Mid Market Matters

Amreeta Abbott started her career as an Accountant and Financial Advisor back in 2004, when technology solutions were rare, slow, and frustrating. She quickly realised her clients wanted to focus on flexibility and the ability to control their investments, and that technology to support this was underserved. So, when she started her own practice in 2005, she specialised and founded SMSF Strategies, with the vision to use technology to address the traditional friction points within the SMSF. Historically, manual processing made giving and implementing advice slow and expensive, and Amreeta sought to provide better solutions. This transitioned into a documentation process using world class technology and was further broadened to create Now Infinity – which was acquired by an ASX Listed Company in 2020 for $25 million. Amreeta discusses this exit strategy in detail, underlining the emotional struggle and process involved when selling your business.

Over the past 15 years, we have witnessed a rise in demand for tech-savvy accountants. Amreeta stresses how the methodology of valuing a business has drastically changed, with a constantly evolving range of tools and visibility now available. Her latest business venture, Annature, was built in mind for partners requiring an e-signing solution - such as real-estate agents & Xero. Released in July 2020, Annature quickly became Australia’s leading digital signature provider, purpose built for all industries. Annature saw huge success during Melbourne’s second lockdown last year, as companies which had never considered e-signatures as an option scrambled to adopt such technology.

The co-founders of Polyture, Jared Zhao and Kyle Foley join this week’s episode. Polyture is the first fully-featured, easy to use data infrastructure platform specifically designed for the mid-market, facilitating the company to become a modern, data driven enterprise. Aiming to modernise mid-market companies and empower small teams within large enterprises, Polyture took similar software that top end companies the likes of Facebook and Google use, and adapted the tools and platform to cater the mid-market. These features include visibility into accounting, CRMs, VRPs and measuring the performance of different initiatives that are taken within the business.

Kyle and Jared identified the reoccurring issue mid-market businesses were consistently facing: an overwhelming amount of data, with no structural organisation or system to sort and refine such masses of information. Recognising the mid-market being underserved with current data solutions, Polyture was founded to be used by those with average data skills and no data-science programming background to integrate masses of information from all systems, with features such as integration, real-time data timelines, insights and forecasts -the applications of Polyture are endless.

CEO and Founder of Appellon Sue Jauncey joins this week’s episode. Not only did Sue grow her company from a small boutique consulting business to a global organisation, but she also has a fascinating career history, working as a forensic Psychologist across the Australian Prison system. Sue gained a deep understanding of human behaviour, and her 25-year experience measuring behavioural and performance outputs has earned her great recognition. Sue has worked with global institutes such as the Royal Australian Navy, Northern Territory Health and The National Health Service, England. She is passionate about supporting individuals who want to live better, healthier, wiser lives and organisations who seek to promote collective achievement, connection and performance innovation.

Sue reflects on the ongoing rise in stress and anxiety in the workforce we have witnessed over the past 20 years. Promoting the need to address this increase as mental health becomes a more prominent topic, especially with the effects of COVID-19 - which has accelerated this discussion. With so many working from home, we are going to see a welcomed hybrid model of the way we work together – however Sue stresses the importance of understanding the science around what constitutes a healthy, productive workforce.

CEO and Strategy Director for Taurus Marketing Sharon Williams joins this week’s episode. As Founder of one of Australia’s longest established integrated Marketing and PR agencies, Sharon’s experience and knowledge is an unbeatable combination. Sharon works with smart clients across all industries, from entrepreneurs, SMEs, to ASX-listed corporations. She has delivered award-winning solutions for over 1000 brands, across 6 continents, over an impressive 25 years. Her solutions are based on her unique, proven methodology, which she named The Taurus Bullseye. Renowned for her unparalleled levels of personalised service and a practical ‘No Bull’ approach that tells you exactly how it is and her international view of marketing in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia, Sharon’s purpose is sharing her experience to fast-track others.

Sharon emphasises the need for communication, stressing the need to critique and elevate communication to target markets: brands with the most reputable, loudest voices are consistently the ones that cut through. Not only is there a need to increase communication, but with the impact of Covid-19, Sharon highlights empathy as a new brand currency. This is especially relevant to mid-market businesses - demonstrating empathy confirms you are genuine, giving your business an edge, not just to staff, but also to clients. If increasing communication isn’t an option for you, then she recommends upping the experience that your clients have with your company, and ensuring you show empathy as you do so. You can find more about Sharon here, or on her Linked In.

Joining the podcast from Babraham in the UK, freelance writer and author Jan Cavelle joins this week’s instalment. As an author, Jan specifically focusses on avoiding the growth pitfalls, something she writes about from personal experience. Jan originally started writing concerning the realities and truths of running a business as an entrepreneur back in 2008. Since then, she has written articles for countless publications, spreading her wisdom, knowledge and latest trends all things entrepreneurial.

Jan strives to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses, providing advice from what she has learned from experts, and her own successes and difficulties. Her first book, Scale For Success, can be pre-ordered here, and more of her articles can be found on her website. For Jan, strategy is a hugely important issue. She has found many people focus too much on growth.

Jan advocates that if you try to grow without strategy, you have none of the frameworks in place to sustain that growth, most importantly the people. With all her research for her book, Jan found people to be the most common denominator. You don’t have to just plan ahead, you have to find the right people to have in place ahead of the growth, and this order is essential for sustained growth.

