Click on our link to join Myriad Corporation on Facebook

Creativity/Innovation – the ability to utilise your own insights to create new solutions to new or existing problems.  I would argue that the ability to solve problems creatively or divergently forms the foundation of any entrepreneurial venture.  To paraphrase Vinod Khosla – “Every big problem is a big opportunity.  The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. No problem = no solution = no company. Nobody will ever pay you to solve a non-problem” I admire Khosla’s ability to simplify.  In many ways I find this line of thinking very empowering – these aren’t complex postgrad concepts mired in the philosophy of economics. It’s simple. I get it.

Expertise – unfortunately creativity will only get you so far if you don’t have the expertise to back it up with.  Experience and knowledge (in particular niche knowledge, a specialized skillset) when combined with creativity and innovation are the structural support beams (in continuing the building analogy – I have no idea why I’m doing this. I know nothing about building codes) of your company.  What skills or training do you have available to you NOW in your school, workplace, personal/family network, that you can improve upon and perfect to become an expert?

Common Sense – also known as good judgement.  This one requires little explanation, and yet I am constantly floored at how many people I encounter who lack the ability to make good judgement calls, even in every day normal situations.  Akin to drywalling, painting, and finishing the interior of your building before it has a roof on it. I can stop these anytime…

Self Confidence – are you an adventurer? do you have the ability to boldly explore uncharted territory? take risks? make difficult decisions? If you answered yes to any/all of the above, chances are you have the self confidence to found a company.  In Seattle a few years ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Jim Sinegal, c0-founder of Costco, and it struck me what a confident person Jim was – both in the success of his company, and in his day to day goings on.  Confidence is buoyed by solid strategic planning and preparation, we asked Jim about his views on the importance of planning and this is his response to the young entrepreneur panel.

You have to plan the opportunity to think about your business and plan what you’re going to do. You have to schedule it. Otherwise you’re just a hamster running on a treadmill; you’re never going to get anywhere. You’ve got to schedule it. Strategic planning is an important part of running any business and the more so for businesses that operating in multiple states and countries. If you’re a big-picture guy, you’re not in the picture. Retail is detail.

Again – these are only my thoughts on the subject, and to be honest they have/will change over time.  What do you think?

I had a great time tonight speaking to a group of students from the local highschools in a career spotlight for the ’Leaders of Tomorrow’ program.  I have to admit – I was a bit nervous about filling two hours, and yet now in hindsight I feel like this was only the beginning of a longer conversation.  I spoke about my background, entrepreneurship, and a bit about technology, and then fielded questions to round out the session.  I am always inspired by a younger generation of entrepreneurs, and I am especially hopeful for the future of Chilliwack after getting the great pleasure of meeting the group tonight.  I will have some pictures and content from the lecture posted soon!

For those of you who attended the session tonight – please feel free to send feedback and comment.  As I said earlier – this is only the beginning of the conversation.  I look forward to hearing about your groundbreaking business ideas, successes, failures, and future endeavours!

Here’s to a bright future!
JL

Presidents Message – December 2009

Happy Holidays to all! 

On behalf of the board and staff at the office I want to wish a safe and happy holiday season to you and yours.  As we wind down a very exciting year, I thought it important to share a few thoughts about what lies ahead for the Chamber of Commerce.  First and foremost I wanted to share the optimism I have for Chilliwack, and especially our organization.  It is slowly becoming apparent that the worst of the economic crisis is now behind us, and although we have had to make difficult decisions as a result, we have emerged stronger, more agile, and more engaged. 

Although the Chamber is a non-profit organization, with the majority of our budget derived from membership dues, I am filled with a sense of pride as we continue to build on the foundations laid before us without a reliance on outside funding.  It is very important that the Chamber walks the talk – and I would like to thank our staff and board for their entrepreneurial creativity which has allowed us to continue developing the events and programs we deliver without compromising our quality or integrity.

I am looking forward to our Business Excellence Gala on January 23^rd 2010.  With over one hundred nominees, this event will be a great opportunity to celebrate excellence in our community, and to kick start 2010. If you have not already purchased a ticket – please visit www.chilliwackchamber.com where you can conveniently purchase online. 

I’m very pleased to report that the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce was invited to, and attended the annual mid-year large Chamber meeting held in Vancouver this year.  The meeting was an excellent opportunity for the Chamber to voice the concerns and opinions of our members in a closed door session with government officials.  We are looking forward to tracking the policies and recommendations we have contributed, and are in the process of soliciting feedback for additional policy submissions at our annual general meeting in 2010.

