The entrepreneurial journey of Datto’s Austin McChord

Reading about the life journey and insights of successful entrepreneurs is inspiring and educational. But there’s a different kind of learning experience that you get when you hear their stories firsthand and have the opportunity to ask them questions that have been lingering in your mind. Such was the opportunity that EO Melbourne has presented to its members and community when it held a virtual event with Austin McChord, the Founder of Datto.

Becoming a unicorn startup is one of the goals many entrepreneurs want to achieve. But how does one start small and become a global success? It was not a smooth journey for Austin as he shared the ups and downs that he went through during the process of growing his business.

Austin started Datto from his parents' basement in 2007 and went on to build it as the first unicorn startup from his home state of Norwalk, Connecticut. With the mission of bringing best-in-class data protection solutions to underserved small and medium-sized businesses, he was able to make Datto as the world's leading provider of IT solutions delivered through managed service providers (MSPs).

According to Austin, there were some hits and misses as he began making his first products from limited resources. He built his online store, created a website and had his products listed on Amazon only to see no sales. However, out of his not-so-glorious beginnings, he kept on creating and innovating until he saw some promise from the ideas that he and his team have executed.

Moving out of the basement to a bigger office and later several locations across the US and around the world, Datto has grown and Austin, as the founder, continued to chart that distance to the future. While coming up with new concepts and creations, he made sure to look after his team and customers, as well as respond to the needs of the community, especially during times of disaster.

One particular incident that Austin couldn’t forget was when he received a strategic deal where a company wanted to buy his business. He didn’t believe it at first, but when he realised they were bent on offering his venture, he took Datto even more seriously. At that time, the deal didn’t get through and Austin went on to build Datto to the point wherein they even bought their competitors’ products.

As Datto became huge, Austin wanted to move towards his next big journey and give the company a new leadership space. He stepped down as Datto’s Chief Executive Officer after serving for over 10 years. Now, he invests in and advises other technology growth companies, while continues to invent and experiment in his lab in Norwalk, CT.

Since then, Austin has received various distinctions and awards. He was named to Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list in 2015, named an Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, and earned recognition as one of the nation's top 50 philanthropists in 2017 by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

It was an inspiring entrepreneurial journey worth emulating. Austin showed that with determination and perseverance, along with a passion for his craft and commitment to his team and clients, he can achieve his goals.

-----

EO holds chapter, regional and global events for its Members that help them in their entrepreneurial journey. Interested to join the EO Melbourne chapter? Check out how through this page.

5 books every entrepreneur should read

Crowd Culture Director Blake Brunne and Orange & Green Founder and Executive Director Rudi van der Vlies share the books that have helped them navigate through the business space and understand their market better.

According to Blake, “There are a lot of books about Marketing and Entrepreneurship out there at the moment but for me, the two that have stuck out the most for me are The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss and Purple Cow by Seth Godin.”

As to why he chose these books, “Both of these books gave me some great insights and learnings when I was getting Crowd Culture off the ground in 2016 and a lot of which I still use today. The books itself isn’t too long and are easy to digest especially in Audio Book form, which makes it a great starting point for any busy entrepreneur,” Blake explained.

1. Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Blake shares what he has learned from the book. “Purple Cow was the book that gave me early insights on how to understand my customer better. Although my business has changed a lot since 2016 when I read it for the first time, my key takeaway from the book remains the same: Passion. In the book, Godin writes 'If you make something that you’re passionate about, it’s sure to be remarkable; if you create something that others are passionate about, it’s sure to have a market. Passion is key.’ I feel if that even you don’t read any more of the book, then you would have still learnt a valuable lesson from this.”

“We all want to do something we are passionate about or that we find a sense of joy in, and for a lot of us that could be the reason we became entrepreneurs. But for the majority of us, eventually, we are going to have to work on something that we are not passionate about. Godin writes 'you still need to project an air of passion, even if it’s not real.’ It sounds straightforward, but for me, it isn’t that simple. I was hell-bent on finding a way to do something I was passionate about, and I hadn’t thought about the fact that if I only did things I was passionate about, then I was leaving a whole heap of clients and markets left untapped,” Blake shared.

Blake has learned since and has adjusted his mindset. “It took a while and I still need to work at it today, but when I speak to clients about their event now I can show genuine excitement and share in their passion. In my game, that means a better solution for my clients and could be the difference between winning and losing the job.”

2. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich tackles lifestyle design. Citing several case studies, the book presents examples of those who have multiplied their income, shortened their work time and enjoyed their life due to wise decisions, practical solutions and smart adjustments in their work regimen.

One doesn’t have to work round-the-clock, wear themselves out and wait for retirement when they can start to enjoy life. In his book, Ferriss shows that people can work smart enough to be able to attain financial freedom, location independence and frequent vacations or what he refers to as ‘mini-retirements’ while continuing their business journey.

And while Blake has gained considerable tips and advice from these two books, Rudi, on the other hand, believes that good business leaders should have the following three books at the front of their mind so that they can always act and manage accordingly. These books have presented mind-blowing concepts that have guided many entrepreneurs and helped them attain the success they were aiming for. They have also helped business owners reach their goals at an accelerated rate.

3. Scaling Up by Verne Harnish

If you want to master the four major decision areas of your business: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash, then Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t is a must-read.

The book contains practical tools, techniques and approaches that have been tried and tested by various companies and businesses. It also includes one-page tools that readers can use in scaling up their ventures. Entrepreneurs can learn from this book on how to grow a business that can dominate an industry without killing it.

Aside from authoring books, Verne Harnish is also the Founder and CEO of Gazelles, a global education and coaching company, and also the Founder of EO.

4. Good to Great by Jim Collins

“Good is the enemy of great” is a famous line of Jim Collins in his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. The question that this book wishes to address is ‘can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?’ Based on the five-year research on various companies, the book presented several findings: the Level 5 Leadership; First Who, Then What; Culture of Discipline; Hedgehog Concept; Technology Accelerators; and The Flywheel and the Doom Loop.

It’s a great read that reveals significant thoughts from the data and examples of companies cited in the book. The concepts are helpful tools for entrepreneurs that can challenge their mindset and motivate them to aim for better results.

5. The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

Jeff Shanley is a leader who tried to save his uncle’s business by bringing back the commitment of the organization towards teamwork. He needs to find out the virtues that team players must have so that he can hire and build the team based on such virtues. His story is the central point in Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Ideal Team Player.

Apart from the story, Lencioni includes in the book a powerful framework and actionable tools that can be used in recognising, employing and fostering ideal team players. Since good human resource is an important factor in the success of a company or enterprise, the book is a valuable guide to business leaders in developing and nurturing an ideal team that can help them drive their ventures towards their goals.

This is a good list that you can take with you on your entrepreneurial journey and growth as a business leader. What books have you read that have helped you face the challenges of entrepreneurship? Tell us your recommended books in the comment section below.

Leading with Hope

One’s success in business or organisation can be attributed to various factors, the primary of which includes leadership, particularly when it faces several challenges, such as a global pandemic that is affecting lives and economies.

Which is why this year’s theme of EO Melbourne – “Lead with Hope” – is very relevant and timely to the present situation. As business owners, the chapter members are also leaders in their respective fields and companies that need to bring their teams towards their goals despite stormy weather.

EO Melbourne President (2020-2021) and League of Extraordinary Women CEO and Co-Founder Sheryl Thai and Absolute Immigration Global Immigration Leader Jamie Lingham share their insights on leadership, their experiences and style of leading, and how they become a guiding light to the people they lead.

Steering the company towards a brighter future through hope

“Over my decade of leading teams in my business or being involved in Boards, my leadership style has evolved as I’ve gained more insight and experience working with people,” said Sheryl Thai who, apart from her leadership roles in League of Extraordinary Women and EO Melbourne, is also a Board Member of Project Gen Z and the founder of Cupcake Central, her first business that she has successfully exited. “In this point in time, I relish in a collaborative and coaching leadership style where I’m able to guide my team to assist them to unlock their potential.”

Empowering her team is what Sheryl applies in her business and organisations where she is involved. “I seek their input and collaboration to keep our company innovative and relevant. Whilst we still operate the business on systems and processes, I provide them with the autonomy and freedom to carry out their role how, when and wherever they see fit.”

Leading her team efficiently also helps her in serving well the communities they cater to. For her, effective leadership shapes the right culture for the company that is fit to their purpose and mission. “As a company that seeks to connect and inspire women globally, we have to constantly move with our community to keep them engaged. For us to achieve that, we must have a culture that is inspiring and engaging. This style of leadership provides the autonomy for the team to follow their intuition to allow for creative and innovative content delivered to our audience,” Sheryl explained.

And how does Sheryl give hope to people around her, especially when they are met with difficulties? “During times of uncertainty and doubt, it has been imperative for me to continually return to hope to steer the company towards a brighter future. For us, this means focusing on how we’re able to make a difference to those that need inspiration and connection more than ever in a world that has been forced to stay apart and connect virtually instead.”

Leadership that encourages openness, teamwork and innovation

Jamie Lingham describes his leadership style as one that promotes teamwork and openness and encourages ownership and innovation. “Sometimes I feel like I ‘over-share’, but this has always served me well, especially during the difficult times when we need to brace as a team and get through the challenge that has presented itself. Our team is very close. We support one another, and everyone is willing to jump on to any project that needs to be completed, no matter what the task or time it takes or the deadline.”

As a leader, he sees to it that the atmosphere is healthy for growth for him and his team. “I am a huge fan of ‘delegate to grow’ for both my benefit and also the benefit of my team members. When giving them work, we prefer the ‘sink-or-swim’ approach, but ensure that it is in a safe environment, with senior staff guidance and systems and processes in place to protect them from any ‘live fire’ issues. If a mistake is made, we work to pick this up before it gets to the client, but the learnings are still relevant,” he stated.

His approach is to constantly push his level of comfort and ‘give until it hurts’ when it comes to passing on his responsibilities, “which I believe is the only way that I can truly grow and be available to new opportunities,” he remarked. “I also support promoting innovation throughout the team and encourage everyone to take opportunities as they come up and run projects on their own.”

Other than that, Jamie also describes himself as a leader who looks after the quality of their work. “While I love to delegate, I also lead by example through being involved with reviewing work before it goes out. I provide feedback on the quality of work when measured against the level of service expected to deliver to meet our service promise and client expectations. This ensures that I keep connected to the day-to-day output, which demonstrates to the team that they can confidently follow my lead.”

By taking advantage of his strength in helping and motivating others, his leadership has facilitated a cooperative culture at Absolute Immigration. “Our cooperative culture is strengthened by the fact we are in constant communication with each other, especially in turbulent times such as COVID. Our team catches up daily over Zoom meetings so we have the opportunity to engage with one another through sharing ideas, helping each other solve any issues that arise, and have a fun element which includes games, quizzes, and mindfulness exercises.”

COVID-19 has affected their industry and, as a result, their company. Jamie had to make adjustments within his organisation for them to survive. But he also has to step up to carry the torch of hope for his people. “I continuously encourage our team to promote positive mental health measures and to keep the humour going. Yes, it is a serious time, but we need the release and positivity that humour provides,” he said.

“When I reflect on this topic, it made me realise how important good leadership is in the time of a crisis. COVID-19 has been a great time for us to come together and grow as a team, as well as for me as a leader,” the Global Immigration Leader declared.

---------

What is your experience in leading your team during this challenging time? We want to hear from you. Share your story through the comments section below or email us at communications@eomelbourne.org.

What are the 3 most important items on an entrepreneurs’ desk

by: Bernie Fernandez

With considerable surprise, I receive the email from EO Melbourne. I am being invited to write a blog as a subject matter expert. Painful anxiety mixed with disdain rises as I read the subject “What are the 3 most important items on an entrepreneurs’ desk”. I hate it.

This idea, however, stumbles into my head days later as I hear the quote below from the book, You Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins.

“In a society where mediocrity is too often the standard and too often rewarded, there is intense fascination with those who detest mediocrity, who refuse to define themselves in conventional terms, and who seek to transcend traditionally recognised human capabilities.” – Navy Seal Commander

I do not believe I am the subject matter expert on the topic handed to me. So taking a cue from the seminal business book, Tools of Titan by Tim Ferris, I asked 3 of my ex-clients, each who demonstrated elite leadership and standards throughout their careers, to identify the single most important item on their desks.

CHAPTER 1: GRAEME STRANGE – WHITE SPACE

I hear a lot of people calling 2020 a write-off. With absolute respect to the many people of unfortunate circumstance, I belong to the ‘other’ many that do not see 2020 that way.

In late February, I received the news that two of my Spanish family contracted COVID-19. With the impending situation being broadcast to the world, I naturally made sure I kept constant contact. It seems like a blessing now as my cousin shared advice on how to deal with the inevitable lockdown here. “Go find something you’ve always wanted to do, something you’ve put off because you never had the time and do it. You now have time and space.”

