Kris Schantz is the cofounder of Happy Worker, a company that makes specialty toys and gifts, and he sees a direct relation between efficiency and growth.

“No manufacturer can grow unless they’re more effective this month than last month,” he says. “Our time and human resources are always being pulled like Stretch Armstrong and the only way we manage to grow is to constantly get better at what we do and how we do it.”

The case for efficiency is clear: work smarter or risk going out of business.

Every company follows a series of processes to produce a product or service for its customers. For example, a graphic design agency’s business production process may begin with a brainstorming session, move on to its writers, and finish as the designers create the final product. The agency will also have a sales process for securing clients and an administrative process like payroll to support its core activities.

These are all intertwined. Become more efficient in one area by becoming faster, producing a better product or generating less waste and your whole business can benefit. But improving business processes requires a constant focus on finding efficiencies.

Such vigilance may sound exhausting – and it can be – but it’s important to identify and implement efficiencies as soon as possible.

“If it’s a small change we’ll make the improvement immediately,” says Schanz. “If a larger change is needed we’ll implement the smallest part we can today and add the rest to our internal to-dos to tackle when we can.”

It may seem unnecessary to spend so much energy on making minor adjustments, but doing so can pay huge dividends.

There are 64 distinct steps in making every one of Happy Worker’s products, and each step consists of several smaller actions. With such a complicated process, “even a small improvement – reducing a single design revision stage, simplifying an engineering element, improving or settling a key quality control issue early in the process – can result in a significant savings of time, money and grey hair,” Schantz says.

Because your business’s processes are only as strong as the people carrying them out,  employees will largely determine just how efficient a business is.

“It’s shocking what the negative impact is of having even a single teammate who’s not the right match,” says Schant. “It’s even more shocking what can be accomplished with a great team.”

The production process starts at hiring. Employing staff who work smarter and innately go that extra mile means your company will be stronger and more effective in the long run.

Inefficiences also result from the size of a business.

Rob Engman, publisher of TAPS The Beer Magazine, has observed a number of brewing operations scaling up in recent years as the popularity of small craft beers has risen. While the allure of increasing production volume is clear – making more means you can sell more – rapid growth isn’t always wise.

“Bigger is not always better,” Engman says. As companies increase in size, they often become less effective at what they do and risk losing sight of the customer base that made them so successful in the first place.

Growth-related inefficiencies can be mitigated by implementing efficiencies as early as possible. So when should business owners begin strategizing about processes?

“Day one,” says Engman. “If there is no business plan and growth plan in any business, it is likely to fail.”

Every company should outline its ideal process. Small service firms and huge manufacturers alike benefit from knowing where their operations shine, and where they need improvement. This also makes it easier to identify inefficiencies that naturally creep into the production process as businesses grow.

In the end, companies must grapple with what Schantz calls “the Goldilocks dilemma” or the struggle between maintaining efficient operations and dealing with real-world demands.

Manufacturers like Happy Worker, for example are faced with industry regulations, the idiosyncrasies of complex products, client expectations, and the desire to continue growing. And these all have to be balanced with keeping operations as lean as possible.

Schantz describes the effort to find a balance as constantly tinkering.

“Or goal is to make our newest toy or collectible our best ever – and this always involves tweaking templates, communications, and everything – to be just right.”

But making it easy to create good beer at home is tricky, expensive and time-consuming. Despite opening a new brewing facility just last year, MB Bottle Brew has grown so quickly that it’s already pushing past current production capacity, and is struggling to fill rapidly growing sales orders.

Still, the company has a number of advantages over well-established competition. According to Best — a former sports marketing industry executive and the company’s marketing manager —  the guesswork involved in existing brew-it-yourself processes can lead to frustratingly unpredictable results. Standard kits have many steps, a myriad of working parts that each need to be perfectly sterilized, and they require customers to accurately mix supplied packages of concentrated malt and powdered barley.

