The BCIT School of Construction and the Environment and BCIT Student Association (BCITSA) Entrepreneurial Services had the pleasure of hosting the annual ASK AN EXPERT: Trades Entrepreneurship Panel 2024. This event invited BCIT trades alumni turned entrepreneurs to share critical insight on starting and running a successful business with construction trades students.
Joining our panel this year were BCIT trades alumni and entrepreneurs Kenny Gemmill, Founder, Kits Construction, Brandy Kawulka, Founder, Wood Be Art Renovations, Priya Anderson, Founder, Rockwood Electric, Terence Chan, Founder, Impetus Plumbing and Heating. They shared their personal experiences about starting their own businesses and advice from their own trials and tribulations with about 120 students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests, the largest turnout yet!
Gemmill shared “My advice for future entrepreneurs is if you’re starting as an entrepreneur in the trades, is there’s no job too small. You got to start somewhere in the beginning stage, do good quality work. Take it slow, take your time. You want to get yourself to a quality position to do quality work and charge a decent amount of money for that once you get there then you can move on to the next step of becoming a real entrepreneur.”
Anderson also shared her own advice “Just learn from every mistake and don’t be scared if you don’t have the exact experience on something as long as you have the confidence to know that you are a problem solver, you will figure it out.”
Thank you to all of our Trades Entrepreneur panelists, Laura Barreca, BCITSA Entrepreneurship Program Manager and Marita Luk, BCIT SoCE Business Development Manager and team for organizing another successful event to help inspire the next generation of trades entrepreneurs!