Celebrating Our First Year

The start-up year for any business is a mix of excitement, hard work, many firsts, and some trial and error. Canada has fewer entrepreneurs today than 20 years ago, and more than 20% of new businesses here do not survive beyond one year. It can be daunting to launch a new business, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. So, it’s especially sweet to mark Moyse & Associates’ first anniversary on September 18, 2024, knowing that our early efforts are paying off and, most importantly, that our clients have benefited from our services.

Moyse & Associates launched with a vision for doing procurement differently. We knew we could help clients (buyers and vendors) position their procurement efforts for maximum benefit. We recognized the power of procurement as a stabilizing and innovative mechanism in the public realm, within organizations and companies, and in entrepreneurial circles. We set out to be partners in those efforts, which led to our tagline ‘Partners in Procurement Excellence’.

Three things set us apart. As a growing consultancy, our focus on these specific areas ensures that our clients benefit from our greatest strengths and our areas of specialized knowledge and experience.

Procurement Technical Knowledge

First, we offer accessible technical knowledge across all types of procurement. This has allowed us to support in-house procurement teams, complete contracted procurement tasks and projects, and advise on everything from planning and strategy to fairness and risk management. Our business development expertise also helps vendors and suppliers improve their bid submissions and increase their success rates.

Advancing Indigenous Prosperity

Next, we provide strategic procurement expertise that integrates Indigenous economic reconciliation goals and values. From our first day, we have been supporting and advocating for procurement efforts that advance Indigenous prosperity. We’re proud to do this with Indigenous and non-Indigenous clients and partners across several sectors.

Genuine Innovation

Third, we offer innovative procurement options for clients looking to elevate their practices and enhance their procurement outcomes. Beyond tracking trends and emerging practices, we filter these through decades of experience to separate the truly innovative from the flavour of the month. This means our clients are able to implement genuine improvements and confidently monitor their outcomes.

A Humbling Milestone

Reflecting on our first year has been humbling on many levels. We are deeply grateful for the support of friends and family and the confidence our clients have invested in us.

We are also honoured and thankful for the opportunities afforded us to learn and share at events like the  Indigenous Business Gathering in Saskatoon, Forward Summit West in Alberta, Forward Summit East in Ontario, and the Government of Saskatchewan Business Expo and Procurement Forum, among others.

Looking Ahead

As we move into our second year, we are incredibly excited about what’s ahead. We will be launching professional development and educational programming that has been in development for some time and generating very positive feedback. We’re also looking forward to several innovative projects on the horizon. We are grateful for the many new and ongoing relationships that support our work and the many colleagues whose referrals and recommendations continue to expand our clientele and network.

We look forward to the coming year with enthusiasm and invite you to contact us at any time to discuss how we might support your plans!

Just as the procurement landscape has changed substantially over the last few years, the business development space has evolved significantly. From AI content and SEO rankings to QR codes and advanced CRM tools, business development has become a whirlwind of tech, trends, and strategic tune-ups. Moyse & Associates’ Senior Advisor, Karen Smith, offers some reassuring thoughts for those who might find themselves dizzy from trying to keep up with it all.

Don’t Ignore the Fundamentals

Business professionals who have been around for over a decade or two will remember when business development was mainly about offering a quality product or service, investing in relationships, networking, exposure, and customer satisfaction. And those remain the vital basics. Ignore those, and all the SEO and social followers in the world don’t matter much. The importance of upfront investment in the foundational elements of business planning, values, and service/product offerings cannot be understated.

Preparation Pays Off

Think of business development as the mechanism for going to market—how, where, and when a business meets its potential customers. It can be spontaneous, even chaotic. It can also be strategic, methodical, and measurable. The single greatest influence on whether it’s the former or the latter is how prepared and invested the company is beforehand.

In the rush to generate online followers and increase email response rates, it can be tempting to put time and money prematurely into the design elements of marketing. It’s important to remember that the design and packaging don’t come before the product itself – first, invent the next great toothpaste, then decide what the tube/box/container looks like. Innovative companies ensure their offerings are solid and proven before developing strategies to get them out to the marketplace. In the same way, business development advances must build from the basics.

Three Essentials to Prioritize

Beyond having a decent elevator pitch or colourful website, the hallmarks of business development success are intentional, nuanced, and organic. Spend time and energy on these three essentials:

• The “why” behind the business is evident and clearly woven throughout all interactions with the marketplace. This is an essential piece of the value proposition for any company.
• The business’ “voice” is reflected in every communication and speaks to its specific audience(s) rather than one-size-fits-all messaging. Beyond words, it includes visuals, tone, and positioning that consistently align with values, goals, and strategies. This requires knowing your audience—who are you aiming to reach with your communications? Are you effectively speaking to them, specifically?
• Relationships are front and centre, with resources invested in their healthy development. People, remember, are behind every business decision. Know your clients. Listen to them, find ways to pinpoint their needs and aspirations, and keep them front of mind when making business development decisions.

