Small business grants in canada

Is there one sure key to success in small business?

Is it the integration of sophisticated technologies and computer expertise? Is it highly educated (and highly paid) MBAs or outside professionals? Are they what sparks the innovative management that a small business needs to survive and prosper?

Generally, the answers to these questions is "no."

Some of the companies that Peters and Waterman found "excellent" in the mid-1980s are not looking quite as good now. Large companies, from the late 1980s through the 1990s and into the new millennium, have been laying off people, "going back to basics" and "concentrating on core businesses"--which is what successful small business people have been doing all along.

"Concentrating on core businesses" really means doing what you know how to do best, doing it as well as you can, and doing it as often as you can at a profit. This may sound simple, but things are best kept that way. However, there are some other things that go to the roots of any small business that deserve attention here.

Often, what motivates people to start a particular small business is contact with potential customers and a sensitivity to the needs of a specific group of those customers--in other words, a market niche. For example, an innovative product with an appeal that is too specific to allow it to be developed and supported by a large company might just be the trigger that enables an individual or a small group of entrepreneurs to get going without big company overheads.

For continued success, you must build on your initial market knowledge, update it continuously, and mould it to fit your markets as they change. Without ongoing interaction with customers and an understanding of how customer needs are changing, a small business can lose its focus on its niche and can run the risk of failure as a result.

Every small business needs to concentrate on getting things done quickly--on developing products and services and getting them onto the market fast. This bias for action must permeate the product development/ product enhancement parts of the business more than anywhere else.

Long, drawn-out development projects sap resources while not providing the financial returns needed to sustain the company. This is what happened to one of Canada's well-known computer companies. It embarked on a large project to make significant enhancements to software it had already launched in North America, a project funded both privately and through government grants. The project ran into inevitable delays and, eventually, the funding came apart. The company went from having a successful product to receivership.

Planning for success

How can you protect yourself against this sort of failure? Simple structures with flexible lines of authority and communication are essential. Flat, horizontal organizations keep overheads down and enable the owners or partners to remain close to their operations. They allow the business to react as competition heats up or markets change.

It is important for a business to have a single, key objective on which everyone can focus. A business must have a mission. This idea is not restricted to small business, but it has special significance for small businesses since they do not have the resources (managerial, human, or financial) to support several missions or focal points for their energy. Further, the consistent reinforcement and communication of the mission can act as a driving force to keep the momentum of the business going and growing in the toughest times.

For the most part, in successful businesses this single overriding objective or mission is not simply profit. More often it is the desire to do something uniquely well that can be sold to a defined group of people profitably.

Last, but definitely not least, small businesses are made up of people, as is any other type of organization. Therefore, the effective use and development of the people in the organization is critical to its continued growth and success. This can be done through ongoing training and educational support (some of which can be subsidized by governments) and the addition of equipment or technology as appropriate.

Take as an example the small consulting company that, as it grew, acquired computer equipment and added well-known accounting software for its office manager and two or three trained employees to use. The result was that the company could double or triple in size without adding overhead in its accounting area. That is the easy, concrete developmental step that many small business people can see for their employees. It also has a quick, easily perceived payback.

Finally, there is an important, often-overlooked element of staff development that is sometimes harder to implement: setting a climate in which people can innovate without personal risk (especially if they fail, within limits), can test their ideas on a receptive owner/ manager group, and can implement the good ideas that they generate. From this, people grow, ignite the spark of creativity that sustains the flow of innovations, and keep the business healthy and successful for the future.

Dr. Tony Fattal's latest book, Managing a Successful Business in Canada, is published by Self-Counsel Press. Dr. Fattal founded TESLE Enterprises Inc., his business and management consulting company, more than 25 years age, and is active in management education and training, contract management, and "business combinations." In an extension of his work in education and training, he joined Seneca College in July 2000, where he acts as director, Corporate Training & Development.