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Expanding a business? Motivating your team? Wondering how to be a better person?

We asked some of Canada's entrepreneurial go-getters to share three issues they are chewing on at the moment.

We'd like you to share with us, too. Tell us who you are, where you live and three things you are thinking about, and be sure to attach a photo. Click here to send us your information and photo.

Jodi Hosking

Jodi Hosking is the president and co-founder of the Learning Traveller, an educational travel company that specializes in immersion programs and language learning holidays for teens, gap-year students and mature travellers 50 and older. My husband, Cam Harvey, and I established the company in 2003 on Vancouver Island and in 2006 we relocated to Ontario to be closer to our key markets in Toronto and New York and our partners in Europe. In 2008 we won the Language Travel Magazine industry award for best agency in North America and were shortlisted for the same award in 2009. We live in Guelph with our 10-year-old son who thinks one day he might like to run the business.

Three things on my mind are:

• How to continue growing our business without adding heavily to our infrastructure. Ours is a very service-heavy business and when we increase our client numbers we need to hire more support staff. I’m trying to determine the critical client and staff numbers for the most viable business model.
• How to let go of controlling every little aspect of our business while still maintaining the highest possible levels of service. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I am a bit of a control freak but as the business grows it is impossible to have a hand in everything we do. I’m lucky to have great people on staff but learning to hand over responsibility remains one of my biggest personal challenges.
• Selecting partners to deliver our overseas programs. We are only as good as the programs our clients attend so choosing the right partner organisations to work with continues to be the most important part of what we do.

Matthew Slutsky

Matthew Slutsky is president and co-founder of the Toronto-based Web startup BuzzBuzzHome (www.buzzbuzzhome.com), an online and map based listing service for new condominiums, homes and townhouses. The site launched in early 2009 and has quickly grown to drawing more than 30,000 visitors a month, actively searching for new homes. Matt first conceived of the idea for BuzzBuzzHome while working as VP Development for a Toronto land-developer/builder, and became frustrated with the lack of a publicly accessible online listing of all new residential developments.

BuzzBuzzHome provides users searching for their new home with engaging features such as map based search results, a social media driven ‘virtual hangout’ for each new project called ‘the hive’, and a game based editable wiki whereby users collect points by contributing content to the site.

Three things on Matt’s mind are:

• As a Web-based company, how to maintain our edge amid a rapidly evolving Internet.
• How to remain true to our core business model and vision, while maintaining growth and engaging new technologies and ideas.
• How to recruit, train and manage computer engineers when I myself cannot code a thing.

Alex Rechichi

Alex Rechichi is president and co-founder of the Extreme Pita and Mucho Burrito restaurants, which are part of Extreme Brandz Inc. Since opening the first Extreme Pita in Waterloo, Ont., with his brother Mark, the pair have launched more than 250 franchised restaurants across North America and are looking to expand internationally by 2010. Mr. Rechichi was a Top 40 Under 40 award recipient in 2008, and was named Foodservice and Hospitality’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006. A father of three, Alex is based in Mississauga, where he grew up.

Three things on his mind are:

• “The slow economy has started a price war in the restaurant business. We have lost some customers, but history shows price wars are short-lived. The quick-service restaurant industry is fighting for its share of wallet; all we can do is focus on our core business.”
• “Today, more than ever, restaurants have to be open and transparent. It’s not the first time the restaurant business has been hit with difficulties. We’ve survived SARS, the avian flu, mad cow disease and now the H1N1 virus. This is just another episode and something we need to endure, but those who are prepared can survive through it.”
• “Competition is no longer in marketing, but more about promises you make to the customers, and making sure those promises are executed at every location. Our best strategy is to build awareness, get people to try our products, and they eventually become users.”

Trina Boos

Trina Boos is the face behind Ad Lounge, a digital network for advertising and marketing executives in Toronto. Her organization creates events that help marketers and agencies stay connected.

Three things on her mind:

• “I can relate so much to the digital marketing content provider One Degree closing. Although Ad Lounge is different in nature, it is difficult for any digital content provider, especially after corporations started cutting sponsorship. It is a tough time to be an underdog in Canada.”
• “As an entrepreneur, you have to stay optimistic during the tough days. At the same time, you have to be pro-active to keep the phone ringing.”
• “I really want to take a vacation, but it is very difficult to take a month off when you have to feed new content to your network.”