His company decided to provide a simpler way, and created a method that gets product to customers in near-complete form while still giving them the experience of brewing at home. Unlike beer kits, which have the thirsty starting nearly from scratch, MB Bottle Brew does most of the brewing itself. The company processes beer in much the same way as other craft microbreweries, with one distinguishing difference: it withholds the yeast.

The non-carbonated and alcohol-free beer is then placed into two-litre plastic bottles, which customers buy from a growing list of retailers across Canada. They take the bottles home, open them up, and pour in a supplied vial of yeast. The mixture then ferments, adding alcohol and naturally carbonating the beer. Best says the drink is ready for consumption in about two weeks.

MB Bottle Brew currently offers two lagers for sale. Mexican Cerveza is light tasting, while Bohemian Blonde Ale offers a more robust flavour. The products, which brew the equivalent of 24 standard 341 mL bottles, carry a suggested retail price of $24.

Best claims the final at-home product is shockingly close to the type of beer you’d find on tap at your local pub.

“They say there are 10 steps to making a great microbrew beer, and we’ve done nine of them,” Best says.

That mix of DIY attitude and craft beer expertise seems to resonate with consumers — the company’s 2012 sales exceeded $1 million.

And their product has another distinct advantage — it dodges strict liquor industry regulations because it’s shipped to retailers as a non-alcoholic beverage. The beer remains alcohol-free until the consumer adds yeast, so it can be sold almost anywhere. Currently, MB Bottle Brew boasts distribution in over 250 retail outlets, including corner markets and mid-sized chains such as TSC Stores, a Canadian retailer with 45 locations in Ontario and Manitoba. The company aims to triple the number of retail outlets carrying its products within the next year.

But first, it will need to overcome production issues.

“We’re trying to find that balance between how much to brew and what we ship out,” says Best.

Rose Reis, a marketer who works extensively with the Ontario Craft Brewers Association, believes this is a common issue for all small brewers.

“The LCBO understands the capacity limitations that some brewers have, and they will work together to determine what is achievable,” Reis says.

But MB Bottle Brew has no plans to work with the LCBO, and the company’s current retailers — most of who have never worked with a brewery before — don’t have the same support systems. The solution, says Reis, most likely lies in careful planning and managing retailer expectations so they recognize the company’s production limits.

“Given their small production capacity, a huge order may not be achievable,” she says.

But signing new retailers means production will have to increase, and the company has little room to grow capacity —  which is currently near its limit at about 10,000 litres a day, or approximately 30,000 standard 341 mL bottles.

The company formerly brewed at a small industrial unit in Vaughan before scaling up operations and opening their new Mississauga headquarters in 2012. This made meeting demand easier, for a time, but it was also extremely expensive. Every piece of production equipment had to undergo an expensive retrofit because the product is shipped in those two-litre plastic bottles instead of standard 341 mL glass longnecks.

“In the end, over and above our traditional brewing equipment, we had equipment customization expenses in the neighbourhood of $300,000 to $350,000,” Best says.

Between these costs and the price of construction, the company has spent more than $1 million on their new headquarters. With expense amounts so close to revenues, there’s little cash for new expansion.

Potential growing pains don’t stop there. Hiring staff is time-consuming because new employees require extensive training. Even those with previous brewery experience need time to adjust to MB Bottle Brew’s unique production line.

For now, the company is still meeting demand increases by working extra shifts, even though overtime is costly and production is still bottlenecked. Still, Best is worried about his ability to fill orders in the future — especially if the company signs on with a major national retailer.

“If we get a large order and have no inventory, we need to inform our customer it will take time to fill,” he says. “We need to add a 24-hour shift, and add new equipment in the future. Looking even further ahead, we see ourselves opening new plants across Canada to help with distribution issues.”

Despite production issues, Best says consumer response is simply too positive for the product to fail.

