How does one become a multi-millionaire six years shy of 40?

Youthful Calgary entrepreneur Trevor Tomanik says he has surrounded himself with a posse of winners en route to building his fortune.

Indeed, the 34-year-old Tomanik is surrounded by winners.

Besides such business successes as his entrepreneur father and partner, Clarence Tomanik, Trevor has also been inspired by several top celebrities during his career.

The walls of his modest office at Outlaws nightclub on Macleod Trail are alive with photographs of stars such as hockey great Wayne Gretzky and actors Clint Eastwood and Christopher Reeve, as well as football coaching legends Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.

Larry MacDougal photos, Business Edge
Trevor Tomanik hones his competitive edge in the nightclub business: ‘Second place is a nice way of saying you lost.’

Like the men he idolizes, Tomanik plays to win and makes no apologies.

1. Where did you get your entrepreneurial spirit?

“I come from an entrepreneurial family and I always wanted to be a success in business. My dad (Clarence) is an ex-bank manager and he got into the pizza business when few people knew what pizza was. My dad had the first Calgary franchise of Boston Pizza. My father and I are now partners.”

2. What was your first job?

“I was doing dishes and sweeping floors at Boston Pizza from about age eight. That taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance. One of the things my dad taught me was to do whatever it takes and don’t stand around. He’d say: ‘Sweep the floor; just because you’re a dishwasher it doesn’t mean you don’t have to sweep the floor.’ More than anything, my father taught me hard work and relentlessness. You don’t have to be the smartest person. Nothing replaces hard, hard work. And you have to set your goals high.”



3. Having won two Canadian junior football championships with the Calgary Colts, have you been able to channel those experiences into business?

“Absolutely. It teaches you how to play as a team and function under the team environment.”

4. When did you decide to make an impact in the Calgary restaurant/nightclub business?

“I was about 26. I guess every guy in his 20s wants to own a nightclub, right? I bought Outlaws (then the Rocking Horse) in 1997. I thought a country nightclub would be the way to go because the Stampede is the biggest party of the year and I wanted to tap into that. But, before that, I think what helped me a lot was the success of our Boston Pizza in Shawnessy, which was very challenging. That gave me the confidence to carry on and move on to bigger and better things. Boston Pizza isn’t glamorous, it isn’t smokeless, it isn’t Hollywood, but it caters to that medium, casual-dining segment. You pretty much put one up and you’re successful.”

5. How do you see your business career evolving in the future?

“I like being diversified in both restaurant/nightclubs and real estate, because I love business in general. I suppose the restaurant/nightclub business is my favourite. It’s fun, a lot of fun. I think as you get later in life the restaurant/bar business is very difficult because it’s a young man’s business. But I’m definitely going to build more nightclubs down the road.”

6. What’s the key to your entrepreneurial success?

“I surround myself with people who have strengths where my weaknesses are and that’s critical, because you can’t be an expert at everything. I believe that, in any business, you’re as good as your people. You can have the best ideas in the world, but if you don’t have the people who can execute your plan efficiently and confidently, you’ll go crazy and sell the business.”

7. What are your strengths?

“I’m an organized person and I’ve got tunnel vision. I’m able to envision what I want to do. I may not be very good at communicating it, but I’m able to go after it and take people with me who can fill in my weaknesses. I’m also a people person. I love dealing with people and creating relationships.”

8. What are your weaknesses?

(Laughing) “I can’t say no. I think I sometimes take too much on and get carried away. And, at times, I think I’m a little bit too soft, and I’m a very impatient person.”

9. What do you visualize at the end of the tunnel?

“What I see as an end result is having enough success and having enough people with me so that my life is very easy. I’d like to have my organization function without me and have enough money so that I have freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want. I’d like to be able to say: ‘Hey, listen, how are things going? Are we making money? I need my cheque. I’m in Barbados.’ But I really love making deals and I love business. I’m not the kind of guy who hits 65 and retires. No way. I need to do this to stay productive or I won’t get out of bed in the morning.”

10. How long did it take for you to make your first million dollars?

“At 28, my net worth was about $1.5 million and currently it’s probably just over $10 million. I’ll be being doing exactly what I’m doing now when I’m 50. At one point, I thought that if I ever was (financially) where I am now, I’d be able to put my feet up on the desk. But the more you get, the more you want and the more you want to do. You have friends who are up in the same bracket, then they have more and you tend to go after that. It’s a competitive thing. When is enough enough? Run the scoreboard up. You know the old saying: ‘Whoever has the most toys when he dies, wins.’ I suppose that’s (how) society measures success.”

11. How do you define leadership?

“Leadership is being able to have a vision, bringing the right people who believe in you and having them know you’ll take care of them. I like talking about my ideas around my employees and seeing their faces light up.”

12. What’s the best investment you’ve ever made?

“It would be Outlaws. It has been a cash machine. In the nightclub business, it’s how you package everything. Anyone can serve beer and rye-and-cokes. In the nightclub business, what’s critical is the atmosphere, the music you play, the feeling people get when they come through the doors. We sell escapism.”

