I’m a people person and have been from my first ever “job” – helping out in my family’s hospitality business.
(Even today, I occasionally moonlight in hospitality – because I enjoy working with people that much.)
I love SME business finance – because it’s all about people.
A lot of people think that business finance is about numbers and markets – but it’s REALLY about people, persistence and vision. That’s particularly true in the SME world.
Small business is regularly described as “the engine room of the economy” – and it is just that. SME operators do an amazing job – especially given that most SMEs are still hobbled by a chronic lack of available cash.
Good small businesses are about great people working together to do extra-ordinary things
That could be a tradie keeping essential services working while feeding his family.
It could be a startup out to solve today’s big problems.
It could be a small business doing the hard yards and building the discipline to grow into a medium business.
My job as a Working Capital Strategist is to help these businesses improve their productivity – by making sure they have the best possible access to the operating cash they need to function productively. I make sure that their potential isn’t limited by the conservatism of the big banks or the resources of “the bank of family and friends”.
I love what I do (no “if only”)
You may have seen my social media posts titled “I love what I do – if only…” For me, there’s no “if only” about my work.
It’s totally extraordinary what some people do in Small Business – especially in the face of today’s challenging world.
The small businesses that I partner with vary widely in their goals and their industries – but they share a “can-do” spirit and a commitment to running a disciplined business.
These businesses delight me – as do the extra-special people who run them.
It’s an honour to support and enable so many amazing people doing so many amazing things in their business.
I love helping innovators do innovation
Some of my customers are business innovators who are reinventing how their industry delivers results:
- The plumbing company fabricating sub-assemblies in a factory – delivering savings in costly site visits.
- The 4 phDs out to reinvent the construction industry with their mobile 3D concrete printing gear – and who are using it to build remote area social housing as well as millionaire mansions
- A builder who’s shifting from “build to sell” to “build to lease” – and planning to stabilise and increase his long term returns at a whole new level.
- A young green business entrepreneur growing packaging from fungi to replace polystyrene.
I love helping tradies making the transition from employee to owner
Some are super-small customers starting out – running a small business to support their family and build a better future for themselves. Some are dreaming big dreams about changing the world, while others are there to build wealth for their family:
Last year I helped one young plumber buy out his boss – taking the first steps from “working on the tools” to working on his business.
I also get to help others transition from micro to medium
A great privilege I have is helping small businesses grow sustainably – building the strategies and disciplines to successfully transition.
One such was a civil engineering contractor who made the leap from one-customer “contractor” to become a multi-customer business (from case study).
I’ve met and helped many heroic survivors
Through COVID, its washout and further global disruptions I’ve been privileged to help with small survival stories and million-dollar turn-arounds.
Good, viable businesses have had to do radical pivots, and make significant discipline upgrades and strategic shifts to turn disaster into recovery.
The people doing them are every-day heroes.
It’s not just my customers who are awesome
Some of the amazing people I get to connect with every day are my “suppliers” They include:
- The smart, entrepreneurial FinTech providers who are reinventing business finance and creating smarter, easier, more automated ways for SME businesses to access the finance they deserve.
- The strategic accountants and financial planners who refer clients to me, growing ALL our businesses – the client business, their practice and my finance practice.
- The administrator (yes really) who helped a struggling partnership hit by life-changing circumstances strategize their way through million-dollar debt.
- Specialist service providers helping SMEs survive everything from the ATO’s formulaic demands to recalcitrant customer accounts departments.
- The SEO expert who told me to “Leave SEO till later – right now your business needs Socials, not SEO”.
2023 has been amazing
I’m grateful to have met so many great people, and helped so many can-do SMEs.
Business has always been tough – especially for small businesses. But this last year has been as tough as any I’ve seen in over 20 years in the world of business finance.
At the same time, today’s next generation of responsive finance tools now offers SME businesses the flexibility and efficiency to negotiate this higher level of ongoing disruption.
That means that 2024 is looking every bit as good as this y ear has been.
My thanks to all who have been part of my journey so far.