Leila Boujnane

Leila Boujnane is chief executive officer and co-founder of Toronto-based Idée Inc., which develops advanced image-search software. Ms. Boujnane also has held positions in international organizations in the commercial and public sectors.

Three things on her mind:

• “Making money. As CEO of a software firm you would think this would be totally obvious. Not always!”
• “How can I apply my skills to help others without diluting the main focus of my business?”
• “Where can I find free time to travel more?”

Mike Brcic

Mike Brcic, 38, turned his love of mountain biking into a business. Founded in British Columbia and now based in Toronto, Sacred Rides Mountain Bike Adventures offers trips in Canada and abroad. The company offers eight destinations, including Utah, Guatemala, Peru and Chile. Mr. Brcic says some of these destinations were chosen not only for their mountain biking appeal but also because they are more far-off parts of the world. Mr. Brcic also founded and is acting as the executive director of Bikes Without Borders, which is raising funds to get bikes to community workers in Malawi. Mr. Brcic rides a DeVinci Remix SL5.

Three things on his mind are:

• “G.A.P Adventures chief executive officer Bruce Poon Tip told me that the best way to motivate employees is to make sure they know there is a higher purpose in what they are doing. How can I motivate my employees and customers to believe in our social and environmental commitment?”
• “How do I develop partnerships? The most challenging part is finding those people and developing a relationship with them without using up so much of my time. Managing time is also the hardest part in making sure that I continue growing Sacred Rides while also growing Bike Without Borders.”
• “How can we expand to other types of sports tours without diluting our focus in mountain biking?”

Darius Bashar

Darius Bashar is president and co-founder of DailyChallenge.org, a social networking site that encourages users to make positive changes for the community while connecting corporations to causes they can support. DailyChallenge is the organizer behind “Pay It Backward Day” in Ontario. On Sept. 30, more than 170 Second Cup locations will participate in the event by donating $5 to Sick Kids hospital each time a person buys coffee or tea for the person behind them. Before launching DailyChallenge, Darius was a senior web strategist and partner with Apollo Media, a social-media strategies agency.

The three things on his mind are:

• How can we inspire 3,000 Ontario residents to participate in Pay It Backward Day?
• Our social network of “Do Gooders” has incredible support in the GTA and Ontario. How can we expand our reach to connect with change makers across North America – taking our platform and initiatives to the next level, ultimately leading to positive change in our world?
• How do we go about creating our “Army of Do Gooders”?

Chris Winter

Chris Winter, 37, is a Vancouver-based adventure travel tour operator specializing in cycling trips around the globe. In 1972 his parents started Cycleventures Bicycle Tours, a road biking company that Mr. Winter has since taken over. He’s also started his own version for mountain bikes, Big Mountain Bike Adventures. “I’ve created my dream job, which I’m very proud of – there’s never a dull moment.”

Three things that I’m thinking about:

• “I’m constantly thinking of creative ways to market our product with a limited budget.”
• “As my business matures and our sector of travel grows, I need to stay ahead of bigger companies who want a piece of what I’ve started.”
• “Making money. It sounds obvious, but I’m an ideas person and having a plan in place to increase profit has never been on the top of my list. This has to change.”

Adrian Salamunovic

Adrian Salamunovic is the co-founder of DNA 11, a concept-art producer that generates canvases depicting individuals’ unique DNA patterns. Customers send in a DNA sample using a cheek swab.

Mr. Salamunovic and a friend started DNA 11 with only $2,000 but sold $40,000 worth of DNA portraits in the first month. The company then hit $1-million in sales in the first year. Mr. Salamunovic spent a decade in business technology, specializing in high-tech marketing and design, before starting DNA 11 in Ottawa.

The three things on his mind now are:

• Launching CanvasPop.com and going live – it’s our new sister company that will take any photo and print it on canvas. It’s exciting to launch a business off the back of DNA 11 and I can’t wait to see it live.
• Our charity program we’re launching called DNA for Charity. We’re getting celebrities to donate their DNA and we make a portrait out of it. We sell the portrait through eBay’s Giving Works program and all the proceeds go to charity. The first celebrity is Elijah Wood, who is helping raise money for the children’s charity the Art of Elysium.
• Growth, growth, growth. Even with the global economy in a rut, we’re focused on growth right now. We are looking at putting together a world-class board of advisers to help push us to the next level. I think it is a great time to be thinking about growth because it’s easier to hire and in general everything is available at reduced prices.

