Don Springall was 47 years old, sick, and sleeping at a downtown Calgary homeless shelter when he realized it was time to get back to business or perhaps not make it at all.
A former systems analyst for top companies including Gulf Canada and ATCO I-Tek, Springall’s life had hit rock bottom for a number of reasons, and he hadn’t held down a job since he left a retail sales position in Edmonton. His life was spiralling down “pretty rapidly,” he recalls, and he found himself battling near-pneumonia on a floor mat at the Mustard Seed street ministry.
Employment opportunities? He couldn’t even scrounge up a bus ticket or be certain of a regular hot shower, let alone clean clothes.
But just a few months later, tucked neatly into a conservative suit and tie and with a ready smile, Springall is set to launch an exciting new business enterprise with a little help from some friends.
He’s one of two Calgary entrepreneurs who by dint of hard work and thoughtful business plans have earned start-up funding through a unique small business development program launched by the Mustard Seed.
“I felt if I didn’t do something to change my life, I just wasn’t going to make it,” Springall says, recalling how ill he became living on the streets. “When you’re sick on the street, there’s nowhere for you to go, even to rest. It’s not like you can sit in bed and recover, and there’s no support system.
“I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t even have the bare resources left to get bus tickets to go and do interviews.”
After spending several nights at the Seed, located at 102 11 Ave. S.E., he heard about a new program being launched that aimed to get homeless people who were willing and able back on the job.
The Mustard Seed’s Business Development Program, backed by corporate and community funding, held the promise of re-opening doors that had slammed shut a long time ago.
Springall started to think about his long career – he had worked 17 years for Gulf as a systems analyst – and decided he still had the chops for hard work.
“That was the most important thing – realizing there was a way out of this mess that I had gotten myself into,” he says. “The first step was to get out of the depression I was in, the malaise I was feeling about my future, and get positive, and start to show up every morning and start to do the work. Get positive and get healthy.”
Last Wednesday, Mustard Seed CEO Pat Nixon joined several volunteer business mentors and program supporters to officially introduce Springall’s new IT enterprise, called Openware Ltd., which helps companies with software systems.
Along with another business, Springall will share $5,000 in seed funding contributed by Calgary-based car part dealer Pick Your Part. Another $20,000 has been pledged by an as-yet anonymous corporate donor, says Nixon.
“My goal is to see us start about 10 new businesses a year, and that may take us a couple of years to pull off,” says Nixon. “We’re not going to accept a business plan unless we’re confident it can be successful.”
Grants up to $5,000 and repayable loans, combined with mentor-matching and business skills coaching, are provided to potential entrepreneurs over several weeks. Dave Dakers, CFO of Chirripo Resources Inc. in Calgary, was the volunteer mentor helping Springall carve a path back to the business world.
“I think it’s a question of will,” he says. “What Don had a long time ago was neither the confidence nor the faith in his capabilities. What you see now in this person, through all the support he has received, is the confidence, faith in his abilities, and the will to actually take on those challenges.”
For 33-year-old chef Christopher Dores, it meant a chance to realize his ambition of starting a pre-prepared meal business called Some Assembly Required.
“Simply because you’re sleeping on a mat at the Mustard Seed doesn’t mean you don’t have the skills and experience to take yourself out of there, become self-sufficient and provide an adequate business for the community,” says Dores, who before landing on hard times had worked in both the hospitality and the high-tech sectors.
But Dores is now encountering an even bigger hurdle to getting his take-out meal business off the ground – finding space to lease for his new company.
“They look at you and say: ‘Well, if you’re from the Mustard Seed, your personal net worth isn’t substantial enough for us to trust you with the lease.’ So you may have money, the equipment and the staff, but they don’t put any stock into any of your history unless you can show you have assets.”
But he plans to persevere. After overcoming so many hurdles, he believes strongly that he has the energy and the drive to succeed – and make the Mustard Seed proud of its community-supported business entrepreneurs. “One of the toughest things I’ve ever learned how to do is business,” Dores shakes his head ruefully. “Because it’s not always a friendly place. It really isn’t.”
(Businesses or community groups interested in helping grow the Mustard Seed’s business development program can call 403-269-1319 for more information.)
