It's not easy, but don't give up — Nelson's Young Entrepreneurs
By Nelson Daily Staff
Future entrepreneurs took to the Dance Bear Inn on Baker Street Monday night to hear what a local panel of Millennial Generation people had to say about operating a business in today’s environment.
With MC Matt DeVito of Vince DeVito Shoes leading the forum as MC, entrepreneurs Jobina Mah of KC Restaurant, realtor Luke Mori of Fair Reality, Dancing Bear Inn co-owner Jamie Renney and Chase Rickaby, owner/operator of Tamarack Media Co., respectively, discussed their successes of operating a business in the Heritage City.
“Did I hear a story about you (Luke) when you started out as a realtor, you went around knocking on doors looking to see if anyone wanted to sell their house,” DeVito asked Mori.
“Yes, that’s right,” Mori responded.
Mori said when he first started out in the business there were a lot of financial commitments required, and this was a way to meet potential clients without having to spend any money.
The idea allowed Mori to grow quickly in the Nelson reality industry.
DeVito also took a chance to grow his business by reaching out to stores across Canada pitching DeVito’s shoe repair talents.
“I made a lot of calls but finally stores started trusting me and now we have clients in BC, Alberta, Ontario and recently got one from Quebec, which is pretty exciting,” he said.
Jamie Renney said young entrepreneurs should not be afraid to make a mistake, instead, said Rickaby, learn from those mistakes.
The evening, streamed live on The Nelson Daily Facebook site, was sponsored by Startup Nelson, Nelson Brewing Company and The Nelson Daily.
Other topics included, how to work with people on Kootenay Time, the positive and negative of using Social Media, challenges of operating a business in Nelson and the importance of being involved in the community.
The lively discussion was aided by comments and questions from the audience.
Most of the panel attended school in Nelson and graduated from L.V. Rogers High School.
Some of the entrepreneurs left Nelson to attend university or travel the world before returning to their roots in the Heritage City.
This was the second Entrepreneur Panel Discussion. The first was held at the KC Restaurant in November.
