LIFT Startups

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economy

Introducing the LIFT Startups podcast series

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Thanks to feedback at a recent BizOnDeck we’re now moving forward with something that’s been on the back-burner for a while, a podcast series. We’ll be featuring interviews and conversations with local entrepreneurs, as well as many of the keynotes and contacts who are part of our LIFT extended-community. You’ll soon be able to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. In the meantime, they’ll be listed at Anchor podcasts.

Here’s the transcript for the podcast…

Introducing the LIFT podcast series – with a pitch for MoneyFest2 on March 29-30, 2018

Hi, my name is Hans Peter Meyer and you’re listening to the LIFT Startups podcast, all about entrepreneurs, creatives, and small businesses growing the next economy on Vancouver Island.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be interviewing the men and women who are building what I call the Island’s “next economy.”

Before I get into that, I’d like to invite you to join me and our LIFT community for our MoneyFest2 events on March 29 and 30. On March 29 we host one of our signature business events, featuring great speakers, DJ em.ash, a room full of smart young entrepreneurs, and for this event, magician Craig McKee. Our keynote is Larissa Norton, West Coast North American Sales Manager for Vancouver startup Food.ee. Larissa has helped grow sales at Food.ee from $5K a month to $5M in just five years. We’ll also have Sue Finneron, owner of Canada’s number one Hyundai dealership in 2017, Jace Pierson, Jenny Deters, and Dave Semple – local sales stars telling us some of how they succeed in sales.

The next day we’ll have Chin Hing of global startup school Spring Activator working with Larissa to deliver a full-day Making Sales Happen workshop.

We’ve put this MoneyFest2 package together because we want Island entrepreneurs, creatives, and small businesses to succeed. We’ve got great products and services. Now we need to learn how to sell them.

If you’re in business on the Island and want to grow your business BIGger, join us for MoneyFest2 this week.

Thanks to our Business Development Canada and Spring Activator for being our MoneyFest2 Special Event Sponsors.

MoneyFest2 is one of the five regular special events we host at LIFT. Our purpose: to lead, inspire, and fuel the talent that’s building the “next economy.” 

Buy MoneyFest2 Tickets Now

What is the “next economy?”

I’ve lived most of my life on the Island, growing up in Black Creek in the Comox Valley. When I talk about the “next economy” I’m talking about what I’m witnessing.

Up until about 25 years ago Island communities were primarily resource-based. Most of us were somehow connected to forestry, fishing, and mining. Then we experienced a shift that saw employment drop rapidly in all of these primary sectors. They’re still important economic contributors. But the jobs aren’t there. The money’s not there the way it used to be to fuel our communities. Instead of working on fishboats or in logging camps, more and more of us are working in what I call the “3 Rs” – the retirement, recreation, and retail sectors.

A couple of years ago I noticed another shift. Someone I interviewed in Vancouver described it in terms of the emerging “talent economy.” That fits for me.

 

What is a “talent economy?”

You’ve probably heard of the “knowledge economy.” It’s that. And more. Because it also includes whole new sectors and approaches to doing business. I’m talking about hyper-locality, micro-production, the “maker movement.” I’m talking about creatives and entrepreneurs learning how to access global markets for sales, employment – and for labour or help to do things that aren’t possible locally.

A couple of years ago I got sick of complaining about how local governments and agencies were completely missing the opportunity of this “talent economy.” Instead of complaining, I wanted to do something. So I started bringing in colleagues from other startup communities, to help inspire Islanders to think BIGger, to connect and help each other grow businesses.

That speaker series turned into something that’s now my full-time passion. That thing is LIFT Startups.

I’ve been working in community economic development on Vancouver Island since the early 1990s. The movement that I’m seeing emerging in communities from Quadra Island to Tofino to Duncan, and certainly in the Comox Valley and Campbell River, is exciting. The people are exciting. Their willingness to help each other is exciting.

The best thing about my work with LIFT Startups is getting to know these entrepreneurs. With our podcast series, I hope to capture their stories, so that you’ll be inspired. I’ll also be talking to the established businesses who are part of the mix, helping to fuel this our efforts to support this talent-driven approach to building the next economy on the Island.

If you’ve got a story to share, be in touch. And, stay tuned to what we’re going to be doing with LIFT and with the LIFT podcast series!

