by David Martin
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 22/97) - There's something mysterious, almost mythical about the successful young entrepreneur.

The accepted wisdom is that some people are simply born to succeed, that their stars are somehow aligned from the beginning, that success in business is simply theirs for the taking.

The reality isn't quite so romantic, however, for most young business people. Take Brendan Bell, the principal force behind the two Javaroma coffee bars in Yellowknife, for instance. Friends, family and faith in himself, along with a healthy dose of plain hard work, had far more influence on his business than any supernatural predestination.

The first element in Brendan's equation is his family. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to an American mother and Canadian father, Brendan's family moved a fair amount. Vancouver, Smithers, B.C., and Iqaluit were all stops on the road before Yellowknife became home. And to Brendan, Yellowknife is home.

"When we moved to Yellowknife," he says. "I was in grade seven. So basically I've spent my whole high school life, and after, here in Yellowknife. My dad had been a student chaplain in Paris, and a Catholic priest for about ten years. He left the priesthood and went to the United States, to Chicago. My mom was teaching in Chicago and they met up there. So they hooked up, and then moved to Milwaukee. My dad was working in the counter-culture there as a social worker and that's where I was born.

"I have a younger brother Adrian, who manages this place (Javaroma in the NorthwestTel building) for me, and my sister Margaret is in her last year of high school at St. Pats. I'm very close to Adrian because we work together."

As for being born to succeed in business, in Brendan's case it's a myth. Like many young people, Brendan's future was hardly cast in stone.

"I went to Calgary to university and studied commerce," he says. "I didn't know that that's what I wanted to do. When I first went I took general studies and didn't like it. I took a year off a worked with my dad. He's a management consultant, and that's when I said 'this is really what I want to do.' I really loved the kinds of things he was doing, but more than that I loved the idea of the lifestyle-of being able to work for yourself.

"I had a lot of fun that year, and I learned a lot. Initially, after I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and came back here, I wasn't going to go into business. But the opportunity came up, the place down the street was for sale."

In fact, for a time, it looked like Brendan's future had very little to do with business.

"I'd written my LSAT (Law School Admissions Test), and was pretty much on my way to law school, but I decided I'd rather take some time off. I was kind of sick of school by then. And I thought this was something that I wanted to do. A friend of my dad's, who's also a consultant, knew the business was for sale. One of his partners was one of the owners. It was pretty much as you see it now. My dad had heard about it through his buddy Peter Allen, and spoke to me about it. Peter said here's a proven business that's up and running and has a bit of a track record. It seemed to be doing all right, though it seemed it could use some hands-on management."

Once focused on a business, however, the friendships that helped introduce him to business grew, says Brendan.

"So we bought the shares of the company. It didn't take too long to get the whole thing off the ground."

"The business had been the brain-child of Eric Yeung and he wanted to be sure that whoever took it was going to do a nice job and really have their heart in it. Without that the transition wouldn't have been nearly as smooth. For the first few months he was always there for us. If we needed to call him up and figure something out, we did. He really helped us, it was great."

In terms of keeping it up and running, the brothers have learned that business is as much about people as it is the bottom line.

"Staffing is tricky," admits Brendan. "When we started this place, my brother designed it with some architects in the south that Bellanca developments hooked us up with. But, once you get the place --the vision and the idea-- up and running, it takes day-to-day management. That's the tough part. The product has got to be the same day in and day out. Keeping that up is the difficult part, we find it tough.

"We've got some really good kids working for us, but we just don't have enough of them. Yellowknife is so transient, especially with young people going away to school. That's sort of the nature of the thing, we're not hiring people for a lifetime, we hiring people who are between things."

Nonetheless, in just over a year the brothers have made Javaroma a going concern, opening a second outlet only months after taking over the company.

Although always trying to improve the business and looking for opportunities to grow it, at times the brothers have realized that growth takes time.

"We tried to do a little bit of expansion, we got into a contract with the Legislative Assembly and the Heritage Cafe. We were very happy with that, it was a great experience for us and excellent for during sessions, there's a lot of catering work there. But I sort of found that, with only one of me and only one of my brother, we were starting to spread ourselves a little thin. We had to look at what we were doing, and we wanted to improve the offering here."

That's not to say the pair are resting on their laurels and content with the status quo.

"The one thing we want to get into --and my brother is actually in Vancouver training right now-- is coffee roasting.

"We'd like to buy the roasting equipment and get into roasting and marketing our own brand of coffees. The opportunities now with the Internet are huge. You can become global very quickly."

If there are ways to expand and grow the business, the Bell brothers can count on support. A Canadian financial giant has already recognized Brendan's business acumen.

"The federal government," he admits, "The Business Development Bank of Canada, has a young entrepreneur award. I was nominated by Rick O'Brien, who is the loans manager of Royal Bank, and I given the award at a presentation in Toronto. It was a great experience. The BDC set me up with a mentor in Yellowknife, Jerry Avery, a local accountant. They flew us down and we met down there for the first time."

But is Yellowknife the place to grow and expand? Despite the tight economic times and political uncertainty, Brendan certainly thinks so.

"I think a lot of people are nervous in Yellowknife with the price of gold and the division of the Territories. I think in the next few years it will bounce back with the diamonds. I also think gold will bounce back. But I think we'll also be able to replace the government as the main employer. I think small business has a large role to play in that. It's a beautiful city and a great place to raise a family. I'm optimistic that, even if we do lose a few people at first, it will bounce back. Some businesses will be hurt, but the ones that are trying to react to what the customer wants and provide a good product will survive. I don't think it's a bad time for a good business, I don't think there is a bad time for a good business."

Expansion in the North, beyond Yellowknife, is also an option, but not one Brendan considers for the immediate future.

"It's been a year and a half of -- not struggling -- but it's been tough, long hours, not a lot of money. We're starting to pay down the debt, and we like the idea of seeing a little more money for ourselves now. We're not ready to take on a big debt load and open another place."

Time is another factor in expansion plans, and listening to Brendan, it seems that with time comes maturity.

"If you're in it for the long term, you have to look at it realize that this is something that you have to do day in and day out. You can work sixteen- or eighteen-hour days, and how long can you do it before you drive yourself crazy? I had to take a step back after the first year, I still wanted a life, I still wanted a girlfriend, I still wanted to go out on weekends. I'm 26 years old and I wasn't really ready to give those things up-I thought I was at first. Then I realized I wasn't happy working this much and not still fooling around and having fun. So now I'm taking more of a five- or ten-year approach to this thing. We're working at more slowly."

So, far from being the exclusive domain of whiz kids, Brendan feels that small business or self-employment is an option that today's young people should think about. With the right amount of support and backing, it's possible for almost anyone to succeed, he feels.

"If you have a good relationship with your parents, it's always an option. Funding, I found out, is one of the least difficult aspects if you have a good idea. I guess I have a different appreciation now for the amount of money --it's not overwhelming. It does scare a lot of people when they say 'I need to borrow a couple of hundred thousand dollars,' and it's normal. But if you're young, and have a good idea, and are willing to try, then go for it."