The other night, I barely slept, she said. My payroll was a mess this week.
My big question for that one when I saw the business plan was Does a market exist? I wasnt absolutely sure.
And while fertility rates in Canada and the United States hover around population replacement levels, the practice of producing more people seems unlikely to die out.
Her ambition runs even beyond just starting one successful franchise. At some point Im going to exit and find something new. I could do any business. Ive got lots of fire in me left.
No potential location has hit the sweet spot yet, but Ali thinks shell know the right choice for a third location when she sees it.
Yet that idea sits at the heart of her burgeoning business.
Twitter.com/LewisHKelly
New babies drive Alis business, but pregnancy also presents problems at Sweet Momma. As she puts it, This last year has been crazy because of my seven pregnancies.
This unique spin on the classic Albertan labour shortage results in a labour surplus of another kind. And the annoying particulars of human reproduction dont limit themselves to employees.
But the jovial Ali, whose parents founded a pair of firms specializing in industrial chrome plating, also admits her ambition to build Sweet Momma into a titan. I never really thought, Im going to have this little shop and thats it. If that was the case, I wouldnt have done it. I dont want to be a spa owner, just operating my spa every day. Id love to make it really big.
A recent franchise pitch came from a Calgary nurse and her husband. Ali expressed interest. Then she found out about the couples recent bundle of joy.
A second location in St. Albert opened in 2009, and Ali has courted franchisee pitches from across Western Canada and the U.S.
This soft-edged world hardly seems the birthplace of a new commercial kingdom, but Ali dreams of raising her baby to become a giant. Given her progress so r, she might do it sooner rather than later.
Everyone who works here gets pregnant, said Ali.
chiropractic school las vegas Pregnancy spa has growth potential,Jolene Ali still sometimes struggles to sleep.
My guess is that the opportunity will present itself and it will just hap-pen.
These supplements also play to Alis background in food science. She retains her enthusiasm for the field despite the change of career, rattling off information about nanotechnology in nutrition and alternatives to gelatin-capsule pills with ease.
The program brings 25 entrepreneurs together four times a year for all-day seminars on aspects of business, like marketing or human resources. The program attracted a wide range of local small businesses, from chiropractors to auto mechanics to clothing retailers to spa owners.
Jolene Ali founded Sweet Momma, a spa business catering to pregnant women. Theres a south-side location and another in St. Albert.
Ali got around this by broadening the range of services she offers. Aspiring mothers can receive massages and acupuncture purporting to increase fertility at Sweet Momma, while stretch-mark treatments and nutritional supplements target the newly no-longer pregnant.
Ali, who has no children, developed the idea for a spa aimed at pregnant women while completing an MBA at the University of Alberta.
Petasky met Ali when Accelerator got started in Edmonton back in September.
Even if it could, the transient nature of the customer base - most would only be in the market for Sweet Mommas services for nine months - presented a serious challenge, he thought.
Stephen Petasky serves as thchiropractic school las vegas Pregnancy spa has growth potentiale men-tor for Alis accountability group. The former Sherwood Park Sobeys franchisee now runs Luxus Group, a luxury real estate equity collective with properties in Mexico, Las Vegas and Italy.
Steier questioned whether robust demand for spa services tailored to expectant mothers could be found in Edmonton.
Shes a nurse and everything, but she just had a baby, Ali said. You cant have a baby and start a business.
It does come easier these days than bacchiropractic school las vegask in 2006, when the first Sweet Momma spa opened. Worrying about her innt venture made shut-eye difficult for Ali, who left a promising career at Lilydale Foods to do an MBA at the University of Alberta and eventually start her own business.
He sees big things in the future for Ali.
It was probably 3-1/2 or four years before I could really have a nights sleep, she said. A business is like a child. When your baby is small, you cant just leave it - you always have to be looking after it. As it gets bigger and time passes, you become more confident and relaxed about it. Ali, [adult school] fremont adultschool Mountain View Online (0) 2011-12-26 9:2:49 34, usually nods off easier these days - but not always.
As for Steiers concern of insufficient demand, Sweet Mommas growth puts it to rest.
Jolene Ali founded Sweet Momma, a spa business catering to pregnant women. Theres a south-side location and another in St. Albert.
On top of the quarterly sessions, the entrepreneurs meet monthly in smaller accountability groups, where they set goals and keep up on their peers progress. An EO member presides over each group, offering advice and guiding discussion.
With the original south-side Sweet Momma generating nearly $1 million in annual revenue and a franchised location in St. Albert, Ali could probably afford the odd daytime nap to recuperate, except she doesnt seem the type to relax while others work.
The Sweet Momma spas cater to pregnant women, offering massage, pedicure, manicure, acupuncture, steam, moisturizing and waxing. Arcane beauty products stock the shelves in the lobby of the south-side store: Wild Lemon Tonique, Persimmon and Cantaloupe Day Cream, Carmel Latte Tinted Moisturizer. Pacifying background music filters through pastel-coloured walls. Several shelves declare the virtues of something called the 100 Mile Baby.
Lloyd Steier, a professor at the University of Alberta School of Business, was a little more skeptical than Petasky on his first encounter with Alis aspirations. Ali developed the business case that would eventually become Sweet Momma in a class taught by Steier, who says he looks at thousands of business plans.
Like any image-conscious business person, she says the greater good animates her commercial aspirations. I thought if you can change the way people feel when theyre pregnant, that can, in a small way, change the world.
Ali joined Accelerator, a sort of social club for aspiring tycoons. Run by the Entrepreneurs Organization, a network of successful small business people, Accelerator aims to help boost a firms annual revenue over $1 million, giving the entrepreneur an invitation into EO proper.
Canada&8217;s benchmark stock index swung between gains and losses on Friday after two days of advances, but it was still on track to post a weekly gain...
Not her personal pregnancies, of course, but those of her employees.
More than half of the staff at the south-side location went on maternity leave in 2011.
Having a business model that has continuous demand for it but almost no supply, shes very well-positioned to be extremely successful, he said. The opportunity now is at her fingertips to grow to whatever size that she wants to.
When I walked in the door, said Steier, thats when I really got it.
Ali was certainly lucky to have parents who founded a pair of firms specializing in hard chrome plating ... Well as for you, you need to consider that dreams do happen when we persevere. and that shop/spa you now have should be considered as one of the fortunate blessings you got with all your hard work .keep it up! You'll make big! http://ast.net.au/our-services/
Posted by: Elijah Dregder | 01/22/2013 at 07:28 上午