The CASL will make it illegal to send any commercial electronic message without the express consent of the recipient. It does not matter that they are your customer. It does not matter that when they signed on to your service, they checked a box indicating they agreed to your service level agreement, which included a clause giving you permission to email them. It doesn’t matter that every email you send has an opt-out link. From now on you must get EXPRESS permission to email.

This means you will need to go back to ALL your customers currently receiving your communications and get them to reaffirm their desire to be contacted by you. And if you don’t, the penalties run up to $1 million.

We are law abiding citizens here in Canada. What if we want to correct the situation? Well, you’ll be barred from communicating to your customers on your email list because even sending an email to ask for permission will be illegal. What are we expected to do, go door-to-door? Send snail mail? We’re certainly still getting plenty of junk through Canada Post. Why hasn’t the government put a halt on that practice?

If you’re a small business with a mailing list, or even if you just email customers regularly, read the legislation. It is ridiculous in its present form. The law has been passed, although it’s not in force yet. Contact your MP. They will most likely know nothing about it, and you might only get a form letter in return, but there is a small chance that some change could result. If not, and if this legislation does come into force, you might want to contact your lawyer.

Paul Chato has been many things: a graphic designer, programmer, comedian, head of network TV comedy, game producer, 3D animator, playwright, event host, director and anything else that matches his fancy. Most of the time he is a managing partner at Your Web Department.

What does a “Futurist” do?

I interpret the key drivers shaping the future. I keep my fingers on how the many pulses of today will affect the heartbeats of tomorrow, and thus our individual and collective futures.

I sift through data and analysis on business, politics, socioeconomics, emerging technology, public health, environment, and global change. I synthesize all of it insightfully and strategically.

My thinking informs clients’ new products or programs. I’m currently looking climate change trends in Africa, and futures of mental health as well as of Ontario’s healthcare system.

What do people think you do?

It’s fun that people think I spend my time thinking about a hypothetical iphone 15. My underlying interest, though, is the evolution of humanity and the increasingly dramatic role technology plays in that. How might global change affect our choices and whom we become? Our ideas about innovation are built upon our civilization’s values, our development as people, and the complex effects of rapid change on life as we know it.

How did you get started?

I got a Masters’ Degree in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. After graduation, I co-founded a tech-writing company before heading to Silicon Valley. The dotcom era was a crash course (pun intended) in rapid change. I met sci-fi authors William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and researchers at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). I explored innovation, design, architecture, neuroscience, globalization, and more in-between. I became recognized for helping experts become even more innovative. I worked with executives striving to communicate the potential of technology to their customers.

I broadened my focus to include issues of ecological and climate change. I tracked links between rapid economic change, major losses of bio-cultural diversity and mental health. This interdisciplinary way of thinking about public good led to an invitation to Massey College.

What do you like and dislike about the job?

I feel rewarded when people understand why a change matters and what they can do about it to be more prepared, innovative or profitable. Whether in dialogue with a student, a member of the public, or a business leader, I love witnessing that  “a-ha” moment.

It’s often difficult for people to think long term. Everyone needs to understand the simple idea that the so-called “long term” – from now until 2025 or 2030 – is just the time it takes for a baby born today to graduate from elementary or high school.

What would you advise people considering this career?

Be curious about interconnectedness, recognize patterns, and become great at research and communications. Be brave and love people. Give it your all. Remember: Responsible futurists tell stories about how life may change for better – or for worse. Be mindful of how your ideas about the future could impact the potentially life-altering decisions people and organizations may take.

What are your goals/dreams for your future?

My aim is to help people and organizations be healthier, more resilient, and successful. I want to be happier, more vital – a force for good.

Lisa Taylor is the founder of Challenge Factory, a career and talent services company in Toronto. You can reach her at lisa@challengefactory.ca or 416-721-8494

Canada’s Federal Budget 2012 introduced changes to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program, administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). John Sutherland, Senior Manager – Tax, Global R&D and Government Incentives, Deloitte & Touche LLP, shares insights for entrepreneurs to maximize their tax credits.