Graeme may not know this, but early on in one of many workplace project meetings, without Graeme in attendance, the term “repressed hunter” was coined to describe the cultural leadership and design direction of the business leader. One morning, I approached Graeme sitting at his desk. Embodying Indiana Jones, the adventurer had swapped the worn leather and fedora for neat business attire. As he sat in plain sight in an open plan with 60+ staff, I had to ask:

“How do you manage to get any work done sitting here?”

The ever calm and compassionate man, with all the time in the world for anyone, replied, “When I’m at work, the door is always open. When I truly need something done, I go home”. That was 2015.

The ensuing conversation stayed with me and now will be expanded upon from a recent conversation to answer the question: What is the most important item on your desk?

The answer – space.

An empty desk reflects an empty mind. Space is required to focus on and solve problems. A leader’s role is to work on solving problems. Space must be allowed to work on Challenges, Staff, Business and Customer Needs. After all, staff are looking after your customers. Your desk is simply a place to work. What is required for productivity is a state of mind and technology.

CHAPTER 2: ANOU KHANIJOU – THE POWER OF THE PENCIL

Passing through Indonesian customs, our group was greeted by an attaché and luggage hands. They led us towards a nice bus just a short walk from the front doors of the airport. In what might have been a humid Kuta minute and two quick words, the “nice” bus disappeared. A shiny new leather-lined, stereo-amplified Mercedes instantly turned the corner. “Now, this is a little more to my standards,” revealed Anou.

Over the following five days, my understanding of a business retreat became redefined forever. What was increasingly obvious was that in her “spare time”, Anou had meticulously hand-curated royalty-level experiences for us, one after the other. Spectacular private adjoining villas. As I come to understand, they were practically impossible to book. Yoga instructors and masseuses were scheduled to arrive every morning. Onsite chefs were to serve us breakfast and lunch by the pool.

I knew enough of Anou’s life to know that as the PR representative to Hollywood in Australia, this afforded her a well-connected network. National theatre level “opera” was simply one of the many performances conducted by Anou at any given time around the world.

About a year later, I visited Anouconcept’s soon-to-be new office space. I admired the décor and the hum of the productive office in full swing and found myself reflecting on this amazing person. So humbly inspiring, so unfathomably busy, yet with so much time for others.

With curiosity, I asked the trailing query and key point to this blog - “What is the single most important item on your desk?” To which, Anou replied, “A pencil.”

I will not lie, during COVID-19, I have struggled for focus and to stay on top. Capturing the many important details and concepts of the creative and delivery process has been tough. Here is someone I look up to, orchestrating similarly complex projects for the likes of Universal Studios, Chris Hemsworth and Justin Bieber!

What I have learnt was that Anou has created and orchestrated these multiple once-in-a-lifetime experiences, crafted incredible stories, and built multiple businesses by learning the simple, yet the very important habit of taking time in writing things down.

She explained, “I always write my ideas and plans – big or small – with a pencil. It’s the most essential tool on my desk juxtaposed with all this technology.”

Artists ensure there is a direct and physical connection between brain, hand, medium and paper. There is pure artistry in Anou’s inquisitive mind. Gentle and empathic, yet also critically honest and transparent. Anou makes time and space for scribing and reflection, later sharing with others and directing these learnings into her daily life.

CHAPTER 3: MINA SHEHATA - TRUE GRIT

True Grit. The movie instantly flashed delicious, memorable images of amazing characters and a wonderful story spun together by the genius of the Coen Brothers. We, the viewers, are swept away by the stellar performances, story, action and incredible scenery. At the end of the film and in that unique twist we all enjoy so well, we realise the protagonist deserving of label “True Grit” is the often sidelined fourteen-year-old girl Mattie Ross. This female lead is astounding, uncompromising and determined to achieve her mission at all costs.

True Grit, as defined, is passion and perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals. It is the ability to persist in something you feel passionate about and persevere when you face obstacles.

Enter this story - Mina Shehata.

“There are 3 types of engineers. One - the technician: socially inept, but detailed and brilliant. Two - the social butterfly: great at sales and people, but hopeless engineers, and three - a bit of both. Mina is a lot of both.” Wes Malek of ECM Building Services Engineers shared this with me over a lockdown telephone interview. “What separates Mina from the typical engineer – it’s his intellect!” Wes Malek leads a team of 30 and has run his business for about 17 years. “ECM practically recommends Mina and Mina’s business, RMS Manufacturing, exclusively on every project.” ECM is not alone.

Wes also told a great story of first meeting Mina on a cruise trip up the Nile over 20 years ago. As the night closed in over the cruise through this magical desert scene, Wes recalled, “this massive guy being dressed in Bedouin headgear, passionately dancing with Sheesha pipe in hand all night long! Mina simply squeezes out every single last drop of life he can.”

Ten years ago, RMS began from absolutely nothing. Led by someone like Mattie Ross, Mina uncompromisingly brought it to become the premier switchboard manufacturer of Victoria. Mina sits on the board as President of NESMA (National Electrical Switchboard Manufacturing Association), while RMS switchboards sit in the basements protecting the biggest and most important government and commercial buildings in Australia.

Recently, I had the pleasure of working with Mina and his growing business to assist in accommodating RMS into a new custom-built 2400-sqm Manufacturing and Office facility in Derrimut. Knowing Mina for his relentless drive — True Grit — and as living evidence of the Law of Attraction, I simply had to ask, “What is the single most important item on your desk?”

“My two screens,” flatly replied Mina. “I’m set up to work from anywhere – this week Queensland, next Dubai.” Knowing that Mina vibrates at this high frequency, his response did not surprise me at all. “Two screens allow me to work as efficiently as I can, anywhere.”

As we all face a return to a “normal” work-life now finally integrated into our sacred homes, any semblance of “work-life balance” should irrefutably be as dead Josh Brolin’s Tom Chaney. Mina’s relentless pursuit of efficiency provides the space to be the best he can be at work, which results in having a clear mind and choices to live a life of freedom which he deserves.

---------

About the author:

Bernie Fernandez is the Founder of Agero Group and Sustainable Stripout. He is also a member of EO Melbourne.

How do successful entrepreneurs get continuous professional growth?

No matter how good one is or even if they are an expert on a particular thing, there will always be room for improvement and growth. It applies to everyone, including entrepreneurs. Each one of us has strengths that we can capitalise for our chosen fields of endeavours, as well as weaknesses which we can still work on to expand our knowledge and hone our skills set.

And when you reach the peak of success in your career, how do you ensure that you continue to grow professionally? Entrepreneurs Rick Nieuwenhoven of Nieuvision, Rob Roy Rankin of Rankin Business Lawyers, and Adam Stewart of Debt Recoveries Australia, ADC Legal and Nova Team Solutions share their experiences and learnings when it comes to pursuing their professional growth.

“There are times I realise the sponge is full and I have to squeeze it dry and start again.”

-          Rick Nieuwenhoven, Founder and CEO of Nieuvision

When it comes to learning, Rick finds that it is different for everyone. “As a lecturer for 10 years, I’ve seen this first hand. Firstly, to constantly grow, I remind myself of the best way for me to learn and grow. I learn most from others and by talking to others,” he declared.

Acknowledging that he thrives in an environment where he gets to interact with other people, Rick saw the significance of joining groups like EO. He continued, “With that, the forum is fundamentally important to my learning experience. I also find MyEO events a practical environment to learn from others because the conditions are more relaxed and I can spend more time with people.”

Yet, there are times when he often faces a wall in his growth and development as an entrepreneur and as a person. “I don’t stress if I hit a plateau. There are times when I realise that the sponge is full and I have to squeeze it dry and start again. Otherwise, I can get bogged down in my learning mode and lose balance with execution. However, what I do is that I set goals based on my learning desire to assists me in keeping focused,” he shared.

 “As an entrepreneur, there is a constant need to improve, adapt and grow as a person.”

-          Rob Roy Rankin, Principal and Founder, of Rankin Business Lawyers

Rob recognises the reality that entrepreneurs like him need to constantly grow, improve and adapt. “To do so, I regularly challenge myself and try to have a mindset of always learning. Some simple and readily available tools I use include podcasts and books. The more I read and listen, the more references and recommendations I pick up, which leads to more reading and listening,” he explained.

Beyond the books and podcasts, Rob also grows through his interaction with his surroundings. For him, “Another way to ensure you’re constantly challenged is to meet new people, look at new industries, and visit new places – all of these things challenge the perspectives and prejudices we accumulate when we stagnate.”

However, it is not at all times that the journey is an uphill climb. According to Rob, “Feeling like you’ve hit a plateau in your professional life is often the result of success and usually by doing the same thing, over and over again, very well. To reinvigorate ourselves we need to recalibrate or adjust our perspective. Two ways of doing this are:

• Go back and examine our purpose. Why do we do what we do? The answer will be different for everyone, but getting back in touch with this reason will inspire new thinking;

• Look at what’s happening in other industries, other cultures, other places. There is always something to learn from others, and by examining what’s strange or new to us and contrasting with our own lives, we come up with new ideas about how to improve.”

“Steady growth over the years was achieved with careful planning and goal-setting.”

-          Adam Stewart, Founder and owner of Debt Recoveries Australia, ADC Legal and Nova Team Solutions

“My first business, Debt Recoveries Australia, was born in 2002. I was living in a one-bedroom flat in Balaclava and ran the business from that flat with a P.O. Box in Balaclava. Right from the start, I made all my plans with the big picture in mind. Everything – from the name, website, office space and debt collection software – was chosen with the end-goal in mind: to be the most successful and profitable debt collection agency in Australia,” Adam narrated.

Starting small, his business grew big. “Constant demand and new clients coming on board meant I very quickly moved the office from that one-bedroom flat into an office in the city. We now have offices all over Australia. Demand for legal services led to the addition of a legal arm in 2012, called ADC Legal Litigation Lawyers.”

By 2013, Debt Recoveries Australia, along with ADC Legal, was well on the way to becoming one of the most successful debt collections agencies and litigation firms in Australia. To accommodate the increasing demand for their services and to provide the best possible service for their clients, they had to have the manpower to back this up. “Again, I wanted control over this part of my company. So in 2010, I set up my BPO (Business Processing Outsourcing) centre in the Philippines, called Nova Team Solutions,” Adam remarked.

As Adam grew his businesses and expanded his reach, he found that he was also growing as a person and an entrepreneur. “Today, I am still as excited about the future of my companies as I was in 2002. I could not do it without the amazing staff I have today, whom I owe much of my success to. I also like to invest in myself, especially when I have hit a plateau in personal growth.”

To do this, Adam sought for groups and individuals that can help him continue his professional growth. “I like to reach out to business networking groups, apart from EO. Recently, I joined the Victorian Chamber of Commerce. I always have at least one mentor who helps me one-on-one. I love getting the personal experiences of someone who’s been in the same boat as me before. I also mentor others. This helps me to give back what I have learnt.”

--------

If you have tips and learnings to share on continued professional growth, share them with us through the comment section below.

Experimentation in business: the risks and rewards

Taking risks is a huge part of the entrepreneurial journey. You need to invest resources, time and effort to bring your venture to greater heights, and it is guaranteed that there will be many forks on the road and lots of trial and error before you can get there.

We’ll take a look at two circumstances where entrepreneurs had to experiment in their business and take the risks to reap the rewards.

An exciting, yet unfamiliar, endeavour that becomes a success

Barnbougle Polo was only an afterthought due to an available area in the Barnbougle Resort property. Despite the unfamiliarity with the sport, Barnbougle Golf Managing Director and Barnbougle Polo Co-Founder Penelope Sattler and her team took the plunge, not knowing that Barnbougle Polo would become a sought-after event in Tasmania.

“The Barnbougle Resort comprises of two golf courses – Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm – which are separated by the Great Forester River. Between the courses, there is a piece of land that is part of Barnbougle Farm, which wasn’t utilised for the courses as it was too flat – terrible for golf, perfect for polo fields! We had very little knowledge of the sport. However, we felt that polo and golf were a match made in lush green grassy heaven and therefore decided to delve into the ‘Sport of Kings’,” she explained.

While the idea was interesting enough, it was not without challenges as it involved a costly investment. “The biggest risk was the substantial financial outlay and the possibility of a lack of return in this investment. Secondly, running a major event and doing so poorly could be extremely detrimental to the brand we had created,” Penelope disclosed.

Yet, they went ahead with their plans, and the result was an overwhelming success. Penelope revealed, “The event has become a staple on the summer social calendar in Tasmania which has widened our brand exposure and strengthened our appeal to the younger demographic and non-golfers. The North-East of Tasmania hosts very few large scale events so the polo has been a great opportunity for Tasmanians to experience the ‘Sport of Kings’ in their state and enjoy a fun day out. It has also given us a great outlet to showcase our amazing Tasmanian producers and give back to the local community.”

Managing risks and making them a springboard to the next level

“Like most entrepreneurs, I have always had big dreams and goals I have set myself to achieve,” Crisp Solutions Founder and CEO Michael Clark declared. “To make these things happen, I have had to make big moves and take what could be considered as large risks.”

