Kelowna a Success!

Last week Matt and I took the trip out west to train a bunch of young professionals on building an efficient and successful team. The challenge was called 'Assembling Success'. Now, we've done this exercise all over the world to over 150 people and this one had them all beat!

Without giving away all our trade secrets, the objective is loosely around trying to make as many products in the allotted amount of time. Typically we see anywhere from 1-10. I think the count on this team... over 30 (before the stealing rampage began that is).

I'm not sure why this team was more effective, but they sure assembled a successful team! Good work!












PS. Check out our new website - www.igniteyoursmallbiz.ca.

Not just a book anymore!

Ok, so we never were just a book, but now our website shows that. IGNITE Consulting now has a website with just a page about the book (Trucker Management for those that don't have a copy yet). It provides information on our training, speaking engagements and who we are. So have a peek - let us know what you think - www.igniteyoursmallbiz.com.

On another note, Matt and I are off to Kelowna tomorrow to do another training session for JCI called Assembling Success. Next week we'll post some pictures. In the meantime, we're still looking for training opportunities, so if you know of any let us know!

Book Signing Event

This coming Thursday, June 5th from 5pm-7pm we will be doing a book signing event at Chapters (near Smitty's in Kingston) as part of their 10 year anniversary celebrations. Come learn about the book, future plans for Matt and I and get a signed copy.

Always look close to home

During our world tour this past year, Matt and I have traveled all over North America and even some in Europe. At these events our average book sales ratio is 1:6. Lately we have been doing more training and speaking events closer to home (one because our family have said so and two because people have started asking for it) and suddenly our sales ratio is 1:4 and sometimes even better.

So even though the travelling is fun and exciting and sometimes can be easier (I know strange but true), it's important for every business to look close to home. What opportunities lie right in your backyard that you haven't seen yet?

So with that said... here's some information on our upcoming Kingston workshop.

Thu, Mar 27, 2008
8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
$60 (includes snacks, 2 training sessions, autographed copy of Trucker Management)

A Day in the Life Contingency Planning for your Small Business
In this interactive seminar, participants roleplay a full day of operations in a small business, brainstorming actions and reactions as everything that can go wrong does. By the end of the seminar, participants will be well equipped to transfer the lessons learned back to their own businesses, ensuring they have all of the necessary contingency plans in place to avoid costly disruptions. Useful tools that participants can immediately implement in their businesses will be provided as take-away resources.

Assembling Success
Do you have what it takes to lead your team to victory? Successful organizations depend on quick-thinking leaders, an ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses of team members, and plans that allocate resources for maximum efficiency. This fun and fast-paced session has teams competing to design and execute an assembly line, and get quality products to market more quickly than the others while facing unique challenges associated with the abilities of each team member. The lessons illustrated by this exercise can easily be transferred to any type of business or organization. Team leaders will have their decision-making and communication abilities tested in a hectic environment  how will you measure up?

To register contact us at:
613-546-0222, info@truckermanagement.com

Continuing the World Tour in 2008

For those of you keeping up with the World Tour we've been on this past year, we're not done yet! Some of the places we are trying to secure training and keynote opportunities for 2008 are:

• Iceland
• Malta
• Washington, DC
• Florida
• North Carolina
• Quebec City
• Ottawa
• London, ON
• Winnipeg
• Northwest Territories or Nunuvat

If you have any connections or would like to help us plan something in any of these places (or anywhere else on the globe for that matter) please let us know.

Book Signing Event

Where: Indigo Books, Princess St at Sydenham St, Kingston ON
When: Wednesday, December 5, 5pm - 630pm
What: Book Signing for Trucker Management, free goodies
Who: Lindsey Fair and Matt Hutcheon

Aye! We're in Scotland!

We arrived in Glasgow this morning for our whirlwind tour. It was a pretty smooth trip but I almost felt inclined (or inspired maybe) to give a copy of Trucker Management to the parents sitting in front of us that had a screaming 2 year old with them. Some of you maybe wondering how parents could benefit from a small business book? Contingency Planning 101! I got the impression that they thought their little girl would sleep the whole way since it was the red-eye flight, so they didn't pack any toys, books or very many snacks (as far as I could tell anyway because I never saw any). My experience as a parent of a 3 1/2 year old has taught me, hope for the best but plan for the worst. Snacks, diapers, toys, music, movies, bribes, a grandma to help. Pack anything and everything you possible can fit in a carry-on for your sake and the sake of the other passengers! I'm not sure who is worse off, the parents that can now nap with their very tired 2 year old, or us embarking on a new leg of the world tour!

Over the next 4 days we will be doing 4 small business events. It should be a busy week so keep visiting our blog for stories and pictures. On the weekend we head to Ireland for more training. The world tour is in full motion now!

The Official Trucker Management Book Launch Event

Everyone's invited (but you do need to RSVP please) to our official book launch on October 23. There will be some free munchies, a game or two to showoff the book and of course signed copies of the book will be available for sale.

Launch Details:

Tuesday, October 23rd
5:00-7:00pm
Tango (331 King Street East)
Kingston, ON
Free munchies, Cash Bar
RSVP: info@truckermanagement.com

Well, another milestone down! We are so excited that our website is now officially launched - www.truckermanagement.com. It provides a detailed overview of the book, some of our training seminar and keynote descriptions and more information about us. Soon you will also be able to pre-order copies of the book through the site as well. Thanks to the team at Inter Kingston for their expertise in getting the site finished.

We also started our "world tour" last week in Brantford, Ontario. We have World Tour t-shirts highlighting the cities we'll be visiting during our international book launch and training tour that you can buy too! We're still looking for more cities to add to the tour, so any help you can provide, we'll gladly take you up on it.

The book is finally off to the publisher too - so it's been a crazy few months - but we've hit the road at full speed and are gearing up for the official launch in early September. The next stop on the World Tour is Atlanta at the end of July.

Lastly, remember that we frequently update our small business blog with short tips and tricks for small business - so visit it often http://igniteyoursmallbiz.blogspot.com. So we'll keep you posted as the time draws closer, but look for official book launch events in the fall!

Lindsey Fair and Matt Hutcheon

Ok, so the book is behind schedule...

Well this will probably come to less of a shock for most of you than it did for Matty and I - but our book is a little behind schedule. We are now looking at a June launch instead of May. So if you're one of city tour organizers, please consider some June dates instead.

Moments like this remind us that no matter how much you plan, no matter how many hours you put in, and no matter what business you're in - things change. A small business' business plan is always evolving from the moment it is written, and always make sure to have those contigency plans included!

We'll keep you posted.