This content was created by MaRS Discovery District for the ONE network.  You can find more tools for entrepreneurs on the MaRS website.

Procurement officials are often seen as having a habit of awarding contracts to those with a proven track record, meaning only a select number of established companies can successfully win government contracts.

But while entrepreneurs complain that the government has a preferred list of vendors, officials claim the system was designed specifically to discourage that anti-competitive notion.

“It’s not something we haven’t heard before,” admits Ben Sopel, director of Procurement Strategies and Enablement within the Supply Chain Management division of the Ontario Ministry of Government Services. “We know that it’s a difficult process and it’s difficult to understand for a new business or a small business entering the market.”

Sopel adds that 96 per cent of the Government of Ontario’s 55,000 suppliers are small and medium sized businesses. The ministry also provides free seminars and resources available on the Ministry of Government Services online portal, www.doingbusiness.mgs.gov.on.ca, for small businesses looking to sell products to its various ministries.

The federal government provides similar resources to help entrepreneurs navigate the complicated procurement system. The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) and Strategic Engagement, for example, offers free seminars and one-on-one workshops for entrepreneurs looking for a piece of the public works department’s $16 billion annual budget.

According to Shereen Benzvy Miller, director general of the OSME, 200 different federal government departments and agencies can be difficult to navigate without the right tools. But, she adds, resources such as the OSMA’s online portal, buyandsell.gc.ca, and its help line (1-800-811-1148) can help entrepreneurs “speak the language” used by procurement personnel.

In spite of these programs promoting inclusion, however, many entrepreneurs still find it difficult to do business with the provincial and federal governments in Canada.

Skip Schwartz, CEO of Healthcare365, a primary healthcare management service based in Toronto, says doing business with the Canadian government has “been the toughest challenge that I’ve had in my whole career.”

Schwartz, who has worked in about 20 countries offering similar healthcare management solutions — his company organizes patient records from primary healthcare providers and develops personalized health plans — says he was surprised by Canada’s lack of interest in what private innovation can do for its public healthcare system.

“In my experience, after doing this for almost 30 years, it’s been easier to approach governments outside of Canada than in Canada,” he says.

Factors such as heavy competition amongst vendors, slow timelines, and regulatory compliances leave many small business owners without the time or the resources needed to compete for government contracts.

But according to Michael Pacholok, director of the Purchasing and Materials Management Division for the City of Toronto, government contracts need that added level of complexity to ensure the best value for the taxpayers.

“It’s somewhat of a complicated process in some senses, because the rules are generally very strict,” he says. “We want to be fair and transparent to everyone who participates.”

Pacholok acknowledges the impression entrepreneurs have towards government contracts, and is working hard to dispel that myth.

“I wish more people knew that this isn’t a closed group,” he says. “I don’t want them to think that. I want them to think we are willing to work with everyone through a competitive process.”

Mike Berezowsky, assistant director of communications for Service Alberta, says the negative impression is only strengthened by the fact that vendors rarely win the first contract they bid on.

“Don’t be dismayed if you don’t win the first time on a bid,” he says, adding that provincial and federal governments are required to provide feedback to vendors whose bids are not selected to help them improve.

According to Eileen Kent, owner of Custom Keynotes, a Chicago-based marketing and sales consulting group that specializes in American federal government contracts, businesses have a hard time winning their first contract because governments tend to play it safe compared to the private sector.

“They’re under complete scrutiny of the public to spend those dollars wisely, doesn’t it make sense they work with someone who has strong past performance?” says Kent. “So when you’re on the outside looking in, it feels like a closed club.”

Since bidding on government contracts gets easier with experience, Kent recommends that small businesses get their foot in the door by subcontracting or partnering with larger, more established companies.

“They’re very risk averse to try someone new,” she says, “But they’re willing to try someone new if that person is either with an experienced team, or working as a subcontractor with a (primary vendor) that knows how to check all the boxes properly and be compliant.”

Shwartz agrees with Kent’s advice, and has had success teaming up with other healthcare organizations to win government contracts in the past.

