By Rich Cowan, Staff Writer

This information is from a webinar put on by BDC called “What’s next? Business strategies to overcome uncertainty.” You can watch the full video for free at https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/entrepreneur-toolkit/webinars/what-next-business-strategies-overcome-uncertainty.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) recently featured a webinar entitled “What’s next? Business strategies to overcome uncertainty.” In these uncertain times, it was a much-needed topic, focussed on helping Canadian businesses weather the storms of tariffs and trade wars, the potential of a declining economy, and an assortment of other threats facing business in this country.

Hosted by Susie Liu, Director of Delivery from the Advisory Service of BDC, and featuring Pierre Cleroux, BDC Vice President of Research and Chief Economist, Mohammed Emad, Regional Director for Strategy Implementation, and Jessica Labrie, Director of Delivery – Growth Driver Program at BDC Advisory Services, the roundtable discussed many of the challenges faced by Canadian business, and some ways that they can flourish in these tumultuous times.

The current climate

Cleroux started the discussion by explaining the current business climate. While there are uncertainties being felt in Canada, the impacts have also been significant to the U.S. economy. He stated, “The stock market has been very volatile over the last few months, and the level of consumer confidence in the U.S. has been going down over the last three months.” This is important because, “When consumers are not confident, they don’t spend as much. That’s what we saw in February and March. Retail sales have been declining, but the good news is that it is coming back slowly, but nevertheless, this will slow down the U.S. economy.”

Of course, this slowdown is impacting Canadian business, but Cleroux did note that there is some good news, in that, “We’re not expecting a recession in the U.S. The U.S. will continue to grow, but at a slower pace. This is good news for Canada, because we export so much to the U.S.”

Opposing forces

He pointed out, however, that the problem facing Canada is that, “Right now, lower interest rates in Canada are stimulating the economy, while the tariffs and the uncertainty around us is slowing down our economy. These forces are operating in opposite directions.”

In order to combat the negative outcomes of tariffs and trade wars, Cleroux suggests that, “There are a number of things we can do in our country where we have full control to help improve the economy.” He explains, “The first thing we can do is to improve our productivity and efficiency. Second, we should de-risk our international activities, not only what we export, but also what we import, and finally, we should make sure that our businesses are in a good financial situation.”

Economic growth will continue

Cleroux concluded his opening statement with, “In conclusion, there is some good news. The fundamentals of the Canadian economy are still very solid, we have low inflation, lower interest rates, and the job market is good, so we are well positioned to face whatever is coming to us. Obviously, trade tension is having a negative impact on our economy, but despite everything, the economy will continue to grow in 2025.”

Three business scenarios

Next to speak was Mohammed Emad. He began with detailing three scenarios that Canadian businesses are currently facing. The first scenario that he brought up was what he calls ‘sustained.’ “We see companies that are experiencing major difficulties, that are being forced to make difficult choices. Fortunately, we are seeing fewer companies in this scenario than we expected.”

Next is what he describes as the ‘stability phase.’ “These businesses function quite normally, without too many changes, but there is always concern about their environment.”

The third scenario involves the companies that are looking for opportunities and are ready to seize them. He notes, “There are a lot of companies that right now are benefiting greatly from the buy Canadian movement.”

Emad went on to make a few suggestions to businesses about what to do in this difficult time. “The first thing to do is to ensure that your company has the liquidity to survive in the short-term. We can’t say it often enough: cash is king.” He pointed out that by using cash flow planners and really understanding the position your business is in, you can ensure that you do the things that will best help your business survive short-term pain.

He explained, “When you see that you will possibly encounter a cash crunch, there are a number of things that you can do to manage your cash flow more effectively. You can monitor your expenses more closely, you can find ways to speed up the collection of accounts receivables, and when possible, work with your suppliers to see if they can be more flexible in their payments. As well, you can find out if you could benefit from a loan to help you bridge the temporary cash crunch.”

Another suggestion made by Emad was related to the importance of communication with the various stakeholders around you. He said, “Keeping your staff informed of the situation will help you keep their spirits high. You don’t have to tell them absolutely everything, but don’t forget that they know the business just as well as you, or almost just as well as you, and they’re probably just as stressed as you are. Keep them informed and involved in the decision making. Also, keep a good channel of communication with your customers and suppliers to maintain trust, and don’t forget your financial partners. There are very important players who will help you overcome challenges when you keep up to date on your situation.”

Importance of being resilient

Jessica Lebrie followed Emad and discussed the importance of resiliency in one’s business model and practice. She stated, “Resilience is really setting yourself up to do well in good and bad times. It means doing better than your competition, regardless of the context. Truly resilient companies can be both fast and good, they’re able to anticipate by monitoring factors that are key to their business. They try to see where the trend is going to stay one step ahead. At the same time, they’re very action oriented, meaning they make decisions and execute, regardless of their context.”

She added, “They’re constantly monitoring what the key factors that are material to their business. So, when there’s an opportunity or a threat that presents itself, they can respond, and often it leaves them in a better position than their competition.”

Ways to grow your business

Lebrie then moved on to discuss ways for companies to grow. “Generally speaking, there are six ways you can grow your business. The easiest thing you can do is just simply do better with what you have, being more productive, and working on efficiency or effectiveness. When I say effectiveness, I mean doing the right activities to get sales efficiency. The second way you can expand or grow your sales is to sell your products to new client segments. The third is product development. This can allow companies to expand into previously untapped markets. Fourth, we have market expansion. Our government has committed to lowering inter-provincial trade barriers, which will help within Canada. I would encourage you to figure out what that could mean for your business. Then there’s international expansion, which is an option for certain businesses.”

For the fifth, Lebrie continued, “You can add a new business model to your business. You could sell the same products to the same people in the same region, but have a new approach. You could use a subscription model, for instance.”

Last, and less common, she described the spin-off of a core competency. “You could develop a great software to run your operations, but choose to license it to your industry because you think you can monetize it. That could be another option.”

Lebrie noted that businesses need to remember that, “You control more than you think. You may not control factors like the tariffs, but you do control what you focus on and how you respond.”

Suzie Liu made note that businesses have a wealth of information they can access. In particular, remember that, “The BDC has access to a lot of databases and secondary data, especially about diversifying into other markets or other provinces.”

The problem of labour shortages

One issue that Pierre Cleroux then brought up was the relatively widespread problem of labour shortages. He stated as a necessary remedy to this shortage, “The reason why it’s worth investing in technology is because the shortage of labor is not going to disappear. The reason why we have a shortage of labour is because we have an aging population. Every year, there have been about 100,000 Canadians retiring. Now there are 350,000 each year. The baby boomers are at the age of leaving the job market. That’s the reason why we have these shortages of labor.”

He continued, “Business needs to invest in technology to reduce the need for workers. Technology doesn’t replace people, but it could replace some tasks and reduce the need for workers. It’s worth investing in, because this shortage of labour is not going to disappear. It is going to be with us for another five to seven years.”

Not only is technology the answer for the labour shortages, but according to Jessica Lebrie, “Even in areas or markets where it’s harder to attract talent, some companies have doubled down on foreign workers. I have clients who have no problem attracting labour, even in the smallest of the Canadian cities. So, if you haven’t considered it, I would say that could be an option as well.”

The BDC webinar, What’s next? Business strategies to overcome uncertainty dealt with many of the concerns faced by Canadian businesses, while offering several ideas for succeeding in the current climate that our country is in.