dwagner

About Doug Wagner

Doug Wagner is an entrepreneur, President and Co-founder of Sunwapta Solutions. Sunwapta's mission is to help businesses transform from surviving to thriving, sustainable growth. From strategy to implementation, this means marketing, sales, managing your brand and delivering consistent value. Get more clients and keep them.
26 Feb 2016

How To Put Success Back Into Your Forecast

By |2017-04-03T11:13:00-06:00February 26th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Current Events, Doug's Blog, Oilfield Pulse|

Rocket To Success

Here is the million dollar question: “What can Albertans and the oil and gas sector expect in 2016?”

Some people have access to more data, but unless you’ve invented the time machine, your guess about the future might be just as good as theirs.

The Future Is Gloomy

(Update: Since this article was originally published in December 2015, the price of oil has dropped below $30 US per barrel and the royalty review results have been announced. Those […]

23 Feb 2016

Starting a Business: Assume You Know Nothing

By |2017-04-12T12:04:50-06:00February 23rd, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Leadership, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|

Starting a Business - Assume You Know Nothing - Puzzle

When you start to think you know it all, something will happen to make you believe you don’t know anything at all.

“You know nothing, Jon Snow.” ~ Ygritte – The Game of Thrones

It is tempting to give people advice on starting a business. Do this and not that. As if everything is black and white, yes or no answers. If we had followed all of that advice 15 years ago, we would not have started our business […]

4 Feb 2016

Survive To Thrive

By |2017-04-03T11:13:20-06:00February 4th, 2016|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Survive to Thrive - Plant Growing in Hands

Are you limited to survival, or can you thrive in the face of adversity?

Sunwapta Solutions Inc. has been in business for over 15 years. Suffice it to say, we’ve been through a few economic cycles during that time ranging from the dotcom bust, 9/11, the 2008 world banking crisis, and now the current slump in oil prices.

Of course, your business might run into problems for […]

28 Jan 2016

The Real Person Behind the Facades of Success

By |2017-04-03T11:13:30-06:00January 28th, 2016|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|

Masks - Facades of Success

How our layers of roles and personas create a wall between us, happiness, and success.

“I’ve always wanted to be a brooding, deep, dark artist, but I can never keep that facade going for more than 15 minutes.” ~ Bryan Callen

When I first started in business, we would meet other entrepreneurs all the time. The ones with some experience appeared to be highly confident and flawless. They talked about how […]

18 Jan 2016

Don’t Annoy The Bull And Other Lessons From The Field

By |2017-04-12T12:05:43-06:00January 18th, 2016|Categories: Leadership, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|

Dog Annoying the Bull

Before you can avoid the bulls, you need to learn to spot them. With people that can be a challenge.

“I never rode a bull – I’m not that stupid.” ~ James Caan

Some years ago we were visiting Dorothy and her spouse, friends who lived in the country near the Alberta foothills. We were city dwellers, so we enjoyed getting out of town for a little adventure.

After sitting around chatting for an hour or so, we all decided to go for a walk before […]

7 Jan 2016

3 Ways To Be Happier Than A Fly In Your Soup

By |2017-04-03T11:13:43-06:00January 7th, 2016|Categories: Doug's Blog, Dream Teams, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|

Fly on Soup - Business Lessons

The illusion of success can trap you in a business that keeps you buzzing but doesn’t fuel your passion.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman

Sunday evening I was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a good book on my Kindle, and eating my […]

21 Dec 2015

3 Things You Can Do To Jump-Start 2016 Right Now

By |2017-04-12T12:07:05-06:00December 21st, 2015|Categories: Manifast, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|

Person Jumping Into New Year

How to hit the ground running in 2016. (If you are already in holiday mode, you may want to reconsider.)

Once December hits, a lot of us are conditioned to coast through December and then hit the ground running in January.

I worked with Jeff, a government client, who actually refused to meet us in December because “no one works here until January”.  So the project got parked for eight weeks.

But December is only a little more than four weeks long so how does […]

14 Dec 2015

Trying to Avoid Failure By Never Starting is a Dead-end Road

By |2017-04-17T13:11:27-06:00December 14th, 2015|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation, The Good Men Project|

Man Stuck Deciding and Not Moving Forward

Many times we get ourselves into a mental trap where not moving forward seems safe. It isn’t.

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting.” ~ Buddha

We often get in our own way when pursuing success.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of people starting businesses because they have lost their job or fear they will lose it in the future. Some people […]

11 Dec 2015

5 Marketing Blunders Almost Everyone Makes

By |2017-06-02T15:44:13-06:00December 11th, 2015|Categories: Manifast, Marketing, Sales, The Good Men Project|

Marketing Blunder Extra Hands on Hands

Chances are you are making one or more of these mistakes in your marketing. Knowing what they are can make all the difference.

Over the last few 15 years in business, I’ve seen a lot of good and bad. I’ve attended a lot of learning events, lead workshops, consulted and spoken at numerous events. I’ve had the opportunity to observe what others say and do.

Maybe you’ve got it together all of the time, but from my view, pretty much everyone blunders at […]

27 Nov 2015

Great Teams Need a Purpose

By |2017-04-12T12:10:36-06:00November 27th, 2015|Categories: Business Strategy, Dream Teams, Leadership, Manifast|

Business Marketing and Sales

With Purpose

We don’t build great teams in business for the sake of building great teams. It would be like hiring all the best hockey players and then not playing hockey.

Great teams need a purpose or goal.

We build a great hockey team to win the Stanley Cup.

The same goes for business.

For business, the purpose is to serve clients in exchange for revenue. If we do that efficiently, we know we are winning because we generate profit and growth according to our goals.

Brand, Clients and Teams

Our brand is how […]