“I think more often than not they’re willing to work with private consulting firms that have a long track record and have worked with the government before,” he says. “That absolutely disadvantages newcomers, and sometimes newcomers have the best ideas.”

A licensed, heavy-duty equipment mechanic who spent 22 years working with Hamilton Police Services, he’s always enjoyed creating unique solutions for the law enforcement community — whether it be fixing damaged police cars or installing rams on a bomb squad trucks so they can break through gates.

In 2000, he was approached by Hamilton police to make something new — an efficient system for disposing ammunition that was either unwanted, confiscated, or damaged. He created a mobile trailer, about the size of an ice cream truck, with internal burners to destroy ammo and a reburn system to clean up emissions. He called his creation the Mobile Ammunition Combustion System, or MACS.

Braithwaite quickly realized militaries and police forces across the world might be interested in the invention, and founded TWB Designs in his hometown of Ancaster, Ontario to sell it.

But getting the law enforcement and defence communities to buy into his ideas has been far more difficult than anticipated. Despite some initial success in Canada and abroad, Braithwaite hasn’t sold any of the $180,000 systems in the last three years.

The sales struggle is puzzling, because the munitions disposal techniques typically used by police forces are far from ideal.

“(In Hamilton) their method was using a 45 gallon drum,” says Braithwaite. “They would throw wood chips in, the ammunition would go on top, they would douse it in diesel fuel and basically throw one road flare in (to) set it on fire.”

When the Ministry of the Environment expressed concern over the environmentally damaging practice, Hamilton police reached out to Braithwaite to create the MACS.

When Braithwaite asked officers if ammunition disposal was a problem in Canada, they told him it was actually a worldwide issue.

“They said ‘Nobody builds a good burner,’” Braithwaite says. “It was one of those ‘uh-huh’ moments.”

Braithwaite took his idea to the Canada Bomb Data Centre. After making some tweaks to the original design, he sold one each to the Winnipeg and Montreal police departments, and five to the RCMP for national use. He also sold two overseas, one in Australia and one in Dubai.

Then, the three-year dry spell hit. Braithwaite has kept the company afloat with his mobile ammunition disposal service — he collects unwanted ammo from 42 police agencies throughout southern Ontario for disposal at the company’s headquarters in Ancaster. The business generated $174,000 in 2012, but Braithwaite knows he needs to sell another unit soon to keep himself in business.

Fortunately, there has been some recent progress. Braithwaite has written deals to sell MACS to law enforcement officials in Argentina, Egypt, Britain, Cyprus and Australia, most of which are finalized pending budgetary approval. But his main focus is bringing his product to the extremely lucrative American market.

“If we could sell one, that will give me some working capital to go down to the States,” he says.

A Canadian city with a population of about 500,000, like Hamilton, requires munitions disposal services three or four times a year. It’s the perfect target for his disposal business, but it doesn’t really need its own MACS. Braithwaite says large American cities, such as Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta, dispose of ammunition on a monthly or even weekly basis, and are much more likely to buy his system.

Unfortunately, while trying to introduce the product to the American market, TWB Designs discovered that the original unit did not meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

So, in 2010, Braithwaite got to work “building a better mousetrap.” With the help of contract engineers, he added a larger reburn system, an overhead cooling system, and HEPA filters that further reduce emissions, ensuring 99.97 per cent of toxins never leave the trailer. He called the design the eMACS, and is expecting to get federal EPA approval within a few months.

Once the eMACS has that approval, however, Braithwaite still faces the challenge of getting the attention of the American law enforcement community. He says they’re accustomed to working with major American vendors, and are often hesitant to buy from small, non-American companies.

Braithwaite is still in a favourable position. He says his company only has one competitor in the U.S., and their product lacks the crucial reburn system. This causes non-combustible materials to clog filters, which then need to be changed after three to five uses. Braithwaite’s system is more cost effective, and can be used in excess of 40 times before requiring a new filter.

