On Wednesday, University of Guelph students in the entrepreneurship co-op got a special visit by Ryan Smolkin, CEO of Smoke’s Poutinerie and the students were offered a chance to get free poutine for life.
Wearing his signature fur-lined plaid lumberjack hat, Smolkin gave an hour-long presentation to students, filled with 80s rock music, air guitar and some tips on how to start a successful brand like Smoke’s.
The company started as a single restaurant in Toronto in 2009. Ten years later, Smoke’s Poutinerie has 150 locations in nine countries.
Smolkin told students about how the company was born after he spent nine years running his own marketing company. Once the brand was established — including lots of plaid and loud 80s rock — Smolkin said he has kept true to it ever since.
“To have a celebrity entrepreneur come here and help inspire and teach our students is just amazing,”said Tyler Zemlak, startup coach for the John F. Wood Centre for Business.
Students participating in the entrepreneur co-op come from all different programs.
“That’s the great thing about entrepreneurship — it seems to be one of the common things that brings everyone from different disciplines together,” said Zemlak.
Liam Semelhago is a first-year accounting student participating in the co-op. He did a project on Smoke’s Poutinerie when he was in high school.
“It looked pretty flashy with all of the branding, which is one thing that makes it different from the other poutinerie’s in this country,” said Semelhago. “Quebec might have some better poutine, but that’s Quebec.”
After doing the project in high school, Semelhago said he was excited to hear Smolkin was coming to speak at U of G.
Smolkin explained to students how he was able to go toe-to-toe with giants in the fast food industry, by offering cheeky promotions that mirrored other brands, like offering a ‘double double’ poutine with double the gravy and double the cheese.
That promotion resulted in a cease-and-desist letter from Tim Horton’s.
“By then the limited-time promotion was already over,” beamed Smolkin.
The company also got in a mini Twitter war with Wendy’s, resulting in that company talking about Smoke’s to its more than three million Twitter followers.
During a question and answer period, Smolkin was asked about setbacks, taking control of the company’s distribution chain and dealing with cultural issues when opening restaurants in different countries.
Speaking to GuelphToday after the event, Smolkin said there were few supports for entrepreneurs when he went to university about 20 years ago.
“I didn’t have any support when I was graduating, there was nothing like the (entrepreneurship) programs they have now,” he said.
Smolkin is on a 12-university tour this fall and each student who comes to the events can put their name in a draw for a free Smoke’s franchise, which will be drawn at the end of the tour.
“It covers the franchise fee, the project management fees that guides it through all of the buildout stages,” said Smolkin.
A Smoke’s Poutinerie franchise offers free poutine for life, he said.
The promotion does not include the lease of the space the franchise will operate in, noted Smolkin.
“With this next generation, everybody wants to work for themselves and have their own gig. That’s what franchising is all about — working for yourself, but not by yourself,” said Smolkin.
