Canada’s development bank taps top entrepreneurs for tips
A new study finds that only 4% of Canadian businesses are top performers.
The Business Development Bank of Canada has been analyzing data from Statistics Canada to work out which strategies are working for the country’s best performers.
It hopes that the insights gained from Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs will help other business owners grow stronger, more profitable businesses.
"The findings are a roadmap for success based on proven lessons from top entrepreneurs," says Pierre Cléroux, Vice President, Research and Chief Economist at BDC. "This study offers entrepreneurs an amazing list of tips and information they can use to improve their bottom line. If Canadian businesses adopt the strategies of the top performers, our economy will benefit and the living standards of all Canadians will improve."
What are the top strategies?
Canada’s big hitters all share three key strategies:
- Offer employees higher compensation: at high-performing businesses with $2 million to $10 million in sales, average compensation is 45% higher than the sector average.
- Expand internationally: top SME exporters earn 21% to 26% of sales from exports, versus 16% to 19% at other exporting businesses.
- Carry less debt in proportion to their assets, giving high-performing businesses more leeway to invest in growth.
Other elements of successful entrepreneurs include ensuring businesses are efficient and productive; they invest more, especially in technology; they also invest in R&D, patents and training.
The best performers also develop strong leadership and management skills including financial planning.
