Lessons From A Serial Entrepreneur

Echo Wang may very well fit the bill for a modern-day Renaissance Woman.

A successful entrepreneur based in Toronto, Wang serves as CEO for three separate ventures, in three separate industries. She runs Yoga Kawa, a wellness service that makes yoga accessible outside of traditional facilities; the travel publication Cool Travel Vibes; and EpicBooks, a bookkeeping service for entrepreneurs.

Wang shares her insights from starting and running multiple businesses, what it takes to keep up and keep sparking imagination.

You are a true entrepreneur—leading a number of ventures, and in different industries. What sparked your passion to be so inventive?

Being an entrepreneur is a way of life for me and my husband, so if I think it’s a good idea to try then I just go ahead and try it, since my partner understands and supports me. Don’t they say that some of the greatest entrepreneurs became great because of the number of trials they have had? So here I am; I keep on trying to build different business ideas to see which one will stick.

I’d have to say that the passion and joy in being an entrepreneur comes from building something that the market can truly resonate and benefit from.

How do you choose which industries to pursue? What factors do you consider when launching new ventures? Do others come to you with ideas, asking you to help them become a reality?

I definitely go into the industries that I have passion in. Whether that’s passion in the market that I will be serving or passion in pursuing the skills that will thrive in that industry and passion in teaching and sharing the skills so that I can build a team.

For example, for Yoga Kawa, it was natural. I love yoga and became a yoga teacher. It was a no brainer to combine my business degree and that passion in building Yoga Kawa. I love helping people relax, anti-age, feel good and become healthier—what’s not to love?

The second factor would be market trends. Do I feel the market is trending up with positive growth and increasing demand? For EpicBooks, not only do I love to work with small- and medium-size business owners like myself, I also see software availability and government policy moving in favor of hiring good and dedicated bookkeepers.

Yes, I do have people that come to me with ideas asking me to see if I can see a real business behind it. They don’t always come to fruition once we discuss the risks involved and the time commitment required.

You are the CEO of each of these companies—how do you divide your time among them? What is your secret to juggling the management of several companies? Do you delegate more than the average CEO?

Building a trustworthy, reliable and talented team is the only way to go. And that itself is very hard: finding the right people. There’s no secret—I don’t get to start another business unless the first business has a team that can operate with the standard operating procedure and training that I provided.

If the business can function without me in it for three or four days straight per week, then I get to start or work on another business or project. Sad to say right now, I do feel my family and support system is working overtime in order for me to operate and manage these businesses. I do not delegate more than the average CEO in my stage, so I think I need to delegate more for sure. Work-life harmony is still a challenge for me.

Are you considering more ventures? What is on the horizon for you?

Yes, I am definitely considering more ventures in my lifetime, but definitely not for another one or two years. Right now, what’s on the horizon is to continue to refine the working model for these three businesses so that the operation becomes more arms-length so that I can focus a bit more on the family and keep it that way.

I think retreats would be my next thing where I can combine travel and yoga/wellness together. Just thinking about it makes me excited.