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Before starting up their business, Nancy Lehoux and her spouse Pierre Rozon had no business training or experience. One after the other, they quit their jobs with the military to start up their project. “We started from zero, and we learned everything on our own,” states Ms. Lehoux. The couple now runs a dental laboratory that specializes in making permanent and removable dentures. In other words, their business makes crowns and dentures based on the specifications of dentists and dental specialists, their clients. Milident started up in 1995 in Gatineau with four employees in a 300 square foot office. It now employs 38 people in an 18,000 square foot facility in the Hull sector. Nancy Lehoux was a nurse and Pierre Rozon a combat engineer when they were with the military. During that time, Mr. Rozon studied to be a dental technician.
When the military started its cutbacks in 1992, Pierre Rozon was laid off. He immediately started developing a business plan, and after three years Milident opened its doors in Gatineau. “We invested $100,000 for the start-up, which included all of our savings,” recounts Ms. Lehoux. “Unlike me, Pierre was not at all afraid of taking risks.”
Despite her fears, Nancy Lehoux chose to quit the military in 1997 to join the business as the administrator. The transition from the military to the private sector was tougher than she had expected. “We hired dental technicians from the military. But since they were accustomed to a slower pace of work, our production was not enough to make us profitable. We had to stimulate the team to make them more productive.” The situation corrected itself over time, but the couple still ended up living without a salary for two long years.
The wind has since shifted. Milident gradually increased its productivity and the size of its facilities, investing $5 million in an 18,000 square foot building on boulevard des Technologies in the Hull sector. The business turned to the Business Development Bank of Canada to finance the work, and Economic Development Canada gave it an interest-free loan to purchase equipment.
Finally, Quebec’s ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation supported the entrepreneurs in the preparation of their marketing plan for the Ottawa market.
Labour shortage
Human resource management is one of the company’s biggest challenges, because labour is particularly scarce. “In Quebec, the only technical training is at the Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil,” explains Ms. Lehoux. “And it is the least well paid trade in the province.” So Milident turns to new graduates and recruits from outside Canada. Emploi-Québec also supports the company with in-house training.
Professional coaching
Once the company’s structure was established, Nancy Lehoux found herself with a lot more time on her hands. So she developed an internal professional coaching service. “This involves sessions that deal with teamwork, the company’s mission and values, and leadership skills. Every six months, we offer a different program, and the positive results are quick to emerge.”
Her coaching service is greatly appreciated. So much so that it is now being offered to other dental businesses. “At one point when we were building the business, I surrounded myself with experts who taught me everything. Over the next five years I also learned from my mistakes. I now provide advice that helps my clients work smarter, not harder,” she points out.
Pratical information
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What made you decide to start up this business?
My spouse started the business after lay-offs in the armed forces. It is the best thing the military could have done for us because he truly is a born entrepreneur.
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Why Gatineau?
My spouse is from Montréal and I am from Thetford Mines. We had long ago agreed that we would settle in Gatineau. We think this is a city with human dimensions and an excellent place to raise children.
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What are the advantages of working for yourself?
Being in business means exploring your full potential as a professional. I never could have accomplished this much as an employee.
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What surprised you the most about the business world?
The business world is not really as mysterious as you might expect. I had never dreamed of going into business, and in the beginning I found it painful. But at the end of the day, it was nothing.
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To what do you attribute your business success?
We try to make the most of the strengths of every member of the team and to complement one another. We are also attentive to the needs and ideas offered by others. We want to stand out from the competition by focusing on the value added by our services.
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What were your toughest challenges, and how did you overcome them?
We are particularly affected by the labour shortage and staff turnover. Coming from the military, our leadership style was very authoritarian and did not necessarily work outside that environment. As a certain point, we understood that we had to change our approach to dealing with employees.
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What does it take to succeed in business today?
You need professional resources that will help you move forward and develop quickly.
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What advice would you give someone who is thinking of starting up a business?
Why not take a course on starting up a business? There is an excellent program offered by Compétences Outaouais. I checked out the content and it is very pertinent.
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How did Développement économique – CLD Gatineau contribute?
When we acquired the land for our new building, DE – CLDG was involved in different stages of the zoning change, and facilitated the entire process.
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