners who employ 1-10 people.
The point is, there may be a place for ACOA, Economic Development, Innovacorp, etc. in helping some entrepreneurs get off the ground, but they can't be viewed as the solution for everybody.
Will a business that pitches to the Accelerator become a company in Nova Scotia employing 100 people? Who knows, but we've got a solid group of citizens who have committed to at least making the effort to provide guidance and advice to those who put their hands up and ask for it.
So far we've had half a dozen people come to us with their ideas and several are on the docket to pitch on March 8 at 6:00pm at Carbonstok. I'd love to know that we have dozens of other business ideas out there percolating, so spread the word and send me your co-ordinates.
Of course, mark your calendars for March 8 - you never know, it may be you that walks away inspired....
We've been contacted by people with business ideas that are in their infancy as well as people with products in the market already but looking to grow their business. We've also been contacted by the usual clan of service providers, lawyers, accountants, insurance guys who see this as a way to get some business and/or actually be an active participant in growing the entrepreneurial spirit in the province.
My reaction? Well, that's all good. The purpose of the Accelerator is to get people talking and to enable the doer's to get in front of people that can make a difference.
We've also heard from some of the "venture capitalists" in the province who say we're being naive in our thinking that this type of approach will have any impact on getting businesses off the ground. These of course are the same venture capitalists/funders that think innovation means copying what other jurisdictions have done and giving absolutely no credit to the thousands of Nova Scotia business owners who employ 1-10 people.
The point is, there may be a place for ACOA, Economic Development, Innovacorp, etc. in helping some entrepreneurs get off the ground, but they can't be viewed as the solution for everybody.
Will a business that pitches to the Accelerator become a company in Nova Scotia employing 100 people? Who knows, but we've got a solid group of citizens who have committed to at least making the effort to provide guidance and advice to those who put their hands up and ask for it.
So far we've had half a dozen people come to us with their ideas and several are on the docket to pitch on March 8 at 6:00pm at Carbonstok. I'd love to know that we have dozens of other business ideas out there percolating, so spread the word and send me your co-ordinates.
Of course, mark your calendars for March 8 - you never know, it may be you that walks away inspired....
Sunday, January 2, 2011
WELCOME TO CarbonAccelerator!
Over the past couple of years, I've taken part in a number of business and community competitions where people, young and old, have pitched their ideas for businesses, products, shows, etc. I've also witnessed great success right here in Nova Scotia with young animators starting their own studios, students designing products as projects that morph into commercial reality and people who saw a problem and set out to fix it.
With all those success stories, I've also witnessed a lot of people with half baked ideas that perhaps needed guidance and encouragement to complete the plan and an equal number of would be entrepreneurs that thought they had a business plan but which was never going to work because it was developed in a vacuum.
CarbonAccelerator aims to be a facilitator and community builder for people with ideas to create products, businesses and services right here in Nova Scotia. In addition to the blog, we will host regular face to face presentations where those ideas will be pitched to a group of local business owners, design professionals, guest leaders and the community at large to provide the feedback, guidance and advice that will help them to take their next step to commercial reality.
Many of the people involved with the CarbonAccelerator are involved in local retail shops here in Nova Scotia and as such our first call for ideas is for consumer goods. What are consumer goods? Quite simply, anything you as a consumer would buy in a store. Fashion, housewares, souvenirs, jewellery, snowshoes.....
No idea is too small, but the idea of the CarbonAccelerator is to create businesses that have the ability to grow in scale, to move beyond the "craft fair" with your idea and to foster economic and creative growth right here in Nova Scotia.
What we offer is a critical way of looking at your product or service - is the market really looking for what you have, do competitors exist, does your price point make sense, will retailers want to carry your product, how will you sell your product, how will you market your product.
Think of CarbonAccelerator as more Friendly Giant than Dragon's Den, more Main St. than Bay St. and more community than government. By working together we can make a stronger economy in Nova Scotia, we can create a more sustainable business environment, and we WILL create the next BIG THING - right here, right now.
So, on to the ideas. If you have an idea and want to share it with your community, please post a brief description and we will contact you if it fits into the theme of the next CarbonAccelerator Live event. If you have a problem, or product you wish someone would fix or create right here in Nova Scotia, post that too. If you would like to be involved at any level, please post your intentions as well.
And finally, spread the word - post links to this blog on twitter, tell your friends and dust off your prototypes - we're ready to go.
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