Growing One Stitch at a Time
MacIsaac Kiltmakers, located in St. Peter’s, Nova Scotia, is a family-run business owned and managed by Mac MacIsaac and his wife, Rosemary. Since 2000, the company has seen significant growth through word-of-mouth referrals and Internet sales. This has translated into a 400 per cent increase in revenues over a 4-year period. Mac and Rosemary attribute the company’s growth to effectively gaining market penetration in almost every continent including Australia, Asia, Europe, South and North America, and the U.S.
NSBI and the Strait Highland Regional Development Agency worked with Rosemary and Mac to assist them in managing the company’s operational growth. In 2003, MacIsaac Kiltmakers had increasing demand for their product, but couldn’t supply the market quickly enough. The company had limited in-house capacity due to a shortage of skilled workers. This created a backlog demand for their products, which continued to grow weekly. NSBI and the Strait Highland Regional Development Agency helped the company develop a proposal to bring in a master kilt maker from outside the country. With the help of a number of government agencies they were able to find a kiltmaking instructor that would come to St. Peter’s for one year to train local staff. Carol Fitzherbert, an accredited kilt maker from the Keith Kilt School in Scotland’s Morayshire County, moved to Canada to assist Mac and Rosemary develop an apprentice program to train existing and new staff.
Business Result Achieved: Growth
Today, the MacIsaacs have five full-time and two part-time kilt makers on site. The backlog of their highly demanded products has been significantly reduced and Mac and Rosemary have future plans to grow the business further. Mac says if all goes according to plan they will not only look for more business, but also share their know-how through their own Cape Breton kiltmaking school where they can cater to the North American industry.