Thanks

Thanks to our LIFT Solution Sponsors – Sure Copy Courtenay, Mastermynde Strategy, 50th Parallel PR, Finneron Hyundai, Jabin Postal Films, Presley & Partners, and 98.9 The GOAT.

Thanks also to our LIFT Community Partners at Atlas Cafe, Island Word, My Tech Guys, McKinnon Photography, Island Soul Films, Investors’ Group, The Creator Space, and Douglas Magazine.

Together, we’re making shift happen with entrepreneurs on Vancouver Island!

~ hpm
founder, LIFTstartups.ca

This summer support local & win prizes!

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This summer Atlas Café, Bosley’s (Courtenay), Gladstone Brewing, The Waverley Hotel, Toscano’s Mediterranean Grill, Sure Copy Courtenay, My Tech Guys, and [add your business here] are giving away prizes as part of a unique “support local” contest we’re hosting.

Using our social media clout to support local business on Vancouver Island

LIFT was voted “best social media organisation” in the Comox Valley region last year. We think that’s because we’re doing a great job of supporting local entrepreneurs. This summer we’ve put $1000s in promotional support together with our social media clout to help people like you promote local businesses – and win great prizes this summer.

Why? Because every dollar spent locally helps grow our economy. That means local businesses thrive. That means local businesses create jobs. For example, we have about 25,000 households in the Comox Valley, and over 15K households in Campbell River. If every household spends $100 locally on goods and services they’d have bought out of town this summer, that will put about $4M back into our regional economy on this part of Vancouver Island.

That will help local businesses thrive. That will help local businesses create jobs.

Here’s how you can help us make that shift happen this summer:

  1. To boost local businesses, post selfies with your favourite owners or staff to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or your social media of choice. Your posts help elevate every business you’ve posted about.
  2. To boost local – and win prizes:
    1. Find local LIFT VIPs (there over 100 of them between Nanaimo and Campbell River). Ask your business friends if they’re members – or check the list at liftlocal.ca.
    2. Post selfies with LIFT VIPs to Instagram with the #LIFTVIP tag so we can find and “engage” your posts!
    3. That’s it! You’re in to win prizes from Atlas Café, Bosley’s (Courtenay), Gladstone Brewing, The Waverley Hotel, Toscano’s Mediterranean Grill, Sure Copy Courtenay, and My Tech Guys.

Enter often!

Every post is your way to support local business in our communities.

Every #LIFTVIP post to Instagram is your way to support local and win prizes from great local businesses.

We’re drawing winners weekly in July, August, and September.

NOTE: If you’re ready to see your business featured in the #LIFTVIP promotion, please contact HPM now.

Launching our 14-day free trial LIFT VIP membership

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Congratulations to Olivia of Lavish Engagements, Mary of Mary’s, and Atlas Café! Three of the businesses that were winners in our April #LIFTVIP promotion. In May, your #LIFTVIP shared selfie could win you and a LIFT VIP friend each gift cards to The Waverley Hotel. But this post isn’t about our current promotion. It’s about why I want entrepreneurs to try our new 14-day free trial LIFT VIP membership.
It’s a treat to create contests and give away prizes. But promoting and growing local businesses is only part of what we do with LIFT. I started this project in 2015, as The #WeAreYQQ Project. My intention, to inspire a grassroots movement of entrepreneurs in my community because I saw a need. Bear with me while I tell some of that story.

The 3-Rs and how they’re not the solution

I grew up in Black Creek, just north of Courtenay in the Comox Valley. That was almost 58 years ago. Like many Vancouver Island communities, ours was a logging and fishing-based economy. Things changed dramatically in the 1980s. Local governments scrambled to respond. But really, what can government do? (More on that later.)

I’ve watched as we’ve poured millions of taxpayer dollars into supporting the development of what I call a “3-Rs economy” of retirement, retail, and recreation services. All good stuff. But somehow missing the point of what my community is really about: talented people, passionate about this place.
And how are our 3-Rs doing, a generation after the decline of fishing and forestry as sources of jobs and wealth? Two years ago we lost 200 young families. To me that means the 3-Rs are failing to provide the incomes and opportunities we once enjoyed with our resource sector economy. 