As he started his entrepreneurial journey at a young age, Michael is grateful to find guidance from entrepreneurs who have made their journey ahead of him. “Fortunately, one of the first books that I read cover to cover was Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson. I was about 19 at the time, and one of my biggest takeaways from that book was that you really can do anything if you set your mind into it. You can approach deals and so-called high-risk situations, such as starting an airline with creativity and a plan to protect the downside, in such a way that what appears on the surface as very risky offers very little risk at all.”

He recalled the time he ventured into entrepreneurship with no experience and limited resources. “In the very first business I founded while still at university, I locked myself into a long-term supply contract with a national retailer. Problem was I had under $3000 in the bank, no access to investment and had zero business experience. My minimum commitment to the large manufacturer was to buy 10,000 units of one product which cost tens of thousands of dollars. Plus, I needed to find the money for additional business startup costs. My family and friends either said it was too risky and thought it was a bad idea or simply couldn’t help.”

After feeling completely stuck for a long time and ready to give up, Michael luckily came up with a plan. “I arranged terms with the retailer to agree to an initial order that would cover all my expenses. I then got a commitment from them for very short payment terms of 14 days from in-store delivery. Lastly, I negotiated with the manufacturer to allow me 60-day payment terms on the first delivery. And there it was – an almost zero-risk scenario where I was profitable and cashflow-positive a little over 2 weeks after the business started,” he narrated.

That was 18 years ago and Michael’s business is going stronger than ever today. He has since gone on to apply this approach to risk in many other businesses and opportunities.

Out of the courage to take the risk and jump into the water, Michael has reaped the rewards of his hard work, persistence and determination to keep going forward. “I have built houses and a real estate portfolio in different corners of Australia, as well as in England, with a small amount of capital, even when I have never visited those parts of the world prior. I invested in a unique trading opportunity, which on the surface was high-risk and had a direct negative impact of more than a million dollars when it fell apart, but turned out that the real fall out was minor. I walked away from a good-paying job at a leading global consumer goods company to take a chance on a new idea. I’ve started several business partnerships where capital and energy were required and at risk. But through smart preparation and agreements covering, if they didn’t work out, the downside was minimised.”

Looking back, Michael has learned a lot out of the decisions he has made, not only for business but also in life. The lessons are nuggets of wisdom that he has taken with him as he continues with his entrepreneurial journey. “From my experience for any growth at all in life, there are tradeoffs. You constantly need to take big risks to take your life and business to the next level. I strongly believe that if you manage that risk the right way you will be able to stay in the game much longer and give yourself more chance of making it big,” he imparted.

We’d like to hear from you. Share with us if you have experienced taking risks by experimenting in your business and how it brought you huge rewards.

Hiring the right person is not enough, then it comes the induction process…

Hiring new staff members is crucial because it takes a lot of time and effort in introducing them to the team and your corporate culture, as well as briefing them on how things are done in our organisation. It’s one thing to have a strong recruitment process where you ensure you select the right candidate and it’s another to successfully bring that person on board to be part of the team. The Induction training puts structure and system in making sure that nothing is missed in the process of onboarding.

Lauren Staley, Managing Director of Infolio Property Advisors, an experienced collective of buyer advocates, vendor advocates & property managers, and Miguel Donnenfield, Co-Founder of Creativa Videos, an animation and video production studio, share how they train new members of the team to make sure that the new hires acquire the necessary knowledge and skills needed for the job.

1.       Have an induction plan or process in place

According to Lauren, the induction training they do in Infolio comes in two parts. “The first one is an overview of the administrative details, while the second part dwells more on the practical side of the business,” she explained.

On the other hand, Creativa has been through different stages when it comes to inducting its new personnel, “which we learned along the way and kept improving,” as Miguel would describe it.

He elaborated, “We ended up with a solid induction process, which never stayed still and was refined every single time. Our tool for the induction process included:

• A plan with the usual steps depending on the role

• An internal comprehensive tasks sheet

• A Learning Management System (LMS) with a series of videos and documents

• Reviewing the "Prism" Behavioural tool and showing them the one from their peers

The LMS had a series of videos that allow the new person to be familiar with the various aspects of the company, such as the company’s purpose, why the company exists, the company’s Values, Vision and Mission, and its corporate culture. It also covered the tools that the company uses, which included emails, internal phone, Slack, and how they are utilised in the organisation. Their LMS also had specific videos depending on the role the new person is taking with options for freelancers and interns.”

“We make sure we follow a process and a checklist for their induction.”

- Lauren Staley, Managing Director of Infolio Property Advisors

2.       Create a task list and training manual

One of the important things that Lauren cited is having a task list for the new hire. “We make sure we follow a process and a checklist for their induction. We spend a whole day completing the induction, which has a task list that requires signing off before they can be handed over for practical on-the-job training. Both the inductee and the inductor have to sign off on each task to say they have adequately explained and understood the learnings.”

Similarly, Miguel stated that the tasks sheet is within their project’s process. “These tasks were grouped depending on the topic. The technical details included were creating a new email account, the signature, giving access to different platforms and accounts and other people's calendars, creating the alarm code, the access code, buying licences, etc. We even had a list of what needs to be done when an employee leaves the company.”

Apart from the checklists, Lauren also finds training manuals as an invaluable tool in the induction training. “Training manuals and checklists for staff are important to ensure they have accountability. But apart from that, they will also feel they have something to lean on when they need assistance before coming to you,” she said.

3.       Spend time with the new member and connect them with other members

“The most import thing I have learnt is to spend ample time with the new staff, ensure they understand the business, ensure they know what resources they have and give them the time to learn properly,” Lauren noted. “We now have our staff spend a morning or afternoon with any of the other teams within the office so that they understand the connection and importance of each role and division within the organisation,” she added.

Meanwhile, Miguel described how the first two weeks of the induction process goes. “We would usually plan a series of internal meetings with different people, going over the content of the LMS videos and explaining them in-depth. Other meetings would include people from the role's team, where we go over more specifically into the role, the position description (PD) and what is expected from the person.”

And it doesn’t end there. “The initial month or so would be in close contact with the person to ensure it is clear what needs to be done. It is also to check how the person feels and how they are adapting to the company culture and the team. Then we will spread out the meetings to a monthly schedule for the initial probation period, which is usually 6 months,” described Miguel.

“From the moment the decision to bring a new person on board is there, you have to start planning.”

- Miguel Donnenfield, Co-Founder of Creativa Videos

4.       Other tips and key learnings

For those without an induction training yet in their organisation, Lauren suggests getting outside help from experts. “If you don’t have a process in your company, find someone who does. Find someone who does it well and get their advice.”

For Miguel, the key is having a concrete plan. “From the moment the decision to bring a new person on board is there, you have to start planning. Ensure that the PD is correct, succinct and doesn't have hundreds of tasks and responsibilities. Sometimes, we divide them into the Main/Most Important Tasks and regular tasks. Start planning right from the beginning where the person will seat, what computer will use, etc. Who will be assigned as the buddy to be there when needed? How much time does this person have? Maybe we need multiple people? Start blocking time on their calendars, even though you might end up moving it once you know when the person will start.”

Let us know some of your best practices when it comes to training your new personnel. Share your tips, too, through the comment section below.

An ounce of fun in your workplace to make work enjoyable for you and your team

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

That’s a famous saying that we’ve heard time and time and again. Good thing that many companies and organisations inject fun into their work culture to make the environment more encouraging and energetic. Others even cap their workweek with an enjoyable Friday pursuit where the staff can unwind and bond together. Moreover, some are not deterred by the current crisis and even find it helpful to have a fun Friday activity to motivate their team.

Take inspiration on how these entrepreneurs create a delightful business culture for their people and get some ideas on how you can also enliven your work atmosphere.

Organise team activities and social events with your team

Fun! That is one of the core values of StudioHawk, which Harry Sanders founded in 2015. As a specialised SEO agency, they take their work seriously, but not themselves. Which is why they were named SEMRush’s 2019 agency of the year, as well as 2019 Optus Media Marketing and Advertising Business of the Year.

With restrictions in place, they try to still make working as enjoyable as possible. According to Harry, “We do 3 things every Friday during isolation to keep things fun and the team as connected as possible while working from home. Every Friday, our office manager will send around a random fact for a thing she likes to call 'Fun Fact Friday'. We also have a 'StudioHawk Friday Feels playlist' wherein every week, each team member picks a song to add to the playlist and 20 different songs are included each week on the playlist. Then at 5:00 pm every Friday, we have a team Zoom catch-up and end-of-week drinks.”

In addition to all these, “once or twice a month on a Friday, we host a team social event. So far, we have had a couple of games and pizza nights. Last week, we did Cork ‘n Canvas, then next Friday we will be doing pottery! We set aside a 'culture' budget each quarter that we use for activities to bring the team together,” Harry shared.

And if these are not enough, they are planning more activities these coming days. Harry revealed, “We are about to kick off our fitness and health month in September called 'SWEAT-TEMBER'. As a team, we will be doing a PT session run by one of our clients once a week, meditation a few mornings a week and a fitness challenge that includes a step challenge! This will help us all keep connected, active and, hopefully, help unwind.”

Because of these efforts, it strengthens their corporate culture while continues to build relationships among their team members. “We have a really strong team culture at StudioHawk, ask anyone here and they will tell you their favourite thing about working here is the people and culture. This is one thing that we did not want to lose while working in isolation. Bringing people together is made even more important. These initiatives and small tokens of appreciations help drive people forward in a time when things may seem a little lonely and allow us to continue excelling with our values. In David Ogilvy's words, agencies that don't enjoy what they do don't put out good work - so make a culture that people love working for,” stated Harry.

Build sustainable ways for work to be enjoyable

It is a different case for those in the food industry, such as Etto Street Pasta Bars. As explained by its Founder, David Ansett, who is also the Founder of the marketing tech company Brandvas and branding agency Truly Deeply, “We’re a 7 day-a-week business with different staff working different shifts so there’s never a sense of ‘end of the week’. Our end-of-shift each night is our ‘Friday’. Once the last customer has gone, the doors are closed and the volume of the music goes up. Clean-up and pack down is a pretty casual affair.”

So how do they inject fun into the work environment? “Our 7 day-a-week trade means we have to try to build sustainable ways for work to be enjoyable. For us, this is all about a relaxed but hard-working place to come to work. For instance, we encourage social chat throughout a shift,” David remarked. Not only that, but they also provide certain benefits for their people. “All the staff get a free meal of their choice for any shift they work. Managers have the authority to open a bottle of wine after a tough shift or to celebrate a birthday, for example,” he added.

While they try to make their work environment an enjoyable place for their team members, they also make sure that quality is observed at all times. “We have a pretty strict framework for performance, but from there, it’s up to each manager to make a workplace that fits with them as a leader and their staff as a culture. It means each restaurant has its own culture. South Melbourne has a cheeky, Italian culture, while Kirkdale has more of a South American love-for-life feel.”

“As we encourage each manager to see their restaurant as their own business, they create their versions of the Etto culture. Having run a branding agency for 30 years, keeping a positive culture in restaurants is easy by comparison. Although the role of a hospitality worker is tougher than working in a creative agency, the type of people the industry attracts, the form of work, their expectations and the camaraderie formed between teams lead to a relatively positive staff culture that requires less management. It helps that we pay award wages, which for many of our staff is a relatively positive experience in our industry,” David shared.

Create a culture of caring

It’s almost the same case for wine store brand Blackhearts & Sparrows. Co-founder Paul Ghaie described the scenario they have in their stores, “Due to the flexibility of our working hours and the fact that we are a 7-days-a-week, 362-days-a-year type of business, we don't so much do ‘Fridays’.”

But it doesn’t mean that they don’t do something for their team members. Fun things don’t need to have a lot of fanfare and can be done at any given time that is convenient for everyone. As long as your people enjoy what you do for them, that is what matters most. “We keep things pretty simple, such as regular dinners and drinks with the staff,” he clarified.

Caring for their people is important in their organisation, recognising the long-term effect of this on their members and their business, as well. “We tend to focus on ensuring our staff group is looked after really well over the year. We think this creates a culture of caring with the staff feeling their welfare is a priority,” Paul added.

Do regular catch-ups with some rewards and surprises

Since most staff meetings are now done virtually, add a bit of fun to your weekly catch-ups by doing online socials. Add a dash of surprise or some rewards that they can look forward to each week by having fun talks over their choice of drinks or playing games with prizes that you can do over Zoom.

If you have other ideas for fun activities with your team members, especially during these interesting times, please share them with us through the comments section below.

Overcoming self-doubt in the entrepreneurial journey

It is not at all times when business leaders are confident of themselves or of the decisions they make. The reality is that there are moments of self-doubt, which can often freeze you on your tracks. We wonder, when such instances occur along the business journey, how do entrepreneurs overcome their weaknesses and move ahead towards their goals?

KHQ Lawyers Founder and Managing Director David Kelly and Lights Lights Lights Director Danielle Mastro reveal how they embraced the experience and used it to strengthen themselves.

“Over the years I have learnt the hard way that my self-doubt is one of my greatest strengths.”

