Trench Talk with Matt Reynolds

David Makin, along with his partner Zoe, Founded Axil Coffee Roasters.

Dave completed a bachelor of Business in catering and hotel management before spending a fair bit of time in the service industry. He worked for a coffee company and ran several cafes before turning his attention to the competitive side of coffee making.

He became the runner-up in the World Barista Championships, is two-time Australian Barista Champion and four-time Victorian Barista Champion.

Axil's speciality roasting business supplies over 100 establishments in addition to five of their own cafes. They are currently building two more with plans to expand further in 2019.

During this chat, we covered:

• the barista championships
• how Dave secured the first lease for his business
• how Axil sources coffee and his thoughts on the free trade model
• how he finds staff
• the business of Axil including why he is against franchising, and
• why Dave is continuing to grow the company.

To find out more about Axil, head to https://axilcoffee.com.au/.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #044, with David Makin…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

This episode features Leath Nicholson and Veroshan Sripragasan of Nicholson Ryan Lawyers.

Leath graduated with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Master of Laws (Commercial Law) from Monash University. He was admitted to practice in Victoria in 1997 and since then has practised extensively in corporate and commercial law and dispute resolution.

Leath co-founded the firm now known as Nicholson Ryan in 2008 and has acted for a range of clients, including private companies, ASX listed public companies and government agencies.

Veroshan is an Associate within Nicholson Ryan's corporate and commercial practice. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Law (Honours) from Deakin University. He joined the firm as a graduate in mid-2015 and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October of that same year.

Veroshan is a transactional lawyer who practices primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and corporate advisory. He acts for both listed and unlisted companies across the full spectrum of corporate and commercial matters. He has industry experience spanning sectors including automotive, financial services, technology, trade and blockchain enabled investments and projects.

We covered a lot of ground during this chat, including:

• cryptocurrencies and the rules governing this relatively new space
• when and why lawyers are required in business transactions
• some business growth strategies
• mergers and acquisitions
• a little about risk in business, and
• blockchain, where you'll also hear my attempt at explaining how this technology works.

To find out more about Nicholson Ryan Lawyers, head to https://nrlawyers.com.au/.

You can find me on Facebook.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #043, with Leath Nicholson and Veroshan Sripragasan…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

This episode features Leath Nicholson and Veroshan Sripragasan of Nicholson Ryan Lawyers.

Leath Nicholson graduated with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Master of Laws (Commercial Law) from Monash University. He was admitted to practice in Victoria in 1997 and since then has practised extensively in corporate and commercial law and dispute resolution.

Leath co-founded the firm now known as Nicholson Ryan in 2008 and has acted for a range of clients, including private companies, ASX listed public companies and government agencies.

Veroshan is an Associate within Nicholson Ryan’s corporate and commercial practice. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Law (Honours) from Deakin University. He joined the firm as a graduate in mid-2015 and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October of that same year.

Veroshan is a transactional lawyer who practices primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and corporate advisory. He acts for both listed and unlisted companies across the full spectrum of corporate and commercial matters. He has industry experience spanning sectors including automotive, financial services, technology, trade and blockchain enabled investments and projects.

We covered a lot of ground during this chat, including:

• cryptocurrencies and the rules governing this relatively new space
• when and why lawyers are required in business transactions
• some business growth strategies
• mergers and acquisitions
• a little about risk in business, and
• blockchain, where you’ll also hear my attempt at explaining how this technology works.

To find out more about Nicholson Ryan Lawyers, head to https://nrlawyers.com.au/.

You can find me on Facebook. 

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #043, with eath Nicholson and Veroshan Sripragasan…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

I was recently asked to present my thoughts and ideas about the changing technology landscape in a talk for the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association.

Here's the recording...

During the talk, I covered:

• how apps are changing the way we run trade businesses
• how you need to think to best leverage to power of technology
• why it's about to cost a whole lot less to grow a trade business
• how some of the traditional challenges (like getting accurate job reports from service technicians back from the field) are being solved
• the applications I've been working on in this space, and
• how you can try them for free.

