RHOT Star Ann Kaplan On Founding Financial Giant iFinance Canada
Dr. Ann Kaplan, Founder of iFinance
Dr. Ann Kaplan is a powerhouse entrepreneur who started financial giant iFinance in the 90s to star in the Real Housewives of Toronto, speaking at prestigious events and penning multiple books, including If You Don’t Laugh You’ll Cry.
“You do good things, but do not forget, the enemy is out there in every action. When you're in a competitive environment in any business, remember there's an enemy, and they don't have the same intentions that you do.” - Ann
Find Ann Kaplan & iFinance:
Episode Contents
- Starting iFinance Canada
- Unsecured Loans and Pitching to Banks
- The Balance of Working and Being a Mom
- Starring on the Real Housewives of Toronto
- Ann’s Social Project in Fashion
- Learning Other People’s Agenda
- Raising Capital is Everything for a Business
How Ann Started iFinance Canada
Mimi MacLean:
Ann, thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate your time. You have an impressive resume. There's just so much to dive into because you're the quintessential entrepreneur. I mean, you've actually been named Entrepreneur Of The Year in Canada several times. I was just looking through your website, and the thing that struck me and that I would love to start the conversation is that you are a certified wedding officiant. So I would love to talk about how you came to do that.
Ann Kaplan:
You can call me Ann Chaplin. So rather than Ann Kaplan because I am actually a chaplain, and I had two very good friends. I knew this gentleman that was getting married, and I'd met his wife, and I really liked him, and I became very close to his wife, too. And they showed up one day and said, "Ann, we'd like you to marry a us." And at the time, I wasn't a chaplain, and I thought that was one of probably the most beautiful gifts I've ever been given was somebody saying, "We want you to officiate our wedding." So I said, "Of course, I will." And I thought, "Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to become a chaplain."
Ann Kaplan:
Now they said, "You could officiate the wedding, but we could have someone come to just do the paperwork." And I said, "No, I'd like to do the whole thing." So I actually went through a program where I understood and learned how to be a chaplain, in-person program, and through the church and became a wedding officiant and a chaplain. And I've gone through another one for the births of babies as well.
Mimi MacLean:
Wow.
Ann Kaplan:
Now that one, you don't need a certain document, but the chaplain, you do need a document for. And then I've been asked to officiate more weddings since, and so I've done that. And for my friends, I waive the fees. So they get the friends and family discount. And so I put myself out there as being paid for, but I actually would never take money from somebody, and I do meet with people, and then I'd like to be part of, "What are the words that you want to say?" So I actually will sit with a couple and say, "How do you want this presented? What do you want to say?" And make sure that I give them the best experience they can have because they're my friends and they want me to officiate their wedding. What a nice honor to have.
Mimi MacLean:
I love that story. That's great. That's why when I saw that, compared to everything that you're doing, I was like, "Wait, there has to be a story to this," because-
Ann Kaplan:
Yeah.
Mimi MacLean:
... it's so unique. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. So I'd love to just start about your business that you started 25 years ago, in '96, and you've gone on to have one of the largest finance companies in Canada. So I'd love to just talk about that story, how you decided to start that, and how you grew it to be so successful.
Ann Kaplan:
Well, I started at 25 years ago and at the time I was a single mother with two children and I had to figure out how to get no support whatsoever, how to have a roof over my head, feed the kids, get them to school because I chose private school for the kids. And so that was really my priority is to lower my costs so I could afford the private school. I had to keep on working, but I had this idea. So I was working at the time as an interior designer for commercial properties, an independent interior designer, and I had a thought that because my parents were doctors, medical doctors, specialists, radiologists, dentists, the family, all of my family are doctors. But they were saying we'd go to a two-tiered medical system in Canada. And I thought, "I wonder what is going to happen?" Because in Canada, at the time, we're so used to having everything covered. We don't pay for anything medical.
Ann Kaplan:
And I thought, "I wonder how people are going to pay?" So I started a company that would finance medical procedures. So that meant they were unsecured. It's not like a car where the car is the security. It's not like a mortgage where you have a house for security. These were unsecured loans. I had no idea how to run a company. I had run companies before, but not how to run a finance company, and really started the company to finance medical procedures. And that was the first in North America ever doing medical finance.