-          David Kelly

Founder and Managing Director of KHQ Lawyers

For David, self-doubt is not always a bad thing. “It keeps me sharp. It helps me see the other person’s perspective. It saves me from hubris, arrogance and blind faith in my correctness,” he stated. But it was not an easy thing for him to do.

“It took me a long time to get to this point – a lot of reading and even some counselling. Now, I cherish my self-doubt as one of the keys to whatever success I have achieved in my life. If I didn’t have self-doubt, I think I would much more frequently blunder into mistakes by making assumptions and that I would not be at all self-aware or prepared (not that I’m saying I am very self-aware or prepared) for anything,” he reasoned.

Because of that, David has come to accept that part of him and uses it to be more conscious of himself and others. “I have come to love my self-doubt.  Whenever I interact with another person who seems to have no self-doubt, who is sure they are right, who just knows they are right, I see a risk. I see a gamble. If that person is truly right, then great. They can congratulate themselves on their self-belief and their unshakeable confidence. However, if they are wrong and their lack of self-doubt leads them to blunder again and again into the same mistakes, I see a fool and I remind myself that my self-doubt is not my Achilles heel but a great asset.”

“The moments of uncertainty give birth to my most abundant personal growth.”

- Danielle Mastro

Director of Lights Lights Lights

Self-doubt can happen in different points of one’s entrepreneurial journey. It can occur even to someone who has tons of experience and successes on their backs. Especially at present with a pandemic and economic crisis to face, many people, including business owners, start to rethink of many things, including their views of themselves.

“Let’s face it, amidst the madness of 2020 and the madness of life in general, there are moments when I sit in uncertainty and chaos. In these moments, there is a pervasive and natural tendency to question my skill, my ability, and my belief in myself,” Danielle shared.

She continued, “I will start by saying that I am still a work in progress. But when I face self-doubt, I journal it while doing it beside a soft light and with the scent of Palo Santo to cleanse my space as I write. I write for pages and pages. I dump my often nonsensical thoughts onto paper and as I furiously try to keep up with the pace of my mind, I expose my thoughts and begin to make sense of the stories. This plants a seed that maybe, just maybe, the story I originally told myself has another ending. As the day progresses, the words and memories and moments of journaling surface in my mind and my narrative changes. This process of a mind-shift only works when I create space and time to find and collect my thoughts. Fresh air, breathwork, and some tunes as I walk in the moonlight of the early and late hours of the day help me to find the answers I needed to the questions I didn’t know I had.”

For Danielle, those moments of uncertainty enabled her to grow. “Each time I go to an EO event I take with me the words of Carlos Santoro: ‘What was the ONE BIG THING, the single greatest moment of learning that will stay with you from this EO event?’ Well, some time ago I sat with my EO family under the Leonard French stained glass ceiling of the NGV in the evening (I still have to pinch myself whenever I remember the moment) and I listened to Janine Ellis say, and I loosely quoted, ‘Facing self-doubt and challenge was like taking a subject at University on how to survive a challenge, how to learn about yourself and how to sit in acceptance of the now.’ That was the ONE BIG THING I learned from that night. I have taken that with me in my quest to overcome the moments when I have uncertainty on myself.”

It is a moment of great realisation for Danielle. “Once I make it past the initial reaction of catastrophe, fear and guilt (the list goes on), I write, I breathe, I listen to my thoughts and I study the moments, the feelings and the beliefs. I pass the subject with honours and learn at the very least ONE BIG THING in the university of my life.”

From such realisations blossom swift actions that lead to great successes. “I have introduced the ONE BIG GOAL (OBG) into our business. We collectively set an OBG for each member that stems from a growth point that each of us has encountered in our life. We make it our focus for 3 months and we openly discuss it with the team. It has nurtured personal and professional growth in a way that connects us to our life’s journey in that the OBG is something that we find ourselves, not something that is imposed upon us. It is natural and effortless and the LLL family love it,” she remarked.

What do you do when you experience self-doubt?

If you have experienced it ourself and want to share your story, email us at communications@eomelbourne.org or leave your comment below.

Online training: how to conduct it effectively

To adapt to the present challenges, events like meetings, seminars, conferences and training sessions move from the physical space to online platforms with the use of technology. There are pros and cons to this scenario -- it allows everyone the opportunity to take part of these virtual sessions regardless of location, but poses some limitations on what can be done and cannot be done.

“We conduct our online training by first having our systems and processes documented.”

Anthony Lam

Managing Director, Punchy Digital Media

As one of Australia's leading animated explainer video production agency, Punchy Digital Media has been serving several big names in various industries through their teams across major cities in the country. Training their people is essential in getting the work done successfully.

Documentation and proper systems and processes are essential. Other than that, Anthony cites other points that make online training done effectively in their organization. “We have someone on our team create a flow chart which is colour coordinated and outline a certain workflow. We use a tool called Lucidchart which is very easy to create and edit flow charts and share online. We then create an additional flow chart which outlines every single task this particular person has to do.”

“Finally, we use screen recording tools, such as Loom.com, to talk through a certain process and explain how and why we are doing certain tasks. We record and store these videos for ongoing training. 

I've found this approach to be very visual and easy to follow and gives team members a reference to go back to. As the business owner, I find I am the worst person at documenting anything! Luckily, we have team members who are great at this so I delegate the task out. This is ideally someone who is very process-driven and has great attention to details,” said Anthony.

But how do they keep their training engaging and effective? “We always start with a communication starters/ice breakers,” Anthony shared. He also mentioned these following pointers: 

• Use Lots of screen sharing

• Make it visual and fun by using lots of videos

• Communication is mostly non-verbal so we turn our camera on for that sense of connection

• Ask for permission to record your training sessions, so you can send them a copy of the video

• Keep the sessions short

“What I have learned is to set the guidelines and expectations upfront very clearly.”

Jeni Clift

Professional EOS Implementer and Director/General Manager, DWM Solutions

Jeni is a Professional EOS Implementer and a transformational coach specialising in business, leadership and personal development who give other entrepreneurs the skills and systems for ongoing success. As such, training is part of her routine.

“I normally run full-day sessions of face-to-face training. Of course, in recent months, I have had to learn how to deliver these sessions virtually. As the training is focused on business strategy, planning and review, it can be quite difficult to keep people engaged whilst in the room. The thought of having to do this virtually was daunting, to say the least,” Jeni remarked.

Moreover, shifting towards the online space is not only the only concern Jeni has to deal with when it comes to training people. “I work with leadership teams, so I have everything from highly visionary people, some of whom are very busy and may have very short attention spans, to those wanting to go into all the details and analyse all the data, such as engineers and accountants, to name a few, as well as everything in between. Thus, keeping the sessions interesting for so many different personalities keeps me on my toes.”

Training different kinds of people in various settings have brought so many learnings to Jeni. “What I have learned is to set the guidelines and expectations upfront very clearly.  The camera should be on. Let everyone know that they can stand up if they need to, but to keep the camera on.  All distractions off, such as notifications of emails or messages on Teams or Slack. Phones must be silent, turned off or on flight mode and face down. Watch for distractions and call them out. Ask if we need to take a break so people can take a 5 to 10-minute walk around the house or outside for some fresh air and then get everyone back on track.”

Jeni also cited a few tips to keep the online training sessions more engaging:

• Do some short activities. “I watch closely when people start to flag, then we take a break or have some exercises or activities to get people up and active for a few minutes. Sometimes I let them run around their house on a ‘treasure hunt’. The great thing about entrepreneurs is that they are very competitive? You’d be surprised at what you can get people to bring back to their desk.”

• Ensure attendees have plenty of water. “I always have insulated water bottles to make sure I have a supply of cold water. I advise my participants to have water ready as well.”

• Allow everyone to participate. “I have found with online sessions, it is easy for the noisier people to dominate the sessions, and the quiet ones to either not speak up or they just don’t get heard. Make sure you set an ‘order’ for the participants in the session and as you go through the day, follow the same order and constantly check in with everyone.”

• Ask for feedback from everyone at the end of the session. “I always ask ‘what worked well and what didn’t work’. I am constantly learning from this feedback on how to do things better. You start to understand the different personalities and how to manage the sessions to suit as many people as possible.”

• Make the most of online/virtual training. “I also tend to not make such a big deal of online/virtual training.  I believe it will be our only way of doing things for a while and we are now used to working and training this way. The more of an issue I make it, the more it is an issue -- it is what we have and we will make the most of it.”

• Put the fun in learning. “Make it as fun and interesting as you can. My cat often jumps up on to my desk, so I just introduce him. I was hosting a fireside chat session for our clients and my two dogs came and sat with me. I have met so many animals and babies, sung happy birthday to people’s kids. None of this would have happened without our current online sessions!”

Share your tips

What new insights have you learned from the tips and experiences mentioned above? If you have additional tips to share, feel free to leave your comments below.

The biggest hurdle in the first 3 years of my entrepreneurial journey

The entrepreneurial path is always filled with risks and challenges. It is not a smooth ride but the journey can be rewarding. The most difficult phase is the early stage where birth pains mixed with the lack of experience can make the trials seem insurmountable. But it is also at this point where entrepreneurs can learn a lot and use those lessons as tools towards achieving their goals.

Treating challenges as sources of motivation

“What was the biggest challenge I encountered in the first three years of my business? This has been an interesting question to grapple as I struggled to articulate exactly what a challenge meant to me over this journey of starting the business,” quipped Laiken Kerr Clarke, Director at MediSound, a distributor of medical devices to the Australia and New Zealand market.

“Without sounding cliché, from the outset, every ‘challenge’ almost seemed fun, like a puzzle to solve, which I was confident, if I put into motion a set of moves or combinations, would eventually lead us on the right track. Don’t get me wrong, there were, of course, many obstacles that we had to overcome as all start-ups would have experienced,” she clarified.

As a small player, Laiken cited many hurdles when she was starting her business, “From competitors, which are large multi-nationals with resources we could only dream of at the time, to the difficult task of changing customer’s opinions and beliefs in a slow-moving and conservative medical community. There’s also the challenge of navigating personal financial instability in the early phase of the business, as it was my primary source of income with little profit in the first 12 months.”

But she believes that the internal struggles were the most difficult ones. “Looking back now, I would have to say, with many parts of my life, the biggest challenge lay with me and my mindset of what I believed about myself and, in turn, the business. It was that space between who I believed I was and who I needed to be for the next step that this business demanded from me. I clearly remember the different mental and emotional layers that unfolded along the way.”

“For the longest time, I seemed to resist owning the experience, almost as if I was playing ‘business’ like one would play ‘house’ when I was a child. Friends, colleagues and associates would often ask me what I did for work and without thinking, I would respond with some job title and space I had previously held, not yet integrating the transition from employee to the business owner who makes the decisions. This is one example of the challenges I continue to come up against my mindset, which has also been the biggest catalyst for my growth as well as the growth of the businesses. It is that trust muscle you build within yourself by being able to step into a space of expansion, without fully knowing how just yet,” Laiken shared.

Turning a challenge into an opportunity

It’s an interesting experience for Cesar Aldea, Founder and Director of Aldea Consulting. “Within the first 12 months from launching my business, I received a legal threat from a large corporate that forced me to kill all the momentum gained, where I had to consider shutting down the business. Fighting them back was certainly not an option.”

Acknowledging his limitations, Cesar decided to change course rather than challenging them head on. “Against all legal advice, I decided to follow my gut and approach them personally. Not with a legal letter but with a business proposal. I knew that having them as a client would be a gamechanger,” he stated. And while there was also a risk of getting rejected, Cesar’s boldness, persistence and positivity paid off. “It’s now been over three years since I can call them my best client,” he declared.

Challenges may come with hardships and sufferings, but no obstacle may be too difficult for entrepreneurs who have the determination and relentlessness to move forward to achieve their goals.

What’s the biggest hurdle you had to surpass during the early stage of your business? Share with us your experience by commenting below.

Music Makes Better Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs live busy lives as it is, which are often filled with stress and pressure from various angles. With the challenges that the current crisis brings and the uncertainty that the future beholds, they need more than ever to turn to methods and solutions that can contribute to their mental health. Music is one tool that brings energy to a lethargic mind and respite to a weary soul.

Let’s see how busy entrepreneurs use music as they go through the rigours of their journeys.

“Music has a significant effect on my mood and my emotions.”

– Kym Huynh

WeTeachMe Founder Kym Huynh finds music as an integral part of the human experience. “I use it to lift my mood and comfort, boost general happiness, and reduce anxiety. For me, music is an easy – and powerful – way to transform how I feel and, consequently, how I think.”

Kym, former President at EO Melbourne, also talked about how music has piqued his interest in the human mind.  “I'm particularly curious about how music can influence cognitive function. A tool I use for concentration –  https://brain.fm/ -- creates functional music that is optimised for focus. I find that the frequency of this music shifts me into one of focus and concentration, and the cerebral shift starts from minute 2 onwards.”

