BDC’s EMPLOYEE MAGAZINE SPRING 2013VOL. 28, N° 1

LUC ROBERT:living the BDC purpose

BDC.CA THROUGH THE AGEs

A&E: BUILDING CLICKs TOGETHER

eMploYee PROFILE

04 LUC ROBERTliving the BDC purpose

Luc uses his business skills to contribute not only to the success of entrepreneurs abroad, but to the economic success of developing countries.

3TAKING MORE RIsKFOR BDC

8BDC EMPLOYEEs UsE LINKEDIN TO MEET A PROFITABLE PROsPECT AND EARN BUsINEss

9A NEw PROFEssIONAL NETwORKING TOOL FOR ACCOUNT MANAGERs

10BUsINEss LEADs AND COMMUNITY OF UsERs: BUILDING CLICs TOGETHER, PIECE BY PIECE

12TEAM PROFILEDOCUMENT PROCEssING CENTRE

16REGIONAL NEwS BDC FROM COAsT TO COAsT

20sCARBOROUGH’s BUsINEss DEVELOPMENT PLAN PILOT PROjECT DELIVERs THE GOODs

YEA 2013: EMPLOYEEs’ CHOICE AwARD

BDC EtC. is DistriButeD to aCtive BDC eMploYees.

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ContentssPRING 2013 | vol. 28, n° 1

BE THERE Without leaving here

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06 BDC.CA through the ages

Launch of new bdc.ca layout

BDC ETC • SPRING 20134

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living the BDC purpose: supporting entrepreneurs

W hen BDC partnered with the enablis foundation last spring, it offered an employee the opportunity to mentor an entrepreneur in africa, and to help

them grow their business and contribute to the success and prosperity of the local economy. a Corporate social responsibility initiative, the program caught the attention of more than 40 worthy candidates, but alas only one could be selected.

Luc Robert, Consulting partner, Montreal-east, has many years of business development experience, ranging from strategic planning and management, to sales and marketing, and just about everything in between. helping entrepreneurs in his spare time however, is something he does for personal satisfaction.

When luc finished his studies, he was interested in international development projects and started taking courses on cross-cultural integration. he then spent many years working with non-profit organizations in Quebec, including Moisson Montreal—a food bank that helps nearly 150,000 people every month—as well as the CfCi (a training centre for international cooperation), which gave him his first international internship.

At BDC, we are experts at supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. So why not extend that expertise to the developing world?

Luc Robert

BDC ETC • SPRING 2013 5

LIvING THE BDC PURPOSE: SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURS…ABROADso what draws him to these types of projects? “it’s a chance to use my business development skills and contribute not only to the success of an entrepreneur, but to the economic success of developing countries.” and opportunities to do so are bountiful. luc has done several internships in West africa helping various entre-preneurs and has also consulted on a micro-financing project in rwanda.

once luc was selected as the candidate for the BDC-enablis program, enablis proposed a list of entrepreneurs for him to work with. he chose Micheline, an entrepreneur in her 20s in rwanda who runs— entirely on her own—alpha foods, a small business focused on the retail of specialty jams, ketchup and juices.

as a Consulting partner, luc’s expertise enables him to see the big picture for alpha foods: where is the business at, where it wants to go, and what it needs to do to get there.

luc began his mentorship with alpha foods by immediately presenting his role, not so much as a mentor, but as a consultant. he discussed and provided concrete goals that Micheline could achieve in the short-term. he also went above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak. While the expec-tation was that he would spend only one hour a month with his mentee, luc’s eagerness to support Micheline pushed them to spend about two hours a week for the first few weeks, either via skype or by telephone. they now spend about two hours every second week, giving Micheline enough time between meetings to implement and work on the goals she and luc discuss.

to date, the work with alpha foods is progressing incredibly well. Micheline originally wanted to begin by establishing an accounting sys-

Rwanda

BDC

tem, as well as increase her sales. But through conversations with luc, they began instead by focusing on her costing, and then moved on to her sale prices. they also standardized her prices and some of her processes. the next step they have in mind is to determine which of her products are the most profitable and develop a marketing plan to sell them. they will then tackle other challenges such as sourcing, expansion and financing.

at the end of the three-year men-torship, enablis will help organize a trip to africa so that luc can meet with his mentee in person and see for himself how his counsel has helped support this bright and talented entrepreneur. “i look forward to meeting Micheline in person and seeing how far her business, i hope, has grown.”

so, would luc recommend this kind of experience to his colleagues? it’s a no brainer!

“the experience, provides such a feeling of pride, it’s difficult to put into words. Being involved with such a project allows me to not only support an entrepreneur, but also to help create jobs. this eventually helps improve living conditions, even if it is for only 5-10 people of one town. however, these 5-10 jobs translate to helping the 150 people who depend on them. there is a real sense of accomplishment when you can be part of something like that: improving the situation of people with such big hearts…there is nothing else like it.”

“ There is a real sense of accomplishmenT when you can be parT of someThing like ThaT: improving The siTuaTion of people wiTh such big hearTs…There is noThing else like iT.”