Still, American organizations are reluctant to purchase from foreign vendors, even if they offer superior products.

“It actually makes a huge difference to have a U.S. address and some form of U.S. representation,” says Satyamoorthy Kabilan, director of national security and public safety at the Conference Board of Canada.

Kabilan says that the American government is more keen to deal with local vendors than any other country with which he’s worked.

To address this issue, Braithwaite recently partnered with two American sales agents who are selling his product from within U.S. borders.

It seems to be working — police units in Florida and North Carolina have already expressed an interest in the eMACS. Braithwaite figures these leads exist only because the customers “have no idea it’s coming out of Canada.”

Braithwaite hopes sales to these police forces will wedge open the door for TWB Designs, leading to an increase in sales that will secure the company’s future and let him go back to doing what he enjoys most: tinkering in his workshop.

“That’s my passion,” he says, “and that’s what I’m really good at doing.”

See more from Sacha at her blog

Does the design work require a professional?

One of the biggest mistakes I see small business owners make is their lack of professionally designed material. It’s also true that some small businesses seek professional services when they don’t need too. If you’re unsure whether or not you need a professional consider the following:

• How difficult is the work? Deciding on colors for a monthly newsletter or website is drastically easier to do than designing an intricate logo. For the complicated stuff, hire a professional.

• Will the work be seen by customers or clients? Anything that will be given to or seen by customers and clients should be professionally designed. Items like business cards, direct mailers, e-mail outreach, company letterhead, etc. all fall into this category. However, this does not necessarily apply to things like sale posters or custom banners, which can easily be produced online.

How much experience does the design professional have?

Just because someone can “draw” doesn’t make them a graphic designer. There are so many more things that go into a skilled design than just natural ability. For this reason you want to consider how much experience your chosen professional has.

• Are they still a student, fresh out of school, or do they have years of experience? The more experience a designer has the better their work will be. Design work is complicated, and experience has its advantages. Experienced designers are also more expensive—”get what you pay for” is a very applicable rule.

• Do they play by the rules? Designers with more experience will understand not only how to produce great design work, they’ll also have a firm grasp of the ethics of design and a good handle on copyright laws. The last thing a small business needs is a copyright infringement lawsuit. In most cases the designer should be at fault, and/or have insurance to protect against this, but you can never be too careful. Choosing an experienced designer will help avoid these risks. For more information check out the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

• Do they have a portfolio? A designer worth their rate will have a large portfolio that displays their best work. I’d recommend against hiring anyone who doesn’t.. There is absolutely nothing worse than hiring a “professional” only to realize later (after it’s too late) that they’re actually an amateur.

• What type of experience does the designer have? A highly skilled designer will be well versed in all areas of graphic design. This means they can create in both digital and print formats. They’d be able to design for a website, a magazine, a business card, or in any other format.

Is your designer on the edge or behind the times?

When seeking out a designer you want someone working for tomorrow rather than today. Design work, like fashion, comes and goes and frequently changes. If you’re going to shell out your hard earned money for a new logo you’ll want that work to stay relevant for as long as possible. And choosing a designer who stays up to date will make it easier for your design work to grow into trends as time passes.

What about the contract?

Before you decide on any designer take a look at their contracts. Make sure you retain all rights to the work produced for your business. Calling around to check rates for services from other firms or individual designers, and always check references. And remember, you will get what you pay for. Don’t skimp on a professional just to save a few dollars, because it’ll cost you in the long run.

Annie Harrington is a small business owner and freelance writer. In her free time she enjoys writing about ways business owners can positively impact their brand image with unique printed material. She also likes to design business posters.

Alistair Croll, author of Lean Analytics, explains the concepts of his book. He highlights the Lean Analytics cycle and five stages. Alistair strongly advises startups to pick the one metric that matters the most and to focus on it.

This content was created by MaRS Discovery District for the ONE network.  You can find more tools for entrepreneurs on the MaRS website.