“I also listen to 432 Hz frequency music as part of my morning routine that was taught to me by Warren Rustand, called the 10.10.10. Without fail, this frequency of music, combined with the 10.10.10. in my morning routine, prepares me for an exceptional day. As a side benefit, music tuned to 432 Hz is softer and brighter. It is said to provide greater clarity and is easy on the ears,” Kym added.

“Music is good to start your day and end your night.”

– Tui Cordemans

For Tui Cordemans, Director at Koh Living, there is nothing like a hard trance to move your stress levels and get the energy flowing. “As COVID hit, I went back to my 20’s and started running and listening to hardcore trance which stopped any thought patterns and got me ready and pumped for the day.”

She described how she starts her mornings with energy-boosting music. “I have been listening to albums such as trance essential and hard trance anthems. I highly recommend this strategy if you are experiencing any negative thought patterns because the music is so intense and loud that you just have no place for any other thoughts. During stressful times, having an empty mind is potentially the best place to go to have a mental break. In the mornings, it is very easy to start with this music because your mind is not exhausted from the day.”

This is in stark contrast as to how Tui ends her nights, as well as the kind of music she listens to when she caps her day. “On the flip side, when I want to relax at the end of a night, I often enjoy pure silence. I find this extremely relaxing. I became accustomed to this after spending years doing meditation. If I do listen to music at the end of a day, it has to be classical as I find it dissolves my day into pure bliss. Pretty extreme change from my morning music, I know.  My brain is fairly exhausted from the day, so silence or listening to classical music works for me. Something like Swan Lake from Tchaikovsky, The Four Seasons, Vivaldi or even Rigoletto by Pavarotti – all great stress busters!”

“Music has a huge effect on my wellbeing.” 

– John Liston

“I would go as far as to say it’s the single most important thing in my day-to-day life,” said John Liston, Director at Liston Newton Advisory. “I have Spotify on throughout the entire day. I use it for energy and momentum when doing work. I use a good song to celebrate a win during the day or to get my energy back up if it’s been a hard day. I use it when cooking dinner and spending time with the kids to make things more upbeat and fun.”     

Apart from having it at home, music is also part of his work environment. “In the pre-COVID days, we would have a UE Boom in our open-plan office and play music throughout the day. It’s hard to always get everyone to agree on taste, but it’s a great way to generate mood and energy in the office,” John shared.

John’s top three chill songs include: “Give Me Tonight” by Dustin Tebbutt; “Old Pine” by Ben Howard; and “Fading” by Valis Alps.

“Music is core to me as an individual.”

– Dean Cherny

Dean Cherny has been in the music industry for so many years. He is the CEO and Founder of Marketing Melodies and storePlay, as well as Managing Director of DJ Dimension – all of which are related to music. “As you might expect, music plays a massive part in my well-being. It is core to me as an individual and something that compliments almost every part of my life. From training in the morning to hanging out with the kids, I love having a soundtrack to everything I do,” Dean remarked.

He shared an experience he recently had with his family. “Only last weekend, I watched my two daughters grooving and singing along to Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff as we built Lego, and it bought such a smile to my face. These soundtracks also allow me to build a bridge with my kids as I share stories about the artists and my time in the music industry.”

Outside of the home, music still plays an integral part in his entrepreneurial life. “While my company Marketing Melodies primarily focuses on using music to help create ambience in retail spaces, we also realise the importance of using music to stimulate, boost, and motivate the workforce in these environments.”

Dean stated the significance of music in a work environment. “The correct playlists can indeed help boost productivity in shops and offices. More laidback, relaxing music works best for periods of concentration, whilst more upbeat music helps to boost energy levels towards the end of the day.”

And if you’re curious as to what are Dean’s must-listen music, here are his top five ‘chill’ artists and albums:

1. David Gray - White Ladder

2. Massive Attack - Blue Lines

3. Maxwell - Maxwell’s Urban Hand Suite

4. Morcheeba - Big Calm

5. George Benson - Give Me The Night

What is music to you?

Let us know how music has played in your personal and professional journey. Comment below your thoughts or share your favourite songs that have become a significant part of your life.

10 tips in looking after your mental health: Holding on to hope through COVID -19

by Katerina Papamarkou, MAPS

EO Melbourne Resident Psychologist

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 early this year, many of us have experienced a roller coaster of emotions including fear, anxiety, anger, frustration and feelings of sadness and grief. We have watched the constant media coverage and followed the case numbers in Australia and across the globe. For the first few months, we were buoyed as it appeared that Australia had successfully clamped down on COVID-19, and our spirits were lifted as the restrictions began to be relaxed. Unfortunately, this hope was short-lived for Melbournians as a serious outbreak in June quickly spread and we found ourselves back under Stage 3 restrictions. To further control the spread of the virus, tighter Stage 4 restrictions were introduced on the 2nd of August, including a curfew. Victoria’s state-of-emergency declaration has now been extended to Sunday, September 13, in line with the end of the six-week lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the way we live, and the ongoing lockdown has certainly tested the resilience of many of us. As those early days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, many people have reported feeling tired and exhausted; ‘lockdown fatigue’ appears to be setting in. As a consultant psychologist, I am hearing common challenges from people across different workplaces. These challenges include loss of motivation, reduced tolerance, difficulty focusing, lack of work/life balance, loneliness, missing friends and family, ongoing struggles with homeschooling, sleeping difficulties and feelings of grief and sadness at the loss of our ‘old life’.

As individuals, whilst we have no control over the virus and the emergency laws applied, it is critical for our mental health that we exercise choice as to how we respond and remain proactive. Being aware of how we are feeling and knowing how to look after our physical and mental wellbeing is an important part of staying healthy during this challenging time.

Ten helpful tips:

1.       Acknowledgment of Emotions (e.g. Anxiety).  Our feelings are often a natural response to our circumstances. For example, anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It is a feeling of fear, frustration or apprehension. Given the world is amid a global pandemic, anxiety is a natural and common response; one that is being experienced by many other people around the world. If you see anxiety in itself as being ‘bad’, try to deny it, avoid it, ‘get rid’ of it or overreact to it, your anxiety is likely to get worse. It is important to ‘acknowledge’ and ‘accept’ our feelings. By accepting our reality and our feelings, resisting any impulse to act on those feelings and instead focussing our attention on taking action according to a valued direction, we allow ourselves to move forward and live a meaningful life even during a pandemic.

2.       Mind your Thoughts. When we feel stressed, our thoughts can be negative and unhelpful. Thoughts such as “I cannot deal with this” whilst often triggered by stressful situations are not usually helpful.  Remember, your thoughts are not always true. It is important to challenge negative thoughts (e.g. ask ‘what evidence do I have that I can’t cope’?) or simply recognise when thoughts are negative and unhelpful and bring our attention back to the present moment or our goals.

3.       Remember What’s Important & Take Positive Action. Focus your attention on what you value and care about. We will not get this time back in our lives – it can be helpful to ask ourselves how we would like to spend this time in our life (within the restrictions we have)? Set goals and take action according to your values and goals. Practice being mindful of where your attention is and practice bringing your attention back to the present moment, to your goals and what you can do at the moment.  For example, whenever you recognise you are getting stressed, ask yourself, ‘What do I need to do to help manage this situation?’.

4.       Maintain Physical Health. There is a direct relationship between lifestyle factors of exercise, diet/nutrition and sleeping patterns with our overall health and wellbeing. Whilst the restrictions can make it challenging to maintain a physically active lifestyle, it is critical to make time to look after your physical health and routinely exercise (e.g. taking a daily walk or run). It is also very important to maintain healthy eating habits and to prioritise our sleep.

5.       Get Organised and Maintain Routine. Our emotional health is strongly affected by regular routines, which not only help to get us organised but give us a sense of achievement and accomplishment. A good antidote to stress is to get organised and make plans. Set goals with structure and routine for each day.

6.       Stay Connected. A key strategy for maintaining mental wellbeing is to stay connected and engaged with people. Use technology such as Zoom and FaceTime to connect socially with others.

7.       Do Things you Enjoy. Engaging in activities and hobbies which we enjoy is another key strategy for staying mentally healthy. Making a plan to do fun things regularly gives us something to look forward to. For example, many have taken online lessons to learn to play a musical instrument or to learn a new language; others have taken up woodwork or a home building or gardening project; whilst others have regular online social gatherings or they might enjoy watching a television series or have a regular movie night.

8.       Limit Media. Stay informed but limit or avoid unhelpful media or misinformation. The more we hear about it, the more stressed and anxious we can become. Set a daily limit on the time and frequency of consuming information. Give yourself regular breaks and focus on other things.

9.       Maintain Perspective and Hope. When we are stressed it is easy to catastrophise and see things worse than they are. This time can be an opportunity for reflection and to focus on the positives in our lives.  Have confidence that things will improve and hope that things will get back to normal. It is important to reflect on past outbreaks of infectious diseases in history and remember that ‘this too shall pass’. 

10.    Know When to Seek Help. Given we are in a pandemic, it is common for us all to experience a range of emotions (e.g. frustration, anxiety, sadness, stress). It is important to seek professional assistance if our reactions/symptoms are: (i) severe (ii) present for an extended period or happen too often and/or (iii) impacting our lives. 

EO has engaged Ariston Consulting Solutions to provide counselling support to its members during this difficult time. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to make an appointment or have any questions.

Katerina Papamarkou MAPS Psychologist Ariston Consulting Solutions E: katerina@ariston.net.au M: 0438 117 137

EO Melbourne members share their secret recipes for Social Media Success

With billions of people worldwide using the internet and social media for their day-to-day activities, it is no question as to why many companies and brands turn to social networks to engage their customers and target market. The big question is how to do it successfully?

Robert Tadros, CEO of Impressive Digital:

LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram

“Our approach is multi-faceted,” Robert stated. “Generally, we’ll pick a content vertical that we’re focusing on for the month. Then we ensure that our website content, such as pillar pages, subcategory pages and blogs, is up-to-date before we map out the various posts across our channels to support this vertical. This provides social signals for SEO performance.”

The key thing that Robert points out is to have different posts for different social networks. He explains, “We tailor our content in each platform. LinkedIn has previously been geared towards recruitment for us, but we’re now experimenting with curating a marketing industry newsfeed, while Facebook will be geared towards knowledge and results, and Instagram for recruitment and in-the-moment content.”

He also acknowledged that for the majority of platforms, exposure is difficult to achieve without amplification. “We do this if it’s beneficial to our campaigns. Otherwise, we don’t underestimate the value of our team’s personal and professional networks. You’ll frequently see posts shared by Impressive staff, which highlights that our true value as a company is collaboration.”

Hannah Vasicek, Founder and Director of Francesca Collections:

Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram

As a retail brand with mortar-and-brick stores and an online shop, Francesca Collections has to constantly reach out to their current and prospective customers to let them know of latest and available designs as well as updates and other offers. Hannah and her team use social media as one of the tools to communicate and build relationships with their clientele and keep the public informed of their products and services.

She finds that engagement is key to get the audience interested in the brand. “Currently, we plan our posts based on engaging educational content leading onto a 'sell'. We have found that by communicating to our audience by asking them a question like 'which product do you like better' really gets engagement up! Our audience loves being involved and it also provides social proof.,” she expressed.

Hannah cites planning well as an important factor in social media success. It includes coming up with creative content and implementing it with the right timing. “We plan a week ahead of time and schedule all of our posts,” she said.

While they generate content on various social media platforms and grow their audience organically, they also place advertisements on Facebook to boost their reach and visibility, which often help convert readers into buyers. “Facebook ads remain our highest return on investment,” she declared.

Nathan Chan, CEO and Publisher of Foundr:

Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

Creating and generating regular content for its magazine, podcast and website, Foundr has developed and continues to develop a wide audience and astonishing reach through social media. With over 2.4 million followers on Instagram, more than 840,000 followers on Facebook, and 101,000 plus subscribers on YouTube, it seems that Foundr has found the key on how to reach out to more users.

“We plan our social posts by having a social schedule working 4-6 weeks in advance. The method we use is providing quality content on a consistent basis at scale. We promote articles, videos and quotes or infographics. Our method is very effective,” Nathan declared.

For Facebook, they invest in it by putting out ads on this platform. “We spend millions of dollars every year to build the reach of our brand and acquire new customers profitability,” he substantiated.

On the other hand, it is organic audience-building for their Instagram account. “We have one of the largest Instagram accounts in our niche. This allows us to build top of funnel awareness for our brand, as well as provide value, educate our audience with engaging content and sell Foundr products.”

Similarly, their YouTube reach is organic. “What we do is we produce many videos for community to build trust, develop top of funnel awareness and sell Foundr products. We’ve found that video is a very powerful tool to build a relationship with our audience versus other mediums,” Nathan shared.

Tom Caw, Founder and Director of Untitled Group Australia:

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube

Untitled Group is a Melbourne-based collective that produces a variety of unique festivals, tours and events within Australia and abroad. Taking an innovative approach on how they do things, they also make the most of social media in reaching out to their audiences in promoting their events, artists and music.

