The 10th annual PROFIT HOT 50 ranking of Canada's Emerging Growth
Companies shows average two-year revenue growth of 1,007%TORONTO, Sept. 8 /CNW/ - It's a harsh reality: Most of the tens of
thousands of businesses launched each year in Canada fail within a few years.
And even among the survivors, only a precious few expand at the blistering
pace of the PROFIT HOT 50, whose revenue growth averaged an astounding 1,007%
over the past two years.
Unveiled today, the companies on PROFIT magazine's PROFIT HOT 50 ranking
of Canada's Emerging Growth Companies come from almost every region of Canada
and a across a wide range of business sectors.
From health and beauty products e-tailers and eco-friendly flooring
experts to community newspaper franchisers and designers of air-conditioning
systems for offshore oil rigs, this year's PROFIT HOT 50 firms are young,
tech-savvy and hungry-and hold lessons for entrepreneurial firms of all ages.
When asked, our HOT 50 CEOs say they have faced many obstacles to
building a successful company, including such perennial challenges as
obtaining startup and growth capital, a shortage of qualified workers and
prospects' reluctance to buy from a young firm.
Still, every HOT 50 company at least doubled its revenue from 2006
through 2008, and 13 grew by at least 1,000%. Fully 70% were already in the
black in 2008, and many honorees were comfortably so: 28% boasted net income
of more than 10% of revenue.What's their formula for success?
HOT 50 leaders told us the factors most important factors in their fast
growth:
1. retaining good staff
2. recruiting good staff
3. capital generated by the business
4. personal experience in your current industry
5. strategic sales
THE PROFIT HOT 50's TOP 5:
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revenue
growth
Rank Name Location Industry %
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1. VersaPay Corp. Vancouver Credit- and 10,132
debit-card
payment
processing
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2. Keen Technology Toronto IT staffing
Consulting Inc. agency 7,746
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3. Classic Cabinets Medicine Manufactures
Ltd. Hat, Alta. high-end custom
cabinets 2,965
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4. The Streaming Toronto Webcasting and
Network Inc. video conferencing 2,565
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5. Rx Networks Inc. Vancouver Software and
services to
accelerate GPS
devices 2,344
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A complete ranking of the PROFIT HOT 50 companies can be found now at http://www.profitguide.com/hot50 or in the October issue of PROFIT magazine, on newsstands beginning Thursday. Sept. 17.
HOT SECTORS
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What Canada's Hot 50 companies do:
- IT-services: 8
- Software development: 8
- Financial services: 6
- HR services: 6
- Marketing services: 5
- Wholesale/distribution: 4
- Business communications: 3
- Manufacturing: 3
- Natural resource production services: 3
- Media: 2
- Construction: 1
- Retail: 1How we found them
Entries were solicited through a self-nominating entry form in PROFIT's
May and June issues, online at PROFITguide.com and in the PROFIT-Xtra
e-newsletter. The nomination drive was also promoted through Canadian Business
and Maclean's magazines, by business organizations across Canada and through
targeted direct mailings to Canadian growth companies. Entrants were ranked by
two-year revenue growth, with revenue and net income verified through
financial statements.
About PROFIT
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success is Canada's preeminent publication
dedicated to the management issues and opportunities facing small and
mid-sized businesses. For more than 25 years, Canadian entrepreneurs across a
vast array of economic sectors have remained loyal to PROFIT because it's a
timely and reliable source of actionable information that helps them increase
their revenues, boost their profitability and get the recognition they deserve
for generating positive economic and social change. Published six times a year
by Rogers Publishing Ltd., PROFIT is distributed almost exclusively to the
chief executives of companies with 5 to 250 employees and annual revenue of $1
million to $25 million, reaching more than 300,000 readers across Canada.
Visit PROFIT online at http://www.profitmagazine.ca.
