John Risley; Director and co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods
John Risley had a clear objective when he co-founded Clearwater Seafoods with his brother-in-law, Colin MacDonald, back in 1976: He wanted to make money and put food on the table.
"That was the driving force," says Mr. Risley, the company's former chief executive officer and past chairman. His family's tough financial times while growing up in Nova Scotia made him determined not to be poor. "We started Clearwater Seafoods with a pickup truck and lots of ambition," he says.
Mr. Risley and Mr. MacDonald took the business from a small lobster distribution company to about $300-million in annual seafood sales by 2002, the same year that Mr. Risley was named one of Canada's top entrepreneurs by Profit magazine. (The last few years have been more challenging, and in June, 2009, Clearwater Seafoods successfully restructured; good news for its 1,200 employees in Nova Scotia.)
Mr. Risley's strategy was to foster innovation by investing in the latest and best technology to improve the product and keep costs down. That's what he believes gave Clearwater an edge over the competition in the global seafood market.
While Mr. Risley acknowledges that his lack of formal education was a disadvantage (he dropped out of Dalhousie University before graduating), he credits his friend and business mentor, Mac Swim, with giving him sound business advice. A hands-off kind of manager, Mr. Risley surrounded himself with "really smart people" at Clearwater and "let them do their jobs." He's proud that the business runs successfully today without him.
When his business interests expanded to include other industries, such as cable and communications, Mr. Risley followed the same philosophy of hiring good people, especially in areas where he had no personal knowledge. Once you understand how to run a business, he says, you can apply that skill successfully to other fields.
"You don't have to be an expert in everything yourself," he says. "That's why you hire experts."
While Mr. Risley is known for his boating skills, running the business with family hasn't always been smooth sailing. He and his brother-in-law were famous for arguments that evolved into screaming matches. But they have always been able to work out their disagreements. According to Mr. Risley, the outbursts simply allowed each to hear the other's point of view - and cleared the air - before they got on with business as usual.