Entrepreneur and ‘Dragon’s Den’ Star Manjit Minhas: “I Get to Make My Own Rules and Create My Own Space”
Manjit Minhas is a well-known Canadian entrepreneur, TV personality, venture capitalist, and beer baroness. She is co-owner of Minhas Breweries & Distillery, the manufacturer of beer brands such as Mountain Crest Classic Lager, Boxer Lager, Lazy Mutt Ale and Huber Bock. She is one of the Dragons on the popular TV show ‘Dragon’s Den’ which she joined in 2015. Manjit has been recognized for several business industry awards including PROFIT magazine’s “Top Growth Entrepreneur”, Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs in Canada, Canada’s Top 40 under 40, and Chatelaine Magazine’s “Top Entrepreneur Woman of The Year 2011”.
What can we expect from the new season of “Dragon’s Den”?
(Manjit Minhas): I’m thrilled and honored to be a Dragon for my 7th year. This season on “Dragons’ Den” viewers can look forward to some really innovative Canadian entrepreneurs pitching their inventions and businesses. Entrepreneurs have been busy this past year thinking outside the box – some brilliant and some not so much. Even after all these years, I’m still amazed as to the creativeness of Canadians every year; especially this year when everyone was at home during Covid.
As a female entrepreneur, what advice can you give to women trying to start their own business and grow it?
First of all, struggling should be taken seriously. At one time or another, most women CEOs find themselves in a male-dominated industry or workplace that does not want to acknowledge their leadership role. As a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, earning respect has been a struggle. There have been many incorrect presumptions made about me. I was more than willing to put in the work to create my own reputation for being a hardworking, honorable businessperson in my own right. To overcome this, I have had to learn to build my confidence and overcome my negative self-talk. Those negative comments that have built up in your head are stopping you from reaching your full potential. To combat them, I champion my inner champion as often as possible and have some great mentors and support groups in my life. These groups have provided me with mentors and peers to inspire me, hit me with reality checks on my capabilities and successes, and help me grow and learn from their outside perspectives and experiences.
Secondly, you need to own your accomplishments. The communal, consensus-building qualities encouraged in young girls can leave women unintentionally downplaying their own worth. When I talk about the company, I always find myself saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. Using the first person to discuss successes felt to me as if I’m bragging but I have changed that perspective and now live by the motto – Be willing NOT to be humble.
Thirdly, building a support network is very important. A robust support network is essential for entrepreneurial success, so it’s no surprise that 48% of female founders report that a lack of available advisors and mentors limits their professional growth. With the majority of the high-level business world still being dominated by men, it can be hard to blaze your own path and facilitate the introductions and connections into some of the more business networks. Finding the right support network isn’t always easy. Some good places to start are women-focused networking events and groups. Once you find your network of supporters, don’t be afraid to ask for what you really need from them. Ask often and be clear about what you need. You never know who has the capacity to help. People are more likely to jump in if you are specific about what you need them to do. If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.
And lastly, you need to cope with the fear of failure. Failure is a very real possibility in any business venture, it’s important not to let insecurities keep you from dreaming big. I encourage women to work through the moments of self-doubt that every business owner faces and not wait for perfection before starting their business or taking a risk. Failure should not be viewed as a negative or an excuse for relinquishing your goals. When you hear ‘no’ again and again, when your plans don’t turn out, or if you make a costly decision – see that as a teaching moment. The road to success is paved with losses, mishaps and mistakes, but it can still take you where you want to go as long as you don’t lose sight of your ultimate destination. Stay the course. Take in all the feedback; filter out the noise and the naysayers; learn from your mistakes and try not to make them again. But whatever you do, do not give up.
Are you currently working on any new projects?
I am working on a variety of new product launches in North America but one I’m most excited about currently is Artingstalls’ Artisanal Gin. It is a premium, delicious tasting gin we created in partnership with Hollywood producer, director Paul Feig. It is available throughout Canada including the LCBO in Ontario – pick up a bottle and you’ll know why I am so excited about this product that has been 2 years in the making and launched during a pandemic! I also just launched The Manjit Minhas Podcast during the pandemic; it’s a business podcast where I interview and chat with remarkable Canadian CEOs, leaders and experts about entrepreneurship and the world of business so listeners can help find their own path to success. To my surprise and delight, the debut episode (and the entire first season) ranked in the TOP 10 Apple Podcasts! I’m in the midst of recording Season 2 and 3 – please check it out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
What are some personality traits that a successful entrepreneur must have?
1. Resilience
Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” As an entrepreneur, you’re going to fail. That’s just an unfortunate fact. While something that drastic would be too much for most people to handle, an entrepreneur has the uncanny ability to get up and dust themselves off. Instead of giving up, an entrepreneur will learn from their failures. What went wrong? How can I long from my mistakes? How can I succeed next time? These are the type of questions an entrepreneur will ask themselves. An entrepreneur doesn’t stay down when times get rough. They’re resilient and thrive off of the negativity.
2. Strong Sense of Self
Any entrepreneur will tell that there are numerous problems to overcome. Whether it be not securing enough funding, proving the naysayers wrong or facing the competition head-on, it’s not easy being an entrepreneur. And, being passionate and resilient can only go so far. Which is why entrepreneurs also have an extremely strong sense of self. For example, being self-confident and self-motivated are also key traits for most entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs don’t think that their idea could be good. They know it’s good. And, they’re going to be motivated enough to illustrate to others that it’s worth the time and money to go forward. While they also understand that they can’t do everything on their own, they realize that they are the only ones to make their idea a reality.
