For Gary Bates, president of Capital Sewer Services Inc. of Hamilton, Ontario, company growth not only drives revenue and market share, it's a survival strategy.
"Larger companies are positioned to take on increasingly large government contracts," he says. "With administration and contract costs approaching 20 percent of business costs, you've got to be big to thrive in the contemporary market."
Bates was launched into the family plumbing business in the early 1980s at age 16 in Mississauga, the city bordering Toronto's western flank. Seeing an opportunity in drain servicing, he launched Capital in 1998, with