I’m betting that talent, however, is the solution

I’ve been doing community economic development work on Vancouver Island off and on since 1994. During that time I’ve both ignored the problem, and complained about how our tax dollars are being spent. In late 2014, frustrated at what I saw as a failure of imagination in local agencies and government, I decided to stop complaining. I was going to do something about this economic problem.
That “something” was, and is, to focus on talent as the solution. I’d bring speakers in who inspired me. I’d invite entrepreneurs and creatives to come together to grow businesses and jobs. To celebrate the local talents that I think will grow our “next economy.”

Just getting started!

I’ve made it my job to generate visibility for the businesses I work with, the businesses that have become charter members of LIFT. I call them LIFT VIPs. They’re special, because in a region that is very lifestyle focused and old-school (even sleepy) when it comes to business, they’re growth oriented. Open to new ideas. Open to help each other make economic shift happen. One of my first initiatives was to launch the #WeAreYQQ tag as a “talent brand” for our region, for anyone to use. Ever since launching the #WeAreYQQ my focus has been on getting more attention for local business – locally, regionally, and beyond. It’s starting to pay off. 
Smart and talented people make LIFT shift happen. The list is long. We’ve now got over 100 entrepreneurs involved, mostly from the Comox Valley, but some from Campbell River. This Spring we’ve come up with a few new ideas. These will fuel changes. They will accelerate the marketing momentum we’ve generated – and help LIFT VIPs grow their businesses. We’re also going to be streamlining and restructuring our membership model. That means more great benefits for LIFT VIPs.  

This month: Free trial memberships

I want Comox Valley, Campbell River, and Qualicum businesses to benefit from what we’re doing. I’m focused on this region because I think we have a lot in common, including rapidly aging population, a need to attract and retain young families, and – paradoxically – a growing “talent” population. Entrepreneurs and creatives who aren’t afraid to do business in a new way.
I also want to touch every one of these young (and some, not so young) talents. I want them to try what we have to offer, and see if it helps them grow their businesses. To that end, I’m inviting any business in the region to enjoy a free 14-day trial LIFT membership. If you like the idea of being part of a dynamic, growth-oriented entrepreneur network, contact us via this form – or better yet, give me a call at 250-792-1408 and let’s make that shift happen for you today!

Grow your businesses. And vote

Back to my comment earlier, about what can we expect from government. Government is not entrepreneurial. But it can do things to help startups start and grow. Help small businesses become medium-sized businesses. Keep the big businesses from monopolising the marketplace. As entrepreneurs, perhaps the biggest thing government can do for us is support grassroots initiatives and experiments. As entrepreneurs, the best thing we can do for our governments is vote. I’m writing this on the eve of a provincial election. I urge every entrepreneur to get out and vote.
I won’t tell you how you should vote, or how I’m going to vote. But I will tell you that I think we need to see voting and the exercise of our democratic powers as one of the things we do to ensure the success of our businesses. Just like inventory or taxes. Not necessarily very exciting. But necessary.
Finally, LIFT is an experiment. A unique experiment in grassroots business and community economic development. I’m doing this because I believe talent in business, the arts, non-profits, and more are the solution to economic challenges in my community. The 100+ LIFT VIPs are doing this for a number of reasons, most of which are about growing their businesses and growing a supportive entrepreneur community. We’re making shift happen.
If you’ve got ideas about how we can make LIFT even better, better, please be in touch. If you’d like to become part of the LIFT VIP community, check out our events. If you’re ready to come on board as a LIFT VIP, please use this contact form – or call me at 250-792-1408. Let’s make this shift happen – now!
hpm
Hans Peter Meyer, Founder & CEO, LIFT.GROUP @LIFTstartups on Twitter and Instagram
ps. Coming up soon to LIFT your biz…

The #WeAreYQQ brand: From the Comox Valley and proud of it!

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Where is here? Here is the Comox Valley. Who is here? Talent.

On July 20-22, 2016 the Comox Valley Art Gallery hosted the Where is Here? symposium. The symposium focussed on the issue of defining where we are, and who “we” are in this place. CVAG’s Sharon Karsten says this is an important part of community economic development. I agree. That’s why branding our emerging talent economy is so important: because our individual talents (in business, the arts, and more) are the building blocks for the emerging economy that will take us beyond our current economic challenges.

