Fix what keeps slowing your business down.
When sales feel inconsistent, financial reports create more questions than answers, or everyday work depends too heavily on you, it can be hard to know what to tackle first. The Business Builder Lab brings together experienced business leaders, practical insights and useful resources to help you strengthen how your business runs.
Across three sessions, explore how to turn more prospects into customers, understand the numbers that guide business decisions and improve the processes that keep work moving. Each speaker will share a topic-specific tool, template or resource you can put to use in your own business.
How the lab works.
Builder Lab participants remain together for all three sessions, with short breaks between them. Each session focuses on a different part of running your business: building a stronger sales engine, tracking the financial metrics that matter and making everyday work more efficient.
LAB # 1: 9:20-10:00am
Building a Stronger Sales Engine
Create Processes That Turn Prospects into Customers
Getting inquiries is not the same as closing sales. Identify where prospects are dropping off and strengthen how you qualify leads, communicate value, follow up, close and retain customers.
Susan started working part-time at The Book Keeper at age 16 and now she owns the place! The Book Keeper has been a thriving, indie bookstore in Sarnia for over 45 years and Susan has owned it for over 25 years. Over the years she has organized hundreds of author events bringing such luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Rick Mercer, Mitch Albom, Ken Dryden, Chris Hadfield, Doug Gilmour, Mary Lawson, Terry O’Reilly and many, many more to Sarnia. Susan expanded her entrepreneur skills in 2010 by opening Poppies, the gift shop inside Bluewater Health. In 2024 she sold Poppies to the long-time manager, Marg Lacey. She has worked with and volunteered for countless local charities and organizations, including The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts, Literacy Lambton and The Sarnia Community Foundation. Susan is passionate about books, knowledge, art, diversity, inclusion, her business, her co-workers, her community, her family, her cats and dog, her garden, her creativity and kindness.
LAB # 2: 10:10-10:50am
Track What Matters
Cash, Profit & the Metrics That Matter Most
Your reports contain important information, but it can be difficult to know what deserves attention. Learn which numbers help you understand profitability, cash position and what may need to change next.
Caroline McKenzie is General Manager and CFO of Kel-Gor Limited, a Sarnia-based industrial contractor and fabricator owned and operated by the Gordon family since 1969. Kel-Gor employs more than 600 skilled tradespeople across ten trades and delivers projects ranging from $5,000 to $350 million for clients in oil and gas, chemical, power generation and air separation. A Chartered Accountant since 2003, Caroline's remit includes finance, contract and commercial negotiation, which means she spends her days where the numbers meet the operational reality. Before joining Kel-Gor in 2022, she held finance and operations leadership roles in the UK and Canada. Originally from the west coast of Ireland and educated in Galway, Caroline now lives and works in Sarnia-Lambton. She holds dual Canadian and Irish citizenship.
LAB # 3: 11:00-11:40am
Make Work Flow
Use Process Mapping to Reduce Waste & Improve Delivery
When work lives in people’s heads, missed steps, delays and rework can become normal. See how work moves from start to finish, identify where it slows down and find practical ways to make delivery more consistent.
Aaron Buntrock is President of CMS Inc., a project management and project controls firm that has supported clients for more than 30 years.
Aaron brings extensive expertise in project controls, process improvement and client relationship management. Working as a key liaison between clients and technical teams, he helps translate stakeholder needs into practical solutions while maintaining clear communication and alignment throughout each phase of a project.
As a certified Project Definition Rating Index facilitator, Aaron applies established Construction Industry Institute methodologies to strengthen front-end planning and reduce project risk. His experience also includes developing key performance indicators, improving processes and integrating systems to support greater cost predictability and stronger project outcomes.
Aaron brings to the Business Builder Lab a practical understanding of how clearly defined processes, responsibilities and performance measures can reduce friction and help work move more consistently.
Practical resources to take with you.
Learning doesn’t end when the morning does. At the end of the event, exchange your lanyard for a flash drive containing the tools, templates and resources shared by speakers and table facilitators across both labs. Return to these practical references as you apply what you’ve learned, address challenges and strengthen your business.
