On Monday Gareth showed up at my office around 11:30 AM. We had coffee in my office and chatted about the good old days in Calgary. I told him that Chris got in touch with me when we came back to Ontario. I met Chris at his office and we had lunch downtown. Other than that I didn’t know about anybody else.
Gareth said he kept in touch with Chris and he knew that Chris was doing alright. Gareth also told me that some of the technicians who used to work for him at ATB are in Ottawa. They are working for the same company as Gareth.
I asked Gareth about his girlfriend and he said they are not together anymore. He said its long story and he will tell me some other time.
Around 12:00 PM we headed to the restaurant which wasn’t too far to walk.
I asked Gareth about what it takes to get a company going in Ottawa. He said he had no idea as he was hired when he was still working for ATB. However, he said what he does know is that Ottawa is a government town. Almost all business activities somehow somewhere are connected to government processes and procedures. He said that, anticipating I may ask those questions, he had brought a brief document which he was going to leave with me.
He also said that if I had any questions after reviewing that document, he could arrange a meeting with somebody in the Procurement Department of the company where he was working.
I said I cannot ask for more.
Gareth started asking me questions about David and his consulting company.
I said when I was in Fredericton it was a small company with a few consultants who had worked for the government. They knew how the procurement system worked in the government. The guy who was running the company was an English bloke who also had worked for the government before he started the company.
I said I met David when I was in Fredericton. David was working for the government as a programmer. He did his undergraduate degree from the University of New Brunswick and right away he had an opportunity to start working for the government.
I also explained to Gareth that David left Fredericton right after I did. He landed a job in Edmonton and we got connected again when I used to spend time in Edmonton.
Gareth asked how big the consulting practice in Fredericton was.
I said I don’t know exactly the size of the company but they seemed to be eager to expand their practice in Ottawa. I also said that for some reason they both trust me and they think that I have all the skills to get the business going.
Gareth said you have already proven that you are capable of starting new business based on what you accomplished in Toronto. He said you had no consulting experience when you liquidated your pension and decided to go to Toronto to find consulting contracts.
I said that I knew it was a very risky move but Lynda supported me whole-heartedly, which was the key for me. Somehow I got it going. But I don’t feel comfortable here in Ottawa as everybody says it’s a government town. There is a huge difference in marketing consulting services in Ottawa versus how I did it in Toronto.
Gareth said it’s just a matter of time, Mir. I know how you started working for ATB and how you expanded the concept of taking advantage of technologies, and you were successful there.
I said I wish I had the same confidence as you do Gareth. Thanks for that.
Gareth said how Lynda feels about it, Mir.
I said you know Lynda. She supports anything I undertake. She believes that I am going to make it here.
He said go with that, Mir.
Gareth said what happened in Saudi Arabia, Mir.
I said while it was an incredible challenge from a professional point of view, it was a nightmare. I was working for Saudi Electricity Company in Jeddah. Would you believe that they used to be a UNIVAC shop? When they were having all kinds of difficulties figuring out why their billing system had around 39 percent inaccuracy every month, IBM convinced them that it had to do with the system they were using. Consequently, they switched to IBM. Surprise, it didn’t help. They are still having the same problems.
I said I told my future boss when I was interviewed in San Francisco that it‘s not uncommon to blame technology or programming for everything that goes wrong, but in most cases the quality of data entered into the system could also be responsible for the inaccuracy. I said they have local folks to do the meter reading which I believe is in Arabic, and a couple of key punch girls at the computer room translate those numbers into English before they enter them into the system.
I continued – the other more important problem was Lynda’s religion. First of all a Muslim marrying a Jewish girl is not appreciated by Muslims. Then both of us living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could lead to some difficulties for us. I said my problem was that I was obsessed with the idea of working in Saudi Arabia and didn’t think it through before I decided to go there.
Gareth said thanks, Mir. I was just curious.
As far as registration with the federal government is concerned, Gareth said all he knew was that when Supply and Services purchases goods or services on behalf of a client department or agency, the client must submit a requisition. A completed requisition form ensures that the requisition will be assigned to one of the procurement officers in a timely manner.
He said the following are the steps the client will need to take to complete and submit their requisition to the Supply and Services Administration:
- Verify that the requisition is complete using the Requisition Checklist (accessible only on the Government of Canada network);
- Complete any required Security Requirements Checklist (SRCL) electronically using the Online Industrial Security Services (OLISS);
- Attach any relevant technical documentation or statement of work; and
- Send the completed requisition to PSPC’s Allocation Unit by email and to the appropriate Allocations Unit in their area.
We had a nice lunch while talking about all kinds of things.
When we were walking back to my office, Gareth said I was wondering if you should consider taking a consulting job. That would allow enough time for you to think about how best you can establish a business here in Ottawa.
I said that doesn’t sound like a bad idea but I don’t have any experience doing anything for the federal government.
Gareth said – Well, you never had any experience working for a provincial government either when you moved to Fredericton. And you had never done anything for a bank when you arrived in Calgary.
I said do you think I have a better chance of finding an assignment than of getting the business going.
Gareth said without any doubt.
He said the company I work for not only has employees who do all kinds of different projects for the government, they also place resources with the government. He said why don’t you give me your resumé and I will meet with the person who’s responsible for those kinds of services in my company. You need to understand they don’t provide this kind of service for nothing. They take a certain percentage of your daily rate.
I said that shouldn’t be a problem with me.
Gareth said your management skills for getting things done on time and within budget will play an important role here, Mir.
As soon as we got back to my office, I printed my resumé and gave it to Gareth.
I thanked Gareth for insisting on paying for the lunch.
While I was out, Lynda and David had called and left messages with the receptionist.
I grabbed a cup of coffee before I called Lynda back.
She wasn’t home. She must have called me when she was home for her lunch break. I didn’t like to disturb her at the store and it couldn’t be anything more important than wanting to find out about my meeting with Gareth.
I decided to call David and have a chat about my lunch with Gareth. David said Gareth seems to be very loyal to you, Mir.
I said he’s a good soul. As you know he never worked directly for me but we have always been respectful to each other. Whenever we bumped into each other, I used to make a point of thanking him for doing such a great job and keeping us in line.
I decided not to tell David anything about Gareth’s suggestion for me to take a consulting assignment while trying to get the company going. I thought it was premature to bother David or to give him false hope.
I was totally focused on figuring out a way to get connected with the federal government. Subsequently, I found out that registering is an important first step to doing business with the Government of Canada; but to be successful, you must also do research and build networks.