These basics always stay in style. If a startup did nothing else, attention to the fundamentals would provide a solid start for its business development efforts: a quality offering with a transparent “why,” relationships, and customer satisfaction. Consider them the planks on which to build new and innovative next steps. Yes, an online presence is essential. And there’s an appropriate place for AI in some business development applications. Knowing that the essentials are firmly in place allows for exploration and testing to see what truly fits within the vast options on offer. Add exposure and networking to the mix and these essentials will serve you well.

Procurement Bonus

The bonus of having these business development basics in place is that they make it easier to craft a solid proposal when procurement opportunities arise. Whether responding to a formal Request for Proposals or following up with a casual inquiry, the basics set out above will help increase the success rate of your submissions.

Moyse & Associates provides business development consulting services and support to clients in various sectors. We work with entrepreneurs, private sector companies, organizations, First Nations, and public sector clients. Contact us to discuss how we might help you achieve your business development and procurement goals.

Summer in Canada brings a welcome slowdown for many, but in several sectors, it’s all hands on deck as major projects move forward, and the construction season is in full swing. Procurement specialists are in great demand, especially those with technical skills in complex procurement processes and Indigenous procurement implementation.

Companies and organizations grappling with capacity shortfalls on their procurement team can find a welcome relief in contracted services. Whether it's for planning and assessing procurement options, navigating specific projects, or managing complex competitions, Moyse and Associates can help. We identify the best procurement avenue to meet your unique needs, develop and coordinate competition documents, and guide the procurement process from planning to contract award. Whether you need just one of these services, or all of them, we provide a readily available solution when internal capacity isn’t enough, easing the burden on your team.

Smaller companies and entrepreneurs without procurement staff are often challenged by the amount of time required to manage the competitive procurement process (and often, it’s an already busy CEO or manager juggling this responsibility). Contracted procurement services provide an affordable and effective solution that frees company resources. 

Moyse and Associates is proud to work with clients of all sizes, across many sectors. Our recent work with the Regina Public Library and the Regina Exhibition Association is a testament to our larger-scale capabilities. Clients like Synergy Construction showcase our support for growing companies and entrepreneurs. We are partners in procurement excellence and deeply invested in our clients’ success, giving you the confidence that we can deliver positive outcomes for your business.

To find out how we can help with your specific procurement needs, contact us anytime.

tlmoyseconsulting@gmail.com

One of the valuable resources we have come across in our ongoing learning is Step into the River: A Framework for Economic Reconciliation (June 2022). Co-authored by Sxwpilemaát Siyám (Chief Leanne Joe, Squamish Nation) and Lily Raphael, it is available through Simon Fraser University Economic Development (link below).

As we mark Economic Development Week, it is important to acknowledge what the authors of this framework have shared – “a large part of any reconciliation work is truth-telling”. In the realm of procurement, where much of our work takes place, there have been many systemic barriers facing Indigenous Peoples. Education, training, and skills development as well as opportunity and access are examples. And, importantly, Indigenous worldviews have been missing from procurement and from most economic development initiatives.

Our efforts to educate ourselves need to include recognition of what existed prior to contact with settlers. Historically, as the authors point out, economic development focused on relationships and involved activities like "potlatching" and trading. According to The Canadian Dictionary, the potlatch ceremony “primarily functions to redistribute wealth, confer status and rank upon individuals, kin groups and clans, and to establish claims to names, powers and rights to hunting and fishing territories”. It had both redistributive and kinship functions that held symbolic importance as well as communal economic exchange value. It was outlawed by the Canadian government from 1884 to 1951.

Another important truth that requires acknowledgement is that the procurement playing field has not only not been “level”, but that supply chains have lacked diversity and have not reflected the broad range of vendors and suppliers across all sectors. Policy changes and procurement practices are beginning to address this but should be viewed as early steps on a longer reconciliation journey. Economic development must still attend to issues like cultural appropriation, copyright and intellectual property rights, branding, and land use among others. 

The authors of Step into the River point to trust building as a key component for moving forward with reconciliation. They remind us that the substantial trauma history of Indigenous Peoples plays a significant part in building trust and relationships. As procurement opportunities lead to more and more partnerships and joint ventures, the importance of this trust building is magnified even further. The authors also ask important questions, like “how can the economic development sector make space for trauma-informed trust-building?” 

Their framework has been invaluable in our work to educate ourselves and to better understand our part in moving ahead with genuine reconciliation. We are deeply grateful to them for this in-depth resource and encourage others to add it to their learning library.

The framework is available to download here: www.sfu.ca/fenv/sea-land-and-sky/framework-for-economic-reconciliation.html

[Photo: Unidentified Plains Cree at a powwow in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan; Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR2006.0508/3].

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”, a powerful statement attributed to Peter Drucker, caused some serious debate at the end of the 20th century. Business and organization leaders, management consultants, and industry thought leaders made much of the notion and its implications, with most agreeing that strategy implementation could be seriously hampered within a less-than-optimal culture.

More than two decades later, we see ample evidence of this across sectors and in all manner of context, including procurement. Corporate culture can indeed be a roadblock for even the most robust and enthusiastic strategy. Shifting a company to an exciting new technology platform? A tall order if internal culture resists change. Adopting ESG targets (environmental, social, and governance metrics)? Culture will be critical to success.