Ann Kaplan:
Eventually, I moved down into the US as well, and we went medical, then we went dental, then we went veterinary procedures, then home improvement and then financing technology, like if you were going to buy a computer. And we expanded out our platforms, which became a larger finance company, and then we moved into point-of-sale lending. So when you check out at a retailer, our name will show up as one of the options for getting a loan at the point-of-sale and move to automating the system and to incorporate machine learning in the system.
Ann Kaplan:
So I've kept moving along with the technology. We've processed over two billion dollars in loans since inception, and I never let anyone know I was a single mom with two kids. I just beetled on and kept my head down, and in the room, in meetings with banks and funders at banks, or behind, I borrow from banks to be able to loan money out. So behind all of that, I've never brought up my personal life. I felt it would be a detriment, being a single mom. So I didn't want it to be a plus or a minus. I just wanted them to know that I could run a company and that I knew what I was doing and I could make it into whatever my promise was that I would hold.
Unsecured Loans and Pitching to Banks
Mimi MacLean:
How did you convince the lenders to give you money, initially, on unsecured loans?
Ann Kaplan:
That's a funny one because the first year, we did one million in loans. The 13th month, I did a million in that one month, and then it became a snowball and I'm going, "I have to figure out how to fund this." So I went to one of our larger banks, flew out to Toronto from Vancouver, sat with the banker. He opened his drawer and pulled out ... He said, "Well, I can't give you any money." I wanted five million to fund the growth. He said, "I can't give you any money, but here, this may help," and he pulled a stress ball out of his and handed it to me with the company logo on it. And I'm going, "Yeah, thanks. But this isn't going to work."
Ann Kaplan:
Anyway, flew back from Toronto back to Vancouver where I was living at the time, and I got in front of the same bank, but I didn't realize how banks work, that there's the east coast, west coast, central, those divisions. I got in front of the same bank, not really thinking about it, and they gave me an opportunity to pitch. So I had hired a CFO who wasn't doing any CFO stuff, but at least it didn't have that young girl in the room coming in. I hired a guy that at least had a bit of gray hair and a guy into the room to the meetings, and so he was helping me, but not really doing the background stuff. But he did work for me.
Ann Kaplan:
So he came in to pitch. We went in to pitch the bank in one of those board rooms that are impressive and intimidating, and partway through, and I was loaning money for medical procedures, mostly plastic surgery and hair transplants and things, and the lead banker, his name was Bert. He said, "I don't get this. Why would anyone take a loan out for plastic surgery?" And I looked at him and I said, "Because people want loans for plastic surgery." Our way of entering in the medical field was what was being paid out-of-pocket then, and that was plastic surgery. And he said, "I don't think I would ever get a loan for plastic surgery. I don't think I would even get plastic surgery." And I knew we were not going to get funded.
Ann Kaplan:
So I looked at him and I said, "Sir, you have had cosmetic work." He said, "Pardon me?" So I just figured I might as well go out with a good laugh. And I said, "I can tell because I've been in medical doctors across the country, and I sit looking in their waiting room while I'm waiting to meet, to set them up for our financing, and I go through their little books, and I can tell you, sir, that you have had a hair transplant." And he looked at me and said, "I haven't had a hair transplant." Well, the guy clearly hadn't because he was quite a receding hairline. And I said, "No, sir, I know a hair transplant when I see one." And he leaned over and stood up, and he was very tall, like 6'4, 6'5.
Ann Kaplan:
He leaned over. Burt did, Burt [inaudible 00:10:50] is his name, leaned over and said, "Young lady, you tell everyone at the table that this is my hair. Put your hands in my hair or you're not getting your five million dollars." And I said, "Sir, I'm not putting my hands in your hair because that's a hair transplant, and that's what I'm saying." And he said, "This meeting is over," and he stood up and everyone else stood up, and he walked my CFO, Chris, and I to the elevator.
