BCBusiness

42 BCBUSINESS JUNE 2017 MARK BRENNAN recharging your body," Naing says. The Swave team, which started at six but now has three active mem- bers, is considering crowdfunding and hopes to have a product by next year. When it comes to exports, the compa- ny's main focus is Japan. Because Japa- nese workers put in such long hours, they take naps throughout the day, Naing says. "So them getting that quick, short burst of high restorative sleep is very important." Sekretaryuk and his four colleagues— average age 18—are looking at China and India. At #TradeTalks, Cering will launch a Kickstarter campaign for its product. The goal is to raise US$100,000 and ship the Šrst units in September or October, Sekretaryuk says. He thinks Cering could start distributing in China, where its jewellery will be made, by next January. To get the word out, the com- pany would have a small team working on Chinese campuses. Next stop: the neighbouring Indian market. As Cering prepares to go global, don't expect Sekretaryuk to take no for an answer. "Whenever someone told me, 'You can't do it,'" he says, "I've always had the idea that 'Oh, yes, I can.'" ■ to the trade show, Miltimore hired veteran guitar export sales manager David Magagna, who introduced him to many companies Magagna had worked with via C.F. Martin & Co. and Taylor Guitars. As a result, Riversong started selling to China and Malaysia. TOP EXPORT CHALLENGE: "Com- munication is kind of difficult, and time zone changes," Miltimore says. "I've been scammed a few times with these guys that want us to use their shipping companies and order stuff, and if you don't take deposits or know who they are, you can have some problems with that." WHAT'S NEXT: As of April, Riversong was planning to start exporting to Japan and Argentina, and was in talks with New Zealand. "China's so huge you can have multiple distribu- tors, so we have another distributor that we're just shipping to now," Miltimore says. Young Entrepreneurship Leadership Launchpad (YELL) was founded in 2013 by B.C. entrepreneurs Rattan Bagga, Punit Dhillon and Amit Sandhu as a Saturday program for high-school students in Richmond and Vancouver. The trio decided to launch a version in schools; now a charity, YELL operates throughout Metro Vancouver, is expanding across B.C. and plans to go nation- wide, says executive director David Cameron. The three-semester program, focused on grades 10 to 12, has grown from one class to five, with a total of about 130 students. Because classes draw from different schools, most take place after regular hours. YELL has two parts, Cameron explains. First, students learn theory in the classroom, where they hear from local leaders. The sec- ond part? "They go and apply it, in messy learning where they're guaranteed to get rejected along the way, fail along the way, be uncomfort- able, be stressed out, have conflict in teams, et cetera," Cameron says. "That's where the real learning is forged." For each class, YELL sources 10 to 15 leaders from diverse backgrounds as guest lecturers. "But they're not coming in to teach," Cameron stresses. "Entrepreneurs are terrible teachers. They're really good at talking about what they do." After forming teams of five, YELL participants must create a business that serves a need or solves a problem. Each team meets with a mentor once a week over three months. YELL culminates in the Venture Challenge, a pitch to entrepreneurs and investors. But unlike most such youth programs, the emphasis isn't on coming up with an idea and pitching it, Cameron says: "Our ethos is, 'Come up with an idea and prove it.'" Only about five per cent of YELL graduates continue with their company, he estimates. "When they start, the major- ity of students think business is about making money or sell- ing, and they don't understand how it's for them," Cameron says. "They end up leaving realizing that the entrepre- neurial mindset and skills they've learned will apply to any career focus." —N.R. The Hopeful Gillespie's Fine Spirits Ltd., Squamish SPECIALTY: Vodka, gin and flavoured spirits made from B.C. grains and fruit FOUNDED: 2013 THE STORY SO FAR: Besides serving drinks at their Squamish lounge, Gillespie's founders John McLellan and Kelly Ann Woods sell online and supply B.C. restaurants and private liquor stores. At first glance, the U.S. looks like a natural market for a Canadian craft spirits company looking to go international. But as Woods points out, each state has its own set of regulations for liquor imports. "We thought, 'Well, what's the point of that if we can reach a much larger market just by going into Asia, for instance?'" Gillespie's, whose head count fluctuates between two and seven, wants to stay craft and support local farmers. But grow- ing that way takes time, Woods says. "So our interest in the Asian market is particularly the idea of sending off a pallet on a semiregular basis, and the cash flow that that'll provide to us is significant." China intrigues Gillespie's partly because its drinkers have surpassed Irish tipplers in annual consump- tion, according to the World Health Organization. Woods, who has yet to visit the country, hopes to capitalize on its growing middle class and what she calls an interest in Westernization: "They're looking for things that very much have a Canadian feel and identity." TOP EXPORT CHALLENGE: "One part of it has to do with finding a particular buyer over there," Woods says. "And then there's a whole bunch of different paperwork and confirmations." But for Woods, the fact that there's one set of rules and regulations makes China a better bet than the smaller U.S. market. WHAT'S NEXT: Woods and McLellan, who attended last August's Canada China Trade Conference in Vancou- ver, hope to line up a label designer, mentors and other key partners by the end of the year. Gillespie's plans to sell select products to Chinese consumers. One idea: barrel-aged maple vodka. — N.R.

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