Co-founder of the T1 Agency
Mark Harrison is a lifelong volunteer and entrepreneur.
As an experienced marketer, he launched the award-winning marketing agency, The T1 Agency, in 1994 and a global community of sponsorship practitioners, SponsorshipX, in 2005.
Mark founded The MH3 Collective to align his ventures from advertising and sponsorship marketing to integrated communications and education.
As part of Mark’s commitment to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in society, he founded the Black Talent Initiative to facilitate change, access, and connections to aspiring professional Black talent.
In 2020, Mark co-founded Park Street Education, a non-profit offering experience-based, hybrid learning and worked to provide accessibility and remove all barriers to children’s education.
Additionally, Mark is Board Chair at Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto, a Fundraising Campaign Cabinet Member at CAMH Foundation, and an advisor to several ventures, including the Crankworx World Tour, Riff, and NFL Canada.
Say hello to Sidekick Consulting, a new Mark Harrison venture Click To Tweet
What was your inspiration behind launching a new venture, “Sidekick Consulting“? And how are you planning to build an organization that any entrepreneur would want as a sidekick?
In the next decade, “Entrepreneur” will be the most sought-after job globally and being “Entrepreneurial” will be the most sought-after trait by employers. We wanted to assemble a team that could help equip individuals and organizations who are coming into this role or have this trait. We will deploy our integrated tools, beginning with our Strategic Framework for Entrepreneurial Design™, encompassing Purpose, Passion, Profit and People, to truly be a sidekick to these individuals and organizations.
Sidekick is a team of purpose-driven strategy consultants working with passionate intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs to make their mark. How does this help the business owners to grow and develop their businesses?
By their very nature, entrepreneurial people have a great vision, sometimes so transformative that others cannot see it. Sidekick will help translate that vision into understandable frameworks for all stakeholders. We will also ensure the dreamer’s dreams get operationalized, making it easy for them to plan and execute the growth of their organization.
How does your company collaborate with entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to address core business challenges faced by them? And how does this help in reaching their goals?
Sidekick has intentionally designed an impactful array of ‘kits’ that address core business challenges and opportunities. In totality, the kits provide a menu of solutions to tackle any challenge an entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial team faces.
What is your opinion about Sidekick being the ultimate solution for building a scaling vision, business operations, employee experience or growth hacking for any business?
Sidekick Consulting has an unrelenting focus on harnessing an entrepreneurial passion for impact. When entrepreneurial passion gains focus through strategy, there is the power to grow an organization beyond what is thought possible. The energy in people is their true superpower, second to none, and that energy combined with strategic thinking is the ultimate solution.
Sidekick consulting is not only purpose-driven, but it also works with the clients hand-in-hand, rather than just providing reports. How do you think this will help them achieve success?
One of the defining features of Sidekick is that we will never hide our advice in a fancy PowerPoint deck. Instead, it is implemented hand-in-hand with the client in a manner where words become wisdom, and wisdom becomes a way of working. Staying right by our client’s side, we roll up our sleeves and get stuff done.
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Our content acknowledges the strength of the ardent entrepreneurs and their lifelong experiences of the marketplace that help them build successful business empires. Our belief in productive learning and providing inclusive content is why we have plans for a wide spectrum of activities that incorporate everything from reading to prolific networking.
What specific advice would you like to give to small business owners?
Play the ball where it is. I don’t golf (well), but when you think about the sport in its simplest form, every shot you take is from where the ball lays. It is the same in business. Don’t fool yourself into thinking your ball is in a better or worse position. Take the best shot you can from where it lies.
