LEAPer Feature with Ryan of Gamerlink

Gamerlink started with a problem, as so many businesses do. Two friends, who had been gaming together their entire year of school, weren’t going to be a few doors down the hall anymore. What would they do?

They made an app, of course! And with a little kickstart from Fanshawe College’s Research and Innovation Day, Gamerlink was born.

Gamerlink is the #1 #LFG (Looking for Group) app available on the market. With cross-platform support and a dedication to linking like-minded gamers while they play, they’ve found major success in doing something they love and the future is only looking up!

We asked Ryan Figueiredo a few questions on what’s been crucial for their success and for a bit of advice for new entrepreneurs.

What does your business do?

GamerLink is mobile application that allows gamers to connect for better online multiplayer experiences. GamerLink consolidates your gaming network through a universal game library and friends list. Allowing you to build and maintain positive lasting connections across all games and platforms.

What do you hope to achieve with your business? What does success look like?

Success is building a product they gamers love and use on a regular basis. We hope to achieve becoming a core part of every gamers life.

As an entrepreneur, what is one thing you couldn’t live without?

Internet! When this goes down not only can we not work but online gaming and our app rely on it

What advice do you have for someone wanting to start their own business?

Take every opportunity you can get and network, network, network.

One brag. One drag. What was a struggle for you and your business and how did you overcome it? What is going really well for you?

Bringing on new users. We faced a serious chicken and the egg problem which was very difficult to overcome. We achieved this with narrowing our focus and a lot of tedious man hours. Today we have over 100k Monthly Active Users and that is extremely exciting for us.

If you had a slogan, what would it be?

Connecting gamers for better online multiplayer experiences.

#FeatureFridays with Richard and Forest City Records

You may have heard of the musicians that pass through large venues like London Music Hall and Budweiser Gardens, but London happens to have a thriving music community that exists in smaller, vibrant corners. Richard Gracious and Forest City Records wants to make sure you know about the artists that bring those corners alive.

Gracious has played music for most of his life. He is a graduate of Fanshawe’s Music Industry Arts program and is the lead vocalist and guitarist in his long-time band, Mountain of Wolves. He saw a gap in London for a record label that could provide the all-around services of larger (usually Toronto-based) labels and decided to take the leap. After completing the LeapIN program, he partnered with his long-time friend, Jamie Faye Ryan, and together they’ve dove head first into the business.

He’s a man of few words when it comes to interviews, but if you’ve ever wanted to hear a bit more about producing or about the latest events, Richard and Forest City Records has you covered.

What does your business do?

We are a development label for up and coming musicians. Our goal is to help them with marketing, public relations, grant writing, release planning and helping artists create records from start to finish. We also want to help them get to a point where they can professionalize their careers – ensuring that they have support throughout their initial stages of growth. We want to grow with the artists we support and helping them understand the importance of branding and making them aware of the funding opportunities available to them is something we are strongly focused on.

As an entrepreneur, what is one thing you couldn’t live without?

My laptop and cellphone are probably two of the most important physical tools. Support from the city, community and my business partner are probably the most important intangible things I couldn’t live without.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to start their own business?

Leap in… take a risk and start it and learn as much as you can while you are growing. Also, know when you are taking on too much. Going all in doesn’t have to mean burnout.

Who inspires you?

Bruce Lee.

What’s a Forest City Records must have?

We have an affinity for all things vinyl related so for us it is a good record player and records. I also think that having the passion and drive for your community and an open-mindedness and willingness to learn are part and parcel. Talent doesn’t hurt either.

If you had a slogan, what would it be?

My business partner and I made a joke about this last week ‘not sure what we do, just look at our name!’ We make records in the Forest City.

Check out Forest City Records and Mountain of Wolves to stay in touch with Richard.

LEAPer Feature with Kelvin and The Fritter Shop

If you’ve ever been to the Western Fair Farmers’ Market, you probably know our first #FridayFeature. The Fritter Shop is the first stop that many people make each Saturday while perusing the produce and wares of local vendors. It’s the perfect amount of sugary warmth and Dutch tradition to carry patrons through the crowds, especially on colder winter mornings.

Kelvin van Rijn is one of the friendly faces you’ll see behind the counter and is the brains behind The Fritter Shop. Working in his parents’ bakery for the majority of his life, Kelvin realized the power of the fritter and wanted to put them on the map. He has grown the business through beautiful branding and clever marketing (which so happens to be his background with a diploma from Fanshawe College) but also with the hard work and Dutch tradition of The Fritter Shop’s signature recipe and unique flavours.

We asked Kelvin a few questions that we thought budding entrepreneurs or even fans of his fritters may want to know:

What does your business do?

The Fritter Shop is a speciality dessert shop that brings the sweet excitement of the Dutch New Year’s tradition of fritters to your everyday life. We put a fresh, new spin on what dessert can be.

What do you hope to achieve with your business? What does success look like to you?

I hope to scale this business to multiple locations throughout Ontario and maybe even Canada. People are getting tired of the same old cookies and brownies that Barbara always brings to the meetings or family get-togethers. Fritters are unlike many other desserts because they are the right amount of sweet and with so many flavours, we cater to almost everyone’s needs.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to start their own business?

Usually, I give the advice of ‘just start.’ Which is definitely powerful advice. But with how the business has been running lately I’ve learned an even more important message which is, you need to execute. As an entrepreneur, it is so easy to make yourself feel like you’re doing a lot of work by going to a bunch of meetings and making connections. These are absolutely important aspects of running a business but can often take up way too much of your time. I find the real entrepreneurs are just out there grinding and focusing on what will bring in more income for the business. My advice would be to go out there and make money. Work trade shows, farmer’s markets, bring in online sales, whatever it is that works for your business. But focus on bringing in that income because without it, entrepreneurship can be draining and you’ll easily be unmotivated. Find what you’re passionate about and find the ways that it can bring you income.

What company or invention do you wish was your idea?

I don’t even know the company name but you know those stick figure stickers on the back of cars showing how big your family is? That. Talk about brilliant. Those things take almost no thought, advertise for themselves on people’s cars, cost very little to ship due to their weight and size and probably cost less than 1 cent each to make. I can only imagine the amount of profit whoever invented those has made. Absolutely brilliant.

What’s a Fritter Shop must have?

This is a pretty simple answer. If you come to The Fritter Shop, you must have… A fritter! I don’t like telling people which flavour they should get because everyone has their own preference. That’s what I find so cool about what I’m doing, everyone has their favourite flavour and we aim to make each of those an option within a fritter. If you’ve absolutely never had a fritter I guess I would recommend the apple because that is how we started the business. But trust me, you can’t go wrong.

Find Those Fritters

You can find Kelvin and his fritters at the Western Fair Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8am-3pm and they have some exciting plans coming in 2018! Stay tuned through their Facebook and Twitter.