The Zero Point

Kay Valley has taken the leap and opened her own eco-store, The Zero Point (www.thezeropoint.ca), to sell a wide variety of environmentally friendly products and services for the home.

“The idea is to pack as many eco-products as possible in one place so people don’t have to run around to various stores to find these items,” explains Kay, who opened The Zero Point at 1590 Queen St. East in Toronto. “Our goal is to make it easy to find and afford green products and services.”

The Zero Point sells environmentally friendly paint, flooring, wallpaper, counters, mattresses, bedding and bath items, fabrics, kitchen products and baby supplies. The store also offers services such as green house cleaning and renovations, eco design and eco organizing.

Kay has been researching and seeking out environmentally friendly and non-toxic products for years, but recently decided to turn this passion into a business.

“I have always been interested in green products and building but was planning to go to law school,” she explains. “Then I found out I was pregnant and put that on hold. Now with two kids, I have found myself doing a lot more research into eco-products like diapers and organic clothing.”

Kay has experienced first hand that opening your own business comes with a lot of uphill battles. For example, she found a space last fall to house her business and hired a contractor to renovate in time for an opening in late November 2008. But by early December, the work still wasn’t done.

“I had to fire the contractor and now I’m fighting to get my money back,” she explains. “It is extraordinarily hectic and stressful launching a business. Some days I wonder what the heck I am doing.”

Kay had enough pressure and worries over her store opening that she didn’t want any extra hassles over her business telecommunications needs.

In the past, she says her dealings with some phone providers was “a nightmare.”

“In once case I had to call every month and spend two hours on the phone straightening out the phone bill because of mistakes in billing,” explains Kay. “I would be transferred from person to person or put on hold or they would accidentally drop the call and I had to start all over. I knew I didn’t have time for these hassles with a new business.”

So in looking for a telecommunications provider for The Zero Point, Kay was seeking a different option and decided to call Allstream Small Business.

“The representatives worked hard to make sure I got the services I wanted and that the cost was affordable,” says Kay.

Allstream Small Business offers simple, cost-effective bundles of telecommunications solutions tailored to small companies. Firms choose from several packages of services based on their requirements – so there is no need to purchase products the company does not want or need in order to get a “good deal.”

Kay chose a Phone + Net 1 bundle which includes High Speed Internet service with five email accounts, two phone lines (with two calling features on each line), plus 1,000 U.S. and Canadian long distance minutes. With a bundle, phone, Internet and long distance charges are all combined in one monthly bill to make accounting easy and efficient.

Kay also liked the fact that the Allstream Small Business bundles are flexible. She can change or add services as her company’s needs change. Not only can she switch to a bundle with more or less services, but each package can be customized by purchasing individual phone, Internet and long distance features. So the bundle of services is tailored specifically to her store’s needs.

For example, Kay originally chose a package with four lines plus Internet service, but when the delay in the store opening occurred, she downgraded to two lines, plus Internet.

“Down the road we will likely customize the package by adding a toll free number,” she says.

Not only is Allstream Small Business cost-effective and convenient, Kay says that most importantly dealing with this provider has been easy and hassle-free.

“Anytime I called an Allstream Small Business representative, it wasn’t a three hour ordeal like it is with their competitors,” she says.

“The biggest thing for me is that Allstream Small Business is easy. I am put through to a person right away. And when they say they will take care of it, they actually do,” Kay explains. “That is the most important thing to me because I don’t have time to spend three hours on the phone trying to deal with my telecommunications provider. I’m too busy launching my business.”