Branding talent economies

How do we brand talent economies? Here’s an example from Vancouver. WeAreYVR was launched several years ago to brand and map Vancouver’s emerging tech talent sector. I like the WeAreYVR example. It’s strong. It provokes curiosity. It’s inclusive. It’s geo-locatable, and distinct.

Following suit, I created #WeAreYQQ to brand our Comox Valley talent economy. #WeAreYQQ  tells the world, “From the Comox Valley and proud of it!” It’s a tool, generated to serve our talent economy. Here’s how it works.

Provocative / clickable

Love them or hate them, hashtags are provocative. They make people stop and think. Using a hashtag also means the brand is searchable (clickable) on most social networks, making it easy to see who’s doing what. #WeAreYQQ also raises questions like: Who is “we?” What is “YQQ?”

Inclusive

As a search term, #WeAreYQQ can’t belong to any one person, business, or agency. It belongs to everyone who uses it. The “we” of #WeAreYQQ is anyone who wants to use the brand to attach to their work – or to the work of people and organizations who are doing good stuff in our region. I routinely tag people doing good stuff with the phrase “#WeAreYQQ ★.” It’s my way of saying “heroes of the Comox Valley” – but in a concise, branded, and collaborative way that works well on social media.

Geo-locatable and distinct

#WeAreYQQ uses the IATA code for Comox Airport (YQQ). IATA codes are often used by businesses and organizations in other locales because they’re short, distinct markers that cannot be confused with other locales. (For example, the “CV” brand is great for locals. For the rest of the world, the people we’re branding for, it most often means “curriculum vitae” – or more close to home, Cowichan Valley.) IATA codes only point to distinct locales. Just as WeAreYVR = Vancouver and WeAreYEG = Edmonton, WeAreYQQ = Comox Valley.

Is it working?

Search via Google, Twitter, Facebook – and especially Instagram. #WeAreYQQ is being used by all manner of creatives and entrepreneurs – painters, musicians, fish charter operators, bakeries, blacksmiths, and more. They’re using #WeAreYQQ to brand what they’re doing in and beyond the Comox Valley. By using it, they’re inviting others to click through to discover a community of creatives and entrepreneurs in the Comox Valley.

Collaboration and competition

Generating a talent economy is about collaboration. It’s also about competition. We compete with other regions endowed with natural and cultural amenities, relatively “affordable” housing, etc. Having a brand helps differentiate us. It also shows that we’re serious about supporting our talent economy.

How we provide support is by growing and sustaining trust and grassroots collaboration. This is already part of the culture of some organizations and businesses in the Comox Valley. Elevate the Arts Festival is one of my favourite examples. Having an inclusive brand like #WeAreYQQ makes collaboration easier. Here’s what I mean:

Whenever anyone uses the #WeAreYQQ tag they are identifying with and amplifying our talent economy. By following, retweeting, commenting on, and reposting #WeAreYQQ stories – in any media – people are extending the impact of the brand, and the reach or visibility of our Comox Valley talent economy. When we support businesses, organizations, and artists that are self-identifying with our Comox Valley talent economy, we are directly helping to grow the local talent economy.

Growing our talent economy

Macro level support from agencies and institutions is a positive when it comes to growing a talent economy, and it’s great to see movement after the pot got stirred a couple of summers back. Our small tech talent pool now is on the radar. But our talent pool is much larger than our tech sector, and the evidence of decades of community economic development, and more recent examples of “startup communities,” is that what’s most important is an abundance of diverse grassroots, micro-level activities – across all sectors. For the Comox Valley, that means we need to grow our capacity to support entrepreneurs in the arts and in food, big time.

At LIFT Comox Valley (formerly the #WeAreYQQ Project) we launched the #WeAreYQQ brand as a tool for grassroots creatives and entrepreneurs to use. It’s your brand, not ours. You are the people creating the home-grown economy reflecting the values and aspirations of the people who live here. By using the brand you’re making this place – this “here” – visible as an emerging talent-driven economy. Let us know how we can help. That’s what LIFT Comox Valley is all about: Leading, Inspiring, and Fuelling Talent to grow a new economy in the Comox Valley.

Let’s make this shift happen!

hpm
for LIFT Comox Valley

@WeAreYQQ on Twitter