Welcome to Simic Solutions

This is the first blog post I have ever written and, to be honest, I’m not sure where to start—or even exactly what it’s going to focus on.

So I figured I would just start typing and see where I end up.

That being said… where do I begin?

I guess this is supposed to be the first blog for Simic Solutions, my new company, so it should be prim, proper and corporate. Because that’s what it’s supposed to be, right?

Yeah. Probably not.

This isn’t exactly my first rodeo

Starting a business isn’t new to me. In fact, this might be my… counts fingers and toes… eighth? Ninth?

I think I got them all, but I’m sure I missed one.

To shorten the story for both of us, I wore a suit in high school. Obviously not because that made me cool, but because I was there to do business. I applied for a summer grant competition and submitted a business plan for a lawn-maintenance company. I planned a clothing company called “Red Lips”—maybe that is one we won’t talk about. Also: hey, Josh. I hope you’re doing well.

For a brief time, I had an Amway company. That chapter sadly ended with the loss of my mentor, Chris—a young man in his twenties who passed away suddenly and far too soon.

I’m going to try to keep this post on the cheerier side, but loss will appear a few more times throughout my life and business stories. Those losses helped shape who I am, who I want to become and where I hope to take this company.

Long story short: this isn’t my first rodeo.

Honestly, it might not be my last—and I hope it isn’t. I want to keep growing, learning and taking parts of my life to new heights as I continue living in this crazy world.

Anyway, clearly my mind is already wandering. Let’s talk about today, Simic Solutions and how we got here.

I realize I just skipped an entire chapter of my business experience, but you can read about that in Chapter One in the website’s app drawer.

Now, back to Simic Solutions. For real this time.

This was not the plan

I would love to say Simic Solutions was the idea all along—that I had carefully planned it and spent years deliberately working toward it.

I can’t say that, because it wouldn’t be true.

When we closed Courtice Canteen, a large chapter of my life closed with it. My passion for business moved to the back burner while I learned the recipe for parenthood. I got a job, worked full-time and collected my hourly wage.

This year has been a long one. We moved, renovated and put the family home up for sale. We also experienced a loss in the family.

That loss is what led me to start playing Skyrim.

Yes, Skyrim.

I bet you thought I was going to say it led directly to Simic Solutions. Nope.

I retreated into video games. I built my all-powerful character, scoured the lands for the best gear, mystical items and rare finds. I would have to check the actual number, but I’m sure I played more than 150 hours in three or four weeks.

While I was playing, I started questioning how the game related to real life—and why living as my character almost felt more fulfilling than living my own life.

Then it hit me like an arrow to the knee.

The reason was purpose.

In the game, you had a clear path. You knew what you needed to do, and you did it. Unfortunately, real life does not always make that path as obvious as we want it to be.

So I started building the first Simic Solutions product: Life Quest.

When one idea became a company

I buckled down, got to work and made things happen quickly. Life Quest began taking shape while I was juggling work, family and life in general.

To make another long story short, I eventually dropped one of those balls and left my job.

I had already been working on Life Quest, and I already had an idea for another app. Suddenly, this looked like the opportunity to begin a new chapter—a new start.

That night, I went home and started building ShiftKeep.

Simic Solutions was what followed, and honestly, it fit perfectly.

Before leaving my job, I had been considering several different directions: personal finance management, marketing, business branding—and then the apps started taking shape.

It all began fitting together.

Some of my favourite parts of owning a business had always been the hours behind a computer: building the website, creating ads, making social-media videos and finding ways to promote something I believed in.

Simic Solutions gives me the opportunity to use every skill I have developed over the years while continuing to learn new ones. It gives me room to build products, help businesses, tell stories and see where all of this can go.

Maybe that is the point of this first post.

Simic Solutions wasn’t a perfectly planned destination. It grew out of everything that came before it: the ideas, businesses, losses, lessons, strange turns and one very intense stretch of Skyrim.

It is the next chapter.

If you have read this far, thank you. I’m still not sure how many people actually read blogs—but if you’re here, I’m glad you found this one.

Welcome to Simic Solutions.

James Simic