Taking over a business is a major challenge, even more so when you want to give it a new lease on life and instill your own values, particularly in terms of sustainable development.
This is the project Nadia-Karina Minassian initiated when she acquired the Motel Fraser with her spouse and parents in 2010.
Let’s take a look at Nadia-Karina Minassian’s inspiring entrepreneurial story.
Choosing Gaspésie
Born to a Gaspésian mother and an Armenian father, Nadia-Karina grew up in Montréal in a happy home filled with Armenian family members. She spent many summers in Gaspésie, and her memories of that time are imbued with a sense of freedom. This is one of the reasons she decided to take the leap and relocate with her spouse, who is from Gaspésie.
Her parents soon followed suit, packing their bags to join her in her new life. They simply couldn’t imagine being so far apart.
With her degree in political science and regional development, Nadia-Karina soon carved out a professional niche for herself in economic development in Gaspésie.
Over the years, Nadia-Karina developed the urge to make a concrete contribution to the economic health of the region, and increasingly began to consider acquiring a business and propelling it with her vision.
Becoming an entrepreneur
In 2010, Nadia-Karina and her partners decided to acquire Motel Fraser, despite having no experience in restaurant and hotel management. The shareholders were confident they could make a difference in their region and, above all, improve their quality of life.
Pregnant at the time of the transaction, Nadia-Karina dreamed of the family life she had always pictured: being close to her loved ones, having control over her time, and achieving a work/life balance without guilt. Being free to make her own choices was also one of the motivating factors.
Even though the first 10 years presented plenty of challenges, Nadia-Karina’s greatest source of pride is the enjoyment she takes in working with family and the quality of life that it generates.
People at the heart of her efforts
“Our greatest success is how much we enjoy working together,” she says. “We wanted it to be fun, and that is still very important to us. At the beginning, I used one of the rooms for my baby. My mother is always very present with the children.”
Work/life balance underpins the organizational values and shapes human resource management.
“It is very important to offer quality jobs, but also to offer our team a human environment, focused on everyone’s development and well-being.”
These management choices have clearly had an impact on the business’s current position in terms of labour. “We are not experiencing a major labour shortage right now. We have challenges, yes, but when I compare us to other businesses, we’re doing very well.” The company also relies on a strong core of employees who have been working there for several years and who stayed on the job even at the height of the pandemic.
The business can be proud that its average retention rate is seven years, even though its staff tends to be quite young.
Innovating to prosper
The Motel Fraser was also the first business in the region to equip its front desk with technology for contactless, automated management of checking in and checking out. “It allowed us to comply with COVID rules and to consolidate jobs.”
Nadia-Karina is fuelled by the desire to innovate and keep improving. This is why she initiated efforts to obtain Green Key™ certification from the Association des hôteliers du Québec.
“It was Mélanie Marin (Evol Regional Director) who first spoke to me about sustainable development. I realized we already had some environmentally responsible practices, because it is part of our family values, but they weren’t really structured in the business.”
Nadia-Karina kicked off her efforts through a project introduced by the CIDC, in conjunction with four other businesses in the region.
“Our action plan is done. We spent a year collecting information for our reference year. We even installed a water meter. Since June 1, we have been in the first year of the plan, and we are tracking our improvement. It’s very motivating!”
This project has also had a positive impact on employees and has distinguished the business as an employer of choice.
“Our team is involved. I ensure employees understand the reasons behind certain decisions so they can buy in to them, and we achieve goals together. I get them involved; that’s important for me. And that goes down to decisions on the business’s donations and sponsorships.”
The business also intends to inform its clientele. “For the moment, we have a screen at the front desk where we post our sustainable development commitments. We keep thinking about the best ways to promote our efforts.”
Vision of the future
“I am a developer and a visionary. I am motivated by innovation. I need to have a clear vision and then transpose it into an action plan to make the steps concrete. Mélanie Marin put me in touch with professionals who are guiding me in executing certain phases of my plan, like drafting a policy for sustainable development. It makes a huge difference!”
The business is truly committed in its efforts, and Nadia is convinced of the environmental, human, and financial benefits.
“We have to stop seeing sustainable development efforts as just more things to do and consider them a strategy to achieve our goals. I understand the argument of not having enough time; business managers are very busy, but we need to develop a global vision and use it to drive us. We also have to reflect on the impact we have with our business. It’s our responsibility.”
Nadia-Karina has even more projects in mind. And she always will, because it’s what energizes her.
“Sometimes, I tell myself we are too small to have accomplished all that we have! It proves that anything is possible!”, she says, beaming with pride and ambition.
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Thanks to the engagement of invaluable partners: Économie Québec, through its agent Investissement Québec, the Government of Canada, National Bank, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Fondaction, Evol has a large envelope to support, through conventional loans, businesses with inclusive, diversified ownership that generate positive social and environmental impacts in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG).
