Susan Mercer-Thornhill

One peak at the local paper led Susan Mercer-Thornhill to an exciting business opportunity working with one of Calgary’s leading computer service companies.

Biography
Susan Mercer-Thornhill, a native of Newfoundland, moved to Calgary in 1993. Susan was born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She has limited movement in her left foot and struggles with typing on her left side. Susan controls her epilepsy with a balanced lifestyle, rest and medication.

Becoming and Entrepreneur with a Disability
As an experience home-based entrepreneur, Susan was always looking for new Ventures. In 2005, Susan became the first franchisee of a Calgary-based computer service company called Tech Squad. Susan began her business plan and quickly realized that she required assistance. “I had the skeleton of a business plan and support from the Tech Squad head office, but I needed more guidance.” She contacted Momentum and they assisted Susan with refining her business plan and financing a business loan.

Susan opened her doors in the fall of 2005 and now oversees all aspects of the operation. She uses the technical support of her husband Randy and various subcontractors who are bound by a contract to offer Tech Squad service.

Susan has been very successful in growing the company customer base to over 100 clients. Tech Squad now has one full-time employee and hires out a subcontractor 20 hours per week on average. In the next 12 months, management is expecting to grow the customer base by 100% and increase sales by 50%

Susan enjoys the IT business and sees a very bright future ahead for Tech Squad.

Advice for Entrepreneurs
Susan believes that it is essential to create a business plan. “Be truthful with yourself about the success of your business and work with someone in business that can help you with the research.” Susan advises businesses to research resources that can support you such as networking breakfasts or support organizations.

How do you define “success”?
“Success is reaching your life goals and dreams. They are not necessarily business-oriented. Making a plan and setting yourself up with short, mid and long term goals and creating the steps to attain these goals.”