Chantelle Quow
Chantelle Quow, MBA, is the President & CEO of CQBC Inc. and is passionate about helping entrepreneurs get to the next level in their business journey. With over a decade of experience across industries, Chantelle specializes in mentorship and coaching, strategic planning, financial analysis, market research, executive training and development and business marketing.
She has also contributed to multiple studies that look at the challenges faced by different BIPOC
communities when navigating the entrepreneurial terrain in North America.
In this opportunity, we were lucky enough to interview Chantelle Quow and learn a little more about her. Read on to find out what we discovered.
What is CQ Business Consulting?
CQBC Inc. is a Black-owned, woman-led business consultancy organization. As a team, we are committed to providing clients within the public, private, and non-profit sectors with the strategic tools they need to persevere and be successful.
Our team is comprised of professionals that bring unique expertise from different fields of work including research, strategic planning, adult education, community development, communications and media, business management, financial management, and public relations.
We saw that you had over 10 years of experience in multiple areas. How has this led you to become the President & CEO of CQBC Inc. and make it a successful company?
When I started 10 years ago, I was bookkeeping for small business clients as a way to help pay for my education. I’ve always been great with numbers so it was easy for me to run this small side business while I pursued my undergrad. Along the way I started to notice that none of the clients I was working with at the time had business plans in place; they didn’t know how they were going to grow or scale their businesses and I realized there was a gap in the market that I could fill. It was then that I added business planning to my service offerings. I had clients from various industries and although some didn’t have large budgets to pay for my services, I worked with them anyway to gain more business planning experience and build up my expertise in different sectors. Because of this, I still work across multiple sectors and industries – my work is Task Specific, not Industry Specific.
Along the course of my studies I also realized that we were heading into a “gig economy” and there were many people who, like me, were working side hustles outside of their regular jobs. I saw that over time there would be an even greater need for business planning services to help clients move forward with their side jobs and this got me thinking about how I could tailor my business to cater to a growing market. I was hungry to increase my business knowledge so I applied for my MBA, an additional learning experience that taught me about corporate strategy and planning, another level of the industry that I knew I wanted to explore.
Fast forward to today, everything I learned along the way has contributed to the success of my company, CQ Business Consulting Inc. We coach entrepreneurs looking to launch their businesses, business owners who want to grow and scale, and corporate and not-for-profit entities in various industries who are looking for strategic planning to help guide their next steps.
What does your program consist of, and how do you help organizations grow their businesses?
Our new online program, The Entrepreneurs Toolkit: Creating a Business Plan, consists of 7 virtual lessons that cover the foundational skills needed to create a business plan. There is a lot of need in the market for business plans, but not enough know-how; and with the growth of CQBC Inc., regular one-on-one coaching just isn’t possible. Aside from that, business coaching can be quite costly, running upward from $1500+. This course offers business owners a way to tap into what I’ve learned by showing them the tools corporate strategists utilize. I show them how to use these tools in their planning to set their business up for the best chance at success.
Your profile mentions that you have learned much more in industry and work life. We would like to know why you consider that education is vital in the process of becoming an excellent professional.
I’ve learned so much through my formal and informal education in this industry. It has been vital to my success because I have been able to share tactics and tricks that aren’t well-known and help others by sharing this knowledge. My role as a professional has been to bridge the gap. As much as I’ve learned, I am still very hungry to learn more and so that has led me to expand my knowledge through research, because as they say “Knowledge is power”. This is what helps me to excel in my profession.
Finally, is there anything that you’d like to leave us off with
For everyone dreaming about starting a business – Don’t give up on your dreams. I am where I am today because I have so much tenacity, I’m a fighter, and no matter what, I refuse to quit. No matter what obstacles get in my way I will always find another way: if a door is closed, I’ll find a window to climb through. You have to be hungry enough to never give up. One thing about me, as long as I’m breathing, I’ll get to my goals. Period.
Special thanks to Chantelle Quow for being part of this excellent interview.
