By: Sachin Aggarwal, CEO

I’m very honoured that Think Research has made the list of Canada’s Top Growing Companies that’s been put together by The Globe and Mail and Report on Business Magazine for the past two years. It’s a testament to the hard work of an incredible team over the last three fiscal years leading up to 2020 that got us here. Helped us grow.

We were also recently announced as one of the companies in the MaRS Momentum program designed to support high-growth Canadian businesses on their way to reaching $100 million in revenue in the next five years. What a powerhouse peer group. 

Growth is life for any company. We’re no exception. Whether you’re a start-up, a scale-up, or an established blue chip company, growth mode is something that you can’t ever grow out of. It’s up or out.

But wow, have our ideas about growth ever been challenged over the last seven months. A global pandemic has made doing business more difficult than ever. External factors took control — forcing us to pivot. Instead of focusing on growth, many companies were forced to focus purely on survival.

We’ve been fortunate to be in an industry that plays a supporting role in our country’s COVID-19 response. We’ve seen growth in parts of our business, like telemedicine, that were previously slow moving. But we haven’t been immune to the economic pressures of this pandemic. 

This summer, I had the privilege of testifying before Ontario’s Finance Committee, joining a number of other Ontario businesses to talk about the impact COVID-19 has had on our companies. We also had the opportunity to offer up ideas about the kinds of external actions that could help us recover and grow. 

It was eye-opening. One fellow tech company talked about the need for Canadian governments and agencies to look at homegrown businesses first — to consider making it policy or at least practice to grant contracts and opportunities to local operations.

I talked about the benefits of tax credits that don’t add a dime to stretched government budgets —  but make a world of difference to a growing company.

As we work towards an economic recovery in Canada, our businesses are key. We need to grow. We know that. We always have. And growth is a team effort.

It is humbling to see Think Research on this list, which includes companies I deeply admire like Dialogue, Borrowell and Nanoleaf. It’s also energizing to look at the amazing growth Canadian companies are capable of, so I’m grateful to the Globe and Mail for facing us forward. This has been a challenging year but, as always, we have big plans to keep growing. Stay tuned.