Gabriel Faubert is a driven E-commerce Entrepreneur & consultant committed to success. While studying Management & Marketing at John Molson School of Business, Gabriel began his career by consulting tech & marketing Startups in the city of Montreal. Since his graduation in 2019, Gabriel has built multiple e-commerce stores and scaled 2 brands to 6 figures.
When did you start your business and what were some of your goals when you started?
Gabriel: Since childhood, I always knew I wanted to achieve great things and had an entrepreneurial mindset. During my studies in Management and Marketing at John Molson School of Business, my goal was not just to earn a degree but to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to become a successful entrepreneur. During my last year at university, while still working at the National Bank of Canada, a pivotal conversation with my best friend led me to take the leap and leave the bank to fully commit to starting my entrepreneurial career. I believed that to become an entrepreneur, I needed to make decisions like one and embrace risk. This decision put me in a survival mode, which pushed me to outperform myself and achieve great things when faced with challenges.
My reasons and motivations were clear: I didn’t want to be stressed about money, I wanted to have time to pursue my passions, travel, take care of my family, be present for my future children, and learn from life’s experiences. I aimed to trade my time for money not through direct labor but through leveraging the skills and systems I create. Ultimately, I wanted to build something greater than myself, which in my current case, involves donating thousands of dollars per year to save wildlife around the world. In summary, starting my own business has allowed me to have time, mobility, and choice.
What stage are you at now? What have been your greatest achievements?
Gabriel: We have moved beyond the initial entrepreneurial, MVP (Most Viable Product), and creative stages and are now in the delegation and growth phase. My journey has been marked by countless achievements. Here are some highlights:
- Building my first MVP website.
- Making our first sale.
- Outsourcing our customer service team.
- Branding our own packaging.
- Donating our first $12,000 to 1% for the Planet.
- Paying myself my first paycheck.
- Generating our first and second million in revenue.
- Building and expanding our internal team.
- Organizing tasks and transforming organizational management with a management software.
What were/are your biggest struggles?
Gabriel: Some of the biggest struggles I’ve faced include:
- Continuing when I had no more money to cover basic expenses.
- Building my first customer service team.
- Losing more than $50,000 in 2-3 months.
- Almost losing my business due to Facebook issues.
- Major shipping issues during the holidays.
- Managing business reputation and improving customer service.
- Maintaining profitability.
- Developing internal processes to constantly improve the business.
- Transitioning from being a solopreneur to managing my business as a CEO.
What was the problem you were experiencing before you came into YES?
Gabriel: Before coming into YES, I struggled with building my first profitable MVP.
What did you find as a result of using our services? What was the best thing about it?
Gabriel: Using YES services, I found an incredible mentor and now a friend in Derek MacNeil. Knowing that I am not alone in this journey has been invaluable. Derek has acted like a business psychologist, helping me a lot with the mental side of things, asking the right questions, and allowing me to see my business from a more rational and factual perspective. Additionally, YES provided me with the opportunity to give conferences to help other entrepreneurs succeed in the e-commerce side of their business.
How do you feel about the service you have received from YES?
Gabriel: I am immensely grateful for the services provided by YES and strongly recommend them to entrepreneurs at any level. The guidance and support I’ve received have been instrumental in my success.
Do you have any other thoughts you would like to share?
Gabriel: Here are some additional insights I’ve gained that could help others in their entrepreneurial journey:
- Automate wherever possible.
- Align your ambitions with your organizational goals.
- If you feel comfortable, you’re not taking enough risks. It’s normal to feel challenged in business.
- Always seek growth; stagnation leads to failure.
- Outsource to grow.
- After three years, I’ve realized the importance of developing extremely clear business processes and finding the right people to execute them.
- Be patient and trust the process.
- Know your audience before starting up; create distribution before developing a product.
- While constant growth is impossible, constant adaptation to achieve success is essential.
- Do something you won’t regret.
- If you feel lost or disconnected, review your finances.
- Success lies in the details.
- A growth mindset knows no bounds for potential growth and evolution. Even setbacks are just opportunities to refuel and redirect your approach.
YES is a non-profit organization providing resources for entrepreneurs in Montreal. I have been utilizing their services for almost four years, benefiting greatly from multiple mentors. Particularly, Derek MacNeil, whom I meet with every month, has played a crucial role in my journey. His mentorship has been invaluable, helping me view my business and my relationship with it through a rational and factual lens.
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