The hit show on CBC’s Dragon’s Den, has Jim Treliving as one of their hosts. He is a successful Canadian business entrepreneur with more than 40 years of experience. Even though Jim Treliving has enjoyed great financial success, it did not start that way for him. Coming from a very small town of Virden, Manitoba, Jim Trelving was a young RCMP offer in 1966, when he walked into a restaurant in Edmonton. It was a Boston pizza and spaghetti house. Jim was fascinated with Pizza and has more than 350 restaurants now, sits as chairman on the board of Boston Pizza International Inc., with over 1 billion in annual sales.
Aside from the widely successful restaurant chain, Jim invested in many other successful business ventures. In recent years, he has become very well known for being a host on the hit TV show Dragon’s Den. A place, entrepreneurs pitch their business ventures in hope of securing an investment from the hosts, including Jim Treliving. With his vast business experience and expertise, Jim offers these 5 business tips for start-ups and smaller businesses.
Dragon’s Den Entrepreneur Jim Treliving Offers These 5 Business Tips
1. Know what you don’t know as a business and entrepreneur.
Jim advises to know what you don’t know and get outside help for the business. Trying to do everything yourself he states (as he tried) is not wise. He learned that outsourcing for some things is much more advantageous than saving some money, trying to do it in-house.
2. Get moving with the business and create momentum.
Some small companies and start-ups stay for too long in the planning mode, without taking steps and getting started. A business should have concrete steps outlined to achieve the objectives and company goals. Those steps should be then executed properly.
3. Research if there is a demand in the market first.
Entrepreneurs must do their homework and research if there is an interest for the product(s) in the market. There must be a demand (need and interest) by consumers and potential buyers. Jim advises to go to potential buyers early to determine market demand.
4. Properly understanding the value of the business.
Many business owners have heavy emotional investments into their ventures that they vastly overestimate, the value of the their business. Entrepreneurs should not just throw out numbers without proper calculation methods in business for evaluating a business.
5. People come first in business and business partnerships.
People are everything in business. Many do or do not conduct business based on the individual(s). Jim has invested in some mediocre businesses just because he believed in the person or people behind the venture. He has also not invested into excellent seemingly proposals because of people.
