LIFT Startups

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Technology Industry

Bob Wells talks about My Tech Guys – and Bob Wells. A LIFT Podcast.

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In this LIFT Podcast I interview Bob Wells, owner of My Tech Guys.

Bob is an entrepreneur and has been since the age of 10. Today he’s the very busy owner of My Tech Guys, servicing clients from Nanaimo to the mid-Coast.

Bob is also known as a community leader with a passion for service – and a passion for supporting entrepreneurs. That’s one of the reasons My Tech Guys is a LIFT Community Partner: they’re helping us connect and promote entrepreneurs across the Island.

In this episode of LIFT Podcasts I ask Bob about his business, the smartest thing he’s ever done, his favourite books – as a kid and as an adult (some surprises here!). I also ask him about his commitment to community service, his involvement with Startup Canada, and how these connect to his business.

Enjoy!

~ hpm,
Founder of LIFT Startups and the Vancouver Island Local Business Network
Winner, Best in BC, Entrepreneur Promotion, Startup Canada Awards, Vancouver 2018

Contact Bob and My Tech Guys

Website: mytechguys.ca

More LIFT Podcasts

Find more LIFT Podcast interviews here.
Subscribe to LIFT Podcast via iTunes here.

 

The Speedibin Composter: Innovative garden technology from the Comox Valley

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Joyce McMenamon didn’t invent the Speedibin Composter. But she did revive her father’s 1987 design, putting it through 22 prototypes. Now she’s shipping across North America.

What makes the Speedibin unique?

The Speedibin is more than a humble composter. Made entirely of metal, they’re vermin “resistant” and easy to use.

A few years ago City Farmer in Vancouver asked Joyce to “please start making Speedibins again.” Why? Composting had become very popular in the city. But rats and racoons were loving how easy it was to get into the plastic bins.

Built of sheet metal, Speedbins ship in a flat package and are easy to assemble. Good for humans. Bad for rats, mice, and racoons that find them tamper proof. McMenamon even gives workshops on how to make Speedibins bear resistant.

More good news for humans: the removable lid makes loading and mixing easy. When the microbes and worms have transformed all that waste into glorious black gold, the front panel removes for easy unloading.

It’s not just about keeping the vermin out

McMenamon is an avid gardener. She understands the imporance of rat-resistant composting. What she’s most excited about, however, is having developed an easy-to use, practical solution to an even more pressing problem: soil exhaustion. Mono-cropping and continuous-cropping inevitably lead to nutrient loss. Composting is the easiest way to organically rebuild soil. “If all the people who can would put their yard waste and kitchen scrap back into the soil,” she says, “the microbes and worms would quickly rebuild the soil.”

Where to buy

Because of their vermin-resistant qualities they’ve been picked up by some school gardens, including several in New York City. McMenamon sees the Speedibin’s future in North American sales. “We’re already shipping to Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and now the United States,” she says. This rat-resistant solution to some of our landfill and “peak soil” issues is also attracting attention from New Zealand. If you’re from outside of the Comox Valley you can order your Speedibin Composter at speedibin.com.

If you’re in the Comox Valley region, Port Hardy, Parksville, or Calgary you can find Speedibin Composters are at several local locations.

Speedibin is now a #WeAreYQQ Champion

Speedibin was an early beneficiary of the #WeAreYQQ business development workshop series. “It’s been vey helpful,” McMenamon says. “Being a sole proprietor, living in Merville, working in a vacuum: it’s a challenge. The workshops have been very helpful because they not only give me valuable insights and information, they also give me a supportive, entrepreneur-minded group of people to work with. That’s huge.”

As a business owner and entrepreneur McMenamon sees considerable value in the #WeAreYQQ Project. In 2016 she was an early adopter, and signed on as an annual #WeAreYQQ Champion. Want to grow your business with our collaborative marketing and business and community economic development workshops? For more information about what business benefits a Champion membership brings, call Cathy Snyder at 250-703-3057 or sign up online at the “Join Us! tab.” Or just come out to one  of our events and see if working collaboratively with entrepreneurs is part of your business solution. Events are listed at the “events tab.”

