| Canadian Small Business of The Month | |
by Susan Ward
|
Welcome to the Canadian Small Business of the Month feature!
I believe that small business owners can learn a lot from each other; this series
of interviews with small business people from across Canada is your chance to see
what other business people are doing and thinking, and perhaps become inspired by the
challenges they've overcome or the goals they're planning to attain. This month's interview is with Drew Fraser, who, with his wife Wendy, runs HAL 2000
Canada out of his home in Springhill, Nova Scotia. Drew is a business person blessed with a fabulous product, but as we all
know, having a great product is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to
building a successful business. Letting other people know about your product and
persuading them to believe in your product the way you do is always a challenge.
This challenge can be especially daunting when you're selling a technological
product that does things people doubt are possible. In Drew's words, "HAL is an operating system for the home in much the
same way that Windows is the operating system for the PC. Windows controls
computer peripherals like printers while HAL controls home peripherals like
lights. Windows gives you the power to print a document once you buy a printer
and HAL gives you the power to schedule lights or temperature in your home once
you've installed the appropriate switches and thermostats. What we have is an amazing software program.... which can all be controlled by voice from anywhere
in your home or anywhere in the world." But how was Drew going to show people that HAL does what he says it does and
convince them that they needed to be able to control their home's systems by
voice? In a nutshell, Drew had the product, but he needed to create an
innovative marketing strategy. Next page > Marketing HAL 2000
Canada > Page 1, 2,
3
You can find out more about HAL at Drew's
Hal 2000 Canada Web site.
Contact Drew Fraser by email at
hal2000atlantic@ns.sympatico.ca
or by telephone at 902-597-2956.
Disclaimer: The Canadian Small Business of the Month feature is provided for information purposes only.
If you would like your business to be considered as The Canadian Small Business of The Month, email me at sbinfocanada.guide@about.com, and I'll send you a questionnaire. While completing a questionnaire is no guarantee of being featured in this series of articles, all completed questionnaires will be considered.