According to Tom, “Our social media posts are planned around previous posts by reviewing how effective they were. For example, we look out for posts that performed well and then try and replicate that style of content or copy in future posts. If you try a new style of post or content or copy and you notice it is not performing well, it is important to recognise this immediately and adjust your strategy.”

Tom finds this method effective but recognises that other factors can affect the reach and engagement. “These factors can be the time of the day it is posted, day of the week it is posted or something happening in the community that day like a major announcement that will overshadow your post.  Also, do you usually put money on your posts or do you let them go organically? There are a lot of factors that need to be considered when strategising, planning and reviewing your social media posts,” he quipped.

How about you? What social media platforms do you use for your business? Comment below your experience.

Looking to expand and take your business to new territories?

EO Melbourne members share their business expansion experiences and tips.

When treading on unfamiliar environments, you will need all the guides and pointers you can find to steer your business in the right direction. Entrepreneurs from EO Melbourne share their respective journeys along with a few tips on how to expand one’s business to new territories.

AARON SMITH, KX PILATES

Now with his brand present in Australia and Asia, Aaron Smith, Founder of KX Pilates, had to surpass the hardships of starting and growing a business. “I opened KX Pilates in Melbourne in February 2010. With 10 studios under our belt and a team in place to continue the growth in Melbourne, my wife Andi and I decided we would move to Sydney for two years to open and run the first flagship studio in Surry Hills,” Aaron recounted.

They researched on their competitors, studied the demographics of their market, and assessed their studio accessibility. Along with that, they matched as much as they could their Melbourne business. “It was an incredibly hard slog, but after 6-12 months, we saw huge success,” Aaron professed. It also helped that two of their best owners/trainers moved to Sydney with them to take on the other best locations available.

Aaron attributes the success of their expansion to PEOPLE. “The culture of the business also came with us. The brand has seen success in all other major Australian cities with the assistance of our Melbourne or Sydney-based trainers, moving to those places long-term.” On the international front, the same happened as they opened in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018 with an incredible business partner, which they hope to replicate in China at the end of the year.

Aaron’s tips to those expanding to a new environtment are:

• Do your research and grow in one place properly first. So many businesses just 'assume' that because their business has worked in one city/state or even country, it will work everywhere. This couldn't be further from the truth. Test out the market first, do you research on similar competitors in your space and start lean and build from there. 

• Drop the ego. Yes, it's great to say you are now in multiple cities, states or countries. But if you can continue to focus and grow your business in one place first, then do it. Fewer businesses in more locations is a recipe for disaster if you are not prepared. Higher expenses with travel and being farther away to manage your team will make running your day-to-day business tougher. Business is hard enough, so why make it harder if you don't have to?

• Find the right people with the right brand fit and local cultural experience. You need to be able to trust them that they will do right by you and the brand. Our strategy is not just about putting dots on the map. It's about opening in a new country with the right person who will grow your brand in that place the way you want it to be done. 

DION CASTLE, STRUBER

Expanding in various states of Australia is doable, although it’s not a walk in the park as Struber CEO Dion Castle explains how they enter new territories. “We've gone into three states and then doing the fourth and the fifth state at the moment. Each state is on a different level of a journey.”

Working primarily with governments and large enterprises, Dion admits that there’s a lot of high barriers to entry. Recognising this reality, they use data to understand the market and time their entry effectively. Once they have looked into the data, they conduct in-depth stakeholder analysis and assess what is required of them, particularly in terms of skills and talent. At the same time, they think of the branding and marketing elements needed in their work, as well as do lead generation and build their databases. Also, they focus on providing value to the industry, looking after the long-term interests of their clients.

“That's the early stages,” Dion remarked. “Once you're able to move through that, the next phase is about maintaining relevancy to your customers in the new markets. It’s continuing the same level of energy when you entered the market and sustaining that over time, showing that you are an active participant in the geographic region and finding ways to continue to support the agenda of the enterprise or the government and the community at large. Also, you continue to expand the talent locally step-by-step, ensuring that you've got the right team members to be custodians of what your company stands for. These are people who can continue the founder-led philosophies that made your company great in the first instance and continue on that legacy further afield.” 

Going through all these activities in expanding his business, Dion shares some of the key learnings that he gathered from his journey. These are his guiding thoughts on expansion or entering into new markets, which requires people to do their homework, do their research upfront and make sure that they have the right pieces to support that:

• ‘Go slow to go fast’ and ‘ measure twice to cut once’. Doing data analysis and looking at your timing and your activity, try not to make rash decisions, particularly around talent that join your organization. Talent needs to join for the right reasons and at the right time and any rash decisions on talent will inevitably lead to churn and turnover. In our game, we need to make sure that the talent matches or is above and beyond the expectations of our customer base. Finding the right talent can take time, and you have to be okay with the fact that it takes time.

• Note that investing in your geography will cost you two to three times more than what you planned or anticipated for it to cost. Even with your best projections, it will cost two to three times more and will take two to three times longer to do it right. If you think you can get away with it at a cheap budgetary expenditure level, it will still cost you a lot more because you'll have to pay for the learnings through the journey. And there's a lot of learnings that you will undergo during an expansion.

• Make sure that you have an incredible supportive leadership and start to build that early. You need to try and identify as early as you can who will be the custodians in your new location to be able to carry the legacy forward. Leadership is something that takes the longest amount to build. However, you can purchase leadership but you can't purchase loyalty. You have to work to build loyalty over some time.

• While you're going through this journey, you need to measure to get better. You need to constantly measure your performance against your objectives of entering the new state or region. It includes tracking your performance in the short intervals using reports and data that you collect to be able to show patterns and behaviours on how you're performing in your expansion efforts.

• Don't be afraid to turn on and invest more or wind down a region based on the information that you get. Such information can be gathered not only from internal sources but also external sources in the economy, such as changes within the macroeconomic context. From there, you can adjust your strategy accordingly. At the very worst, have an exit plan. But in the markets that we operate in, it's a calculated investment, so an exit is only a very last resort, but would likely come back with a return mission in the future.

JOHN BEVITT, HONEYCOMB

Honeycomb, an innovative market research and customer insights agency, have consultants in Melbourne & Sydney, servicing clients Australia-wide. John Bevitt, Managing Director of Honeycomb, has a few tips for businesses that are considering to add a new product in their offer or to expand to new territory, whether it’s a geographical market or another industry:

• Get to know your potential customer and make sure you’re solving genuine problems. Many times, a client has come to us with a product or service they are developing on the hunt for a potential customer or market to buy it.  The most innovative products and services are those solving genuine problems. A lot of the research that we do helps businesses identify and develop these solutions by understanding the customer journey and their mindset, attitudes and pain points experienced throughout it. Start by talking to a few of your potential customers and identify patterns. From there, do a short survey with a larger group of prospects to validate these patterns and ensure they’re representative of the broader market.

• Communicate clearly and stop trying to sound fancier than you are. We have found that we get the strongest response and greatest uptake when we demystify what we do for clients. By focusing on the outcomes and benefits of the service we provide, clients are given certainty around what needs to be done and why, as well as confidence in their ability to explain this to stakeholders. The temptation that commonly occurs is to package up a solution and put a fancy name on it with limited context behind how it works or what value it provides. While this can generate intrigue, it also creates a lot of resistance as clients find it difficult to understand or explain to their stakeholders.

• For B2B Businesses, make sure you’re also delivering value to the human aspect, not just to the ‘client’ or business. When asked who my clients are, I usually respond, ‘Brand X’ and ‘Brand Y’, not Joe from Marketing or Monica from Product. As such, it can become a bad habit instead of adding value to the businesses you work with and the people in them. During COVID-19, a lot of our clients were fearful or uncertain. To help them, we brought them together and hosted virtual forums to share their experiences, strengthen their networks in the industry and validate what they were doing against each other. The sole agenda was to give the people we work with an ounce of certainty and confidence about the future and how to plan for it.  

Taking into account these entrepreneurs’ experience and learnings in their expansion journey, they can be your compass and guidebook for business growth as you embark on what you may consider as your uncharted territories. It is better to equip yourself as you take your first step on unfamiliar environments rather than take the plunge without much preparation.

If you have an expansion experience or story to share, send us a message at communications@eomelbourne.org or drop us a note at the comments section below.

Can changing your morning routine make you a better entrepreneur? Here are some real-life experience shares.

Morning routines can set the stage at how the day will unfold. Over the years our EO Melbourne chapter had the opportunity to learn in first person about the routines that successful business icons such as Warren Rustand use to start their day. Many of them claimed to be critical for their success.

Some say that you start your day right by taking care of your mind and body and doing something that will increase your productivity and boost your energy. Experts claim that having a rhythm as soon as you wake up in the morning may be beneficial to your physical and mental health.

Even for busy people like CEOs and business owners, an effective morning routine help them get through the rigours of work and other responsibilities. Highly successful people often attribute their good performance to their positive morning habits that enable them to start their day strong. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some morning routine changes our EO entrepreneurs made to get them going through the day, given their demanding schedules and tremendous workloads.

(Left to right) Salt & Fuessel Director Gabriel Esseesse, Torii Consulting Director Joe Woodham, Work Healthy Australia Managing Director and Founder James Murray, and Banjo Executive Director & Co-founder Andrew Colliver share the morning routines that work effectively for them, helping them face their day and tackle the things ahead of them with energy and focus.

Salt & Fuessel Director Gabriel Esseesse narrates the shift he did in his morning habit. Looking back at his old morning routine, it was rolling out of the bed after hitting the snooze button at least thrice, checking his emails, getting already annoyed by them, grabbing whatever breakfast he could find from the pantry, getting the kids ready for school or childcare and dropping them off.

“As you can imagine, my mood was already set for the day. A few years ago, I had to change that. Then my evenings finished quite earlier than the usual and I stopped eating sugar. Now, I can get up from bed without being torture. I also wake up earlier, and straight after brushing my teeth, I do weight exercise at home for 30 to 40 minutes. After completing that, I would have my oats or smoothie or toast and get ready to kick off the day,” Gabriel narrates. Starting his mornings like this, he regards it as already a win in his day.

Another thing he altered in his morning routine is cancelling out any news or radio. Rather, he would get to work listening to an audiobook or calling someone. Gabriel acknowledges that he may not be able to control everything that happens throughout the day, but he can at least control certain things like his morning routine, which allows him to have more energy to tackle all the things in front of him.

In the case of Joe Woodham, Director of Torii Consulting, he had many iterations to his morning procedure over the years. “I didn't just wake up one day and decide this is what I will do; I spent time adding to my routine and working out what worked for me until I had something I could stick to,” he revealed.

Joe admits that finding extra time in the day has always been a challenge for him. With a growing family and business, it seems that things only get tougher as they go by. “Over the last few years, I have found the only way for me to focus on myself with uninterrupted time truly is to swap later nights for earlier mornings,” he declares.

In the process of pinning down the right routine that worked for him, Joe read countless books and articles and attended events of successful entrepreneurs who had found ways to get the right balance between self, business and family. “In a lot of cases, it came back to having a successful morning routine,” Joe realised.

His current routine is waking up at 5:45 am, then going to the gym for 45 minutes, followed by a 20-minute meditation and 10-minute journaling. According to Joe, “Even under the current COVID restrictions, I have tried to keep my routine unchanged as I notice the difference when I don't. However, when I find that working out in my lounge room isn't so much fun I will swap out some days for studying, such as learning Japanese.”

Similarly, the morning custom of James Murray, Managing Director and Founder of Work Healthy Australia, has changed a lot for the last two years. “For me, the morning is the time that I have that’s just for me because with work and family, anything after 8 o'clock, I don't have control over that time. So, I get up a lot earlier than I used to. Now, I wake up before 6:00 am and then do the things that get myself ready for the day,” he explained.

The first thing James does is to meditate for 20 minutes. “By meditating in the morning, it allows me to learn a lot more about myself emotionally and know what my emotional triggers are. It’s very, very helpful just to keep me calm,” James stated.

After that, he does his exercise, which includes cardiovascular activities like doing 10 kilometres on the rowing machine, along with 10 minutes of yoga and some weightlifting. He pointed out, “When you exercise in the morning, you have to consider your strength, flexibility, mobility, balance and coordination.” He also uses a lung training device, called airofit, which he finds a good addition to his morning routine. Before, he would just do one thing, such as go for a walk, for example, or only lift weights. “What would happen was I would find myself into a rut. By building a stronger routine, I'm able to be more holistic in the way that I approach my mornings,” he explained.

Other things that James follow during the morning is avoiding his phone while working out. He also feeds the dogs, which he loves doing. “I also do my lemon juice in hot water and I drink a litre of water in the morning because sometimes during the day, I'm not so great at drinking a lot of water. I've had to add all these things in over the years,” he quipped. With his present morning routine, James finds it effective as it allows him to focus on work, increasing his concentration and energy levels.

For quite some time, Banjo Executive Director & Co-founder Andrew Colliver has been following Dutch athlete Wim Hof, a.k.a. “The Iceman”, who has 21 Guinness World Records, including climbing Mt. Everest in short pants and swimming under the ice for 66 metres. Inspired by Wim’s method of exercising and prompted by the lack of energy in the mornings, Andrew decided to change his morning routine at the beginning of 2020 by incorporating cold therapy and breathing.

