2017 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur RBC Momentum Award Finalist: Kara Angus

Kara Angus

CEO, Go Go Group Inc.

RBC Momentum Award, EAST

Go-Go Group, launched by founder Kara Angus at just 22 years old, is made up of four divisions: Go-Go Gymnastics, Go-Go Events, Go-Go After School, and Go-Go Pre-School. From empowering and encouraging New Brunswick communities to participate in active and healthy lifestyles, to providing exciting event entertainment and much-need pre- and after-school programming, Go-Go Group services over 5,000 students annually, and employs over 100 young leaders.

What is the one piece of advice that you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

The advice I would give to aspiring entrepreneurs is to surround yourself with experienced mentors in each sector of business such as accounting, legal, human resources, marketing and management. So many talented and experienced mentors are willing to donate of their time to help you succeed — all you need to do is reach out and ask. You’ll most certainly need their guidance and experience many times along your entrepreneurial journey — trust me, with a supportive team, the bad days won’t be as bad.

How can a company prepare for the challenges that come with rapid growth?

I’m a strong believer in ensuring redundancy and overlap in each position of my organization; including my own. We do this by ensuring more than one person is trained on each role in our the organization. This has helped us immensely when having to ramp up quickly; but also in preparing for the changes that come with rapid growth including turn over.

Cash flow is also another large challenge with rapid growth — having money in the bank, or a line of credit to back you up in the event you need it. It’s crucial for survival. After all, the best growth plan in the world can (and often will) fail if you don’t have cash.

Who else are we celebrating? See all of the 2017 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award finalists.