. '. . ~. I ; I., . ,

i .stePs SOWecould be sure 188could de- GIlmaDlaunched her~ as a.ieX~liver the goods," she said. We designer in the mid-l960s and bas

Another entrepreneur who is deI1ver- undergone various career cbanges,in-log the goods to the 1ucrat1wAmerican c1ud1ngstints as a teDJJeJoumal ed1toJ::IlUilbt and plans to address the u.s. te8cber In a fasbJon meirhandlllh1g (JI'O'"conference is Louise GuaI founder and gram, art consultant and art museUJJt~.

the bIgb end of the US. market with president of My VIrtual Model, a web- guide. Her candle manufactur1ng busi-;their line of leather goods. CUr10~ site that allows users to aeate a virtual . ness grew out of her WOJkseD1ngobJets '

neither set out on an entrepreneurial model of themselves to facilltate the d'art. "11earnedto make Candlesand .If 3m is the ~ JOU'redeterminedto path. "Istud1edart hJstory and educa- processof shopping for clothing over startedmyhl'lIln_at~" shesald..becomean entreprenew; don'twadeIn tion at McGWand Scottstudiedarch1- the Internet. Among the e-eommerce G11mansays the transition fro: ""without getting someinspiration from tecture," says Kakon.28.After a brief mercbants using the company's soft. ,bome business to ~ 20,000-square-f~otherswh.ohavegonetherebefore)'PU. stint teacb1ng,shewoDedforawbUeIn wareare J,and.sEnd.Levi's.Sear's.tb!t . man~ctur1ng facl11tyon the Lac:l11M-";

Youth Employment Services wUl pubUc relations. And then. 10 1999, Home Shopping Network and Nlke" .' canalwasbornof tou."Irs bardwork..bold its sixth annual entrepreneurship. Kakon and Rlcb1er took a trip to Eu- sa,ysGuq who adds that when $be ran ., aDdIoi1gboors. " she said. "You have tD'conference on March 29, an event that rope. "We were in Par1s when we saw .a multimedia, advertising agency be-, have a CIOIJS1aDtgoal and)Ou have to behas always offered inspiration to somebraceletsthat wereall the rage," tween 1990and 1998,she could see the dr1venbutabletoIbcusondeta1ls." .,' '.would-beentrepreneurs. Kakonsaid."They wea:ecoOs.'covered 'coming need for software that would. Onep1eceof adviceshe'n otrer~.

"There'sno shortageof peoplewho in beads.Buttheycostabout... U8.1 helpe-nwketersselltheirwaresonthe . participants 18that they "start with,a I

want to becomeentrepreneurs," says didn't want to pay that so I made my web."I bad tblsc:bancetocrealea prod-unique idea because thewodd is too:Iris Unge!; execut1ve !l1rector of U.s.. o,wnwhen I got home. I was in a store . small tocopy OtberpeopJe's1deas. ",;:., ~.-

a non-profitorganizationthatprov1des andtheclerkaskedmewereI badgot ~Start with a unique 'Idea ' Thenthere.spass1on.Max1m~EngUsb-.Ianguagejobsearchservicesto thebracelet." a partner InWoodchuckInc.,a Sou~Montrea1ers. "We otrer between 75and The store commissioned Kakon to ... the world is too small to Shorec:ompanythatmanl1fRrtwU'eSbJgIt.;'85entrepreneurship workshopsper ~ someof the braceletsand sold co pyoth'erPeople's ideas" endskateboards,und~ds that H~(

year In our oIBces.andthey're aD8Ded' them. "Westarted seUlngJewelry to .' ~ . founded the company at age 23."I've'tocapacii1c" storesIn Montrealand werereferredto . CandIemakerCaroleGilman: , , beenskateboardingfor16yearsand~,;

The annual conference, acomblna- astoreOWDel'~'lbronto,whosuggested ' fess1ona11:vforthepastsix,"he$81d..,' .:~tionof workshops,paneldiscussions weattenda tradeshowinNewYork."" ' HIsadviceto would-l!eentrepreneurs ~.and networking opportunities. has The couple met an agent aUhe show, uct that would be ideal for e-eom- is tobepatient "Nothlngcomesona silo:beensuch a successsinceits Inceptlon who agreed to represent them. "We merce,"Guaysald ' verplatter;"hesald. "Iheardan~that the organizers had to moveit to a starteddoingtradeshowsandtbeordera' lbres1ghtand abWtyto readthe mar- legend that it takesabout fiveyears to .

larger venue two yeats ago to accom- got bigger and bigger and we started to tet is one of the traits successt\11entre- 'get a business going and for us, it did imodate as many as 350participants. . developproductsInotbeiareas." . preneursneed,saysIris Ungerof U.S. takefiveyearstoseethe1Igbtat theenit :"Thepurposeof the conferenceis to ai- Includingleather goods,wb1cbis the "They alsohave to be able to turn on a of the tunnel. Soyou have to know if'low people to make a connection focusof their worknow Afterthey de- dime, to respond qulckly,.'she added. . youreal)ywantll Youhavetobe~-.through networking and to bring in signedleather handbagsstuddedwith "Sometimes, you may be heading in tent and motivated and you have to:successfulentrepreneursforinspira- Swarovsklcrystals,the couple'ssue- onedirectionwithyourbusinessand haveapassionforit Youcan'tactlike:-tion,"Ungersaid. cess was assured. "Voguemagazine ihe market is teUlng you that you anemployeebecauSe)'OUhavetothlnk~.

She says the entreprene~ whoad- pubUsheda story about the bags after shouldhead Inanotberand JOUhaveto . ~t ItalltheUme.': , ,'. . ,.;

,1,600lIon~en dresstheconferencewillsbaretheirin- an editor had seenthem at a show," listentothal" , MeanwbUe,would-been~preneurs"derTheGazettetobe, sights Into market"trends and discuss Kakon said. "That put us on the map. Who could have seen 14years .go who keep th1nkInS about foundin~

t ofa..r. rmaIi' bowtobuUda business. and gaveus 9ttent1onInthe bIgbendof that peoplewouldonedaybe prepared' their businesses can register for.the~

,sourceuuo on. . . JenniferK8konandScottRIcb1eran theUS.markel" to buyeiegantCflDdlesas designac-1 U.8..entrepreneursb1pconferenceb1)arcbiq for employment: . two of the entrepreneurs scheduled to The speed at wbk:b tbey"vebuilt tbe1r. cents? Carole GDman could She found. . J)honlng 514-8'l8-9'l88or check the web, ~. share their storyat the conference.The businessseemsastonishing.butKakon . ed Seracon Products Inc., a Montreal siteatWW\'lyesmon~ca. ,~ ~

heCareerssection. couple founded Jennifer Scottneslgn says the company.sgrowth''happened candlecompanythat employs40people .. '. ;:' hi. ~,~ t :orcc:NADbW.2002(InlmmItepod) Inc. in 2000and have since conquered qUickly but cautiously. We took safe andS1illsacrossNortbAmerica. " i ~;:',SJ..wh't~~h~~!!t~~_ _ L ~ 't ~, rt~ ta-.4Ii:.,."""""" 4 ~'"<t.. U.. lI'f!-t'co*' . .,.._:E:-" -- r-

r.2351salesRepresentative.to 5 p.m. weekdays

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Successful businesspeople need foresight,ability to, read the market and quick reflexes

STEPHAHIE WHlnAUR .SPECIALTO THE GAZETTE