Ann Kaplan:
He leaned over and said, "Thank you, Chris," and he leaned over to me and said, "Young lady," he said, "This is my hair," and the door shut. And Chris looked at me and he swore. I don't know if we can swear on your podcast, but he used the F word. He goes, "What the F?" And I looked at Chris and said, "We're not getting money from that bank."
Ann Kaplan:
A week later, Michael Klopchic calls me up from the bank. He says, "Can you come in?" I'm like, "Oh no." I'm like, "Can I get arrested for telling the guy that he had a hair transplant?" So I go in and Michael sits down. He goes, "I want to show you what's going on at the bank," and he pulls out a card, and it's birthday card to Burt [inaudible 00:11:50]. And it's signed by the employees of the bank. It says, "Happy birthday, Burt." And it says, "This is your hair." So I guess the word got out.
Ann Kaplan:
Anyway, Michael Klopchic said to me, "We're going to give you the five million dollars." It was six months before I got access to that five million because they did due diligence. They did all the normal things that you would do. I don't recommend people calling names to the president of the bank. I don't recommend using that as a tactic. So if anyone wants to know how to raise money, this is not on the recommend list, but this is what happened. I got that. Then, the five million came in. Then I had an opportunity, from what I understood with banks, back then, remember, I started the company in '96. We started to grow and I realized, "I can't continue to fund. We're going through five million dollars."
Ann Kaplan:
So I reached out to someone at the leasing conferences, the finance and leasing conferences. I started to attend those, and really learn, "How does money work?" And reached out to securitization. That's when you sell your book and you get the net present value your book. So you book five million dollars. You sell it for five million, five and a half million. And now I've got five and a half million dollars, a half million was interest. The banks make money. So I started to do that.
Ann Kaplan:
I got in front of a meeting with the banks. They were down to, I think it was 30 million dollars I was going to get. They asked to meet with me. It was September 19th, 2002, something like that. I was nine months pregnant. So by then, I'd met someone else, and I was nine months pregnant with his child, my third biological child. And I thought, "I can't go in front of those banks when I'm nine months pregnant,." She was due the end of September. It was September 19th. And so I thought, "What am I going to do?" And I said, "Do you mind if we have this meeting October 12th or something like that?" And they were, "No, our bank year ended in Canada October 31st. It's our bank year end. We can't do that. And we really need to have this meeting."
Ann Kaplan:
So I had no choice. I had to go in front of a whole group of people, never ever having told them that I was having a baby. First of all, it's not their business. Second, it's irrelevant. But I knew if they looked at me, they would just see a pregnant young girl standing in front of them. So you do what you have to do. I took some of that wrap that you use for your sprained ankles, and I put it around my stomach cause I don't carry babies big. And so my daughter that was born a few weeks later, has this elastic band mark on her forehead. She doesn't really.
Ann Kaplan:
So I wrap my stomach tight and I had this jacket on that hung loose, so it would just look like I was wearing a loose fitting jacket. So you couldn't see the bulge in my stomach. I was nine months pregnant and I carried the baby [crosstalk 00:14:52]. So she was only five pounds, two ounces when she was born. So not fortunate for her, but fortunately she was a small baby. And I went in the meeting and I looked everybody in the eye and I kept looking them in the eye so they would keep looking at me in the eye. So I didn't divert from looking in their eyes so they wouldn't look down at my stomach. None of them knew that I was pregnant.
Mimi MacLean:
That's amazing. I could never do that. I always gained way too much weight. So it would be very awkward. You could tell immediately. That's amazing that you could carry so well, and they didn't even know.
Ann Kaplan:
They didn't know until it was in a magazine about two years later, and by then I had investors in the company. And they asked about my family, and I said, "Oh yes, I have ..." By then, I had another child. And I said, "Yeah, I have another a baby on the way, and I've got a daughter." The chairman of the company that invested with me called me up and said, "We've had a meeting. There's a magazine that is talking about you." And I said, "Yes, sir."