Sean Moffitt

Sean Moffitt is president of the word-of-mouth marketing company Agent Wildfire. After leaving the corporate world, he now promotes his clients with more grassroots, conversational and social strategies than his traditional marketing past. He also leads an online network of 1,800 top Canadian business minds through the irreverently titled “The League of Kickass Business People.”

Three things on his mind:

• “I’m obsessed with what makes ideas spread, people talk, influencers to get involved and customers to purchase. I’ve captured these learnings from the last five years on my personal blog, Buzz Canuck, and now I’m also in the midst of authoring a book about them.”
• “I’m also always thinking about ‘what’s next’ – there’s a sense of energy and enlightened insight that I and my staff share about being involved in things that are about to break versus operating in the generally accepted mainstream. I believe constantly retooling and staying abreast of these market and cultural shifts, particularly in this temperamental economy, is key to maintaining value and building relevance in your personal brand.”
• “One of my personal passions is an active life – fitness, health, outdoors, sports, play, adventure. I focus a lot of time outside the office on parlaying a variety of active pursuits with the Web experience, now manifested in our just-launched site, www.gengo.ca, a local hub for anybody who likes to spend life off the couch.”

Mi Young Kim

Mi Young Kim, president of Earl Warren Travel Agency in Toronto, is determined to survive. She took over the agency and kept most of its existing clients and also added the South Korean community as her main clientele. Unlike smaller travel agencies serving only the Korean community, all her staff members are required to speak English fluently as a second language and be certified as a travel agent.

The three things on her mind:

• The travel industry is dwindling with more people making arrangements online. How can I differentiate our business from online services?
• I don’t expect to make big changes but still want steady growth for the business. What can I do to attract more people to trust and continue to use our services?
• I want to manage my business and family life so both will be healthy.

Mike O’Mahoney

Mike O’Mahoney is founder and principal of MWO Philanthropic Advisors, helping non-profits with their fundraising activities. He has led fundraising initiatives for 27 years for American universities, academic medical centres, major hospitals and, most recently, the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation in Toronto.

Three things on his mind:

• I’ve been thinking of how not-for-profits are constrained by expense/revenue ratios that our society uses to measure their effectiveness. How can a not-for-profit take a chance on a new program that might have a huge benefit for all of us if they are penalized if they fail? By holding an organization to an expense/revenue ratio we might be seriously limiting an organization’s benefit to society.
• I’m trying to understand how to allocate resources between fundraising programs. For example, what’s the right mix for investments in mail, phone, events, and major gifts? I think we need simulations or models to show us what the impact would be if we change our investment in different fundraising programs – and what the result would be if we invested more money in fundraising.
• I’m thinking about the word “charity” and how it is the wrong word for not-for-profits. It implies helpless and needy. Good not-for-profits are neither; they are committed to making a difference in our world and should use the best business practices to seek investment. The whole point for a not-for-profit is how it is affecting the world, and that deserves the attention of our very best minds, talent, and resources.

Karen Thompson

Karen Thompson, 55, mother of 3, lives in Kelowna, B.C. A veteran of the banking industry and the Urban Development Institute, she founded Canada 1 Property Pages in early 2008. It is designed to be an affordable alternative to realtor.ca (formerly MLS), offering advanced features such as a choice of searches and mapping, profile matching and alerts, and mobile services. Her focus is on providing new-home seekers access to the projects of builders and developers; many builders and developers use in-house sales teams rather than real estate agents, and therefore did not have have access to a central listing service.

Three things on her mind:

• How do I gain access to someone in a major telecommunications company with whom I could sit down and discuss my business? It's important to have this "buy-in" - we have a "Classic" website but also a lighter, simpler mobile version that works on a smart phone, plus our iPhone App will be released this September. Our website is built on a powerful, dynamic platform with strong SEO tactics.
• How do I keep the momentum going with my cash-strapped, 1-1/2-year old business? It is built on relationships; we listened to builders/developers, agents and home seekers in putting together the site. It is recognized as a valued service, but my potential paying clients have a "let's wait and see if you are around in 3 years" attitude.
• I have fabulous staff. How do I keep all of us upbeat, positive and fully engaged in these uncertain times?

