Entrepreneurs: The New Rock Stars

- Jun 2, 2011

“Entrepreneurs are the new rock stars” said Mike Grandinetti, a serial entrepreneur, professor, mentor and a frequent visitor to Nova Scotia as he addressed the members of the high fliers program and their coaches.

  “There is no more incredible group of people on the planet then
entrepreneurs. The energy and the sense of purpose is so so inspirational," said Mike and went on to  to stress the importance of community and peer support.

High Fliers met at the Oceanstone Cottages in Indian Harbor (5 minutes away from Peggy’s Cove) to work together for two days and develop specific action plans that will help us grow our businesses further.

To help us reach our goals, all of us where teamed up with an experienced coaches from XECD, CBDC, CYBF, SMUBDC and CFWB.   With the help of Grandinetti and coaches, High Fliers learned about utilizing the “new world” of social media to build brand and engage clients, as well as how to avoid most common business mistakes when the business is ready to grow and scale.

  To partake in the High Fliers program, individuals had to express strong leadership potential and companies they run had to have high growth potential.

The High Flier Program Participants:

Patrick Hankinson of “Ninja Otter Inc.”
*Patrick and Ninja Otter Inc are behind Compilr.com, Wakeful.com and Tether.com
find more about those products at *ninjaotter.com  *

Jason Bourgoin of “The Battered Fish”
Experienced Red Seal Chef behind two (soon to be three) “Battered Fish” locations - A quickly growing Fish & Chips business. www.thebatteredfish.ca

Evan Price of “Fiddlehop Farm"
Evan and his partner are trying to put Nova Scotia on the map of
high-growing market for quality hops. www.twitter.com/FiddleHop

  A.J MacQuarrie of “Urban Vendor Inc”
Providing vending machines stacked with healthy alternatives to junk food. A.J has been featured twice on the Dragons Den. www.urbanvendor.ca

  Milan Vrekic of “TitanFile Inc." (blogging here)
TitanFile is the easiest way to send and receive confidential documents and track who, where and how accessed those documents. www.titanfile.com

Shawn Whynacht of “Blue Cow Creative” 
Social Media marketing and Web design are focus of Shawn and Blue Cow Creative. www.bluecowcreative.ca

George Chacko of “Gracios Indian Foods”
Gourmet Indian Food with almost no wait time is what Gracious Indian is all about. George was exploring franchising and retail opportunities
with High Fliers. www.graciousindian.com

Kirk MacDonald of “Lilly Pads Child Development Centers Ltd” 
At Lilly Pads nothing is acceptable unless it would be acceptable for their own children. Lilly Pads are looking to expand beyond their Agricola location lilypadschildcare.com

Eileen Curry of “Justamere Cafe” 
Now in our 4th year of business, Justamere Cafe boast excellent cuisine in a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. justamere.ca

  Organizer, April MacLeod made sure to capture the spirit of the program on video , the resulting video can be viewed on her YouTube channel.

High Fliers guest coach Mike Grandinetti will be speaking at TEDx Nova Scotia on June 10th. Don't miss your opportunity to hear from him as he speaks on the events theme - Designing Your Life Within Your Community - from the perspective of entrepreneurship.

Milan Vrekic contributed this blog post and participated inthe recent High Fliers program

Guest blog contributed by Milan Vrekic
www.titanfile.com
www.twitter.com/truejebus

Charter Members

When it comes to business tourism, Pat Lyall says access is key. And that is one of Nova Scotia's best assets.

As one of Lyall's clients put it, "Halifax, Nova Scotia is one of the few places in the world where you can still do business on a handshake."

Destination Halifax puts great emphasis on making sure potential clients know about Nova Scotia's lengthy list of attributes.

"We are as hip as the next guy, but we do it here in a way that will be memorable. The brand is the promise, and it needs to be integrated into the way the phone is answered, how quickly you respond to inquiries, the way you represent the organization, the people and the province.

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About Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is located on the east coast of Canada. With 7,400 km of coastline it is almost completely surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Nova Scotia is a place that offers a rare experience to the people who live in, do business in, and come to visit the province.