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Below, is a transcript of the interview given by Jean-Pierre Ranger to Generation INC, translated in english.
Entrepreneuring in 5 questions
Being an administrator, that's not my job. But it seems to me that there are things to learn from frequenting zoological institutions. Parc Safari is not a 9 to 5 job. It's more like 24 hours out of 24, 7 days a week. I have to say that, the whole team here shares this same passion. And it is a passion.
I became sole owner in April of 2002 and I have the intention of remaining so until the day I die.
1. Succeeding in business is…
I think that success is being able to pass on what we've learned to the next generation; and in an enterprise such as this, success is receiving 300,000 people and showing them parts of Planet Earth that deserve to be preserved.
2. What you are most proud of…
What I am most proud of at Parc Safari is probably the new Afrika platform. The theme of the Parc is Africa in the heart of Quebec, and this platform, this terrace that has the form of the African continent, this is a place that will allow 300,000 people to become aware that there is a continent called Africa that exists, and that on this continent there are about fifty countries. And we'll put the attributes of Egypt with the pyramids, and of Niger with Agadêre with its cities and lands, the mud huts…
In my opinion, it is as dynamic as the best of Disney but directly related to education and awareness. People will leave here with a lesson; they will have learned that a continent named Africa, with its countries, exists. It will no longer be an abstraction. It will be a reality.
3. Learning from one's mistakes…
The notion of a mistake is also the notion of learning; and I have a problem identifying something as being a mistake in the full sense of the term. Placing too much confidence in someone… which happened to us here, when someone took a million dollars out of our coffers. Yes, it was a mistake because we did not have the foresight to verify three times things that should have been verified. It was a serious mistake that cost us a million dollars. But I consider that mistakes are a way to learn.
4. Your greatest motivation…
There are lifestyle models that we admire because people are active all the time. I have to say that the environment in which I work favours that. But the three hundred young people who surround me here, the herds, developing what we call the animal collection, seeing life in its unfolding, that's an incredible motivator.
5. Three guidelines to propel your business forward…
a. It is important that the vision of the product be conveyed clearly and that we can verify this with friends and family, with market studies, even if it's still in its embryonic stages. The product is the prime variable. There are no others.
b. The next guideline is, surround yourself with people who right off believe in the entrepreneur, in the initiator of the project, because those who are there for a salary will always be there for a salary. But the extra hours, they won't be putting those in, and in a business you have to be ready to apply elbow grease or to put in the time it takes to make things happen.
c. The third guideline is the balance between family life and responsibilities. Sometimes we have to sacrifice one, but we have to find the time to come back into balance. |
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