Ann Kaplan:
He said, "Apparently, you've got a daughter that's a couple years old." And I said, "Yes, sir." And he goes, "And apparently, you're pregnant." And I said, "Oh no, no, no. He was born a few months ago. The interview for that article was while I was pregnant." Then he sits here and goes, "For goodness sakes, take a day off." And then I said, "Is there anything else that you would like, or can we talk about work?" And that was it.
Mimi MacLean:
That was it.
Ann Kaplan:
So I had to train my chairman and the board to understand that, "Yes, I'm focused on my family, but while you're talking to me, I'm focused on you and I'm focused on business," and I ended up having six kids.
Mimi MacLean:
Wow.
Ann Kaplan OnThe Balance of Working and Being a Mom
Ann Kaplan:
When I am speaking to someone, when I'm in business, when I'm in anything I'm doing, I'm focused on that moment. And when I'm home with my kids, I don't think they think I have a job. In fact, one of my kids said, "What do you do, Mom?" Because I always tell them to watch every dime, and, "No, that isn't something that we can afford. We shouldn't do it that way. It's wasting money."
Ann Kaplan:
And one day when one of the kids said to me, I was driving him to school, and he said, "Mom, what do you do? They're asking us at school what your parents do. What do you do?" And I said, "Oh, I'm in money lending. I loan money to people." "Oh you do?" And I said, "Yeah." And I said, "I loan money to people that need money and small loans." He goes, "Well, why don't you loan yourself some?"
Mimi MacLean:
That's funny. That's so cute.
Ann Kaplan:
The kids don't even know. I don't bring my work head space, although I'm the same person, home. And at work, I don't bring my kids to work, the head space. But if they were to call me ever and needed me, I would drop everything I'm doing to be with them. So I always make sure I'm on top of my work so I have that freedom to say, "I'm out of here. I got to go. One of the kids needs me," and the same at home. I try to have my kids organized enough. The youngest just moved out, but I tried to have them organized enough that they make good decisions and aren't calling me every minute. And that was harder when they were little, and it got a little bit easier. But now I just worry about the teenage stuff.
Mimi MacLean:
The bigger problems, as I say.
Ann Kaplan:
Yes. Yes.
Mimi MacLean:
What other advice do you have for women who are entrepreneurs that have families that have children? Because sometimes, when you have your own company, it never shuts off. Right? You always feel like you could be doing something when you get home, right? You could stay up late ... Did you stay up later after the kids went to bed? How did you separate the two? When did you turn it on and off?
Ann Kaplan:
I didn't watch TV. And that's an odd thing because when I was asked to be on The Real Housewives, I had never seen the show. I knew what it was, but I don't watch TV. The kids were brought up, actually, without a television. So I just raised them that way. We did a lot of hiking. We did a lot of camping and things. So my social life is very limited. So I had to balance it with my husband and my children, and that I get up extra early for what I have to do. I get the kids off to school or whatever they're doing, and then I work all day, and then I'm home to be with the children.
Ann Kaplan:
I have hired somebody, toward the end, before they moved out that was always there when the kids got home from school, if I wasn't home, because they came home between 3:30 and 5:30 or 6:00, depending on their activities. But I always cooked the dinners for them. But if I had to work late, then there was a somebody to step in and do that. I wanted the kids to at least remember my cooking, if it was good or bad, but the family dinners at the table. So they knew that the conversation could happen around the table, and that was their memory of growing up.
Ann Kaplan:
So I believe I instilled that the way I wanted my family to be dealt with, but it was and is really hard. I carve out those eight hours in the day that I have to be working. It is very difficult for a young mother, for mothers to do that, but not feel guilty if you miss your kids tying his shoelaces for the first time because you were there for the whole process up to it. So sometimes you miss some of those moments that you feel guilty, but most of us are working mothers, and you do the best that you can.
Ann Kaplan:
One of the things I'd say is to try to teach your kids to make good decisions. So I would show my kids, initially, when they were going into Kindergarten, how to pack their snacks and lunches. And so they were taking some of the work that I felt I was doing too much. And I think I did learn that from the older ones because I saw how disorganized and inept they were. They were really good "bad" examples for me to know what to do with the young ones.
Mimi MacLean:
That's so true because I have five, too. And I feel like my six-year-old is more self-sufficient than my 20-year-old.