“Every morning at 7:45 am, a small group of friends enter my pool for 10 minutes of cold water immersion. The temperature is 11 degrees, and we follow the immersion with an outdoor cold shower. In 2020, I have had three warm showers, and we have not missed a morning,” shared Andrew.

The results are magnificent as the benefits have been extremely noticeable for him, giving him clarity of mind and energy throughout the day. For Andrew, “It is a mood booster, and I sleep so well. It has helped my business by facilitating heightened energy and positiveness as well as building a higher resilience level. Every morning, my mind tells me the research is flawed and it is crazy to jump in a cold pool on 2-degree mornings. I love the challenge of overcoming the thought patterns and executing them. I also love the challenge of overcoming the pain and stress of the cold water immersion though ‘acceptance’. It soon becomes a very pleasant and rewarding experience, which is counter-intuitive.”

It pays to try various things and come up with a morning routine that works best for your mind and body. The important thing is that the first thing you do during the day will help you build strength and vitality, as well as develop discipline and focus, which can lead to a productive day at work. With such effective routines, you will find more energy to power you up towards your goals and closer to achieving success in life and business.

Have a morning routine story to share? Please do so by sending us your story at communications@eomelbourne.org or via the comments section below.

Leadership in the Time of Crisis

EO Melbourne Navigating Now and Preparing for Post-COVID-19

"We've aged a generation in the past three weeks. What matters has sharply come into focus. Family matters. Love matters. Kindness matters. Health matters. Generosity matters. People matter. Community matters. The rest is just noise.

Aside from physical distancing, the biggest thing you can do right now is to choose to see the best in each other. Be kind. Be patient. Be tolerant.

Be quick to help out in any way that you can. Be forgiving when you would otherwise be upset. See things through the eyes of others and try to understand where they are coming from.

Seek out opportunities for generosity. Reconnect with your community. Reconnect with yourself. Reconnect with your priorities. Live them."

- Anonymous

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought governments, businesses, and communities to a standstill, affecting lives all over the world and across all levels of society. Entrepreneurs are not spared from the adverse effects of this pandemic. EO Melbourne’s President Kym Huynh shares how the crisis has impacted the lives of entrepreneurs in Melbourne and how he, and his Board, tackled the situation head-on to both help those affected navigate through the challenges and prepare for a world post-crisis.

“What differentiates COVID-19 from other world crisis such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008 and September 11 of 2001 is that no one knows what the end date of this pandemic is. Consequently, we cannot accurately plan for the future when we do not know when the endpoint for the current crisis is,” Kym states.

“During uncertainty, people seek answers, people seek leadership, and people seek direction. And when you throw a global pandemic on top, you have an environment where emotional states are heightened, and people become prone to acting emotionally rather than rationally. When I consider this in the context of leadership, it is important to augment how we typically lead with such speed in decision-making and an increase in our communications cadence,” he continues.

When faced with a challenge or difficulty, Kym’s normal process is to:

1.       Step back

2.       Choose not to immediately react

3.       Assess the environment and situation

4.       Gather multiple credible data points

5.       Stategize

6.       React from a place of stillness

Leading the team

Entrepreneurs, by definition, are leaders. The people employed, the family members and the communities that entrepreneurs touch all look to them for cues on how to react and respond. “If you’re going to be in a position where you are seen by others as that of being a leader, you might as well be a good one,” Kym reflects. “One thing I have learned from leadership during COVID-19 is that I don't always need to have the answers,” Kym quips, “but rather that I need to be present, constant and visible so that I create that environment and space of safety and stability”. In that, he makes sure he is a constant so that he can provide stability to his Board, EO, his family and his community.

He enumerated the immediate things he did to mitigate the complexities of the situation:

1.       Make sure everyone is calm and collected

“The topmost priority for me was to manage the emotional state of the collective, and dive deeper 1-on-1 with individuals where needed,” Kym states. He believes that making sure everyone, particularly the Board and the team, is in a still, calm and collected state-of-mind is very important. For the Board and the team to lead, they need to be able to make good decisions. To make good decisions, they need to be in a good emotional state. Therefore, he made it a priority to make sure that every single person around him was good with themselves so that they could effectively look after the Chapter.

2.       Create an atmosphere of safety and stability

He made sure he was highly visible, and accessible by opening his normal lines of communication more so that people can come to him for that feeling of safety and stability. “In my experience, sometimes the little things you do can mean the world to others, and COVID-19 amplifies this experience. Whether it be a phone message, an email, a phone call or a video call, I have found that these simple actions reassure people that I—and my Board--are present and that we are thinking about the situation. These simple actions are important because people are looking for stability in a time where there's so much instability,” says Kym.

3.       Create concise, focused and impactful messages

Once everyone is calm and feels safe, he and his Board were quick to communicate to the Chapter that they’re there for the members, doing everything they can to support the members with messaging that can be comprehended easily, leaving no room for ambiguity. “It is important that any messaging is easy-to-understand, and leaves no gaps because if we communicate with gaps, others will fill in the gaps for us, and they will fill it in incorrectly. Even more during a crisis, it is imperative that the messaging is concise, focused and impactful,” Kym states. “It was important for myself and my Board that we communicate a message of unity, solidarity, and that together we are stronger,” he adds.

Plan of action

Words of assurance and encouragement must be accompanied with a specific, timely and measurable plan of action. Kym convened his Board to exchange experiences and insights and review the collective feedback and sentiment from the community. These are the action points they came up with during their fruitful Board meeting and in the succeeding discussions:

1.       Appointment of a Resident Psychologist

Knowing that people are hurting and many businesses have been severely impacted, the Board made it a priority to support those who were in need. To show that they’re there for the members, the Board decided on the appointment of a resident psychologist that is entirely funded and supported by the Chapter. That is, any Member of the Chapter, if they need to, can call and directly reach the resident psychologist for a confidential conversation.

2.       Member-to-Member support

Members of the Chapter are paired up with one another, wherein they can reach out and stay connected. It provides members with an avenue to pick up the phone, call another member, check on that person and let the conversation flow. “It is crucial that we lean into, and invest in, our relationships with one another during times of crises,” Kym shares.

3.       Board-to-Member reach-out

The Board recognises that there are a handful of members who have contracted and remained quiet while fighting their fires. These members were identified and assigned to Board Members. Kym speaks from experience, “When I'm in a crisis, I tend to feel like I don't want to burden and bother others with my issues. It is a difficult compulsion to fight, despite cognitively knowing how much better off I will be if I share openly with others and being vulnerable. The lesson here is to not wait for people to ask for help, but to be proactive, pick up the phone, and reach out. Our small acts of kindness and compassion can mean the world to another.”

4.       Supporting members through the current crisis, and preparing members for the world post-crisis via condensed learning events

The Chapter launched a 12-week webinar series consisting of members sharing stories, learnings, experiences and expertise with other members. According to Kym, “These learning events create solidarity, reinforce the community, and create safety. Knowing this, we moved fast to create these events, source our speakers and add resources to promote them to our members.”

From the board meeting, webinar topics were discussed, wherein the first half of the series is focused on navigating the current crisis while the other half is to help prepare members for what happens post-crisis. Topics were determined based on the issues that the Board Members were experiencing themselves and those that they heard from other entrepreneurs and business owners.

5.       “No member will be left behind”

EO Melbourne adopted the motto, “No member will be left behind.” The message was communicated quickly and repetitively. It was short, concise, focused, and left no room for misinterpretation. The Board also ensured that the substance of the message could be supported by ensuring that the Global Support Package and Local Support Package combined to create a substantial assistance package.

“We are mindful that there are members whose entire businesses and livelihoods have been severely impacted, and that they're in a very stressful and overwhelming situation. We accounted for this type of scenario. So, we wanted to make sure that if any member wishes to continue to engage with EO next year, we will find a way to make it happen,” asserts Kym.

Moving forward

Although the future seems uncertain, Kym accentuates that the EO Melbourne Chapter must move forward stronger, better and wiser, highlighting that we are stronger together. He illustrates this by sharing the idea of a stick, wherein if it remains alone, can easily break. But if bundled together with other sticks, it becomes significantly more difficult to break.

For Kym, “We must move forward stronger. We must be more connected with one another, and with that connection will come solidarity. We will move forward better, wherein we will be kinder to ourselves, each other, our families, our friends, our teams, and our communities. We will move forward wiser when we can carry the lessons we've learned during this crisis into the future. After all, like it or not, the crisis has happened, so it is incumbent on ourselves that we do what we can, to make the best out of the crisis.”

“Times of crisis creates opportunities for great leaders to emerge. It is leadership not only in our businesses but also in leadership with ourselves, our families and our communities. I hope that every single person reading this finds it within themselves to stand tall and proud, and to step up to becoming a great leader, one that serves others, leads with compassion and lifts those around them. We started the year with the theme, ‘our best year yet,’ and with our leadership, not only can this be the best year yet for ourselves, our businesses, families and communities, but also the EO Melbourne Chapter,” Kym imparts.

Successful entrepreneurs who failed in business before making it big

We see their faces and names on magazine covers, TV documentaries, business news, and in some important events past or present. They have gained fame through the success of their companies and brands, but these entrepreneurs had tried their hand on business and, at one point, didn’t work like a Midas touch.

It goes to show that even when worst things happen in your entrepreneurial journey, it can never stop you from achieving your goals, as long as you keep moving forward with determination and persistence. These entrepreneurs embraced failures as stepping stones towards their ultimate goal, which made them attain the success they now have. Their stories are sources of inspiration, especially those who are going through the challenges, difficulties and frustrations of starting and sustaining a business.

Richard Branson

Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson is soaring high with the success of his companies like Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Games, Virgin Holidays and so much more. Yet, he also had ventures that hit a dead end. He has openly talked about these experiences and shared what he learned from them. At a very young age, Branson already exhibited an entrepreneurial mind. While still in school, he tried breeding budgerigars and growing Christmas trees and selling them. The birds took off, but not his venture. He then opened Student magazine. While it wasn’t successful, it paved the way for Virgin Records. He also made mistakes along the way, which led to companies like Virgin Cars, Virgin Brides and Virgin Cola to shut down. That didn’t deter him from growing his existing businesses and starting new ones. And look where he is right now.

Colonel Sanders

His face is right there at the Kentucky Fried Chicken logo, but Harland David Sanders, who later earned an honorary title of “colonel”, took a long time before he began his entrepreneurial journey. He first worked on several jobs in his 20s and 30s before he opened a service station when he was about 40 years old. While running his service station, he also served food to customers enabling him to open a café and later acquire a motel. But they were not without challenges. Feisty competition, a fire incident, route changes, the Great Depression and World War II were some of the adversities he had to face that led to the closure of his businesses. He went on to do other jobs until he franchised his chicken recipe to restaurant owner Pete Harman and other restaurant owners. That’s how KFC was born.

Milton Hershey

Hershey’s name is synonymous to sweet success. But it was after a few failed businesses that Hershey finally hit the gold mine in the candy industry. He first opened a candy shop in Philadelphia before he built some ventures in Chicago and New York. All of them closed later on. However, it was when he started the Lancaster Caramel Company that he made progress on his entrepreneurial journey. Eventually, he sold the Lancaster Caramel Company and established the Hershey Chocolate Company.

Christina Wallace

An Entrepreneur In Residence at Harvard Business School, Christina Wallace can talk about failures and overcoming them because she, herself, had her fair share of experiences when it comes to facing complexities in business and making difficult decisions to surmount such challenges. She co-founded the fashion company Quincy Apparel, opened Startup Institute New York as its founding director, and established BridgeUp: STEM, an educational tech startup at the American Museum of Natural History. With the failure of her first company, she spent weeks in bed watching TV to weep for her loss before she mustered the courage to move ahead and face the world. Now, she is the Vice President of Growth at growth advisory firm Bionic. She also authors several books, co-hosts a podcast and speaks about entrepreneurship, failure and women in technology.

Evan Williams

Blogger, Medium and Twitter are hits attached to his name, but Evan Williams also had some misses with Odeo and Pyra Labs. The silver lining was that Twitter and Blogger were side projects of these failed ventures, offshoots that became huge successes even when the companies folded. Blogger was eventually acquired by Google and Williams recently stepped down from Twitter’s board to focus on Medium, but his works continue to grow and bring more successes.

Kathryn Minshew

After spending sleepless nights and working weekends establishing and building PYP Media with three other co-founders, Kathryn Minshew lost everything, including her life savings, due to disagreements with the other founders. Out of that major bump in her entrepreneurial journey, which caused too much pain on her, Minshew and her co-founder Alexandra Cavoulacos went on to start The Muse, a career development platform and now have been helping people on their careers.

