Prepare for failure, Chamber members urged

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This article was published 22/10/2021 (1787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After hosting the CEO of Manitoba Hydro for its first luncheon since the COVID-19 pandemic last month, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce brought in a local speaker for its second gathering of the year.

James Chambers, the co-owner of downtown bakery and cafe Chez Angela, was on hand to deliver a talk titled, “Running Towards the Cliff: Why You Should Plan to Fail.”

Chamber past-president Spencer Day, who was unable to host any formal events during his year in charge, was given the chance to be the master of ceremonies.

In his introduction to the event, Day asked those present to think about how they can assist the community after a couple of rough years by volunteering with local non-profits.

Chambers then started his talk by going into the journey that led him to open his business.

His first experience delivering baked goods, he recounted, came when he was eight years old in attendance at the 60th anniversary party for the Murray’s family of car dealerships.

He said he took it upon himself to cut up pieces of the birthday cake present and deliver them to the partygoers. For his efforts, he received a $15 cheque from Claire Murray.

That was a big deal to him in an era when the Tooth Fairy only handed out quarters.

His first experience as an entrepreneur went a little bit differently. A young Chambers in Grade 5 made up scratch and win tickets and sold them to his classmates.

“None of these tickets won anything, but it was very lucrative,” he said. “Unfortunately, the school administration did not look favourably upon a child selling illicit gambling activities to the rest of the class.”

Later in the talk, he delved into the topic of making preparations in case the worst happened, using Murray’s and Christie’s Office Plus as examples of businesses that experienced unforeseen tragedy in the form of devastating fires, but persevered and kept on going.

“I would actually argue that what we see in those organizations is … whether through external failure, external catastrophe or internal failures, those are the ones that are most resilient,” he said. “They didn’t pack it in … we have a choice that we can walk unaware that a cliff is coming and we can land at the bottom, or we can plant our feet so we’re ready to jump as hard as we can.”

When Chambers and his wife Angie started the bakery, it took a while for them to define what that business being successful would look like and what problems could lead to its demise.

To figure out how much bread the bakery needed to make to compete in the market, Chambers went to every corner and grocery store in town to count how many loaves of bread were on shelves the day before a long weekend and how many of them were left the Tuesday after.

He then set to work figuring out how many products Angie could make in a given day and what factors could lead to failure, like if the price of chocolate went up.

One person Chambers reached out to for advice was impressed by how much work had been put into figuring out what could go wrong, but asked if they’d planned on what they’d do in case the business turned out to be a success.

Given the current climate, Chambers addressed how his business had to adjust to meet the challenges of COVID-19. Choking up, he said that when the stay-at-home order was implemented, Chez Angela lost 51 per cent of its business.

However, one of the ways the couple decided to define their success involved taking care of their employees.

By pivoting to meal kits, takeout and keeping the business going during the pandemic in the face of potential failure, they’ve been able to keep all the staff that they started with at the beginning of the pandemic.

“I encourage you to normalize failure,” Chambers concluded.

The November luncheon will address a prominent topic in the national discourse.

Former Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce head and chair of the Kahkewistahaw Economic Management Corporation, Chris Sicotte, will talk about how businesses can help advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.

That event takes place on Nov. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Keystone Centre’s MNP Hall.

Proof of full vaccination is required to attend.

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