Ann Kaplan:
Absolutely.
Mimi MacLean:
Now, at this age.
Ann Kaplan:
I'm like, "You don't want to turn out like that one, do you?" And so it was-
Mimi MacLean:
"Mom, can you make cereal for me?" Whereas my other one's already making her lunch and packing it.
Ann Kaplan:
Exactly. To that point, the more you organize your children and the more you organize your work, you will find a lot more freedom in there. And is it easy? No, it is really hard. It's very, very difficult. But I think the last COVID has made it a little bit more simple to realize that people actually do have pets and families and kids, because in the odd Zoom call, you see somebody walk by or a cat jumps on a chair, and we accept that, or someone hasn't had time to get ready, but we accept that.
Ann Kaplan:
Before, we'd go to work and we'd have our black suit, white shirt, in banking anyway, in finance, where now I'm seeing Zoom calls where people are in casual clothes, and this is in bank Zoom calls. And then then there's, "Just a minute. Sorry, my dog is barking. I'm going to put ..." Those kind of things are happening, where now we can say, "Yeah, I am a mom," where I don't think I could have done that 25 years ago where I could say, "I am a mom. I couldn't get ready. I had to get out the door and I forgot my nylons or something like that," or something.
Starring on the Real Housewives of Toronto
Mimi MacLean:
Can you tell us about the process of how you were asked to be on the Real Housewives, considering you said you weren't super social? Because I was thinking you would have to be somewhat social to be asked to do that.
Ann Kaplan:
I am not a socialite, but then people would say I am. So I had already hosted three television shows, and it was bookmarked for me to be hosting another show, and that was already approved by a network. And I still worked in finance, but I've always enjoyed television. So I did makeover shows where we'd take a patient and we'd do a makeover, and she'd do surgery, and we'd do the makeup, the hair, we'd get her a new wardrobe. And then the reveal with a significant person in their life. And she'd appear like, "Ta-da," two weeks later, and "This is the new me."
Ann Kaplan:
So I've done three of those shows, and then earmarked for another one. So the producer of that show phoned me up, and I was just on my way to the airport in Toronto, and they said, "Ann, you need to go down for this interview." And I said, "What do you mean?" They said, "There's another show that's coming in town. They're casting, and you would be really good for this, and it will take you to another level. Not that we're not going to do the show, we're going to put it on the shelf, and then we think you should do this show because your recognition and your notoriety will be at another level." Because a Housewives does do that. You're instantly recognized, and not just in Canada, but other places, too, wherever the show's aired.
Ann Kaplan:
I didn't realize what show it was, but I went down and it was at a hotel and I walk in the room. They asked me to sit down. I had my luggage with me, and they asked me to sit down and, boom, these lights come on, and this guy is sitting in front of the lights that are place on me, and I'm in this chair, and they just start firing questions at me. So I answered all the questions, as me, as the person you see right now. There's not another knob. You don't switch to moronic or anything, or else you already think I'm moronic, whatever. But I don't have another personality. It's always the same, and so then they asked the question, "Do you think you'd be good for the show?" Which I was guessing what the show was, and I said, "well, if you want someone who's going to be bitch-slapping and that, that's not me. But if you want someone who's really intelligent and funny, that's the person."
Ann Kaplan:
So I think that if they believed that or whatever they did, they looked at that and said, "This is what we want," because it probably balanced with the other wives that were on the show. So they were looking for certain personalities and then how that integrated together. And I was probably one that never said, "Don't air that." I just thought, "If I'm the person that is going to put myself on reality TV, then I better like who I am because I'm going to be watching that person." So whatever comes out of my mouth has to be authentic, and I'm not going to go back and say, "Hey, don't put that on air or I'll sue you if you do." I just wasn't that person. So if I got drunk on television, then they have every right to air it. No regrets. And that's the way life should be is no regrets. And so I just thought, "I'm just going to have fun with this," and oh my goodness, it was just so much fun.
Mimi MacLean:
Oh, good. I'm glad it was a good experience for you.
