Imagine you’re a greasy spoon who wants to self actualize. Since 1950, you’ve had a nice location in a quiet neighbourhood near downtown Calgary. You serve the typical fare: bacon and eggs, burgers and fries and milkshakes. You’re popular with the locals, but time marches on.
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Call it accidental success. When smart leaders turn around bad circumstances, it’s a win-win situation.
Cliff Vallentgoed, owner
Company: Redbike
What they do: bicycle retailer and repair shop
Best mistake: being an absentee owner
In 1997 we opened Redbike in Edmonton. We were severely undercapitalized and depended on receiving stock on credit from suppliers. As risky as that can be, we finished our first fiscal year in the black, and stayed there. In 2000, we started looking at expanding and Red Deer looked like a good market. We checked the regional growth and local income figures and, most important, there was no competition. Everything looked absolutely positive, and that’s when the mistakes started piling up.
We hired a manager we knew and trusted who was from Edmonton. But he quickly grew tired of being away and started spending more time away, until he moved back here. We went through that twice, and couldn’t find someone to dedicate himself to running a successful business.
We looked at the numbers then and realized we had done nothing but lose money and had diluted our business as well. We closed our doors after 18 months. I realized no one will ever take care of your business the way you will, and I was able to put it in perspective. Now I can dedicate myself to our customers, and still concentrate on expanding the company. That’s a very integrated process.
In a furniture and housewares business ruled by economies of scale, selling one-of-a-kind items in competition with mass merchandisers may seem doomed to failure. But Alex Paterson, owner of Tu Gallery in Edmonton, appears to have found a way to do it. >
Call it accidental success. When smart leaders turn around bad circumstances, it’s a win-win situation. Alberta Venture invites entrepreneurs to share their inspiring tales by sending an e-mail to
Cliff Vallentgoed, owner
Company: Redbike
What they do: bicycle retailer and repair shop
Best mistake: being an absentee owner
In 1997 we opened Redbike in Edmonton. We were severely undercapitalized and depended on receiving stock on credit from suppliers. As risky as that can be, we finished our first fiscal year in the black, and stayed there. In 2000, we started looking at expanding and Red Deer looked like a good market. We checked the regional growth and local income figures and, most important, there was no competition. Everything looked absolutely positive, and that’s when the mistakes started piling up.
We hired a manager we knew and trusted who was from Edmonton. But he quickly grew tired of being away and started spending more time away, until he moved back here. We went through that twice, and couldn’t find someone to dedicate himself to running a successful business.
We looked at the numbers then and realized we had done nothing but lose money and had diluted our business as well. We closed our doors after 18 months. I realized no one will ever take care of your business the way you will, and I was able to put it in perspective. Now I can dedicate myself to our customers, and still concentrate on expanding the company. That’s a very integrated process.
Jon Bromling
Senior Product Manager, TTG Systems Incorporated
Jon Bromling is a rare creature in the software business: he translates computer jargon into understandable language, enabling clients to fully comprehend complex software technologies.
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Rob Mann
Regional Vice-President , Van Houtte/Red Carpet Coffee
A wise person once said a true teacher is one who never stops learning. Rob Mann, regional vice-president at Van Houtte, fits the bill, not only initiating and reassessing employee training programs for all western region branches, but attending each and every one of the sessions.
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A St. Albert Liquor World outlet seems, in comparison to other Alberta liquor retailers, to have been matured in a different cask altogether. Walls of red ochre and pale birch trim, punctuated by soft cascades of silk ivy, give the shop an inviting warmth. Decanters of Slovakian crystal sparkle under spotlights.
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Alberta juice bar franchise banks on a boost in the United Arab Emirates.
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A radio ad plays a crackly real-life emergency call that links a half-conscious motorist to her vehicle’s GPS service. >
Lucious ingredients and hip design win big at the till >
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