press
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Our Toronto Free Press
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October 1995 |
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canadian
association for corporate growth
Networking
in All the Right Places
"The best way, to
find stimulating ideas for your business is getting into the right loop by socializing
with the Canadian Association for Corporate Growth (CACG). Indeed, finding your way on the
inside of the stimulating forum provided by CAGC gatherings is skin to coming into the
warmth from the cold winter of recession.
Main mission for the
Association for Corporate Growth is to promote the professional interests of its members
who have leadership roles in strategic corporate growth. How? By offering a continuing
venue for quality programs and education to enhance each member’s professional
skills.
Currently, the Association has
more than 3,000 individual members representing some 2,000 firms, and 25 chapters
throughout the U.S. and Canada. These companies constitute a large percentage of the
"Fortune 500" list, "Financial Post 1000" and comprise substantially
all of the major financial institutions identified with mergers, acquisitions and
divestitures.
The Toronto chapter, now two
years old, headed up by President Mark Borkowski. Walking proof of the age old adage, that
the best way to get something done is to ask a busy man. Borkowski has already earned his
spurs in the business world. Always looking for ways to promote the Association, he’s
also president of his own company, the Toronto-based Mercantile Mergers & Acquisitions
Corporation, a mergers and acquisitions advisory banker.
Mark Borkowski is a winner in
the business world, but one who hasn’t grown too remote to reach out and encourage a
plethora of other small business owners striving to reach the same status.
CACG’s Toronto chapter
meets monthly at the Albany Club. The format is tailor made for fledgling entrepreneurs to
network in a comfortable setting. Meetings are arranged for convenient attendance at the
end of the business day. From 5:30 to 7 p.m., fledgling entrepreneurs can meet with those
of the more established kind, introductions are made, cards and ideas are exchanged,
before guests move downstairs to hear the speaker of the evening, followed by question and
answer period.
In September, those attending
CACG heard Hugh Latif, General Manager of Nielsen Marketing Research a company of the Dun
& Bradstreet Corporation.
The Nielsen vision is described
as having been fostered by a team dedicated to growth and industry leadership, equally
committed to exceeding customer, associate and shareholder expectations by providing
business information and innovative solutions.
Like many luminaires of the
business world, Mr. Latif soon proved to be a pragmatist with a sense of humor.
In a thumbnail sketch of
A.C.
Nielsen, he said, "We are the original inventor of the term ‘bean counter’.
We had a small army of auditors who went to stores to count cereal boxes, peanut butter
jars, and of course…beans."
"Today, however,
we’ve come a long way from simply counting beans. A.C. Nielsen operates in 96
countries and has annual revenues of 1.5 billion dollars. It is part of the Dun &
Bradstreet Corporation, which recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and is
the largest business information-company in the world. D&B has an annual revenue of 5
billion dollars and trades on the New York, London, and Tokyo stock exchanges."
Founded in 1944,
A.C. Nielsen
also happens to be one of Canada’s largest marketing research organizations, with
revenues in excess of 80 million dollars. Nielsen has over 1,000 employees, and four
offices in major Canadian markets.
Although the company is perhaps
best known for monitoring TV viewing habits, the largest portion of Nielsen’s
business today is tracking the sales of 860 categories of consumer packaged goods such as
food, confectionery; health and beauty, pharmaceuticals; soft drinks and other selected
items. Clients such as; Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Gillette, Lever, IBM, Coca-Cola and
American Express turn to Nielsen to track their performance.
Two years ago A.C. Nielsen
introduced a new plan which focused entirely on getting new business.
"It has been tough and we
have gone through many ups and downs," says Latif. "In the first year, our new
business almost doubled. I am pleased to say that we are poised to almost double it again
this year. We have had one successful acquisition and many profitable joint ventures and
partnerships."
"New business is a full
time job. It needs focus, 100 % attention and consistency. Don’t make it part of
something else. Don’t suffocate it with unnecessary layers of management. When you
staff the new team, don’t take what’s offered, but head hunt with in the
organization first and then go outside the company when you have some kind of a track
record."
"Choose hunters not
farmers, for the jobs. Find people that are good in sales, hungry, aggressive, risk
takers, almost undisciplined, non-administrative, rule breakers, trouble-makers (in a good
sense). You also need a second breed of people those who are diplomatic, flexible,
innovators, deal makers, able negotiators, smooth style, etc. These people will attract
and successfully make partnerships and allies in the marketplace."
Latif believes strongly in the
principle that new business must be given time to achieve profitability. "No one
wants losers, but don’t expect a baby to walk from day one. Let the new team learn to
walk first. You will have ample time to charge overhead when they can jump and run.
Don’t include the new team in the regular incentive program automatically; but listen
to their issues and create something that works for them. You, don’t want to control
and stay on top, you want to guide energize and excite.
Stressing that there is no
surefire formula for seeing the first return, he said returns depends on each
company’s situation.
"One thing for sure allow
for a minimum for two to four years to make significant inroads, not only from a financial
point of view, but also from an organizational, human resources, culture, business
process, perspective. This is not a light bulb you can turn on and off with the flick of a
switch. It is a business process that needs to be introduced, understood, worked on,
digested, and implemented throughout the ranks of the company until the process becomes a
way of doing business. It should become an integral part of your company."
"At Nielsen even after two
years, the overall numbers are still somewhat small, but the direction is right and the
momentum is growing. New business is always welcomed, whether it’s small or large.
There is nothing wrong with a small beginning and if you never welcome small new business,
you’ll never see it develop into a large account."
Speakers of the stature and
plain commonsense of Hugh Latif are monthly affairs of CACG gatherings.
Next month’s agenda will
take on the slightly different format of a sit down dinner. Speakers, Association Chairman
Al Muzar and Henry Kalisky, President of Sidus Systems, will share their knowledge with
guests.
For those starting out in new
ventures, CACG offers a wealth of ideas and plenty of encouragement.
Other company presidents,
successfully entrepreneurs and people whose business it is to find capital and to provide
other measure to make new business grow, mingle during cocktail hour at the Albany Club.
In addition to being able to
network in the right place, CACG provides business smarts at regular breakfast gatherings
and yearly seminars and conferences.
Attending CACG meetings in
these harsh winters of Canadian recession can be like coming in out of the cold.
Keeping this address on hand
may be important to the future of your company. The Canadian Association for Corporate
Growth can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 114 Toronto Dominion Center Toronto, Ontario.
M5K 1G8, or by telephoning (416) 367-1485