Ann Kaplan:
Every minute was a good experience, every single minute. I mean, who wouldn't want to have their hair and makeup done and be followed around with cameras, dress up every day. I miss the cameras.
Ann’s Social Impact Project - ANNKM
Mimi MacLean:
Ah. Yep. What a great, great experience. I know you also were telling me that you're doing a social impact project right now, and I would love to talk about that a little bit.
Ann Kaplan:
Thanks for asking. I'm doing a platform called ANNKM with, it's annkm.com. And what I've done is put my name on a few fashion institutes, and it's a platform for the fashion industry to come together for positive social impact through fashion, and that means that we recognize what we wear and who we wear, the values of that company and those people that are designing, and that would be their consideration for environmental, their consideration for equality, their consideration for gender, their consideration for any of the positive messages that we are trying to put out without having to say them. So it really is a platform that is bringing together a community to make sure that our messaging is good and positive.
Ann Kaplan:
And so by putting my name on a few of the fashion schools and that I am encouraging the students to consider that in their designs, that they are considering fabrics, where they're made, the messaging that they're giving, and the positivity they can give through that. So that is my way of giving back in a fun way because I like fashion, and it's my way of giving back.
Mimi MacLean:
That's amazing. That's great. It's a great cause. I wish you all the success.
Ann Kaplan:
Thank you.
Learning Other People’s Agenda and Their Intentions is Harsh But Necessary
Mimi MacLean:
So all the things you've done, I mean, you've written books, speaking engagements, TV shows, everything. What would you say has been the hardest thing for you? The biggest lesson you've learned or something that you wish you knew before you started?
Ann Kaplan:
When you do something, you always think of all the stakeholders, and I like to think that I do things that are fair and that are kind. And you don't think of other people's agendas, and sometimes you have to realize that you can't control everything, and those types of things, learning other people's agendas have made me see the world sometimes the way I didn't want to see it. I took off my rose-colored glasses along the way and realize that evil does exist, and I wish maybe I'd be a different person if I didn't have the rose colored glasses on because even at that, I want to come back and say, "There's a lot of good out there. I think you do good things, but you must be aware that evil exists and that people are going to try to bring you down."
Ann Kaplan:
And I think that's a smart message to have. Not that you do good things. You do good things, but do not forget, the enemy is out there in every action. When you're in a competitive environment in any business, remember there's an enemy, and they don't have the same intentions that you do.
Mimi MacLean:
That's good at advice because it is hard, because you try to go through life. I'm the same way. I always assume every the best of everybody and I hope that the people can put their head on the pillow at night and know that what they did for the day is the right thing. But I don't think everybody exists that way.
Ann Kaplan:
I don't think everyone exists that way at all.
Mimi MacLean:
Of course, they don't. But yeah, it makes sense. Just to end, is there any advice or words of encouragement that you can give to other female CEOs? I mean, you've accomplished so much, and I don't know if you realize this, but in the United States, these are the quotes, I'm not sure for Canada, but only one percent of female CEOs, or 1.7% of female CEOs, ever reach a million dollars in sales in their companies. It's very, very low. So why do you think you've reached it? What makes you successful and different, and some words of advice or something that you would say, like, "I think this is the reason why I was able to get there."
Ann Kaplan:
Yeah, I absolutely thank you for that question because I didn't have a barrier. If you open your front door, meaning you open your eyes and look out, but take away all the barriers because you start your day from today forward, and you see, "Where am I going?" And look out that door. Out that door should be an open field. That means you can go anywhere that you want to go. The only barrier up in front of you is yourself. So if you can say, "I could do anything."
Ann Kaplan:
So when I reached a certain point in my business, I didn't say, "Ooh, okay. I reached it." When I bought my first home, I didn't say, "Oh, okay. I only need to buy one home. I can two cars, and so many kids." My idea of living my life is to do absolutely everything that I would like to do in my life. I'm not limited by the limitations I put on myself.
