Janice Cheam’s entrepreneurial endeavours began somewhat by accident.
A few years ago, the 28-year-old was about to finish business school and pitch her resumé into the working world when she was encouraged to start a venture of her own.
That encouragement came from a career-path interviewer who praised an early business plan Cheam and some friends had developed during school for an energy-saving device.
“That was exactly the right validation at the right time I needed to consider an alternative path to my career,” said Cheam.
Today, that device has been transformed into the PowerTab, an in-home digital display that tells customers how much electricity they’re using at any given time.
The PowerTab has become the flagship product designed by Cheam’s company, Energy Aware Technology Inc.
Cheam, president and CEO of Energy Aware, said the BC Technology Industry Association in 2009 named the Gastown-based venture the most promising startup of the year.
The idea for the company was formulated during business school after a friend of Cheam’s attended a UN conference on climate change in Montreal.
The friend returned to relay to Cheam and others the concerns about climate change that were voiced at the conference, and the team decided to look into inventing a device that could help conserve energy and protect the environment.
“We didn’t know what the product was but we knew what it had to do,” she said.
For the next two years, Cheam dedicated herself to building the product that would become the cornerstone of her company.
So far, the company has sold its product to customers in Australia, Europe and North America.
“If you want to start your business, you have to decide that this is what you want to do, and at the early stages the biggest barrier to that is yourself.” •
