Walking through Ikea today reminded of the Dragons’ Den. This week’s episode touched on the concept of the loss leader, a strategy Ikea executes to perfection.
Recently we met with a mompreneur who was feeling overwhelmed by the competing demands of her business and her family - something any work-at-home mom can relate to. We asked her where her office is located in the house. When she replied that she works from her bedroom we had an ‘aha’ moment. This woman is literally sleeping with her business. No wonder she feels stressed, she never gets a break!
I love Dragons’ Den because of the stories you hear from some amazing Canadian entrepreneurs. But I also love the show because it’s great tv: dramatic, funny, occasionally over-the-top, sometimes sensationalistic. The stories on the show also happen to be true. Like the best reality tv, you couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.
A few years ago we found ourselves invited to admire our most senior employee’s brand new bedroom set. It was lovely. Believe us, we were delighted for her. But at the time, it made us wonder if her grass wasn’t just a little greener than ours. For example, at that point in time, we both happened to be sleeping on box springs - sans fancy bedroom sets. How was it that our employee was having sweet dreams based on her paycheque while we were still juggling the need to grow our business with the cash we were taking out personally?
The take-away from this week’s episode of Dragons’ Den reinforces one of our long-held beliefs: There is nothing wrong with starting small. In business, starting small can mean flexibility, control and even freedom. One woman we interviewed for Mom Inc. told us, “I never wanted to be so tied to my business that I couldn’t walk away from it if I needed to.” For better or for worse, the benefits are starting small were evident in tonight’s show.
This weekend I’ll be eating turkey three times. Yep, that’s right – three times. This brings me a certain mixture of pleasurable anticipation (yummy food) and fear (gaining 8 lbs worth of pumpkin pie!). With all of this thanksgiving going on, I can’t help but think about the things for which I should actually give thanks. I’ve got it pretty good. In fact, my gratitude cup runneth over. So here’s what I’m grateful for, in no particular order, after the first two.
One of the reasons I love Dragons’ Den is because it’s so relatable. If you’ve dabbled in entrepreneurship, you will see yourself reflected in many of the stories that appear on screen. There were three great business lessons in tonight’s show. The proof is in the pudding
Regrettably, work and back-to-school have hindered my reality tv viewing – but I’m caught up now and loved the season opener of Dragons’ Den. I’d like to share some of the business lessons I learned from watching.
It doesn’t matter where you sell it – just sell it
Once you get to know us you’ll learn that despite different backgrounds, our lives have followed a shockingly similar path. Same undergrad degree, same post-university experience abroad, same grad degree from which we were hired by the same firm. We could go on: Same hairdresser, same dentist. And last week, unbeknownst to us both, we bought the exact same pair of shoes. (They’re really cute.)
So we’re also the same age – three months apart to the day.
We were talking to a mompreneur friend the other day and she let us know that her business is for sale. It got us thinking about how effective it can be to buy a business rather than starting one from scratch. Did you know that we bought our business? True story.
Many moms would agree, back-to-school really is the most wonderful time of the year. Back to having the kids out of the house and back to routine. But since when did back-to-school mean putting a dent in my bank account?
A few weeks ago I found myself school supply shopping with my two school-aged daughters, lists in hand, just about ready to gouge my eyes out. The following is a partial list of the supplies required for my Grade 4 daughter: