When Bob Baker assumed ownership of Baker Plumbing, his family’s well-established business in Calgary, Alberta, he kickstarted an aggressive growth strategy, guided by the concept that getting bigger was better than staying small.
“My father always was very conservative,” says Baker, referring to the late Gerry Baker, from whom Baker inherited the company. “For most of his career, it was just him and me. But I decided to take the company in a different direction.”As it turned out, bigger was better — until it wasn’t.That point came in 2015, when Baker decided to drastically downsize the family business, established by his
