Michael Burnatowski. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

Ottawa better for true entrepreneurialism, but many people still look to lean on government, says new manager

Michael Burnatowski took over management duties at the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation's (OCRI) Entrepreneurship Centre in August with little fanfare. His mandate is to maintain a focus on helping early-stage entrepreneurs get the ball rolling with their business ideas, but also to increase focus on companies that are in growth mode, who have moved past the start-up stage and are looking to expand, market their products, and commercialize. Mr. Burnatowski spoke with the OBJ about the centre's upcoming programs, and how the changing face of Ottawa is also bringing with it more of an entrepreneurial spirit.

OBJ: I don't recall seeing an announcement. When exactly did you take over as head of the Entrepreneurship Centre?

BURNATOWSKI: Back in August 2007 . . . I'm the manager of the Entrepreneurship Centre. Stephen Daze is still the executive director, but he's now moved over onto different projects over at OCRI.

OBJ: What experience do you bring to the table?

BURNATOWSKI: I was doing training in entrepreneurship for about 15 years. I was director of a private sector college in Montreal, Recording Arts Canada. They were going through a strong reorg, in terms of focus as well as increased enrolment, hence increased sales.

OBJ: Were you an entrepreneur before?

BURNATOWSKI: I still am. I started a small business in 1999. It's an online tutoring business for high school and university students called MiLearn.com. We do live, synchronous learning. I have a background in e-learning as well, primarily focused on the high school market . . . That's something I began eight years ago . . . It's very challenging. I'm still working on that, a lot of that goes on in the evenings . . . I've gone through staffing issues, gone through the pitfalls, the dos and don'ts, the stress on the family. It's the type of thing when people are coming in here to the centre, I know where they're coming from. I can bring a lot of my own experience to the table, as well as with the growth-stage companies, because I'm kind of in that mode as well.

OBJ: What will your duties entail?

BURNATOWSKI: We're trying to bring in some new focus, specifically dealing with growth-stage companies. It's an area where we want to get more involved in the Ottawa community, companies that are two, three years in, facing different challenges, perhaps with their marketing, management, or different directions that they're going into. It's an area that we haven't put a lot of emphasis on in the past. So this is one of the reasons to bring in someone – to bring this into more focus at the centre.

We have a working model, it's called iProfit. We'll be working with growth-stage companies. We'll provide them with a small team of advisers or mentors. We will all meet face to face, understand their business, problems and concerns. All the rest, as much as they want, will go on online. Perhaps they have a staffing issue or other problem. They'll be a member of the Entrepreneurship Centre, so they'll come to the website, login to a . . . Facebook-type of platform, or something similar to that, where they will be able to communicate with their advisers in that environment immediately. The advisers get notice right away, and they can communicate at a much quicker level, so they can solve these issues with little downtime.

That's one thing, as a small business, if I have a problem, I need help now. I could call you, yeah. I could e-mail you, sure. But this is just another option, it's more vibrant, and more interactive. In 2008, this is an area that the centre really wants to hit home with. We'll be going out to the BIAs, with the chamber, and introducing this model to them and their clientele.

A lot of the time, (entrepreneurs) need a sounding board. We're hoping, by April, to have a brand new website. Great domain name: entrepreneuship.com. Another focus of why I'm here is to leverage that domain name more.

In Ottawa, there's no one place for small businesses to go. There's no one-stop shop. Part of what I want to do is make the centre the place to go. We have a huge network of people willing to help. That's our strength.

OBJ: Are the advisers employees of the Entrepreneurship Centre?

BURNATOWSKI: Not necessarily. We have a pretty extensive list, built up way before I got here, and continues to build up, of mentors and volunteers. They range from legal firms to accountancy firms to people who do management training. It runs marketing, it runs the whole gamut of a business operation. They believe in the centre, they believe in what we've been doing . . . We're not going into this blind, we rely on the people in the marketplace to work with us.

OBJ: What does it mean to be entrepreneurial?

BURNATOWSKI: It's perseverance, risk, and believing in that idea, believing in that vision. The (entrepreneurs) who succeed know how to go with the change. A lot of people will start off with an idea. They're likely one or two people with . . . an idea, and they'll end up doing everything, from purchasing to trying to promote it to marketing it to printing flyers on their computer. Some will do well, some won't, because it's not their core competency. An adviser will come and say "I understand how you're doing this, but it's not working. It's not the right way, here's how you should do it." They should listen. If you can listen and go along with the change, you'll have some success.

OBJ: So, is Ottawa an entrepreneurial town?

BURNATOWSKI: It is . . . We have a tendency here in Ottawa, only by virtue of where we're located, to rely on (government). We have the provincial government, the feds, the NCC – there's government all around us, so a lot of people will say, "hey, that could be a big client." I'm seeing that from people walking into our centre. They ask, "how do I get business from the government? How do I get funding from the government?" First, let's see what your business is. Funding is really difficult to get, and it takes forever. I tell them, let's forget about the grants, let's look at the nuts and bolts of your business. And then we work from there. Is (Ottawa) entrepreneurial? Much more so. I've been here long enough, I've seen a change.

OBJ: With talk of an economic slowdown coming, how will Ottawa be impacted?

BURNATOWSKI: Ottawa, to me, even in past years when there's been a slowdown, has always been cushioned. Again, because of government, (and) the employment levels here, and the income and education levels . . . We'll be fine, provided the business itself realizes that things may slow down. Sales might not be as hot as they were last year, so what do you do? And that's who we want to work with, companies who may not think of that. "What do I do with my inventory? Should I purchase less? How do I go about this to cushion ourselves if there is a bit of a slowdown?"

OBJ: Does the centre see more aspiring entrepreneurs come in during an economic slowdown?

BURNATOWSKI: That happens. When there is an economic slowdown and people are laid off, a lot of times the tendency is "let's see what I can do on my own." For some, it's just a knee-jerk reaction, and they're just looking to do something until they can get a job again. It's not a long-term plan for them to be an entrepreneur. A lot of time it's consulting out of your home and trying to get the odd contract while looking for work. That phenomenon increases. In terms of people truly looking to start their own business, the true, true entrepreneurs, it really isn't altered one way or another.

OBJ: Does Ottawa need an entrepreneurship centre more than other cities?

BURNATOWSKI: Toronto, Guelph, Kingston, Brockville, Kingston, Renfrew – they all have a business development enterprise centre or small business centres or whatever they call them. The uniqueness we have here as opposed to the others, is we're part of OCRI, we're not part of a municipal or provincial government. We're funded (by them), but we're under the umbrella of OCRI, an independent economic development organization, which allows us to be non partisan, it facilitates our own mandate, and provides for less red tape. If we see something that's going to work for us, we can more easily move ahead.

Entrepreneurship Centre quick facts:

City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave. W., ground floor, ph: (613) 560-6081

www.entrepreneurship.com

Staff: Five full time, two co-op and one high school student later this month, plus more than 100 volunteer mentors.

Clients per year: About 2,500 walk-in clients per year plus an equal amount by phone, as well as 500 per year with e-mail inquiries.

User costs: Initial 30-minute consultations are free. Many seminars, such as bookkeeping, are free or at nominal cost. Longer consultations and services such as business-plan reviews may cost $20 to $50. A lot of information is free on the website.

Operating costs: About $500,000 a year. Private sponsors as well as the municipal and provincial governments help fund the centre.