MDA LaunchPad is an exciting new research and development program for Canadian technology developers. It enables small and medium-sized businesses to partner with MDA, a Maxar Technologies company, to work collaboratively on projects that build and grow Canada’s space and defence industry. MDA LaunchPad seeks a wide range of research and development partnerships that lead…
Businesses rarely remain competitive with the same product offering they’ve always offered. In these rare cases, companies operate in a unique niche that presents high barriers to entry (capital, expertise, IP, etc.), and benefit from a low-to-no competition environment. No considerations need to be provided for the product life cycle since competitive forces are not…
The Request for Proposal (RFP) (also known as Request for Quotation) process is a very common way for the Canadian government to procure products and services from private suppliers. The federal government has recently increased procurement opportunities for Canadian businesses, and several funding programs have shifted towards gated applications and the procurement process to ensure…
Consider this scenario: A customer asks your company to manufacture a part according to certain specifications, which were outlined in a contract. He needs to add the part to his product and ship it to his customers by a set deadline. Your company creates the part, but due to an error that occurs during the…
Ontario’s first budget under the Conservative government offers an array of measures designed to help businesses. Through tax incentives and the potential for new and modernized government grants and loans, there are many direct financial incentives worth discovering. Other considerations supporting the business community include lower hydro rates, reduction of regulatory “red tape,” freezing the…
In a previous article we explored the risks and rewards of getting into export markets. Now that you’ve decided that the rewards outweigh the risks and that there’s a positive return-on-investment (ROI) in your export market plan, you need to start planning export market entry strategies. In this article we’ll review some of the steps…
When Canada’s federal budget was released on March 19, it gave Canadians another look at the Liberal party’s spending strategies. Like previous years, the federal government is staying committed to investment aimed at boosting the economy, especially as it relates to middle-class families. However, Budget 2019 also provided many great insights into the support businesses…
Business process mapping is a lean management strategy that seeks to understand and eliminate sources of waste. Companies often rely on many processes to provide value to customers; by mapping how these processes work, firms can identify which activities add value and which activities cause friction in the process, making it less efficient. While most…
While there is greater gender equality in the workforce than ever before, there is still a gender divide amongst top leaders and entrepreneurs. Less than 16% of Canadian small and medium-sized businesses are women-owned, yet the full and equal involvement of women in the economy is essential to Canada’s competitiveness. Only 10% of high growth…
Innovation Factory (iF) is a Hamilton, Ontario-based Regional Innovation Centre (RIC) that provides startup resources, programming, and mentorship to early-stage companies. Since 2011, it’s helped innovators commercialize their ideas and reach the next level of success while also supporting a more collaborative business community. As a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), Innovation…