3. Flexibility
Being able to adapt to changes and challenges is crucial for any business. In fact, most entrepreneurs will inform you that their idea or business plan is drastically different than when it began. An idea may be brilliant, but in reality, it isn’t effective. Entrepreneurs are flexible enough to make the adjustments to make that idea feasible. Furthermore, entrepreneurs are prepared and willing to modify their plans when new information arrives and when there are changes in circumstances.
4. Vision
Entrepreneurs see opportunity everywhere. They’re innovators who are always on the lookout to either develop a new idea or improve an existing product or service. And, chances are that’s the main reason why they became an entrepreneur in the first place. At some point in their lives, they noticed something that could be better. But, instead of just saying that something could be better wasn’t enough. They actually put a plan in motion. In other words, entrepreneurs have the ability to see the future before it happens. I always say entrepreneurs are inspired by things that have never been seen before, things yet to be discovered. You must have the vision that nobody else does. Then the vision to see it through.
Since the pandemic started, a lot of businesses have shut down. What do you recommend to the ones who want to stay afloat?
The impact on startups or small businesses has been monumental during the pandemic as they have scarcer cash reserves and often smaller margins for managing sudden surprises. My advices are to:
– Track expenses against revenue
During this contagion, it is of utmost importance for businesses to conduct a proper assessment of their fixed and variable expenses as well as the actual revenues. This assessment will give a clear picture of where a company stands financially and help the entrepreneurs in planning ahead in the current disconcerted market. This strategy can be implemented even when the pandemic effect settles.
– Check the feasibility of the business model
Considering the market is changing every week (and for the worse), it is imperative to reconsider the business model and reassess where your business stands as per your assumptions concerning the revenue and cost. This is also a crucial time to track current financial metrics and cash flow. Be mindful of what your runway is. Businesses need to evaluate the impact on new sales, collections, credit cycles and potential bad debts.
– Communicate transparently with your customers
We are all in this together, so the ideal way is to stay transparent with your consumers about what your business is going through. Customers can empathize with companies facing a crisis, as long as the communication is transparent. Communicate with customers to understand their perception of the product/solution offered by you.
– Maintain healthy relationship with contracted parties
It is understandable that it might be difficult to pay out vendors/suppliers during the lockdown. However, it would be helpful to give your vendors, suppliers, landlords, and others sufficient notice in case there is going to be any delay in payments so that they can also be prepared and there is no bitterness in this already difficult time.
– Keep Your Team Engaged
Your team relies on you so keep them updated about every development. As a promoter, it is your responsibility to keep your team members engaged and stay connected with them through video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts. It is very important to maintain high spirits within the team and understand the general mood within your remote workforce.
– Communicate to stakeholders
Consult with your investors or external experts to plan the right form of communication with stakeholders, and most importantly customers and employees. Have an honest conversation on the situation and its impact on your business with your entire leadership team. Any negative message should be delivered with utmost empathy along with transparent reasons. In these difficult times, it is important to stand united and help one another in whatever way we can. Stay safe and stay healthy. Please remember that some of the best initiatives are built in trying times. Like all difficult situations, this too shall pass!
With having a family, filming a TV show, and running your own business, how do you manage to have a proper work-life balance?
I truly believe work-life balance is bullshit. I believe in really being in the present and being happy and fulfilled and understanding that sometimes that means missing family time and the dance recital or it means missing the work trip or meeting. I try to live a life without regrets and be in the moment where I am and enjoy myself and give 100% to where I am and what I’m doing without worrying about what else I could be doing. Don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t doing it all – the reality is that none of us are. The reality is some days are all work and some are all play and some are a mashup of both but no week, month or year is completely balanced.
What do you usually do in your free time and how do you entertain yourself during the lockdown?
I worked a lot during the pandemic and enjoyed family time with my 2 little girls and husband at home. We gardened, played lots of board games and did a lot of biking and hiking. In the first 2 weeks of the pandemic, we converted 3 of our distilleries in North America to making Minhas Hand Sanitizer and that was a massive challenge to start a completely new business within 8 days (new supply chain partners from bottle suppliers to transportation carriers, Health Canada approvals, formulations, ingredients, etc). We were honored to help our community and country battle Covid-19. We donated and sold millions of litres of hand sanitizer including donating much of it to front-line workers and those most vulnerable in our communities.
What is your favourite beer?
That’s like asking who is your favorite child! It’s always changing for me but these days I really enjoy our Boxer Lager and a gin martini with our Artingstall’s Gin.
What motivates you to wake up and hustle every day?
Lots of things motivate me – the ability to create products that consumers will enjoy and celebrate life and milestones through collaboration and creativity. The thrill of a flexible schedule and work environment is also important to me, I get to make my own rules and create my own space. I love leading a great group of team members and learning new things every day and meeting new people. And I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m motivated by making money!
What was the craziest thing you’ve ever done in your life?
Start a business with my brother at the age of 19 with only $10,000 and no clue what we were doing but we had the vision to bring quality premium spirits and beer at a fair price to Albertans and Canadians!
If you could have one wish that would 100% come true, what would it be?
For my family and loved ones to be happy and healthy.
