Tag Archives: #innovation

Transcript: Meegan Scott, Interviews Dorinda So, Conference Director

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Post-Conference Interview Dorinda So

Meegan Scott    October 31, 2018

Dorinda So Research Director at the Institute of Competitiveness and Prosperity; and Conference Director, for the 21st TCI Network Global Conference (TCI 2018) Image Source: https://www.competeprosper.ca

Dorinda So Image Source: https://www.competeprosper.ca

We caught up with Dorinda So, Research Director at the Institute of Competitiveness and Prosperity; and Conference Director, for the 21st TCI Network Global Conference (TCI 2018).

Here’s what she had to share about the conference, women, Toronto, and the Caribbean.

Meegan: What would you say was your greatest takeaway from the TCI Conference last week?

Dorinda: For me, the greatest takeaway is seeing how much activity there is between 38 countries. TCI conferences are always friendly places to network and it’s a really humbling experience when people connect with one another and they learn from each other. It’s also a testament that we can foster good relationships; and we need this for trade purposes and to see our clusters grow.

Meegan: Do you have any messages for the CARICOM Caribbean on what Toronto has to offer as it relates to clusters and collaboration?

Dorinda: The Toronto Region, like so many places, are recognizing the need to collaborate.  Toronto isn’t a very large region in terms of population which is more the reason for clusters to collaborate in order to compete. And we are seeing a lot of collaboration happen within clusters, we are seeing that firsthand with the conference.

Finally, there are a lot of strong clusters here and it’s rare to see so many in a region that is not that large.

Meegan: You have just past the Flag or Baton of leadership to Belgium, what was Toronto, and Canada’s biggest benefit from its time in the leadership chair?

Dorinda: For us, it’s internally–or within the Toronto Region, getting people to work together. As much as there is collaboration there are also reasons to not work together, and it’s often because of perceived competition between organizations and governments. But this conference gave actors reason to work together. So many of the people who organized the cluster immersion experiences never worked with the other organizations in their working group before. Even if they wanted to, there was no reason for them to do so. We are thankful for this opportunity to be the catalyst for collaboration.

Externally, we are happy to showcase what we have in Toronto. Sometimes we are too self-deprecating as Canadians, at least I am, and therefore we don’t tell the world how great we really are. TCI 2018 was a chance to do this.

Meegan: Who was your biggest unexpected connection?

For me, it was working with UN Women. They reached out and we worked together to ensure that their amazing programme, WE EMPOWER received the attention that it deserves. This was the first TCI conference that put talent and diversity at the forefront of the conference and so it was fitting to work with UN Women and such a privilege.

We want to hear what you think about the possibilities for cluster partnerships between Toronto and the Caribbean?  What are your thoughts relating to economic development clusters and empowering women?

Share your thoughts at: magatewildhorse@gmail.com

 

Who Is the Young Entrepreneur in 2017?

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The face of the young entrepreneur has changed.

Who is Today's Young Entrepreneur.Today many individuals in their mid-forties and even sixties have had to find and to turn to their entrepreneur within in order to solve problems or to make a living.

Many are not lucky to be entrepreneurs of opportunity; in fact, a large number are entrepreneurs of circumstances.

Those entrepreneurs often have an urgent responsibility to care for potential and youth entrepreneurs in addition to providing for themselves. The potential and existing youth entrepreneurs are their children. They must feed them, they must provide shelter, health care, entertainment, education, hope and inspiration for them.

Retirement for those older young-entrepreneurs is just around the corner and those entrepreneurs must accelerate the growth of their businesses and increase their earnings in order to meet the cost of health care, shelter and entertainment during retirement.

If they fail, today’s youth entrepreneur could face a high financial and emotional burden of care for their parents in a couple of years. They may find that their best efforts and winning ideas never come to fruition because their parents are not able to help them to build capacity and execute to match or exceed the pace of change.

Some of those older young-entrepreneurs are immigrants in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and elsewhere in the world—they must also be recognized, celebrated, inspired and supported to succeed despite the constraint of size and resources.

Those older young-entrepreneurs are sometimes challenged by even greater difficulty in accessing financing for operating and growing their businesses. Some come to the world of entrepreneurship near-drowning in debt—be it from student loans, mortgages or from years of being underemployed or unemployed. Perhaps their financial challenge is the result of the financial burden they carried or carries in caring for their families.

At Magate Wildhorse our focus will be on young entrepreneurs irrespective of age even as we encourage youths to grow the entrepreneurial mindset and to find their entrepreneur within.

We want to encourage the serial entrepreneurs looking for success to stay on course. We are here to help them on the path to being focused for growth and to achieve growth.

gritcoverindarkhour

Grit in the hours of darkness by Meegan Scott

 

Grow and hold your grit!

What will it take for you to succeed?

You need ideas and solutions for real problems, strategy, tactics, an updated or novel business model, flexibility, risk intelligence, risk management, performance and customers with pockets to pay for your solution.

You also need performance management and measurement, a solid in-house or adjunct team of supporters, grit plus finances for supporting you and your business as you grow together.

A lonely journey — by Meegan Scott

Be ready to embark on a lonely journey during the early days.

 

Be ready to act on your gut feelings and to take intelligent risks.

Don’t forget insurance, door openers, mentors and competent help with execution.

Still, you’ll have to juggle many hats!

Know your purpose, passion and aspiration!

For the Canadian entrepreneur know your Canadian Entrepreneur DNA and leverage it.

For the Caribbean entrepreneur in Canada and in the Caribbean know your Caribbean Entrepreneur DNA and leverage it.

Be ready to trim and focus.

Have an exit strategy that is grounded in your focus for growth.

If you don’t make it in your current business what you learnt should serve as key ingredients for successfully exiting one enterprise and to successfully grow another.

Hence the phrase “if you are in the same business you started in five years ago you are likely out of business”.  This does not necessarily mean a new business. It could mean that the business you started have grown and evolved; but it could also mean that you must exit the old business and start another.

Be real! Be true! Know what it means to be focused for growth. Know what focused for growth should look like for you and your business given your circumstances, then act to grow.

I wish for you the greatest success in your journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Meegan Scott