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33 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 31,2019 insidehalton.com When you don't have much time to prepare for your first television ap- pearance, you don't have time to get nervous. And for Oakville busi- ness partners Matt Mc- Coy and Mike Sutton and their business Canadian Barbecue Boys, that's a good thing. Last April, with just two days' notice, they faced the "dragons" during an epi- sode of Dragons' Den, the popular CBC show that sees aspiring entrepre- neurs pitch their business concepts and products to a panel of business moguls who have the cash and the know-how to make it hap- pen. They presented with ease and walked away with a deal with the most senior Dragon, Jim Treliving for what they came in asking for - $50,000 for a 10 per centfor - $50,000 for a 10 per centf stake in their business. "It worked out really well; it was great," said Mc- Coy, adding their parents are proud and happy, since they've supported the pair along the whole journey, even letting them use their vehicles the first summer and their garage to store their equipment. The fourth-year Uni- versity of Guelph com- merce students, both 21, haven't decided if they are going to proceed with the deal, but it's a possibility. McCoy said they've had multiple outside invest- ment offers since the show aired. The Canadian BBQ Boys business provides professional barbecue cleaning services to help homeowners and busi- nesses get the most out of their grill through in- creased safety, perfor- mance and longevity. Their goal is to reduce barbecue waste by helping people get more years out of their grills and to reduce safety concerns that come from using a messy orfrom using a messy orf damaged barbecue, said a news release. A secondary goal is pro- viding meaningful em- ployment to other young people and especially up- and-coming entrepre- neurs. Getting a deal they hope will "seal the deal on graduating with honours," joked McCoy. Graduates of Holy Trin- ity Secondary School, Mc- Coy and Sutton, who be- came friends there, start- ed Canadian BBQ Boys three years ago as they were about to enter first year university. "We were chatting in ac- counting class and we real- ly didn't want to go back to our summer jobs - land- scaping," said McCoy. "'What are we going to do?' we wondered." Sutton, whose parents got a similar service done for them, but not very well,for them, but not very well,f and McCoy brainstormed and came up with the idea. The first summer, they started by knocking on doors - just the two of them and they serviced some 300 barbecues; last summer that figure increased to 1,500. "We want to be the bar- becue cleaning company across Canada," said Mc- Coy. Second summer, they started offering a franchis- ing package; they had their own team of eight guys. Last summer, they had more than 20 people, and they travel all over southern Ontario, includ- ing Niagara, Kitchener, Waterloo and as far as Ot-Waterloo and as far as Ot-W tawa. One of the highlights of the entire adventure came at a viewing party the pair held at Brass Taps at the University of Guelph earli- er this month. More than 75 of their family and friends watched the epi-friends watched the epi-f sode - it was also the first time McCoy and Sutton had viewed the episode. "They filmed a lot and we weren't sure how they would put it all together," McCoy said. "We liked it a lot." The goal of our business is to inspire students to take on entrepreneurial opportunities while still in school. Since their first sum- mer, they have provided Summer Territory Manag- er positions for more than 15 students, focused on fos- tering an entrepreneurial experience and providing intangible skills that stu- dents don't typically get from a summer job. Plusfrom a summer job. Plusf the students get paid $18/ hour since it's highly spe- cialized and a tough job, adds McCoy. "It's gruelling the task of cleaning and servicing - definitely not the easiest thing in the world," said Sutton. See their episode here:https://www.cbc.ca/ dragonsden/episodes/ season-13/episode-12-sea- son-13 Dragons' Den is filmed at the CBC Broadcasting Centre in Toronto and airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC Television. NEWS CANADIAN BBQ BOYS SCORE DEAL ON DRAGONS' DEN JULIE SLACK jslack@metroland.com Business partners Matt McCoy (left) and Mike Sutton - the Oakville entrepreneurs who created Canadian Barbecue Boys - got a $50,000 Dragons' Den deal with Jim Treliving on a recent episode of the CBC show. CBC The Dragons' Den Masterworks of Oak- ville Chorus & Orchestra has just begun rehearsals for its spring concert.for its spring concert.f Masterworks continues its season of performing the works of living com- posers. This spring it's John Rutter's Requiem, Canadian composer Ron- ald Royer's Gloria (world première) and Ronald Beckett's These Thy Glori- ous Works (world pre- mière of orchestral ver- sion). Requiem, written in 1985, is one of Rutter's most famous works, and con-famous works, and con-f tains all the hallmarks of his style: wonderful melo- dies, compelling harmo- nies and meaningful text settings. It will be per- formed Saturday, April 6formed Saturday, April 6f and Sunday, April 7 at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Glen Abbey. Masterworks of Oak- ville concerts often attract 900-1,200 per weekend. Those interested in joining the choir and or- chestra should contact ar- tistic director Charles De- muynck at charlesde- muynckvid- eo@gmail.com. Visit www.master- worksofoakville.ca for more information on Mas- terworks. COMMUNITY MASTERWORKS OF OAKVILLE TO PERFORM RUTTER'S 'REQUIEM' IN APRIL