On a Provincial level, the Chamber is encouraged that the Province has announced the HST new housing rebate threshold will be increased from $400,000 to $525,000.  With this announced increase – British Columbia now has the highest maximum provincial rebate in Canada.  While many challenges still surround the implementation – this is indeed a step in the right direction.  We look forward to the Province continuing to work with the Chamber, and other industry groups on real mitigation factors surrounding HST.

I am excited to be continuing the role as Chamber President for the 2010-2011 year, and I want to remind all future Chamber members that the payoff and rewards of membership are well worth the effort.  As I said when I took over this role in July, there has never been a better time to be a Chamber member in Chilliwack.  We are the trusted ‘Voice of Business’.

Best Regards,

Jason Lum
President
Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce

What does a Chamber do anyways? Thoughts? Feedback? Ideas? Comment away!!!

I have finally (nothing like a bit of procrastination) got around to posting some of my travel blog from my last trip around Europe. If not for anything else but providing a bit of entertainment to the three people that read this blog (myself included) and to encourage others to quit their day jobs and experience the freedom that owning your own company provides!

Be Well.

Oh yeah – two more things.

1) I’m on Twitter – search jasonlum
2) I’m focussing most of my day time attention on the Myriad Group of Companies (www.myriadcorporation.com) right now. I can be reached at jason.lum@myriadcorporation.com or at the office (604) 792-0670. I will be available for speaking engagements, round tables, and brainstorming sessions – but a little less frequently.

Jason has been nursing a Swiss flu/cold, so it’s a good thing I came prepared with tonnes of vitamin C and echinacea.  We leave for Venice on Monday, and yes we still haven’t uploaded pictures… blame the robot guy, he’s always kicking us off the computer.

One of the greatest things about traveling is the crazy situations that present themselves, often by chance.  We seem to been destined for these fluke opportunities this trip - right place at the right time… turns out being in Saas Fee this weekend was just the case.  Sheila and I both got all access passes into the Northface World Cup of Ice Climbing.  From what I can gather climbing up frozen surfaces is a pretty popular winter sport here.  They have flooded the center ten stories of the village parkade, and hung inverted ice bells along side a huge man-made frozen waterfall creating a perfect indoor climbing surface.  Contestents (from pretty much every cold country in the world except Canada )  trade turns climbing the parkade, attempting to reach the final ice bell which stands equivalent to 10 stories high.  Judges start a time clock, and the spectators stand near the top of the parkade cheering (if it’s a Swiss contestant) and seeing how many bottles of beer they can consume through the duration of the judges timer.  While it’s not exactly the type of spectator sport I’m used too, after a few climbers (and a few bottles of beer) I was hooked.

After the first night of qualifying everyone retired to the basement floor of the parkade, where organizers had put just as much care into building a huge, two room night club – complete with climbing handles on the roof, dancing cages, disco balls, etc.  Unfortunately we had come ill prepared to disco (about six layers of clothing, winter jackets, and hiking boots) a mistake we wouldn’t repeat the night after.

Day 2:

A Swiss Champ! congrats to Simon Anthamatten, who pulled off an amazing last minute upset – reaching the top ice bell in under twelve minutes… needless to say after the closing ceremonies, and medal presentation, much partying was in store.  You may think mixing ice climbing, or any climbing for that matter, with partying and alcohol is a bad idea.  No freaking kidding it’s a bad idea.  Google ice climbing, and then look at the stuff you require to ice climb successfully - note the weird ninja axes, and spiked shoes and stuff, now throw in a few vodka/redbulls… it’s either a recipe for disaster or a typical party in the Alps.  So what if I wore an ice climbing helmet all night… I think I got a lot of free drinks out of it, and bonus – I didn’t have to remove a pick axe from my temple the next morning.

Stay tuned for pictures! depending on the whether or not the computer is working (turns out Richard is both a robotics genius and a crazy computer hacker who doesn’t pay for software) we should have some pictures up in the next couple of days.  Emanuela, our hostess with the mostest, has invited us for welcoming drinks? (apparently welcoming drinks happen 1 week into your stay) so we’ve prepared ourselves appropriately with advil and some crazy swiss medicine in case she busts out the Grappa (like an Italian vodka but a million times stronger)

As well as conquering the Matterhorn, I have also conquered the freestyle snowboard park, while Sheila has mastered her ability to snowboard all the way down the mountain, finish a beer, and take the lift back up before anyone else can catch up to her. It has been a wicked week thus far – the sun has been shining everyday and we all look like a bunch sunburned raccoons. I can’t believe while we are out on our patio enjoying a glass of vin du valais, you suckers are all at work! please direct all death threats to the comment section.

Ciao.

Jay