Donna Warenko
Donna Warenko, President
Company: Granite Internet Services Inc., Pinawa, Manitoba
Contact Info: Tel: (204) 753-2071; e-mail: info@granite.mb.ca
Description: Granite is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that provides dial-up and high-speed wireless access, designs, builds and maintains Local and Wide Area Networks and offers web design, hosting and Internet marketing services for the North Eastman area of Manitoba. It is the only high-speed wireless provider in some areas.
Background: With a Biological Technology Diploma and a Bachelor of Science degree, Donna worked as a research technologist and microbiologist early in her career. When her husband's job required moving to a community an hour and a half from Winnipeg, she needed Internet access in order to do her homework to finish her computer science degree, but found that there was none available. She became a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors of the Eastman Freenet, a non-profit corporation providing Internet access to a limited area of eastern Manitoba. As Internet use grew, the volunteer structure of Eastman Freenet was no longer adequate. Seeing an opportunity, Donna and a partner made a pitch to privatize it and founded Granite Internet Services, becoming the only private ISP in the region. She bought out her partner in 2002, invested in upgrades, streamlined operations and expenses and turned a profit within nine months.
Awards: 2005 Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Excellence in Service. "All of my staff and family, including my teenage nieces and nephews, and even my RBC Royal Bank account manager, attended the Awards dinner. I really wanted the younger people to be exposed to what is available to them, so it was very exciting when I won."
Unique Aspects: Granite's competitive edge is superior customer service. "Customers can call our help line 24/7." Granite also offers high-speed in areas where its large competitor, Manitoba Telecom (MTS), does not. "We prevented the departure of some businesses from our region by providing them with high-speed access."
Biggest Success Factors: "Serving customers well is one of the most important things. Equally so is the way I treat my employees." Donna hired a service to handle technical support calls when staff is not available so that her employees are not working evenings or weekends. And even though Granite is a small firm, her employees have full benefits. "They care about the company. I can go on vacation and know they will manage things well."
Productivity Improvements: Donna has streamlined a lot of the paperwork in her company and outsourced certain activities. "I used to do a lot of simple bookkeeping chores, because I thought it was important to do them myself, but in reality I was sloppy because I was always too busy." Delegating the bookkeeping has reduced errors, improved Accounts Receivables and freed up Donna's time.
Lesson Learned: "Running a business is a lot like being on a roller coaster. The actual knowledge level that you need to grow it isn't the technical aspect - you can hire people to do what you don't know - but, rather, it's the financial side. I wish I had a commerce degree. When you are running a technical company like this, you can be as scientific or as computer-savvy as you want, but it's the business aspect that's really going to make it or break it."
How RBC Royal Bank Helps: "I've been a client of the bank from the very beginning of our business in 1997 when we received a start-up loan. I also have a supportive account manager and can phone her up and talk to her about anything."
Work-Life Balance: "I have a very supportive and flexible husband, who really helps me out - whether that is having dinner on the table when I get home or being a good, objective sounding board for me. Although the main motivation for owning my own business originally was to gain the freedom of managing my own time, in reality this is not very realistic. In fact, your time is no longer your own. My main motivation now is to be financially successful because I believe that will give me the freedom I want."
Financial Planning: "Personal and business finances should be separate. My husband is not involved in my business in any way so our personal finances are ours and we keep it that way." Donna has both a personal financial advisor and a business advisor. "They don't make decisions for me, but rather they're people I can bounce things off, ask questions and get advice. The more people that give you ideas, the better you are. There's no reason to operate in a vacuum."
Growth Plans: "I'm half-way into a five-year plan. It includes working with local economic development agencies and Rogers to expand to seven more tower locations so that, within the next five years,
Granite can provide high-speed access to customers now on dial-up Internet only. And then it will be time for a new plan!"
Personal Interests: A passionate golfer, hiker and skier, Donna and her family - which includes her husband and two teenage sons, both of whom have helped her part-time in the business - also enjoy canoe trips. "Our last back-packing trip to the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island was quite adventurous!"
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