Local. Business. Intelligence. June 28–July 4, 2011 • Issue 1131
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INSide Mining company digs up payoff with Asian stock exchange 3 Finance minister: leave ownership regulations alone 6
full disclosure
Popping the question: Should you stay private? Raising money through an IPO has its advantages, but the public scrutiny may not be worth the cost and struggle due to limited investor appetite in Canada 4-5
Printing industry going through process of attrition 7 Company develops X-ray vision 13 Social media know-how for small businesses 16 Lessons to predict your company’s revenue goals 17 Keep your brand out of Internet red light district 19 What to do if your employee was caught in riot footage 21 Lions come out of Whitecaps’ and Canucks’ shadows 30
Small business backing away from contracts >Complex procurement processes and late payments are two reasons why many companies avoid Ottawa >Owners ask themselves if they should bother with preparing a bid or spend time working with contracts they already have By Jenny Wagler and Joel McKay
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onfusing application processes, excessive paperwork and a complex system of rules are causing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to feel shut out of many federal procurement opportunities. That’s the message in a new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The CFIB says 60% of SMEs in sectors most likely to sell to the federal government either chose not to sell to the federal government or felt it was too difficult and not worth the effort. “I think the impression people have of selling to the government isn’t exactly one that [is] very easy to do, I think that’s obvious,” said Louis-Martin Parent, a policy analyst with CFIB and author of the report. “The problem is it’s really the process behind it, the forms, the number of steps, the hurdles they have to jump to get noticed or put in a competitive bid.” According to the report, 46% of survey respondents rated the quality of government procurement forms “poor.” Meantime, 41% of respondents said they didn’t sell to the federal government because Ottawa doesn’t buy their type of product or service. This while 27% said they didn’t enter the bidding process because it’s too complicated, and 25% said they chose not to sell to the government because they had no means of see Complexity, 7
“We’re back on the Dominic Schaefer
On the waterfront with Mark Keserch 31
C
growth curve again” – Mario Livich, CEO, Showtimetickets.com
Terrific times for ticket brokers Vancouver Ticket and Tour Service owner Kingsley Bailey’s sales were up 60% in the months leading up to the playoff final see Canucks, 9