Maureen Kerr

Maureen Kerr, 35, is founder of Kerr Consulting, based in Prince Edward Island, a virtual marketing and PR firm whose niche is the Internet. Maureen is a work-at-home-mom and blogger, and the majority of her clients are in the small Atlantic province and include the Business Development Bank of Canada. Educating small business owners on the benefits of social media and utilizing the World Wide Web are part of her consulting practice, and her blog, www.YourMarketingMavens.com, shares articles and posts on free marketing tools, how to blog and bootstrapping tips.

Three things on her mind are:

• Cash-strapped small businesses need the most help, but how can I generate more sales and attract bigger clients?
• How can I attract clients outside of PEI, the smallest province in Canada?
• Where can I find a long-term mentor?

Wehuns Tan

Wehuns Tan is founder and chief executive officer of Wishabi.ca, an online price-comparison site for Canadian shoppers. He worked in business development at Microsoft before starting Wishabi, and holds a degree in computer engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Three things on his mind are:

• “We're lagging behind our U.S. peers so much – we need to find better ways to drive e-commerce in Canada. We have a unique culture that shops both online and offline. How can we create the right shopping tools for Canadians?”
• “I've been thinking about the startup and venture markets in Canada and we tend to lose our best talent (University of Waterloo computer engineering grads, for instance) to the U.S to work for big American companies. How can we persuade future entrepreneurs to stay in Canada?”
• “A ‘Homothumadon' corporate culture. Homothumadon is a beautiful Greek word that means a community rushing toward a meaningful goal in unison. How can I create this culture in my staff?”

Kerry Connelly

The communications professional turned singer is hoping to find a big break on her own. After a small but sold-out concert last year, the 33-year-old from Toronto finds being a singer is much like running a small business, especially when it comes to self-producing a concert. (With no recording contracts, Ms. Connelly is on her own marketing, managing and producing her performances.) Her dream is to create a following for her one-woman shows.

Three things on her mind:

• Putting 150 per cent into self-producing her shows.
• Training. Training. Training. Singers have to be constantly training.
• How can she cultivate an audience? How can she market this niche product?

Ali Asaria

Ali Asaria is founder and CEO of Well.ca, an online health and beauty store based in Guelph, Ont. He is also known as the guy behind BrickBreaker, the BlackBerry game. He left his position as a software engineer at Research In Motion Ltd. to open Well.ca.

Three things on his mind:

• "How can I make a positive impact on those around me?”
• “How can I keep the people on my team engaged and empowered?”
• “What can I learn today to make me a better person?”

Ryan Taylor

Ryan Taylor, 32, is the founder of FairTrade Jewellery Co., a store in Toronto. He is a trained goldsmith, and before starting construction of the store, he visited Colombia to make connections with local miners. Mr. Taylor is out to prove that you can do good things and make money at the same time.

Three things on his mind:

• Finishing construction of his store.
• Being certified as a B Corp., a new type of enterprise that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
• Undertaking more social projects.

Ron Dembo

Ron Dembo is the founder and chief executive officer of Zerofootprint, a not-for-profit organization that has developed software that enables individuals and institutions to measure their carbon footprints. Before founding Zerofootprint, Mr. Dembo started Algorithmics Inc., an enterprise risk-management software company that serviced 70 per cent of the world's top 100 banks. He also spent 10 years at Yale, where he taught computer science and management.

Three things on his mind:

• “What keeps me up at night is trying to see how we can get the government at the federal level to see climate change as a business opportunity.”
• “Our latest project, Zerofootprint's Re-Skinning Building Competition, allows teams from all over the world to redesign existing buildings with energy efficiency and return on investment in mind. In North America alone, inefficient existing structures account for 40 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.”
• “How can I get more free time to do something with my daughter?”

Stacy Bailey

Stacy Bailey, 32, is the owner of Music for Life Conservatory in Toronto, where about 260 students study part time. She takes great pride in offering affordable music lessons to lower-income families and students. “Kids can get off the street and do something fun and educational instead,” she says.

Three things on her mind:

• How will the recession affect her business in the long run?
• How can she reach out to more at-risk youth to take part in a music program?
• Opening another location.