Small Businesses Hold Key to Canada's Investment and Trade Success

Canada's investment and trade strategy has been put to the test recently as Ottawa made its biggest-ever pitch to global investors, aiming to catalyze $1 trillion into the Canadian economy over the next five years. Meanwhile, Canadian exporters are absorbing a fresh round of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

These two stories are being told separately: one about investment, and another about trade wars. However, they're actually interconnected, and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the missing piece in this puzzle.

A recent study by the Centre for Innovation Studies found that SMBs in Alberta didn't struggle with formal mechanics of entering foreign markets but instead faced challenges finding the right partners and customers once they got there. The author of the study, who founded Growth Catalyst, a strategic leadership and growth program for established SMBs, suggests that this is not a knowledge problem but rather an organizational one.

The author proposes the ORB test: Organization, Resources, Business model. According to this framework, resources are the technology, talent, and treasury available for expansion. However, business model and organization are more critical factors in determining success.