The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 22, 2008 - 3 Hard work, not money, key to success By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Oakville Chamber of Commerce launched Small Business Week on Monday morning with a keynote speaker who knows what it is like to build a business from the ground up. Ron Foxcroft, inventor of the Fox 40 whistle, shared his tips for successful entrepreneurship and what business owners need to do in this time of economic uncertainty. He said nothing beats the tried-and-true act of hard work. "I still work 110 hours a week, with about 80 hours in my businesses and 40 hours a week in the NBA (refereeing)," said Foxcroft, who is also former president of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. "I can outwork anyone in this room and you can take that to the bank." Foxcroft, who currently calls Burlington home, was inspired to create a new whistle after experiencing trouble with ones that operate using a cork pea. As a professional basketball referee, there were at least two important occasions he recalls when the pea became stuck, resulting in no shrill sound and no call. More than $150,000 later, the prototype was finalized in 1987. The whistle featured harmonically tuned air chambers and could be heard over a mile away. The product caught on, and today Fox 40 whistles are used by the NHL, NBA, NFL, CFL, NCAA, FIFA, and FINA, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Life Saving Society of Canada, American Red Cross, NATO forces and many more organizations. It is sold in more than 100 countries. "We sell 40,000 Fox 40 whistles every day," he said. DEREK WOOLLAM / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER SMALL BUSINESS COUNTS: Ron Foxcroft, owner of Fox 40 International and Fluke Transportation and Warehousing, was the keynote speaker at the Oakville Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Week kickoff breakfast Monday. "And every single whistle has been made in Canada by Canadians." Foxcroft is also the owner of Fluke Transport. He spoke about how he bought the company in 1983 without any money, using what he called "deal buttons". He told the Fluke brothers he would buy their business and keep them employed, as long as he could pay for the company as profits came in. He said that money isn't necessary to starting a company and succeeding. Rather, it is about being a smart negotiator. "I got Fluke Transport by looking for the deal button," he said. "We built it into 187 trucks, 500 trailers and at 1.3 million square feet of warehouse space. You should never let money stand in the way of motivation." He said offering good customer service, especially giving clients the opportunity to talk to a live person, as opposed to voicemail, also makes all the difference. "I've got my best deals by answering my own phone," he said. "I answered my own phone before 7 a.m. and I got an order for 60,000 whistles every month for the rest of my life." Foxcroft also spoke about the struggling Canadian economy, saying that teamwork would help Oakville and surrounding communities weather the developing financial storm. "I suggest that the Oakville chamber unite with your neighbouring chambers and create the strongest economic region in the country," he said. He also encouraged chamber staff and small business owners to lobby politicians to lower business taxes, leave partisan politics at the door to work towards the greater good and improve infrastructure to get goods and people to and from Oakville. "Driving from Burlington to Oakville today took me 50 minutes and we're not going to solve gridlock, but we have work to alleviate gridlock," he said. John Sawyer, president of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, said local business owners attending the event would likely learn a lot from Foxcroft. "We're very excited to have Ron Foxcroft here, who has a fabulous story about entrepreneurship and, hopefully, he will inspire some entrepreneurs," he said. The presentation was the first of many events planned by the chamber for Small Business Week in Oakville. Other activities include seminars on skills like networking and branding, roundtable sessions, as well as a trade show. Sawyer said it is essential to foster small businesses. "Small business is incredibly important to our economy," he said. "Small business accounts for almost half of our Gross Domestic Product and just over half of the people employed in Canada work for small businesses. Most importantly, almost two out of every three new jobs created in Canada are created by small businesses. We think it is important to get behind small business in the community." For more information, visit www.oakvillechamber.com. Time for a Change? NOW DISTRIBUTING STONEROX IN OAKVILLE AND MISSISSAUGA See our design team to transform your space We specialize in importing and supplying quality Granite, Caesarstone, Marble, Ceramics, Porcelain and Natural Stone Ask about our Custom Glass Shower Doors & Floor Heating Tile selection made enjoyable! Factory Tile Depot www.factorytiledepot.ca