Both sides benefit from business partnerships

Circle of Trade Show Guide Supplement

Page 4

There was a time when non-Aboriginal companies did business with Aboriginal firms just to meet government-imposed quotas, or out of some sense of social responsibility.

Nowadays, more and more companies are doing it because it just makes good business sense. And all you have to do is look at the latest census data to see why.

"I think that there's a huge pool of talent, of potential," said Jocelyne Soulodre. "The Aboriginal community is the fastest growing one in the country. Half of our people are under the age of 25, and the demographics are such that in the north, the Inuit, it's an even higher percentage. Sixty-five per cent of Inuit people are below the age of 15. I'm certainly not someone who does census data or anything like that, but if you think about it, it represents a huge pool of potential employees, customers, suppliers and partners. And so there's a real business case that can be made by smart companies who want to start to get into that marketplace early."

Soulodre is president and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), a non-profit organization that since 1984 has been working to encourage and support partnerships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses as a way to create economic opportunities for Aboriginal communities, businesses and individuals.

The CCAB does this through a number of programs, including the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program, which provides participating businesses with a framework for setting objectives relating to Aboriginal relations, developing plans to meet those objectives, and measuring the results.

"There's enough legislation now that is telling federal contractors, those are the people who are regulated by government, how they need to do things in terms of the Aboriginal content. And so I think there's increasing opportunities that are coming out of that kind of legislation. But then I think there's also been, in the last five years, a major, major growth in terms of companies just wanting to do it, the non-Aboriginal companies wanting to do it because they see a way to increase their market share," Soulodre said.

While the benefits of doing business with Aboriginal companies are many for non-Aboriginal firms, the flip side of the same coin sees the Aboriginal companies also reaping the rewards of partnership, Soulodre explained.

"If they want to do business, that's a logical place to look. A lot of Aboriginal businesses are pretty small, sort of one, two or three people, and doing business outside the reserve is a way to get bigger, if that's what you want. And it's a way to make more money, if that's what you want."

The partnerships also provide Aboriginal businesses, especially those just starting out, with a way to tap into the expertise of a company that has years of experience in a given sector. In fact, getting involved in a joint venture with an existing, experienced company is one way many Aboriginal businesses have started out, with an eye to eventually buying out the non-Aboriginal partner once they've developed enough equity and enough experience.

"We've helped put people together, a Native company and a non-Native company, lots of times, especially through the PAR program, Professional Aboriginal Relations, that have been quite, quite beneficial to both sides."

So the capacity to either joint venture or partner or just do business with, as long as, I think, both sides sort of come to it with the idea of mutual benefit, it's something that is really growing quite rapidly, I think," said Jocelyne Soulodre. One of the biggest challenges both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses face in developing these types of relationships is just not knowing how to find a company to partner with, Soulodre explained.

"I think it depends from what side you look at it, whether you're looking at it from the non-Aboriginal business or the Aboriginal business. But I think in some repects, some of the hesitations or difficulties might be more similar than people think, in the sense that a non-Aboriginal company might sort of say, 'Gee, I don't know where to go, I don't know who to talk to, I don't know if I should come in in a suit or sweater.

"And on the Aboriginal side, there would be that same sort of, 'Well, of all the companies out there, I don't know who I should go to' and 'Will I get my foot in the door?' and all of that. So I think that probably starting out for both sides can be a little challenging sometimes.

"And then I think it depends on the nature of the deal, and essentially the nature of relationship between the Aboriginal business and the non-Aboriginal one. And I think that there are probably big examples of things blowing up and not working out right. And then there are great examples of things working just fine, and partnerships that have continued for many, many years.

"But it's like any other business decision that a company would make, whether you're Aboriginal or not. It's do you want to do it, do you know why you want to do it, are you clear in terms of your business plan, and the business case that you can make for it? And is it going to advance the goals that you have?" she said.

"Like any other business decision, you would check out the company that you're thinking of working with.

"You would need to do enough research on them. I think you would need to feel good about the outcome and what it is that you both want to achieve. I don't think it's very different than any other, and it's very much a question of building the relationship. But building one that has mutual benefits on both sides."

Although in the past, many Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal business partnerships and joint ventures have been in resource-based sectors, the growth of these types of relationships can now be seen in other areas of business as well.

"I think it's happening in probably every sector imaginable. Whether it's resources, whether t's diamonds or oil and gas, whether it's the financial industry," Soulodre said.

"I think, by and large, there is an increasing awareness on the corporate side of the size of the Aboriginal population and its capacity, how much more educated it is, and the fact that it's two-and-a-half times more entrepreneurial than the average Canadian."

The CCAB has also developed an Internet-based portal-aboriginalbiz.com, which, Soulodre explained, can also be used to link potential Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal business partners.