Continued Learning

     For the past few weeks I have been working with ATB. More like they have some money, I need some money and I have been asking them nicely to share. I have learned lots of things since this program started.

     Instead of completely draining my savings I have been trying to get a business loan so that I can draw a salary from that. I started dealing with ATB because in my search through government sites looking for capital they were the one bank that the government had links for. I had an appointment set up to meet the small business loans person. I received a phone call from a completely different person which seemed off at the time because there is only one business loans person that moves between the Stony Plain and Spruce Grove offices. I agreed to meet this other person and am glad that I did. I had no clue until this meeting that ATB has a bunch of free services for Entrepreneurs. In Edmonton they have a Entrepreneur Center that offers classes, work space and even board rooms that can be booked free of charge. For the month of August they have some of the staff from the Entrepreneur Center working at the Spruce Groove branch which is why I got the phone call that I did. This initial meeting has spawned numerous other meetings and chances to advance my newly formed business venture. The next day I met with a business adviser at the bank. He was able to provide some direction on where my focus should be. During this meeting he was able to refer me to another associate from the Entrepreneur Center that used to do private consulting as well as introduce me to a few different associations whose main purpose are to help people advance their businesses. I have had some phone conversations with a couple of the groups and have some meetings and classes set up to attend over the next few weeks.

There are a couple of things that I have had the opportunity to take away from these encounters.   

     Stepping out of your comfort zone can yield amazing opportunities. One of the larger fears that I had wanting to start my own business is having to constantly deal with new people. I am not super outgoing. I have always struggled with "small talk". I have been a minimalist to say the least when it comes to conversation and that has been a road block to interacting with new people. Being "forced" to get past this has made it easier to continue and I have been able to do some things and talk to some people I may not have a few weeks ago.
   
     The other is the one, probably most important requirement we all have. I have had some difficulty seeing it in the past but my interactions over the past couple of weeks have helped open my eyes. When complete strangers can show so much interest in helping you succeed it helps provide the faith that it will work out. The small acts of kindness that we do every day, I believe, do the same thing for the recipients of these acts. In a world that seems to becoming more and more self centered and reliant on instant gratification, knowing that another being cares enough to do something without the expectation of reward is a powerful thing.