Juliana MacEwen of Mount Stewart loved her job but saw an opportunity to break out on her own.
On Thursday, MacEwen did just that, opening the doors and cutting the ribbon on her new life — Precision Document Management in Stratford, where she has lived with her family for the past eight years.
The business offers document scanning and imaging, solutions for large and small scale imaging conversions, project management and consulting.
MacEwen has spent 15 years working for the provincial government in the records and information management field before moving on to projects like handling the electronic health records for Health P.E.I. She loved the work but felt it was time to spread her wings.
“I always had an inkling that someday I wanted to have my own business. Because of the environment I was in I was able to see what was out there around the Maritimes as far as the services that I now provide here,’’ MacEwen says.
Armed with an infectious passion, positive attitude and energy to burn, she left the provincial government in 2008 and went into the consulting field.
CLICK HERE FOR A Q&A WITH JULIANA MACEWEN
Along came a company, asking her to expand its scanning and digital imaging program. That company, based out of Halifax, was Precision Document Management. She was quickly named the company’s primary sales person, growing the business by 900 per cent.
In 2011, she found herself in a position to purchase the company, becoming the sole owner in January 2012.
She kept the office in Halifax and worked out of her home in Stratford for the first year and in January of this year moved into her current office in the Stratford Business Park, located across from the soccer complex just before the soccer fields.
She also keeps satellite offices open around the Maritimes in case companies that use her service have sensitive documents that can’t leave the office.
People have often said the world is moving towards a paperless society. Not quite, says MacEwen.
“Well, we’re never going to be paperless but these companies are trying to become paper light. With all of the technology we have today it creates a massive amount of paper. They need to keep information (but) people are running out of storage space because they don’t want to pay prime value for storing a box of documents.’’
Once those documents are scanned, they are accessible from anywhere and in MacEwen’s world, accessibility leads to efficiency.
Making the leap into the world of entrepreneurship is hard enough at the best of times. Where do you start? Who do you talk to first? The questions go on and on and on.
“The initial risk (for me) was leaving a government job which I felt very secure in. It was a great job. I loved it (but) I knew I had to be my own business owner at some point and I’m the type of person who says if you’re not 100 per cent happy with what you’re doing, go find what you love.
“I love helping people. I love making a difference so that’s what got me into this. While document scanning doesn’t sound all that interesting it’s actually quite a great thing to be able to do.’’
Those jobs could involve scanning records from an entire government department or taking family photos printed on the old photographic paper and converting them to digital images that can be emailed to relatives all over the world.
“People just bring in shoeboxes of old pictures or they’d have just this one picture but would want to share it with their brothers and sisters.’’
Precision Document Management is currently working with the Nova Scotia government where it is handling every single estate file for every resident so it can be uploaded to a digital vault.
“We’ve taken files that go back to 1940, some of them written ion napkin or onion skin paper.’’
MacEwen spends a lot of time on the road because 80 to 90 per cent of her clients are in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. She also has clients in Toronto, Saskatoon and Newfoundland.
Starting a business can also be particularly challenging for women. Needless to say, she’d like to grow her clientele on P.E.I.
“It was a big decision . . . it was a big family decision, too. My kids were old enough that they didn’t need mom around as much and it was another huge commitment for my husband to pick up the slack while I was travelling.’’
Being on the road for MacEwen has often been quite the rush, leaving at the crack of dawn so she could get back later in the day for her child’s hockey game or simply just being around with the family in the evenings.
“Thanks goodness we have the technology we have today with cellphones, texting and facetime. All of that stuff helps a lot. I try not to travel on the weekends. I try to focus my travel schedules between Tuesday and Thursday as much as I can. I have to run this place (head office in Stratford), too. I can’t be on the road all the time.’’
She stresses making time for family, to re-energize the batteries. During the interview, she texts her family, husband and children, telling them there will be a family chicken dinner, specifying the time.
“The easiest way to bribe your family is with food,’’ she laughs.
Balance, she says, is the key to being successful in any walk of life.
Q&A with Juliana MacEwen
Q: Why aren’t there more women in business?
A: The don’t have enough confidence in themselves. They see all these things as being challenges and potential roadblocks and think they won’t be able to overcome them. Anything you get in your mind that you want to try, you should be trying it. Take the step, take that leap, believe in yourself and find that balance (away from work). You need to get recharged.
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Q: How long did it take you to write your business plan?
A: I started in 2009 and it took me two years to write it, evolve it, tweak it and change it, to educate myself around all the pieces that need to be in a business plan before I was ready to talk to the bank and Innovation P.E.I. It’s not something anyone can write in a month. It’s your map for what you’re going to do. It’s a great check and balance.
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Q: Did you ever consider taking on a business partner?
A: Didn’t want a partner. I wanted to do this myself. I was so passionate about the business. In order for it to be successful I need to work hard and if I’m going to be the one working hard I want to be the one getting the benefits from it.
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Q: Any advice to people out there thinking of going into business for themselves?
A: Do your research, find out what your competition is. Find out what the market is looking for right now.
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Q: Any regrets about leaving a job you loved and going into business for yourself?
A: As long as I never say to myself ‘What have I done?’ and I haven’t said that to myself yet (she laughs) . . . things are going really well. I’m excited to grow the business here on P.E.I.
