Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lauren DeSouza, Co-Founder of Ace Inc., located in Mississauga, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are building a platform that helps job seekers train their communication skills before a job interview. Our users go to our platform, complete exercises on interview prep, then complete a mock interview. The mock interview gives them sample questions from actual interviews, they record their answers, and once complete, they receive a feedback report on how they did. Our AI gives them feedback and ideas on how to improve in the following areas: if what they said was logical, if they presented themselves well with good posture, facial expressions, and enthusiasm, and how they presented their answers. Users continuously complete mock interviews to train their communication skills and gain confidence over consistent practice.
Our end user is a technical job seeker. To reach this user, we are launching as a B2B SaaS product, where our customer is coding boot camps and talent matching platforms globally. We're approaching our target customers this way to create a win-win environment. A win for the end user is that they get to train this skill in a convenient and accessible way. Our customers win because their business models rely on job seekers getting hired and presenting top-tier talent, so investing in scalable, upskilling platforms to solve this problem is a priority. With the global remote work environments continuing to grow, companies are looking to hire globally, which presents this communication skills gap now more than ever.
Tell us about yourself
I've always been excited by the idea that you can create something out of nothing. The fact that you can improve people's lives with your own creativity and means is extremely motivating to me and what drives my need to be an entrepreneur. When we first started the company, it came out of a personal problem my co-founder, and I faced: communication skills. We found ourselves in many situations where we were so nervous and had a tough time communicating that we lost opportunities or didn't get the jobs we wanted. That's why we decided to build Ace, to build a tool that people can use to feel more comfortable and confident in their communication skills. As we've worked on this, the motivation to build this company comes from each and every user that we talk to - seeing their improvement, their joy in speaking with confidence, and getting the results they want is what drives us to build an impactful product.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is playing a part in helping exceptional talent land the jobs they really want. Each day, we meet incredible job seekers that have put in the time, effort, and dedication to learn skills, become job-ready, and work hard to venture into rewarding careers. Any time that we've played a part in helping them get to their next step is an accomplishment for us and a feeling of pride and care for what we do.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things that come with being a business owner has to be managing obstacles and expectations. Being a non-technical founder and working on a technical product, I learned the hard way that building transformational technology like this takes time. Any timeline I had coming into working on this business was thrown right out the window - you have to be ready to adjust your expectations, gather resources for the challenges at hand, and navigate the next immediate step.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- The hardest part is starting: it can be nerve-wracking to start a business because you publicly take on this responsibility, and the success or failure of this business relies on you. What you'll find, though, is people in your network are always willing to help, and once you get over the hurdle of starting, it's all about experimenting, iterating, and growing from there.
- Everything happens for a reason: things don't always work out - and that can't be more true for everything you try while running a business. You have great ideas, and some work exceptionally while others fail miserably. You have to take an approach that celebrates the wins and learns from the losses - realizing that failure is the best way to improve and grow will allow you to get back up each time, learn a lesson, and be stronger going forward.
- Find a good balance between your business and your personal life: there is a lot of pressure that comes with running a business, and you can sometimes feel like you're thinking about it 24/7. However, for your business to grow sustainably, you need to balance your own energy and burnout so that you can sustain it in the long run. This is so crucial and requires a lot of self-reflection, time to yourself, and being extremely self-aware of what energizes you and makes you happy. Investing in your mental well-being is a choice for both your health and your business.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.aceinterviewprep.io
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AceInterviewPreparation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ace_int_prep
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acetheinterview/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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