April 2018 – Community Futures North Okanagan

Vernon’s Nick Moffat comes by his profession honestly. Having grown up in his parents’ garden centre, it was a natural progression for him to work his way up in the industry, first as a landscaper and now as the owner of Nicholas Alexander Home & Garden.

“I worked at the garden centre my whole childhood,” explains Moffat, who leases the same property along the Swan Lake Auto Mile where his parents, Scott and Juanita, operated Art Knapp Plantland for nearly 30 years. “I started selling hot dogs in front of the store when I was 10 because I wanted to buy a snowboard. I did it for three seasons, and then I started in the garden centre in customer service.”

Moffat, now 31, went from sweeping floors and helping customers carry their purchases, to eventually managing the store for four years until his parents closed it in 2013. He says he would have loved to take over the family business then, but adds: “It just wasn’t in the cards at that moment in time to take it on.”

Instead, Moffat and his wife, Jamee, started Nicholas Alexander Landscaping in 2015. To get it started, though, they needed some capital. That’s when the Community Futures Loans Program entered the picture.

“I knew Rob Short (loans coordinator) from previous endeavours and came to him with my business proposal,” says Moffat. “I supplied the numbers and he helped me through it and got me started with a business start-up loan.”

That loan helped the Moffats purchase the landscaping tools, trailers and truck he needed to begin operating. They haven’t looked back since.

“It got us off the ground,” says Moffat. “It was just a really big help because we were growing at such a rapid pace. Even after the first season, we doubled our crew. We needed more tools, more equipment…more of everything. That loan helped us achieve that.”

Rob Short, loans coordinator at Community Futures North Okanagan, says Nick’s passion for his business is exemplary.

“His professional approach to providing solutions to his clients’ needs is paramount to Nick and his team, which, in turn, has resulted in the business receiving award-winning recognition in the market place. Community Futures is very pleased to have been able to help Nick with his ‘growing’ business.”

The business grew to the point where the Moffats needed a place to store their vehicles, equipment and plants. They approached Vernon Kia, which had acquired the property from Nick’s parents, about leasing the land. That eventually led to the idea of reopening the garden centre, which became a reality in spring 2017.

That’s a lot of growth in just a few short years, and the couple credits their supportive team for helping them pull it off. In particular, they were able to re-enlist many of the experienced garden centre staff that had worked at Art Knapp.

“We’re only four years in right now,” says Moffat, the grandson of former BC premier Bill Vander Zalm, who started out in the nursery business himself before entering politics. “The success we’ve had with the landscaping has helped get us where we are now.”

“It’s nice having the garden centre because our landscaping clients can come into the office, pay their bill, book other services and then shop for everything they need for their yard.”

For the Moffats’ landscaping clients, now “everything is under one roof.”

“Our focus is to keep the garden centre as a place where people can come and get an honest opinion. We want them to be successful. We like to learn form the older gardeners and we like to teach the new.”

Both aspects of the Moffats’ business—the landscaping and garden centre—are thriving. In addition to receiving a lot of traffic and high praise at the newly renovated garden centre, Nicholas Alexander Landscaping has earned a pair of industry awards for their work on a high-end construction project. They collected both a Tommy (Okanagan-based) and Georgie (provincial) Award for Best Outdoor Space for collaborating with Bercum Builders on the Bella Vita residential project on Kalamalka Lake.

“Doing those kinds of homes, you get to put your stamp on it,” says Moffat, who operates a crew of 12 landscapers, which includes yard maintenance and irrigation services. “We’ve created a bit of a name for the quality that we’re doing. As a result, more and more of our year is getting booked for these bigger projects.”

Would a business loan help you or someone you know take your business to the next level? Community Futures offers business loans for most business-related purposes, including business start-up, seasonal requirements, working capital, and expansion. Learn more or contact our business services department at 250 545 2215 to see if we can help!

Julia Allen and Kate Johnson—the founders of LOCALITY, which delivers quarterly subscription boxes of Okanagan goods—held hands as VantageOne Credit Union CEO Glenn Benischek took to the stage to announce the winners of Enterprize Challenge 2018. But as he announced the business that took third place (Steakholder, Richard and Danielle Toperczer), and then second place (Think Tank, Dan Proulx), Allen and Johnson lost hope.

“We let go of each other’s hands,” says Allen. “There were still so many other great participants left.”

And then, after reciting a seemingly endless list of prizes the first place winner would receive, and remarking how the top contestants “blew the judges away with their market research and preparation,” Benischek announced names of the first place winners: Julia Allen and Kate Johnson.

After a quick embrace, their arms were linked all the way to the stage, where they posed for photos, smiling in the spotlight behind an enormous cheque for $3,000 (start-up capital and just one of dozens of prizes worth nearly $35,000 shared by the top three winners).

Earlier in the trade show and awards ceremony, the event held Thursday that culminates six weeks of Dragon’s Den-style presentations, the pair said they’d felt like winners. The competition pushed them to create a solid business plan that will now see them sending subscribers boxes filled with Okanagan-made goods from wines and cider to jams and soaps. The day Allen and Johnson presented their financials in the second and final presentation to judges last week, LOCALITY’s first subscription box went live and within an hour, 15 customers had signed up. Today, they’re sold out.

“We’re looking forward to knocking on doors and putting everything we’ve learned into practice,” says Allen, who thanked all involved in the fourth annual competition, hosted by Community Futures North Okanagan.

First place winners Kate Johnson, left, and Julia Allen, right, are off to a great start with their business, LOCALITY. Judges of the 2018 Enterprize Challenge said they were impressed with LOCALITY’s market research, and their plans to start small with low overhead for a promising, profitable start.

Johnson is equally excited about next steps. “We can’t wait to connect with people, support local and cross-promote local artisans any way we can.”

A number of the 10 finalists showcasing their businesses at the trades show, held in the Kal Room at Okanagan College, were also focused on supporting local: a store offering locally made children’s clothing and goods, a First Nation’s café and gift shop selling the creations of Okanagan Indigenous artists, a line of plus-size active wear created from upcycled clothing sourced at local charity shops.

The third place business, Steakholder, is a platform that allows consumers to directly purchase a portion of ethically raised, grass-fed beef, and see and learn about the pastoral ranches from which their meat is sourced.

Second-place winner Dan Proulx saw a local need for business meeting spaces, and created The Think Tank, which lets organizations pair customizable rooms with equipment, catering, consulting offerings and more.

Second-place winner Dan Proulx, of Think Tank, offering business meeting spaces & services.

“To make it to the finals from 26 participants, and then to get second place, the whole process has been amazing,” says Proulx. “I really look forward to the next step, which is probably the hard and the fun part, but now I have this validation from the judges and the community, and that’s huge.”

Leigha Horsfield, general manager, Community Futures North Okanagan, says the chance to start a business with so much of the planning and networking underway gives all participants a leg up in their journey.

“This competition has shown, year after year, that if you have a good idea and you do the hard work to show your idea is viable, you can succeed in this competition, even if you’re not one of the top three winners.”

The Community Futures Enterprize Challenge is presented by VantageOne Credit Union, BDO, Nixon Wenger, Wholesale Grafix, Sproing Creative and another nine organizations sponsored the event to make the challenge and its prizes possible, while The Chase Wines sponsored wine at the well-attended tradeshow and awards event.

Nicholas Alexander Landscaping Goes Back to Its Roots

LOCALITY takes the lead at Enterprize 2018!