Ruth Fertel

With a need to earn more to finance her sons’ college education, Ruth Fertel acquired a restaurant for sale that she found on a newspaper ad. Despite not having any experience in running an eatery, Ruth went on to mortgage her house to purchase Chris’ Steak House in New Orleans. But Hurricane Betsy caused damage and power outages in her place, which prompted Fertel to cook and serve her perishable products to the community. Then, the steakhouse caught fire. As she had to transfer to a new location, she couldn’t keep the original name of the restaurant, so she added her name before it, making it Ruth’s Christ Steak House. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Mark Cuban

He may be considered a maverick in the entrepreneurial field, but Mark Cuban had to endure several failures in business, from selling garbage bags and powdered milk to setting up a bar, before he started tasting the sweet flavour of success. Still, there were hiccups along the way, yet those difficulties helped shape Cuban to become a lucrative businessman who owns NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, AXS TV, Magnolia Pictures, Three Commas, Dropbox, and several other companies.

Natalie Ellis

Natalie Elizabeth Ellis is the one part of the duo behind BossBabe, an online movement of women for women. But before she co-founded her BossBabe company with Dr Danielle Canty, Ellis was already on her entrepreneurial journey at a young age, selling candy floss and later on starting her digital marketing consultancy and a company selling detox superfood supplements. But this young serial entrepreneur also had her string of frustrations. In one of her earlier ventures, she experienced some disparities in a business partnership that led to its dissolution, which has caused her so much stress but also taught her valuable lessons. She realised that she went through that route because she wasn’t confident enough to do it all by herself. That led her to believe in herself more, making her what a BossBabe truly is.

Rowland Hussey Macy, Sr.

Named after its founder, Rowland Hussey Macy, Macy’s is one of the biggest and most popular retail stores in the US. At 22, Macy opened a needle-and-thread store in Boston which later closed shop. Two years after, he built a dry goods store and suffered almost the same fate as his first venture. Undaunted, he went on and partnered with his brother to open another dry goods store. The success was not astounding and only short-lived. Macy left and headed to New York City where he opened his own dry goods store -- R.H. Macy & Co. And that’s how Macy’s started and continued its rise, which would have not been possible if not for the persistence of its founder.

Countless more business owners have dealt with failures during their entrepreneurial journey. You’ll hear some of them from EO Members themselves. Still, they kept going and many of them have made breakthroughs and reached milestones in their businesses and careers. It goes to show that when you are determined and persistent about attaining your vision and you put your heart and mind into it, the possibilities can be limitless. Failures are inevitable, but if you embrace them and use them as tools for your journey, you will eventually reach the peak of success.

Marcus Lethlean on the business of serving

With several businesses under his belt, one would think that Marcus Lethlean, owner of Mediport, GoodBarTrade, 4Degrees Celcius, A2b Solutions and OneSevenOne, has already mastered the entrepreneurial journey. Still, he sees himself having the need to acquire better skills to take his businesses further and serve better the people that benefit from his services. At the same time, he shares the learnings he gathered during his years of establishing and managing his ventures.

When faced with the question of why he started his businesses, Marcus admits that he couldn’t see himself in the corporate setting. Marcus likes to start something from scratch as it gives him the freedom to create, set his own directions and strategize his next steps. He explains, “I have worked inside the corporate environment and there are some aspects of the hierarchical chain that can blunt people of their creativity.  At other times, the system can teach people not to go out on a limb. And yet, every entrepreneur that I know went out on a limb, particularly founders. You don't even think of the risk because you just feel like it's going to work.”

It wasn’t always a smooth-sailing journey, however. Before he began his first business and went on to build more, Marcus had several attempts on building a business, all of which faded away. His first was when he was 13 years old doing door-to-door sales and went on to venture on several other business endeavours as he went along. He persisted despite the disappointments he encountered when those attempts didn’t fully prosper, which brought him to some of the low periods of his life.

Instead of leaving the entrepreneurial journey, he studied law and then started working at nights again until he found himself back to the path he always wanted to take. “The biggest lesson I have learnt is to follow the feeling. If an idea makes you feel excited then turn it inside out. That little buzz is a real call to action because it means you've got to find the next stepping stone that edifies the original feeling,” he remarked. And in that journey, he found the beautiful loop of thoughts-action-effort-outcome where he gets the feeling of accomplishment as an entrepreneur whenever he reaches his goals.

As to the challenges that he had to hurdle in starting and sustaining a business, he pointed out the lack of knowledge, lack of resources as he self-funds his ventures, and getting the right people on board his entrepreneurial bus. These same challenges also brought lessons to his continuous journey that he is now able to share with others who are also going through similar experiences.

The essence of a good business is simple

“Good businesses are identified where someone has a need and the other person can satisfy that need. And both parties want each other to stay inside the relationship, so they treat each other fairly. They price the product and the service accordingly,” Marcus expounds.

In all his businesses, Marcus ensures that they provide very good quality service to their clients, most of which are service-oriented businesses as well. They also use proprietary applications, software and systems that allow them to monitor and uphold the highest standards of service. For Mediport, where they provide logistical support in transporting vaccines and pharmaceutical products, there is the potential in this business to save lives through timely deliveries and the protection of the products through good process.

Say “yes” and back it up with action

“Say yes and then have an action that you have to follow through,” Marcus declared. “That's one tool that I used. Say yes and then figure out how,” he reiterated. He shared that he always find ways to make sure that the customers get what they need from him. Even when there are bumps, he’ll look for alternatives to guarantee the promise they make to their clients.

Widen your knowledge

Experience has taught Marcus how to handle adversities and it honed him to become a better entrepreneur. He also credits his late father, who had been his confidant and supporter. Still, he keeps on adding to his knowledge by reading books that can sharpen his thoughts and perceptions of doing business well with others. These are the four books Marcus mentioned that have contributed to his growth as a business owner.

1. Johnathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach – a gift from his dad when he was 12 years old where he found many important insights.

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo – “He teaches you to follow your dreams and never turn your back on opportunities as you cannot be sure they will still be there when you turn around again,” according to Marcus.

3. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason – “It's an incredibly powerful book about a slave that had an amazing work ethic. The richest merchant in Babylon bought the slave’s freedom and taught him the 10 rules for wealth so he too could become the wealthiest trader in Babylon.”

4. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – “It’s a really good book because it allows you to tap into the mindset of the people who have been very successful.”

Manage and train people

Despite several businesses to oversee and with a huge scope of operations, Marcus is able to do it because of the people who work with him. There were staff challenges that he didn’t see coming, but he was able to tap on the skills and passion of those in his team to help him bring his businesses forward. He stressed the need to make certain that people feel they are part of the team. “If people have it in their minds that the workplace is a ‘them and us’ it doesn't work,” he stated. “It’s a delicate balance every day to manage people and make sure that you are all on the same page and getting the best from each other.”

A service-based model that people respect

Marcus highlighted the difference between humble service and servitude. He elucidated, “Setting up the relationship for service means you have the opportunity to let people know how well you are wanting to help them.  I think that is most important to identify their needs and highlight that understanding to the person for whom the service is being supplied.”

“If people think that they are in a relationship where one party is taking advantage or in a relationship typified by servitude, it will dull their enthusiasm to provide outstanding service and, ultimately, it might fall apart.”

He also added that it takes two good ears to be able to serve others better. “Whether it's listening to your market or to a new person in your business or to people who know more than you, you've got to be able to listen,” he added. Such a service-based model enables entrepreneurs to become part of a solution. It leaves no lingering feeling other than goodwill.

Taking the wheels and bringing it further

Marcus is the kind of business owner who is not afraid to take the wheels, literally and figuratively, and drive his businesses towards his goals. When he’s down on people, he would get in and drive to fulfil his client’s needs. He acknowledged that he still has a long way to go to expand his ventures internationally, which is why he joined EO Melbourne to add more learnings that can equip him to become a better entrepreneur. “I've never had a business mentor. As such, I think the structure of the learnings that occur with EO can fulfil that mentoring role incredibly well,” he said.

He has started thinking of better skills to acquire in a managerial sense, a marketing sense, and strategizing sense. And with a young family – a three-year-old and a year-and-a-half-old – he hopes to see his kids grow up to become fine men. It’s something Marcus looks forward to in the future, including a better version of himself and several thriving businesses that will continue to serve those who are in need of their services.

Nyree Hibberd: bringing meaning and beauty through her business

Gift-giving is part of our way of life from days old. People give gifts for every occasion, especially this time of the year when the holiday season is fast approaching. But selecting an item as a present is not as easy as grabbing anything available on the shelf or adding the first product you see online to your virtual shopping cart. It helps when you can find something that has meaning to people and society and give it to those who mean most to you. That is the core of Koh Living, the business that Nyree Hibberd and her business partner put up several years ago.

The conception of Koh Living was unexpected. Before she began with this venture, Nyree had an IT business for about eight years, while her business partner was in recruitment. “My best friend and I were travelling through Asia, and we were in Bangkok at an Israeli cafe having lunch. A lady on the next table asked to join us. She travelled the world buying products for her store in Queensland. My best friend and I just looked at each other and thought, ‘Well, that sounds fantastic. Why don’t we do that? Let's do it. Let's just stop doing what we're doing and start something that will just be fun and get going.’ So, that was probably the turning point for deciding to get off the path that I was on, which was business, but it was IT and completely different compared to gifts,” Nyree narrated.

Different topics, same themes

While there are differences in the types of business Nyree had previously and the one at present, which is Koh Living, she found that there are also parallelisms. Managing people, administering operations and staying on top of the financials, especially the cash flow, are some of the similarities she found between the two businesses.

The challenge she encountered was in retail. Nyree had never sold anything all her life. She had to get her hands dirty and do things by herself. She found herself selling candles in the markets, something she never did before. Creating products, overseeing stocks and dealing with artists, suppliers, and contractors were the areas where she needed to adjust. There were things that she needed to learn and some lessons came the hard way.

Learnings and tools

Through her experience in her IT business and now Koh Living, Nyree has come to learn a few important things in running a venture: define your roles with your business partner; foster an environment of challenge; watch the numbers because they tell you exactly how healthy your business is or when you're going to have trouble; and lastly, get the legal side of things in order.

During the first five years of Koh Living, Nyree and her business partner were just having fun. It was at the next five years of the company when they started to take it more seriously and looked at educating themselves and trying some tools that can help. “As we got to that 10-year mark, the first two books that we came across that were really useful were Jim Collins’ Good to Great and Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up. So, we started dabbling with the flywheel and the quarter sheets,” Nyree stated.

Having an end product that they need to constantly track, they use a software tool, Unleashed, to manage inventory. Then, they export the numbers to Excel to analyse their data. “I would say that in every industry, there will be a tool that feeds you back that data or about the health of your business and the core thing that you sell,” she added.

Her desire to upskill and bring more to her business led her to join EO Melbourne. She was through Verne Harnish’s website and found that he had coaches. That made her contemplate of doing focused one-on-one training instead of attending conferences. She and her business partner got a coach and it was during one of the sessions that EO was mentioned. Seeing that EO is composed of people with businesses, experiencing similar issues as they were, Nyree decided to join the group.

Products with meaning and beauty

To set Koh Living apart from other brands selling similar product lines, Nyree and her business partner decided to produce gifts with meaning. “People are becoming more and more conscious of connecting with other people. We live in a more connected but disconnected world. A lot of it is becoming about the experience. So, if you're going to give a gift, people want it to mean something. We want it to not just mean something to them personally but also to think about how it's being produced, where it's being produced, and if some of the money is going to a bigger cause than ourselves. What we do with our stories is we link them back to have some meaning not just to the gift recipient but to society, as a whole,” she explained.

To give meaning to their merchandise, they link the consumers with their artists, providing a platform where the customers can know the story behind the artworks. They have indigenous designs, Australiana themes, Wildflowers range and other motifs by their Aboriginal artists. Apart from meaning, they also make sure that their products exude beauty. They put a lot of thought into the design and the material of their items so that they come up with quality goods that are priced fairly.

Putting purpose on the business and the entrepreneurial journey

Despite 15 years of Koh Living, Nyree is unsure how the future will unfold 10 to 15 years down the road. Given the constantly changing consumer behaviours and trends, especially with technology transforming things so fast, she admits that it’s hard to even look at the next five years of the business. However, she is sure that Koh Living will still be going strong internationally at that point. She stressed, “We need to scale it in a smart way so that we don’t fall apart at the seams and become a victim of not watching how society is actually changing their purchasing behaviour.”

But on a personal note, she hopes to also contribute to society in a bigger way. “I've just applied to get on a board in the indigenous environment for artists. So, I'd like to see myself assisting businesses and individuals outside of Koh Living in a way that I can bring what I've learned about growing a business to others that aren't necessarily as big as Koh Living at the moment or are just starting out or in that stage where they're growing,” Nyree shared.

Since the time Nyree and her best friend thought of the idea of Koh Living, they now wake up with one thing on their mind:  to make people feel special.  Koh Living has come a long way and they look forward to continuing to create moments of connection, love and joy with friends and family among the chaos of modern life well into the future around the globe.

Know more about Nyree Hibberd through her LinkedIn profile. Read on Koh Living and its products at https://www.kohliving.com.au/.

Nyree and her business partner in Koh Living.