If you look up "innovation" in the dictionary, you might expect to see a picture of Warren Carriere. His approach to business has always been to seek out and seize the next opportunity, no matter how daunting it might seem.

That attribute has helped him take his business further, faster than he'd expected. When he had trouble attracting venture capital to start a plastic repair facility in Toronto, he decided to build an even bigger facility in New Brunswick. "The entrepreneur decides if it's so tough to raise half a million dollars, then let's go for five times as much," says Carriere.

He recently inked a deal worth about $3 million, which included a forgivable loan from the province, a repayable contribution from the federal government, and a $1 million lease.

"Without government assistance, the project would not have taken place", says Carriere.

Carriere says the new facility will be in operation by August, 2002, and will begin to tap the huge potential he sees in the automotive aftermarket -- repairing car bumpers that would normally be trashed and replaced. At that point, a visit to Toronto might just attract more attention.

Plastic automotive parts have proliferated in the last three decades, but for all their benefits, they've increased the expense of body repairs. If a plastic panel gets dented, the shop will replace it and dispose of the damaged part -- with a cost to the consumer and the environment. But with the wide range of plastic products on the market, few would invest in the tools and techniques to repair them.

Six years ago, Carriere saw an opportunity here to make the repair of plastics manageable. If you can repair a fender or buy a rebuilt alternator, he reasoned, you should be able to do the same with plastic parts.

He'd started as a bodyshop technician, specializing in repairing the fibreglass bodies of Corvettes, and he soon became an expert on bonding techniques, developing his own bonding agent in the late 70s.

Now, armed with years of experience tinkering and experimenting with plastics, he started Pro Tech and set out to develop products to repair plastics, along with the tools, systems and techniques to do it. For example, plastic parts are often bonded using hot air welding -- basically you aim a high-tech hair dryer with a 1/4" spout on plastic wire till it begins to flow. This was fine for big jobs, but when working with fine pieces or in tight quarters, the air would simply blow the part away. Carriere designed a tool more akin to a soldering gun, with a tip, for more intricate work. He also developed new adhesives, welding materials and finishing material, which he sells around the world. Check out his website at www.protechnology.com.

Threat... Or Opportunity?

A new development in plastics might have posed a major challenge to Carriere's business. Characteristically, he saw it as an opportunity.

Thermal plastic olefin (TPO) was a great innovation for the automotive industry. It could give you sleeker, more streamlined contours, but it was also very difficult to repair. BMW, for example, would flame-treat a bumper, spray an adhesion promoter on it, then prime and paint it. Many North American manufacturers would skip the flame-treatment, but follow the other procedures. Either way, the process was slow and difficult to reproduce in a small shop; it simply wasn't cost-effective for the average body repair shop or dealership.

If he could develop a cost-effective repair process, the market was waiting. The savings to new car dealers alone would be immense. If a bumper fascia is damaged in transit or on the lot, it's cheaper to replace it then repair it, so dealerships toss them. Carriere estimates that every dealership in North America is throwing away about $500 worth of bumpers a week. GM manufacturers alone throw out $250 million dollars worth each year.

Today, that process is a reality, and it's being adopted by a number of manufacturers and parts suppliers in North America. But while Pro Tech had established a presence in the auto repair industry, Carriere decided it could grow more quickly by offering to perform the repair itself.

Plastic Repairs Unlimited is Carriere's newest company, with a flagship facility in Winnipeg. PRU repairs all types of plastics using Pro Tech's equipment, products and systems. It was a similar plant he'd hoped to build in Toronto, until New Brunswick beckoned.

Financing Finesse

Along the way, Carriere has been as innovative in his search for financing as he has in recognizing opportunities and seeking ways to seize them.

When it comes to banks, he laughs. "I can tell every person who is ever going to try and get a business loan exactly what the banker will say," he says. "'Friends and family.' Banks are a non-entity in our business. We're not big enough to want to borrow millions, so they're not interested."

He financed the establishment of Pro Tech -- the company that sells the materials and tools -- with his own funds and with financing from the Manitoba Capital Fund. That's a provincially supported venture capital program, which invests in the $250,000 to $1.5 million range. "This financing helped us to lease a 3,000 square foot building in a modern industrial park in Winnipeg, and to purchase the additional machinery and warehouse equipment we needed," says Carriere.

To help construct and equip the new PRU plastic repair facility in Winnipeg, he sought, and received $69,900 in non-repayable funding from Industry Canada's Aboriginal Business Canada (ABC).

How to finance your ideas
Seven tips from a pro

"There are a lot of government programs out there," says

Warren Carriere. "If you have patience, they can really help you."

He offers this advice to entrepreneurs.

1.    "In these turbulent times, if you have a really good business plan, there is tremendous venture capital out there. These labour-sponsored funds are very good, because they don't extract all your blood and sweat like your normal venture cap will. They don't want to own your business. People who invest in the funds get tax breaks, and take that money to actually do something. Allowing these to be created is one of the better things the government has ever done."
   
   
2.   "Your business plan should be concise and to the point... no more than 30-40 pages. Define your marketplace, know what part of the market you can get, how you're going to get it, and what your profit margins will be. Write it yourself. You can do your own numbers on Excel."
   
   
3.   "Join the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). They're tremendous -- very helpful. It's the best consultant you can get for nothing. They'll save you money."
   
   
4.   . "Be patient. It can be tough for small business people who are used to making a decision and going ahead with it. You don't need a hundred consultants. The government doesn't work that way, though."
   
   
5.   "Protect yourself. Insure every receivable you can with the Export Development Corporation (EDC). They have a tremendous program, and the rates are very reasonable. Set a maximum on your credit card transactions. Don't get into $5 thousand or more on an international basis."
   
   
6.   "If you're mainly selling locally, build a relationship with your local credit union."
   
   
7.   "When it comes to financing, it's really important how you approach different governments. Learn what their plans are. Get to know their timetables. Learn when their year-end is -- that's key."

"Everything else," says Carriere, "is blood, sweat and tears."

Would you like to receive money to expand & develop your small business too? There's monies available now for qualified existing & start-up small businesses. Phone toll free: 1-800-658-9792 or
e-mail The Small Business Funding Centre.

You can call us directly at 1-800-658-9792, or e-mail us for information on Canadian government grants and loans for your new or existing small business.
You can also write us at: Small Business Funding Centre, 1500 Bank Street, Room 425, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 1B8.