things to do when you're supposed to be starting a business

1. Facebook: remarkably effective time-wasting/procrastinating tool. Highly recommended if one is attempting to stall both their productivity and/or prolong their past, their present or both. Why work when you can see what someone you haven't seen since grade 3 is up to these days? Of course you can always plan an event, in which case you can focus only on what "is to come", completely avoiding the here and now. Right. So that would also make Facebook versatile. Wow the list of attributes just grows and grows.
2. Go to the bank: why bank online when you can stand in line for 20 minutes with a hunched-over senior using a plastic bag instead of a wallet (true story, and it happened today)?
3. Subscribe to newsletters that get emailed daily to your inbox. Let the vehicle for procrastination come to you. Save energy. Forward any interesting/relevant information to your friends and/or family.
4. Pick up the phone every time it rings - especially when call display tells you it's your friend who keeps you on the phone for 30 minutes minimum.
5. Go to neighbourhood book giant. Peruse the magazine section. Don't limit yourself to the subjects that you're interested in. Check out everything, just in case you find something "relevant" in an unforeseen area. After using their in-store search screens, walk over to your local independent bookseller and actually buy the thing you're looking for there instead.
6. Start a random blog, abandon it for a month or more and then if you're really pressed for things to distract you from what you need to do, write something, anything, to stop you from writing that business plan that you need to write.
7. When you get to the bottom of your list, add one more point, because "6" is a funny number and "7" is your favourite.

in toronto life is beautiful

Fewf - my gemmology class is done and now I can go back to "work" full force. So looking forward to getting going again after being on hold for 2 weeks while I got final projects/tests under my belt. And not a drop was learned about any sustainable gemstone mining initiatives...Now back to the store and changing my little corner of the world.

I never did finish going on about my time in Vancouver. Needless to say I loved it - not enough to live there, but it was great none the less. Now after spewing carbon across the Canadian sky in my cross country trek (off set at the show via Zerofootprint), I will be attending the Green Living Show in Toronto from April 27 -29. Awesome speakers, more fashion shows and food demos and more information to soak up. I also learned about a green business organization that I can join in Toronto, though I'm not sure at what point I should get involved since I'm just at the beginning. Well actually I'm technically past the very beginning, but just.

More to discuss coming soon...

vancouver is epic

I'm in Vancouver this weekend for the EP!C Sustainable Living Expo. It's the first of it's kind, in it's first year and I'm so thrilled to be a part of it all. I arrived yesterday on a 7am flight from TO and maximized the only forecast day of "non-rain". Took a long walk through the lower east part of Stanley Park, including the Totem Park and the Vancouver Aquarium. Converse All-Stars, FYI, were not made for this activity, even with my New Balance motion-control insoles. Thanks Chuck Taylor. You and Converse couldn't have made a more supportive shoe for all of us over-pronators, huh? I like them because they go with 'everything'. That and I have circus-big feet for my 5'7" frame and they're 'easy'. Once I find a "sustainable" shoe that I love, I'll buy them all up instead - and of course sell them at my store. Until then, it's me and Chuck.

I feel a bit conflicted of course (not an uncommon state for me) because I have flown in a big, guzzling plane to get all the way here to the consumer sustainability show. Luckily, I can go talk to the folks at Toronto-based Zerofootprint to get the ins and outs of carbon-offsetting, which will hopefully buy me some relief from my "Eco-Guilt".

Just took a little taste of the first night of the show as I spent the early afternoon making the rounds of the Main Street strip in East Vancouver, a mainstay of independent shops, many of which focus on local designers. I found a pretty decent website called Modern Urban Guides, which is also in printed pamphlet form in participating shops, which breaks down the main shopping strips in the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional District) that feature "unique and independent businesses". Never mind the fantastic lunch I had at Slickity Jim's Chat & Chew. Every guide everywhere mentions it and I had a recommendation from a friend's colleague - no wonder. I ordered the "Eggs Aargh!": fried egg on top of veggie chili, served with sour cream, cheddar and salsa (the good stuff) in a tortilla lined bowl. Holy crap, it was good (how's that for an articulate endorsement?!). If I hadn't been so hungry, I would have taken a picture. Just take my word for it, you should check out this friendly, kooky joint.

Back to EP!C: The first speaker of the expo was Don Rolfe, President & CEO of Vancouver-based The Ethical Funds Company who spoke about SRI(Socially Responsible Investing). The first company of it's kind in Canada, Ethical Funds basically measures every business that they invest in, or are considering against 133 metrics related to performance, environment, social responsibility and governance and create a scorecard. If a company doesn't meet their criteria, they don't get to play, so to speak. Rolfe was great at breaking down some of the challenges in this area of investing: First, companies must have accurate and complete reporting in place otherwise they can't be evaluated. Second, this is an area (like so many "green" issues) in which great awareness must be generated, and through awareness comes behavioural change on the part of investors and businesses alike. The cool thing is that it isn't an exclusive club: at a minimum $500 initial investment, many folks can make the leap to putting their money where their values are.

Day 2 at EP!C is filled with back to back speakers, including 2 fashion shows.

So exahausted now - better get some sleep so that I can get through it all. Today my brain started to fail me at about 7 pm-PST. Since it's nearly way past midnight now, it's amazing I'm able to type at this point.

let's go

This is a little spot to put all of the random things that I find on my journey to open a wee store in downtown Toronto. Not so much a blog just about the ins and outs of starting a business - more about the whole journey and all the things I come across along the way, no matter how divergent.