We have encountered examples like these often in our work. It can be painful to watch a solid strategy deflate because internal culture prevented its implementation. It can be equally inspiring to work with clients to ensure their cultural landscape supports their strategic goals and priorities. It can take time to make that happen, and not every group begins from the same place. Success, however, is achievable when an upfront investment in culture paves the way for strategy implementation that is embraced and championed rather than resisted or resented.

When we work with a new client, we start by understanding their “Why” – their purpose or mission. Inevitably these conversations include things like values and aspirations. And they tell us a lot about company culture. Strategy is different – it’s about “How”. It involves choosing an approach and frames the direction and decisions for getting there. Starting down the “How” path without a clear understanding of “Why” will expose the many ways culture can hinder strategy. And it’s a significant reason for the bumps and bruises many organizations experience when trying to implement a strategy without doing the requisite cultural work first.

Businesses looking to implement strategies such as those aimed at supply chain diversification, sustainable procurement, or incorporating AI, among others, will benefit from an honest assessment of corporate culture to identify any issues before moving ahead. Are there beliefs or behaviours that don’t align with the desired strategic outcomes? Is education or development needed to support the changes anticipated? What will ensure that everyone involved is enthusiastic about what’s to come?

Never mind breakfast. Culture sets the table for strategic success, and that’s enough to make it an ongoing and active priority. Feel free to reach out to us to talk about what that looks like in your specific circumstance and how we can help.

There’s an incredible energy when 700+ people gather in a room with a shared purpose. At the recent annual Indigenous Business Gathering in Saskatoon, that purpose was to strengthen and support the success of Indigenous businesses. And it’s powerful.

Our Moyse & Associates team members heard a lot of people talking about procurement at the event, which by itself wasn’t surprising. What stood out was that “procurement” is a buzzword, and that while it’s a hot topic it is also problematic. For example, we heard from several attendees that procurement processes remain (both public and private) onerous and need to be a lot more open and accessible. Others talked about the challenges of meeting requirements that are seen as mismatched with contract opportunities – in other words, unnecessary or excessive. And, of course, verification of Indigenous businesses also came up.

Some of the most interesting conversations we had were about the changes that are happening across the procurement landscape. The notion of “levelling the playing field” came up, for example, as policies change to require far more Indigenous participation. Yet that’s not really the goal, is it? Rather than merely “level”, shouldn’t we be aiming for the field to be a robust and dynamic environment of opportunity? We had great conversations about what the future could look like if procurement was seen in a strategic way, as an innovative economic driver and not simply a purchasing process or risk mitigation tool.

We heard that capacity-building and education are needed in the context of procurement – beyond knowing what the process looks like, it’s vital for businesses to know how to get through it successfully. For contract owners, we heard about challenges that include significant cultural and procedural shifts. These will require more training and dialogue, and technical know-how, as we pursue that shared goal together. 

Involvement from all levels of government, evident at the Indigenous Business Gathering, is helping to focus attention on what is possible. And it’s more than reconciliation or a level playing field. Lac La Ronge Chief Cook-Searson, Saskatoon Tribal Chief Arcand, and Métis Nation Saskatchewan President McCallum all spoke about the importance of seeing the success of one being tied to the success of many. They reminded us that the ripples coming from each advancement ultimately mean more individuals, families, communities, and businesses thriving.

No doubt these conversations will continue in May when we travel to Tsuut’ina Nation, Calgary for Forward Summit West. Tammy Moyse will be one of the speakers for a roundtable session titled "Beyond the 5%: The Power of Procurement”. More than 1000 attendees will be there, so it’s another exciting opportunity to convene and connect in support of empowering Indigenous economies. For more about Forward Summit, visit www.forwardsummit.ca

Back in November, we featured a blog discussing the future of procurement and highlighting the challenges (and risks) facing the industry. A shortage of experienced procurement professionals continues to pose significant challenges, and we wanted to follow up on that previous post with an update that gives us reason to be optimistic. 

Following several productive discussions, the uptake of interest about supporting procurement careers has been very reassuring in terms of strengthening this vital profession moving forward.

In December, Tammy Moyse initiated an online interactive session hosted by Supply Chain Canada to empower newcomers to Canada and to the procurement profession. Together with Richard LeBlanc from Farm Credit Canada (FCC), Tammy answered questions and engaged participants in a robust discussion about careers in procurement and supply chain. For many newcomers, gaining local experience is a challenge and highlights a potential gap between employer expectations and the talent pool currently seeking positions within the field.

More recently, Tammy has been working with a leading post-secondary institution to develop a formal educational program focused on procurement. This exciting initiative is aimed at those seeking a progressive career in procurement, including the latest in policies, practices, trends, and essential qualifications. Indigenous procurement as a driver for economic reconciliation will be a vital component as the curriculum is developed.

Our interest in apprenticeships and co-op placement opportunities has also resulted in conversations with potential partners. We continue to encourage businesses and organizations to consider this option as part of a progressive workforce development strategy and to remain open to discussions with others whose support might help to make such opportunities available.

As always, we welcome your feedback and invite you to reach out to us at any time.