Corey Rosen is the Founder and Director of The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) in Oakland, California. Established in 1981, Corey has spent the past 40 years immersed in employee ownership, passionate about creating a thriving environment and supporting the community. Prior to founding the NCEO, Corey worked in The US Senate as a staff aid. This is where he was immediately drawn to employee ownership after seeing a testimony, sold on the idea of creating an economic system both more fair and accessible.

Corey’s vision was a work environment more inclusive, respectful and participating – all of which an ESOP involves. Particularly appealing to Corey was how employee ownership takes the best elements of capitalism; its incentive structure, ability to innovate, grow and be entrepreneurial – but links these foundations to a social objective of broadened ownership and participation for people who are otherwise largely excluded.

The NCEO is a non-profit information, membership and research organisation, with the simple goal of providing objective and reliable information about ESOPs at the lowest practical cost. This is achieved through webinars, published papers and books, seminars and conferences. More details about the NCEO can be found here.

Self-described “Business Purpose Guide” Phil Preston joins this week’s instalment to converse the need for purpose and direction for all businesses, regardless of size. Formally a Senior Credit Manager where he oversaw billions of dollars of investments, Phil became frustrated with poor corporate behaviours and symbolic acts of charity. In 2007, he redirected himself away from corporate investment and towards social and environmental challenge, and has been successfully running his business since. Using his expertise in applying purpose to boost business performance and social impact, he strives to grow companies’ enthusiasm for change. He guides SMEs through to multi-national corporations in the purpose, shared value and collaboration fields, also helping non-for-profits with business development and partnerships.

Over the past 13 years, Phil has worked with hundreds of clients across many sectors and industries. He focuses on purpose based challenges, even developing a TED style talk titled ‘Why Philanthropy is for Dinosaurs’, which introduces individuals to the power of purpose in a user friendly way. His book, Connecting Profit with Purpose, also revolves on this topic. Phil emphasises the necessity for every business, no matter the size, to understand what their purpose is, more so now than ever. This projects enduring success, not just short term. For Phil, if you constantly focus and adapt to what society really needs, this not only allows stabilization but will also allow continuous growth for your business.

Alex Lee is Co-founder and Managing Partner of financial advice firm Thornton + Lee, acting as an experienced financial advisor. He specialises working with clients who need assistance with their personal finance strategy, mainly those seeking a strategic partner that offers highly personal service built on a meaningful long-term relationship. Originating from an accounting background, Alex describes his career path to financial advisor as accidental. His grad program involved placement in financial services, and this exposure to the financial environment was when the future and planning ahead aspect of his role gained his attention.

Alex also has extensive experience with Employee Share Plans, primarily the tax sector. He sustains that the key to ESOPs is education, making sure his clients are fully aware of all the consequences and options involved. Alex references in regard to ESOPs, knowing the tax consequences is essential to allow appropriate planning and management of cash flow. Once this understanding is clear, he works through options with his clients; may this be holding the ESOP in your own name, transferring to a partner’s name, or to another structure so it is more tax effective in the future. His clients are made aware of the importance of these decisions up front, as a tax structure that you can control and have flexibility with is crucial. Moreover, most employees don’t have necessary financial taxation knowledge to make such decisions without good advice, which is what makes Alex’s role so vital.

CEO of boutique productivity consultancy Building 20, Dr Luke Hurst joins this week’s instalment. Building 20 delivers custom training and culture change services, working with teams to accomplish difficult tasks faster and amplifying their attention. Luke initially got into productivity working on his PhD. He found that by gamifying the process using the Pomodoro Technique, his progress accelerated dramatically. This was the origin for Building 20, with Luke identifying a need for training dedicated to productivity in the workspace, particularly with SMEs.

In May, Building 20 surveyed 423 Australian office workers on how they adjusted to working remotely during the pandemic, as well as how the COVID-19 experience altered preferences and expectations about remote work going forward. Luke advocates that getting the hybrid model right between working at the office and working from home can be a real competitive advantage. This allows businesses to improve employee value proposition, as employees want an environment which is supportive of working not only time wise, but also location wise.

Luke identifies his career path as a random walk. He holds a PhD in Economics, was previously Director at strategy consulting firm Nous Group, and a Research Fellow at both Melbourne University and The Australian National University. He has published widely in leading business and academic publications, including the Australian Financial Review, Nikkei Asian Review and SMH/The Age. Building 20’s study on the effectiveness of working from home is available here.

CEO and Founder of Resilience In, Susie Mogg joins this week’s episode. Susie’s passion lies in building and studying resilience, with specific focus on how it can be developed and improved. She has worked with thousands of children, parents, employees and workplaces. Susie is of the opinion that resilience is the number one skill needed by everyone – this is especially relevant in today’s climate of Covid-19. Her vision is to teach people to thrive, especially in tough circumstances and environments. She strongly believes building resilience is not just about bouncing back, but about taking the opportunity to respond to challenges in such a way that we grow, develop and realise our full potential.

Her initial business goal was to focus on children, building resilience through 1-1 coaching and workshops, enabling them to respond to challenges with confidence. Susie took the opportunity to expand to involve strengthening parents’ resilience with the similar training, and further branched out to schools, and eventually workplaces to achieve ongoing sustained levels of performance.

Before founding Resilience In, Susie gained over 20 years’ experience in People and Culture roles in large corporate organisations in both Sydney and London. Her background is impressive, working in management for global companies such as Deloitte, Ernst & Young and Suncorp Group.