Lafleur speaks at Youth Entrepreneurship in Action event in Cornwall

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Cornish-raised entrepreneur Mark Lafleur spoke to some local students at the Alltsville Theater on Wednesday about what it’s like to start and sell a multi-million dollar company in your 20s. Did.

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Recently published in Forbes Books with his first book entitled True Founder, Lafleur was the main speaker at the first Youth Entrepreneurship in Action event. The event was hosted by the Cornwall Business Enterprise Center in partnership with the Eastern Ontario Catholic District Board of Education (CDSBEO), St. Her Lawrence College (SLC) and the Eastern Ontario Training Board (EOTB).

“There are so many talented young people in Cornwall and SDG,” said Shauna Baggs of the Cornwall Center for Business and Enterprise.Supervisor and business consultant. “We are pleased to work with Mark and our community partners to further encourage young people in our community to pursue entrepreneurial paths and provide the Center’s support as they further develop their ideas. increase.”

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Lafleur says he was a loser in grades 9 and 10 at Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School. He wants to be cool and to achieve this he decided to play football. I set various goals such as studying and practicing. Towards the end of his high school experience, Lafleur realized he needed to improve his grades to play college-level football, and he devoted his time and focus to achieving this.

When it came to growing his company TruLOCAL, Lafleur said he approached it much like football. He set goals for himself and maintained his long-term and short-term motivation through various practices. More on this in his book. He also sought out opportunities such as appearing in Dragon’s Den.

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Lafleur’s speech was followed by a short question-and-answer period, during which students asked questions about marketing strategies, how Lafleur found efficiencies to improve product delivery, and how it got involved in meat sales. Did. Lafleur explained that after graduating from college, he happened to find himself selling meat door-to-door and wanted to improve and modernize his business model.

“Take (Lafleur)’s words to heart. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, give them the opportunity to grow. Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale said: increase.

Michael Jackson, Business Professor at SLC, spoke about college opportunities and shared that every business requires good ideas, good marketing, and successful cash handling. The Summer Company Program Coordinator at Cornwall Business Enterprise Center Sydney Smith also spoke about the opportunity for local students aged 15 to 29 to start their business ventures with the support of local institutions.

“Many people are choosing what they want to do next…and things are changing in my opinion…you (students) are at an age when you need to double down on whatever you want to do. Forget what people tell you to do.There are so many ways to connect with people and create products,” Lafleur said.

shoneill@postmedia.com