Ann Kaplan:
One of the things in business, if you want to have a million dollars in sales, is when you're setting up your platform, and I mean any kind of platform. It could be a retail platform, it could be anything, whatever you're setting up and your goal is to be competitive in the market against other companies in the same industry you're in, is look at distribution channel first. So don't look at what the product is. Go, "How am I going to distribute that?" And you should have a multi distribution channel, and then go backward to the product that you have and figure out, "How are you going to get that product into a multi distribution channel?" So reverse engineer whatever product you have.
Ann Kaplan:
So in the example I have with my own company, we have loans. So I'm not just going to loan money to people I know or within my own network. I want to go national and international with my lending. That means I'm setting my platform up to be an international distribution. How am I going to distribute it? Whatever way that we're going to distribute those loans, that's my distribution. Then I go back to, "What's my product?" It's a loan. But really, it's my distribution channel that matters. If you look at companies like Uber, it's a distribution. How are they going to get that product out there? We know it's a ride share, or we know it's taking the place of taxis, for example. It's a way somebody can get it from A to B. How are they going to distribute it?
Ann Kaplan:
So figure out your distribution channel and make sure it's multifaceted distribution channel, that you're not limit in your audience. A lot of women, from my understanding, statistically, the reason that it might be under a million dollars, as many of them manage a product or a company, it might be they have their own hair salon or nail salon. So there's not a multi distribution. You would be in a geographic area. So a lot of women CEOs or business owners are something that's in their control and in their geographic area. If you want to have something that's going to be distributed further, you possibly would set up a network of hair stylists that can visit people's homes. And so there you've just opened up a really big network where you've got hair stylists that can visit homes and you are a platform to find a hair stylist that you can get to come to your house. So I hope that answered your question.
Mimi MacLean:
No, it's so true. I just published my first book about How To Be A Badass CEO, and it's lessons I've learned from talking to other entrepreneurs and just my experience investing in companies. And I often think that women sometimes just don't think big enough. They keep it small. Even if you were saying, "Okay, here's a woman who's making perfume or a candle," and they're just selling it at their local shops or they're selling it at their local holiday store, at their local farmer's market, no, think bigger. Raise money if you need to. So hearing your story and raising so much capital so early on is very hard for women. I mean, you accomplish something that very few women can do at such an early stage in their business, right? But raising that capital to make their business catapult is essential.
Raising Capital Is Everything for Business
Ann Kaplan:
It is essential, and you have to figure out how to fund that business, and there are companies out there. There's actually platforms that you can raise capital on that are there, but you have to put the work in. So you have to put the videos in, you have to do all the diligence it takes to raise capital for your idea. When you're formulating an idea, you need to be able to be open enough to change it because as you formulate and put pen to paper, a business plan, and it can be an informal business plan, you will start to realize where the hiccups are in your business model. But I can't emphasize enough to have distribution last and then go backward to there because you always have to think, "How is that going to be distributed? How am I going to get these people on my platform?"
Ann Kaplan:
And if it's a product, Amazon is amazing for selling products on. So there are products like Amazon, there's Shopify that you can just set up and they have their own webpage. You can do for your shopping cart. There's those types of platforms, Facebook marketplace, those types of platforms you can sell on. So to your point of going to the local distributors, it's actually easier now, and since COVID, too, that we can upload to a platform. TikTok is an amazing platform to market on. So if you can figure out how to market yourself on TikTok, you can sell on TikTok.
Mimi MacLean:
The social media has really helped entrepreneurs sell and not have to go right direct to consumer.
Ann Kaplan:
Correct.
Mimi MacLean:
Increase your margins. Well, this has been amazing. So anybody who wants to learn more, you can go to Annkaplan.com, A-N-N-K-A-P-L-A-N.com, and you can learn everything there that she is doing from the books, the shows, to wedding, and her public appearances and her business as well. But thank you so much. You're so inspirational and you're so beautiful, and I just am very impressed. So thank you very much.
Ann Kaplan:
Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. Have a great day.
Mimi MacLean:
Thank you for joining us on the Badass CEO. To get your copy of the Top 10 Tips Every Entrepreneur Should Know, go to the badassceo.com/tips. Also, please leave a review as it helps others find us. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them. So email me at Mimi@thebadassceo.com. See you next week, and thank you for listening.
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