Eli Clark, co-founder of The Big Buns Club — a bakery in Calgary offering specialty cinnamon buns — turned his born-out-of-boredom hobby into a business while in lockdown during the pandemic. The buns can now be found at markets and cafés across the city.

Meanwhile, Holly Singer, who founded Milk Jar Candle Co. in 2016, has been scaling her business to not only become a household name in Calgary, but also to break down barriers for people with disabilities. After starting with a goal to raise $500 in Milk Jar’s first year, Holly’s business idea has now raised over $350,000 for non-profits and initiatives that support inclusion. 

From first coming up with their innovative ideas to turning them into profitable and impactful companies, Eli and Holly have navigated an exciting but often confusing business landscape. Each milestone came with a lesson, and now the two successful business owners want to share how they were able to make it possible.

Progress, not perfection: getting started with a new business

A common theme emerges for both Holly and Eli when thinking back on the early days of their businesses: just get started.

“I was at Beakerhead in Calgary, and an inventor there said to me: ‘focus on progress, not perfection’,” Holly says. “You can kind of get bogged down with perfection and then not put anything out there. But little bits of progress will eventually lead to perfection.”

Holly was still in school when the idea for Milk Jar came to her. “My parents encouraged me that school would always be there and I should go for entrepreneurship. So I dropped out of school and it was the best decision I ever made — as scary as it was. As we grew, we became an inclusive employer. So with Milk Jar, really the candle is just a vehicle to a greater purpose of supporting our community.”

Eli received similar advice early on, which helped him take the leap from hobbyist to business owner. “I was told to kind of just start before I was actually ready, because if you overthink a business idea or put it off because you don’t think you’re ready, you probably won’t start,” he says. “I think the best way to go about running a business is just start somewhere and things will snowball and you’ll get to the next stage.”

So, where to start? 

Building a new business can be overwhelming, but Holly found it helpful to begin with a list. “There’s a million things you can be doing, but another business owner recommended writing down your to-do list and circling the top three things that are going to bring you the most revenue, and do those first steps.”

Overcoming barriers to success

The biggest barrier for new business owners is usually money, and this was no different for Holly and Eli. 

“It takes money to make money,” says Holly, thinking back on some of the investments she made in order to see a return. 

Eli agrees: “One of the main barriers to growth that I had was the financial knowledge and resources to start my business, in terms of buying new equipment, hiring on team members, and just building out my brand in general.”

For both business owners, it was crucial to seek out support early on. 

“ATB really helped us with that,” says Holly. “We were able to get a small loan at the beginning, and then later we were able to get an overdraft account — that was a revolving loan that if we needed it, we could use it, but if we didn’t need it, we didn’t have to use it. And that’s been super, super helpful.”

Eight years in, Holly says she can still sometimes get overwhelmed by the financial responsibilities of owning a business, but she doesn’t want new business owners to feel discouraged by that. 

“It makes all the difference to have a really great bank, financial advisor, bookkeeper… Just people that are on your side and that you can tell care about answering your questions.” 

“No question is a stupid question to ask. I didn’t go to finance school — the only thing I really know is what my parents taught me, and sometimes I don’t even know if that was the right thing.” Holly says with a laugh. 

Holly encourages new business owners to book an appointment with a professional to get their questions answered. “There’s experts out there that can help you.”

Changing perspectives on money and financial planning

Both Holly and Eli say they think about money a lot more now as business owners, and they are always asking questions. 

“Now that Milk Jar has gotten a little bigger and there’s a lot more employees and players on the table that are relying on it being successful, I would say that I reach out a lot more to my bookkeeper,” says Holly. “I cashflow forecast now. I budget. And I kind of bring on a few more people that have a lot more knowledge than I do in the financial field, because I’m more about the vision and it’s good to have experts come in and do the money.”

Eli had a bit of experience from running his first small business as a photographer and videographer, but says each business is different. “There’s so many more expenses with running a bakery,” he says. “I’ve been a lot more on top of my finances, just being in constant communication with my bookkeeper and updating my expense sheets quite regularly.”

One piece of advice from Eli’s financial planner at ATB has been game-changing for him. “I categorize my expenses and have different accounts that I can easily allocate, like, say, the expense for my rent,” he says. “Keeping different expenses separated helps me keep track of them a bit easier and prevents any confusion.”

How your financial institution can help you grow

Many financial institutions have funding supports for small businesses. “It’s helpful to make funding, contacts and resources more easily available so people don’t get discouraged if they get stuck when moving to the next step in their business,” says Eli.

Holly says it’s important to bank with a business that cares about you. “I knew ATB was super connected with the community, having the Entrepreneur Centre, and I had such a good experience from the start.”

Holly has been able to take advantage of small business loans from ATB to ensure Milk Jar has enough cash flow to prepare for busier times of the year. “After the holidays, we have a lot of money,” she says, “but I need to have a lot of product five months before that. The overdraft account that is a revolving loan is super supportive, allowing me to still pay our staff and purchase items we need for the busy holiday season.”

Balancing profit and purpose: lessons as a business owner

Letting go and delegating was a key learning for Eli as The Big Buns Club began to grow. “A single man band is a bit tough when you’re growing a business,” he says. “So one of the most important lessons for me was finding the right team members and delegating tasks so I could continue to scale.”

For Holly, balancing profit and purpose has been a key lesson over the years. Milk Jar started with a purpose to support the disability community, but it could only grow with continued focus on making it profitable. “That helps you push your purpose further and further,” she says. “You have to put both at the forefront of your business and not sacrifice either.”

Holly knew she’d hit that right balance about three years in, when she received an email from a customer — the mother of a child with disabilities, who told Holly that Milk Jar gave her hope that her child would be able to have a job one day. “That felt really, really amazing,” Holly says. “That’s when I knew my business was a success.”