FMI about Speedibin

Online at speedibin.com
On Twitter at twitter.com/speedibin
On Facebook at facebook.com/Speedibin

Grow your business with a #WeAreYQQ / LIFT Project subscription

Does your business need more exposure?

Do you want to make your marketing easier?

If you’ve got a story about entrepreneurship or innovation in the Comox Valley we’ve got a business development and marketing service package to get you exposure in print media, on our blog, and via our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and more. Subscribe and you’ll get significant discounts as a #WeAreYQQ Champion or Ambassador – and you’ll be listed in our updates to our extensive mailing list.

It’s all part of our service packages to help grow business in the Comox Valley! Come on board ⛵

hpm
for Team #WeAreYQQ and the LIFT Project in the Comox Valley
@WeAreYQQ on Twitter

LIFT: Leading, Inspiring, and Fueling Talent in business, the arts, and more – in the Comox Valley! 

We’re building an entrepreneurial culture in the Comox Valley. Join us this summer and win! You’ll get perks that’ll grow your business. Sign up here

Innovations in campfire cookery: the Fireside Fork

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Who knew that hot dog sticks needed improving? Innovations are often very simple solutions to problems we didn’t know we had.

Randy Brouwer wanted to improve a simple camping experience. His product will become a staple in every camper’s kit. The experience: roasting food over an open fire. The innovation: the Fireside Fork.

What is it?

The design is simple. Three aluminum rods that screw together easily. A fixed wooden handle at one end. An innovative sliding wooden handle in the middle. Your choice of wide or narrow fork at the other end.

The Fireside Fork sells separately, or as a package of two in a zippered case (it’ll fit in your glove box). Additional attachments – a roasting basket for meat, seafood and vegetables, and a popcorn maker – are coming on stream later in 2016. Another add-on turns the Fireside Fork into a portable rotisserie.

Inspiration

The Fireside Fork was born in late 2013 as Brouwer tinkered with a gift idea. Success with friends and family inspired him to get serious about design and production. Since then, “it’s taken off widely!” A Kickstarter campaign (launching March 15) will get Fireside Forks into the hands of campers and picnickers lovers all over North America. Several large retail outlets are planning to carry the Fireside Forks by mid-2016.

Where to buy?

Fireside Forks are available in a number of Comox Valley retail outlets. They’re also available directly from the Imagine Camping website: imaginecamping.com.

Challenges

The work of bringing a product like the Fireside Forks to market is daunting. “There’s a lot to learn!” He says the #WeAreYQQ business development workshops have been instrumental in helping him overcome some of the hurdles facing his business.

Is a camping innovation important? It could be. The economic future of our community depends on people like Randy Brouwer. People who have the gumption to take small ideas and grow them BIGger.

Imagine Camping online

Website: imaginecamping.com
Instagram: instagram.com/imaginecamping
Twitter: @imaginecamping
Tag: #firesidefork

Businesses helping businesses, growing an entrepreneurial community

 

The #WeAreYQQ Project is all about inspiring and supporting entrepreneurs like Randy. The #WeAreYQQ Project is a for profit, grassroots initiative. Why “for profit?” Because we don’t rely on government (taxpayer) dollars, and we don’t need foundation support. And, staying “for profit” means we can be entrepreneurial – lean, agile, responsive to what we see as the needs of our entrepreneur community.

While we don’t need taxpayer or charitable support, we do need the support of businesses. Specifically, businesses that are interested in making shift happen in our regional economy. Thanks to Solution Sponsors like the Comox Valley Record, Finneron Hyundai, hanspetermeyer.ca, Mastermynde Strategy, and Sure Copy Courtenay, Community Partners like Atlas Cafe, Hansen & Hansen Painting, Island Word, My Tech Guys, Ron Pogue Photography, and McKinnon Photography, as well as a host of individual Champions and Ambassadors.

Got a business idea you want to grow?

Apply now to put it on deck with the #WeAreYQQ Project! FMI see https://liftstartup.wpengine.com/networkingonsteroids/

hpm
March 16, 2016
@hanspetermeyer on Twitter