After five years of volunteering as a high school entrepreneurship teacher, Robert Zed is working on a new venture of his own, one that will bring entrepreneurship education to many.
Zed, chairman of Triangle Strategies of Halifax, helps a teacher at Citadel High School teach an entrepreneurship program to Grade 12 students.
“It started when one of my sons took me into school for a show and tell session,” said Zed.
“The school program is very practical. We examine launching, growing and sustaining a business. We have a module called Food for Thought, where we look at one kind of food, such as Oreo cookies, and examine how they are marketed, distributed or packaged, etc.
“We also have icebreaker thought-starters. Each student in the class makes a brief presentation or answers a question or reports on a current news flash. Presentation skills are vital in entrepreneurship.”
The students create their own businesses, and the year concludes with the Phoenix Nest Competition sponsored by Scotiabank and local companies, while local entrepreneurs act as judges.
Zed said that some former students and interns that he has mentored have gone on to start businesses, notably Alex MacLean, founder of East Coast Lifestyle Clothing.
The classroom experience has inspired Zed to create Prime 101, which will launch across Canada by September 2016 and offer a curriculum in entrepreneurship.
“We are working on the curriculum now,” said Zed.
“It will have an online component. We will roll it out to school boards, First Nations and others that want to learn about entrepreneurship.”
Zed hopes Prime 101 will play an important role in increasing knowledge about entrepreneurship, something he thinks particularly important in this region.
“We need people trained and ready to start, grow and sustain businesses. I believe entrepreneurs are born, but the skills can be taught and fine-tuned.”
Prime 101 will be just the latest in a varied group of businesses for Zed who, early in his career, established Crothall Services Canada, which provides out-sourced management solutions for hospitals and schools. He sold Crothall after leading the company to nearly $30 million in annual revenue.
Today, he heads Triangle Strategies, which is the umbrella organization for a group of companies that cover health-care strategy and navigation, hospitality and event production.
Zed said there is no secret to success, believing it stems from hard work, focus and accountability.
He has had many mentors since his own entrepreneurial career began when he was young.
“My first business was a Kool-Aid stand when I was four. Then I had candy and hot dog ventures and a clothing venture with my brother.”
He gained degrees in health administration, public administration and hospital management, later becoming an administrator at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.
“Then I felt the return of that childhood entrepreneurial spirit and bought a company. I’d missed the fun.”
Zed has recently launched an event called FANfit Challenge with Dartmouth’s Olympic paddler Andrew Russell. It will benefit Canada’s Olympians, and the two have just partnered with the Canadian Olympic Foundation.
Zed said he finds the time to mentor and run varied ventures because he is able to rely on his teams.
“I think great teams are the basis of entrepreneurship. I believe in giving someone responsibility and opportunity and letting them make mistakes.”
He said mentors should ask questions and give support and advice. The questions help entrepreneurs clarify their vision.
“In today’s competitive world, where young entrepreneurs are starting up around the globe, good mentors can mean the difference between success and failure.”
Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support start-up companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies are featured in this column nor do they have the right to review columns before they are published.
