Attention business and general assignment reporters / editors
What do companies that operate call centres for telcos, build and install high-end fencing, sell diamonds online and offer custom-tailoring for women have in common? They’ve all made PROFIT Magazine’s 6th annual ranking of Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies, the PROFIT HOT 50. Unveiled today, the companies on the PROFIT HOT 50 are ranked by two-year revenue growth.
The newest growth stars showed blinding speed right out of the blocks, averaging two-year revenue growth of 1,075%. This top-line triumph didn’t come at the expense of profitability: a remarkable 42 of the 50 companies, or 84%, finished their most recent fiscal year in the black. That’s even more impressive considering the magnitude of the obstacles they faced, such as the post-9/11 economy, the SARS and mad-cow shocks, and the steepest rise ever in the loonie.
“The PROFIT HOT 50 recognizes entrepreneurial ambition and managerial excellence in Canada,” says editor Ian Portsmouth. “These companies have succeeded by meeting emerging market needs, creating better ways to do business and never hesitating to expand beyond our borders.”
The winners:
This year’s hottest emerging growth companies are available to media at PROFITguide.com. Print copies will hit newsstands today.
How they grew so fast:
Despite their diversity, all the PROFIT HOT 50 companies have mastered the art of transforming an idea into a thriving business. Asked what they got right, HOT 50 CEOs identified two key strategies: we focused, kept it simple and stuck to the plan; and we found the right people and gave them the right incentives.
- The importance of people
HR’s fundamental importance is reinforced by two other findings: the CEOs rated finding good people as their toughest challenge, and saw a shortage of qualified workers as the biggest external barrier to even faster growth.
- Show me the money
Raising capital was another hurdle for the HOT 50. Fully 94% used the founder’s own capital or assets for launch financing, and 36% tapped friends and relatives.
How the average HOT 50 winner stacks up:
2-year growth rate: 1,075%
Employees, average: 89
Employees, median: 19
Average CEO’s age: 38
Revenue, average (2004): $8.7 million
Revenue, median (2004): $1.8 million
Profitable firms: 84%
Coast to coast:
Where you’ll find the HOT 50 headquarters
Saskatchewan: 1
Quebec: 5
Alberta: 7
British Columbia: 7
Ontario: 30
About PROFIT Magazine:
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success, offers news, strategies, tips, interviews and other resources to the CEOs of Canadian growth companies. Each year PROFIT — which currently reaches more than 400,000 readers nationally — hosts a number of events that bring together business leaders in the fast-growth segment and champions the interests of those leaders. PROFIT was founded in April 1982, as Canada’s first national magazine geared to entrepreneurs. Visit PROFITguide.com.
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For more information or an interview with Ian Portsmouth, please contact:
Suneel Khanna
Director of Communications
(416) 764-1219
Email Suneel Khanna
