CBC Dragon speaks: Don't be frozen by fear ... decide

Wednesday, October 17, 2012
By Dan Barnes, Postmedia News

Virden, Manitoba native, former RCMP officer and rig worker Jim Treliving of Boston Pizza, Mr. Lube and Dragons' Den fame, splits his time between three residences - Dallas, Vancouver and Toronto - and offers advice to people who want to start a small business.
Photographed by:
Greg Southam, Postmedia News

It might seem strange to mention Jim Treliving of Boston Pizza and Dragons' Den fame in the context of Small Business Week.

The 71-year-old entrepreneur, TV personality and author says he has an interest, ownership or otherwise, in "57 or 58" companies and splits his time between residences in Dallas, Vancouver and Toronto. He hasn't been a small businessman for decades.

But the former rig worker, RCMP officer and Stampede wrestler came from humble beginnings in his hometown of Virden, Man., and the lessons he learned the hard way are of tremendous value to anyone about to launch a small business.


He shares that knowledge in his just-released book Decisions, Making the Right Ones, Righting the Wrong Ones.

Perhaps the biggest nugget for entrepreneurs in Treliving's first book is the importance of making a business decision, no matter how it turns out.

"That's the one thing that sets the successful people apart from the not-so-successful people - the ability to actually make a decision," he writes. "Unsuccessful people freeze in the face of choice. Why does this happen? It's fear of the unknown that keeps us stuck. Or fear of making the wrong decision."

That said, he cautions the small-business owner to be ready before launching into the marketplace with an idea and little else. He did it in the late 1960s when he worked for the original Boston Pizza restaurant in Edmonton - "It was very much a small business" - then opened a franchise in Penticton, with a business partner. The two struggled to stay capitalized.

A good idea and the right location are crucial, but so is support for that idea, including financial backing, a consistent, affordable supply of product and skilled labour and the retention of such experts as lawyers and accountants.

"Don't go into it by the seat of your pants. That day is gone. It's tough doing that," Treliv-ing said in an interview.

"I did it by the seat of my pants and that was the wrong way to do it."

Treliving cites a mistake he made while getting his Penticton restaurant up and running. "When you go into a business and start operating it and you think, 'Well, I'm just going to operate it and not have an accountant do this stuff' - that's your report card. That tells you what's going on. So you've got to do that.

"I went for six months (without one). That was the last thing I thought about. Somebody needed a cheque, I'd write a cheque.

"You've got to get a report card of what you're doing. And to me, not hiring somebody like an accountant right away (is a mistake).

"Set yourself up ahead of time. Don't just go in, open and hope it will take care of itself. You can't do that."

He stresses the importance of getting financing secured well ahead of time.


"Don't go into business without being capitalized. You've got your idea. You've got it ready to go. You've got a few sales. People want the product. You understand that. Now go out and make sure your ducks are lined up.

"Get your financing. Go and talk to your local financing person, whoever it's going to be. And I'm not just talking about banks.

You can go to friends and relatives. There are investment people looking for deals to look at. And I think that's why Dragons' Den has done so well, because people realize they don't have to go to a bank."

In order to finance his restaurant he took odd jobs, including the lucrative wrestling gig - he wore a mask and was called the Hangman.

He also went to his father, who co-signed a bank loan. But times were different, and the kind of transactions he was able to make to work around cash shortfalls won't fly today. That's why financing is so crucial.

"I couldn't go into business today the way I went into it. You just couldn't do that. Think about this: I had a line of credit before there was such a thing as a line of credit. It was overdraft.

"I could write my cheque on a Friday, knew the bank wouldn't get it until the Monday or Tuesday, so I had four to five days to pick up cash to pay for that cheque.

So I had a line of credit. They called it overdraft, I called it a line of credit.

"When your credit card goes in now to pay for something, it comes out of your bank account instantly. Not five or six days later. It's a whole different game. That for me is what's changed. The world is faster."


Treliving also cautions the small business person not to expect a speedy path to profitability.

"Don't go in with the expectation that you're going to get all your money back in the first week. Or the first year. This is going to be a long process. It's not going to be easy."

And there will almost certainly be a toll on the personal life of anyone launching a business. The demands took a toll on his first marriage, he says.

"I think the biggest thing is you have to challenge yourself - and I didn't do this - if you have a family ... Where are your hours going to be spent with your family?"

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