Trimlock Ltd. For my interview with an entrepreneur I decided to choose Keith Veldhuis, founder and creator of Trimlock siding. He is a perfect example of an entrepreneur that has struggled and laid everything he has out on the line for his business. His first company, Trimstone, started out of a storage unit and slowly built into a successful company. Starting out as Trimstone they did all the typical exterior home repairs such as stucco, laying rock and other small exterior landscaping. This is where his idea sparked and he saw a potential for new innovation. Being an entrepreneur is all about innovation and Keith has mastered this. His idea stemmed from apprenticing in the stucco and exterior home repairs for so long that it made him realize …show more content…
In the beginning he had a few local partners interested in his business that he decided to trust, which later he now regrets. They proved to be untrustworthy and he had to file for bankruptcy because of conflicts in the partnership. However, he didn’t let this stop him, he recovered from that situation and kept moving with his business. He claimed it was a good learning experience for him that he took a lot from. From this experience he gained the valuable knowledge of how to judge people and who he can trust. He has turned down clients before because his gut feeling was telling him that it was a bad deal or he wouldn’t get paid at the end. This is an important quality for entrepreneurs to possess. After Trimstone, he again laid everything he had out on the table including taking out a line of credit on his home to get the necessary funds to create Trimlock. He was also supposed to appear on Dragons Den and pitch his product to the dragons. He stated “If you don’t go broke at least once when starting up a new business then you are not doing it right,” this shows his very positive and resilient attitude that is a needed trait in successful …show more content…
Right now Keith is looking at investors that are interested in taking his company to the next level and making it a franchise. Being able to adapt from going to a family run business to a highly profitable franchise is a huge step that an entrepreneur needs to face if they intend to grow with their company. He has also gained the governments attention with his eco-friendly product, it would work right into their green initiative plan. His product insulates homes, as well as functions as siding to decrease their heating and cooling bills saving energy and money. Keith’s ability to adapt and learn has taken him a long way in his journey. When asked the question “Do you regret not attending post-secondary?” he simple replied with “No I do not. If I had attended post-secondary I probably wouldn’t be in this business today. The only thing I wished I had taken a class in is the financial side of things to be more efficient early in my