Spotlight: Sandip Lalli from the Calgary Chamber of Commerce

We talk with Sandip Lalli president of Calgary Chamber of Commerce in this Pride In Business Community Spotlight, in partnership with TD.

By Fraser Tripp

Small Business Week Calgary kicks off today with countless networking events, a bustling expo, and celebratory gala to recognize the entrepreneurial spirit of our city’s small to mid-sized businesses. Pride In Business will be hosting its own LGBTQ+ & Allies Mixer on Wednesday, October 23, a booth at the Expo on October 24 and then presenting the first TD Inclusion and Diversity Award at the gala on October 25. We connected with Sandip Lalli, the president of Calgary Chamber of Commerce, to get the full picture on what can be expected from Canada’s largest celebration of small business.

Pride In Business: Obviously there's a lot of moving parts going on in Canada right now: we have a new federal government coming in as of Monday and a fairly recent new provincial government in Alberta, but how would you describe the state of small business within Calgary right now?

Sandip Lalli: So, I always say, I know we've got a lot of grit and resilience and hustle and all of that. And that's still there. When the provincial government changed, there was another spring in the step and now we've got a provincial budget that's coming out next week. I think the federal election and the sentiment that's been happening there has been interesting to watch. But from a small and midsize business perspective, it's really your provincial and your municipal governments that have the most impact on you. And so having a broader macro-competitive environment set the tone with our federal government, when you get down to it and how we're working here in Calgary, it really still is about trying to find customers, trying to find investment and capital to go into your company so you can scale and grow. It's still very much a challenge to be able to grow your business.

PIB: How would you say that small businesses help promote a competitive Calgary?

SL: When I came in April 2018, like I say to many people, you can find all the bad news and all that sort of stuff all over the place. So we chose to tell good news stories. There are good news stories, good businesses that have made shifts in their business models to adjust to the economy, to find new customers, chase markets other places. And so we highlight those stories. Sharing those kinds of stories, it creates more of a positive momentum and a sentiment, but it also pairs up people and says, "Hey, you know, how did you do that?" And taking best practices, not necessarily, but it's about taking that journey. Like, "how did it feel?" You had to shrink your company then you grew your company. So that's what we've been doing is trying to pair up business-to-business growth. Next week is Small Business Week and we've said there's nothing small about small business because the intricacies are still the same. And so that's why we want to pair up a companies, we want to be able to tell good stories so people know where to go ask questions. The best learning is when you go peer to peer learning. So that's what we've tried to do.

PIB: Who would Small Business Week be for?

SL: We have small and mid-size businesses that are there and we have large enterprises, because everybody is everybody's customer. But what we've targeted with our expo is specifically about business-to-business growth. So there's mid-sized businesses, small-sized businesses that are there to promote their businesses, but to help increase their customer base and increase their profile and awareness of their companies. And so that's the target that we ‘re looking at is those small and mid-sized companies to be able to showcase themselves, to promote themselves with business-to-business relationships. The booths are all sold out, so we're in a stronger place than we were at last year. We have almost 1500 tickets sold, so it's going to be quite busy. It's quite the event. Last year walking around and getting feedback from people afterwards, I would ask, "did you get B2B?" They're like, "absolutely." I'm like, "those are good leads or qualified leads?" They're like, "yeah, we've got over a hundred qualified leads." That's fantastic.

PIB: Beyond the expo, there are a lot more events happening. So, what can be expected from Small Business Week overall?

SL: There's going to be a nice vibe in the city starting on Tuesday. There's a night with the entrepreneurs, there's a celebration. The City, they're doing a tour of Live YYC and they're going to be launching some stuff. We've got the expo, the night with the entrepreneurs, the Pride in Business mixer on Wednesday. Then Friday night is the gala event where we will be honouring and awarding recipients of our awards. And one of the ones is Small Business of the Year.

PIB: This will be the first year that the TD Inclusion and Diversity Award will be presented, why is it important to recognize entrepreneurs and businesses with these types of awards given out at the gala?

SL: Its again, that peer-to-peer learning is way better. That's what we found with all our award recipients. When you're in the business community, especially in that small and mid-size business community, there's such an openness to make each other better. That's why it's important to make sure we highlight companies so that people know, it's aspirational, but all those award recipients, they all just want each other to be better. Even at the finalist mixer we had, there is such a buzz in the room. If somebody who's never heard of their company goes up to them, they're completely approachable.

PIB: Do you find that it is quite easy for people to connect and network in that way and build those business-to-business relationships?

SL: Yeah, we pride ourselves on it. I always tell people that the Chamber does two things. We do advocacy and B2B growth.

PIB: Speaking specifically to the Chamber then, what sort of resources are available for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses beyond Small Business Week?

SL: There’s the Gen YYC program: it's a partnership with the Calgary Foundation. iIt mixes in social entrepreneurship with traditional business. We have the Ignite program which helps take you through a business plan. Then we have a CEO Peer Mentoring that's an internationally recognized program. We have cohort tables that we run with an excellent facilitator who's professionally trained. That one is a really good because that's where the entrepreneur or the business owner says, "I can't ask my staff, but I have these questions: How do I get that peer-to-peer learning and still be able to ask the questions that I can't say out loud." Sometimes you just need that community and that's what that CEO Peer Mentoring program does.

We have our staples series: the 403 series, our Business After Hours, and then we have this new program that we launched this year and we're going to continue it into next year called Coffee and Commerce where businesses come and pitch their business. It's $20 and you get 30 seconds to pitch your business. When the event ends, the volume explodes cause everybody's like, "Hey, I need that" or "what about that? I want to ask more questions about that." And that helps them grow their business.

PIB: Do you need to be a member of the Chamber to access these programs or events?

SL: Ideally, we want to grow the tent and, I mean, we still represent the business community and we're the voice of the business community, so you get benefits from being a member, but absolutely you can buy non-member tickets to these.

PIB: A lot of people talk about Calgary as a very entrepreneurial city, everybody's been pulling up their bootstraps and finding new ways to thrive, soare there resources for people who may be at the onset of their entrepreneurial experience?

SL: When people tell me, "I'm just thinking about it, what should I do?" I tell them Calgary Economic Development has this great program, it's called Startup Calgary. That's really where you can go and flush out your thoughts. So, if you're just thinking about it, that's a great place to start.

PIB: Are you aware of any specific resources or support for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs?

SL: I'm aware of some things forming. So, I'm like, "how about we talk about that so we don't recreate the wheel?" But certainly, if there's a place or need for that, let's build that in and put the Chamber movement behind it. I don’t see why that wouldn't be an option or anything like that. So, but I don't know of any specifics, but I do know that there are conversations going on. It goes again, right back to that shared mindset type of idea and where you're most able to be open and vulnerable.

PIB: Is there anything you would like to add?

SL: I would just encourage people to get to the expo, the night with thee entrepreneurs and then just come celebrate with us at the gala. It is a fantastic night. Like, if you are losing faith in our city's ability to hustle and grit and get'er done, that entrepreneurial spirit is in spades on at the gala.

Get your tickets to the Pride In Business LGBTQ+ & Allies Networking Mixer hosted by TD and Telus at the Oak Room in the Fairmont Palliser here.