Company Name: Forktula Inc.
Team details and background:
Oliver Sauvé of Victoria by-the-Sea and Josh Lindsay of Kingston make up team Forktula. Josh is an Environmental
Biologist by trade, as well as being a husband and father, he’s been tinkering in the entrepreneurial realm of product and
business development for several years. He is a self published author of a children’s book, and has even designed his own
board game. After learning a great deal about product design with these projects, he started to take business and
entrepreneurship a lot more serious, seeking to develop a product or business that had real potential to get off the ground.
Oliver has been a career restaurateur, municipal counsellor, and world traveller for several years. His family owns and
operates the Landmark Café in Victoria PEI. He’s also a volunteer firefighter with the Victoria Fire Department. He’s always
considered himself to be an entrepreneur. He started at the age of 4, cutting his neighbours flowers, re-arranging them into
bouquets and selling them back to them. Ever since then, Oliver has been involved in countless money making schemes.
After sitting on the idea of the Forktula for 4 years, Oliver decided it was time to take the Forktula from idea, to product.
Oliver and Josh both work cohesively together, complementing each other’s strengths and short comings. Together they
make an unstoppable team, whether it’s selling the Forktula or pursuing new business endeavors.
What is your business mission and/or vision?
Now that the Forktula product is up and running, Forktula Inc’s (Josh and Oliver’s) mission is to inspire creativity in the
mundane. In re-evaluating our business opportunities and strengths, we have found that where we excel is in adding value
to existing businesses and helping them grow their brand fast and effectively. Our goal is to become leaders in product,
brand, and business model development.
Description of product or service that you provide?
Forktula is the world’s first fork accessory. It’s a miniature silicone spatula for your fork. We are the proud inventors,
distributors and the world’s leading experts on fork accessories. Above and beyond the Forktula product, we have recently
started towards a path of becoming a service based company, aiding local businesses grow their existing brand awareness
through innovative business model solutions.
Who has been your biggest influencer or role model in your entrepreneurial journey?
Colin Deacon, the entrepreneur in residence at the Startup Zone. Colin has believed in us right from the start. He has
offered us invaluable business advice, and has guided us in a more successful direction. Colin saw in us, true
entrepreneurial potential. Admittedly, he has said the that Forktula product, is not a game changer, but rather, Josh and
Oliver as a team, is where the true entrepreneurial value lies.
What has been the biggest obstacle you’ve faced in your entrepreneurial journey?
The biggest obstacle we have faced so far has been trying to take a world’s first product that no one knows about (and a
silly product at that), and bring it into the main stream.
What made you decide to apply to become a resident company of Startup Zone, and what part of the program has
helped your business the most?
Open office hours and access to board rooms with white boards is probably the most valuable asset for our company. We
talk a lot and have a lot of ideas, so having a room with a white board where we can map out our thoughts and plans as
we’re going is effective. Also, the Startup Zone has introduced us to our lawyers at McInnis Cooper who have proven very
valuable. Colin Deacon is also a great resource to bounce ideas off of, and to ask us questions that we maybe never thought
of. The reason why we initially applied was to have access to skilled individuals and resources that we may not have had
access to initially.
Where do you see your company in 5 years?
We see ourselves as being leaders in business development in PEI by successfully building partnerships with other existing
businesses and entrepreneurs to help grow their brands.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Josh wanted to be a superhero and/or ninja. Oliver wanted to be a soccer player.
What’s your motto or favourite quote?
“As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul.” Hermes
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