“You see some guy who works all week to make $500 and he’ll spend $495 in one night and have a good time doing it. That’s what this business is great at doing, creating a party.”

13. What’s the worst investment you ever made?

“It was the Roxbury nightclub downtown (on 11th Avenue S.W., Calgary). It was just a real bad location and location’s a key in this business. I was very arrogant. I figured if anyone could make it work, I could make it work. Arrogance is good because it builds confidence, but you’ve also got to be very careful with it, because success breeds that arrogance and you think you can’t lose. You don’t always have the Midas touch. I took a hit on it for about $850,000 (in three years). That’s humbling, alright. But even though I took some lumps, I was able to buy the building and lease it out. I bought it for $1 million and today it’s worth well over $1.6 million.”

14. How do you deal with losing?

“Not well. Not well. I’m a pretty competitive person. I get angry at myself and I find myself dwelling on it for a long time. I’m a guy that likes a challenge and, if I do lose, it bothers me for days. It drives me nuts. I played 21 (basketball shooting match) recently with a buddy, and I got beat badly. The next day, I was back there shooting hoops to practise. Second place is a nice way of saying you lost.”

15. Have you been playing the stock market in recent years?

“Yeah, I’ve got Nortel stock at $28 and had to average down when it was $8. My average cost is $10.50 and I’m still upside down in it (current price is about $3.40). I like the action. At one point, I thought being a big power broker, a stock broker, would be great. The downside of that is somebody might try and kill ya, too.”

16. Who’s the entrepreneur you most admire?

“Donald Trump (American entrepreneur). He’s made it huge. He had some problems back in the early 1980s and a lot of people counted him out. And he recovered. I read the biography of how he recovered. It’s a great story.”

17. What’s your best advice for a budding entrepreneur?

“Just be relentless. Nothing replaces desire, aggressiveness and relentlessness. On every corner, there are educated derelicts, but if you see something that you want, go after it and go after it with tunnel vision. Eat it. Dream it. Think about it. Become it. And the next thing is, you’re there.”

18. What do you think about these days with bombs dropping in Iraq?

“I find myself thinking more about what the consequences are to the economy. To be honest with you, I’m a little embarrassed to be Canadian (because Canada isn’t supporting the U.S. in the war). That might sound funny but, let’s face it, if we weren’t next to the U.S., somebody would have invaded us a long time ago, maybe (the former Soviet Union). We get an opportunity to back them, our big brother, and we don’t. I think he (Prime Minister Jean Chretien) is a complete idiot. But I’m all for Ralph (Premier Klein, who was critical of Chretien on the war issue).”

19. Has money changed you?

“Yes, it has. It has changed me a lot. I disagree with anyone who says otherwise. Money has afforded me freedom. I enjoy a lot of things I saw at a younger age. I enjoy my money. I have Harley-Davidson (motorcycles) and old Corvettes. There’s a fine line between being obsessive with money and being too much of a stingy person. Geez, you could be gone tomorrow, so you’ve got to have a nice balance. If you ever want to be a high achiever in life, you’re going to have an incredible amount of imbalance. But when I have a chance, I play hard and I don’t make no apologies for it. That’s what life’s about. You work hard and you play hard.”

20. God taps you on the shoulder and says you can change one thing in your life. What would it be?

“I would probably work a little harder on my social life. I would probably be a little more focused on my personal life. I’m 34 years old and I’ve been through two relationships – one lasted 11 years and the other one for two years – and I’m no further ahead. I do see myself having a wife and kids. I need to be a little bit more co-operative. I’m fairly strong-willed. I’ve got to be a little bit more understanding and do things that are not just a benefit to me.”

IN PROFILE: Trevor Tomanik
* Born/raised/age: Edmonton, Calgary, 34.
* Occupation: Owner/president, Calgary-based
businesses Tomanik Restaurant Group, Tomanik Enterprises, TOMC Developments and Pacific Stone Fabrication.
* Family: Single.
* Education: Mount Royal College, University of Calgary (commerce, incomplete degrees).
* Career: Tomanik started in the restaurant business as a manager and became a partner in Boston Pizza franchises in Calgary in his early 20s. He now has interests in 10 Boston Pizza locations – eight in Calgary, one in Okotoks and one in Tempe, Ariz. – as well as Outlaws nightclub. His other investments are in real estate (Tomanik Enterprises and TOMC Developments) and Pacific Stone Fabrication. He recently broke ground for an estimated $8-million condo development in Edmonton with partners Clarence Tomanik, his father, and Trevor McHugh.
* Claim to fame: Two-time Canadian junior football
champion as a halfback with the Calgary Colts.
* Favourite entrepreneur: Donald Trump.
* Favourite food: Italian.
* Passions: Old Corvettes, fine wine, fitness, golf, martial arts.
* Website: www.outlawsniteclub.com
* Office: c/o Outlaws Niteclub, #24-7400 Macleod Trail South, Calgary, T2H OL9.
* Phone: 403-255-4646.