To find out more about the Master Plumbers, head to plumber.com.au.

You can find me on Facebook.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #042, my thoughts on technology in trade businesses…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Peter Daly is the CEO of the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association.

Peter is a civil engineer by trade and spent some 17 years at the RACV before joining the Master Plumbers in 2018.

The Master Plumbers is Australia's largest plumbing industry association and an industry leader for more than 125 years. It is a trusted source of information, advice and expertise for members, the industry, government and the wider community. Master Plumbers has approximately 160 employees working across membership services, advocacy, training and staff solutions businesses. It works closely with its strategic partners to help build an expert, committed and professional plumbing services industry.

Peter is an executive with a proven ability to develop strategy, deliver stakeholder/membership value and communicate complex information.

With more than 16 years of experience in senior leadership roles, he has a deep understanding of managing stakeholder expectations and reputations and a proven history of working successfully with boards, government and industry to build consensus around business and public policy outcomes.

During our chat, we covered:

• his time at the RACV
• his ideas around adding value within membership organisations
• his current role with the Master Plumbers
• some of the challenges around attracting people to the plumbing trade
• a couple of book recommendations, and
• the rule changes he'd like to see in the plumbing industry.

To find out more about Peter, head to plumber.com.au or you can track him down on LinkedIn.

You can also find the Master Plumbers on Facebook and on Instagram.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #041 with Peter Daly…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Chris Smith is the Founder of both Yolk Agency and Happy HR.

Chris left home at just 14 years old and started washing cars to make his rent payments. It wasn't long before the intuitive entrepreneur expanded his business in a somewhat unusual way - baking apple pies for his clients whose cars he was cleaning. He eventually found his way to a commercial kitchen and began training under some of the world's most well-known chefs.

In 2000, aged 23, Chris hung up his chef's apron to establish a lean manufacturing plant and gourmet food operation called Valley Produce Company. He was able to take the company from farmer's markets where he began to the world and established his brand's footprint globally selling Valley Produce Company product in England, Scandinavia, Dubai, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and the USA. He was also able to establish a well-respected Australian label that won numerous international and local awards.

In 2011, Chris resigned from the company to concentrate on developing Yolk Agency, a fully integrated management consultancy service after recognising a service gap in the market.

By 2014, Chris founded Happy HR, a software as a service product designed to be the world's most efficient and easy to use human resource and performance management platform.

During our chat, we covered:

• both his businesses, including how he helps others in business succeed
• decision making
• what makes a world class chef
• the strategies he used to grow his manufacturing business internationally
• building teams, and
• how he gets through large volumes of work every day.

To find out more about Chris, head to yolkagency.com or happyhr.com.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #040 with Chris Smith…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Chris Smith is the Founder of both Yolk Agency and Happy HR.

Chris left home at just 14 years old and started washing cars to make his rent payments. It wasn’t long before the intuitive entrepreneur expanded his business in a somewhat unusual way - baking apple pies for his clients whose cars he was cleaning. He eventually found his way to a commercial kitchen and began training under some of the world’s most well-known chefs.

In 2000, aged 23, Chris hung up his chef’s apron to establish a lean manufacturing plant and gourmet food operation called Valley Produce Company. He was able to take the company from farmer’s markets where he began to the world and established his brand's footprint globally selling Valley Produce Company product in England, Scandinavia, Dubai, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and the USA. He was also able to establish a well-respected Australian label that won numerous international and local awards.

In 2011, Chris resigned from the company to concentrate on developing Yolk Agency, a fully integrated management consultancy service after recognising a service gap in the market.

By 2014, Chris founded Happy HR, a software as a service product designed to be the world’s most efficient and easy to use human resource and performance management platform.

During our chat, we covered:

• both his current businesses, including how he helps other's in business succeed
• decision making
• what makes a world class chef
• the strategies he used to grow his manufacturing business internationally
• building teams, and
• how he gets through large volumes of work every day.

To find out more about Chris, head to yolkagency.com or happyhr.com.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #040 with Chris Smith…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Theo Venter is the only known man to survive a 22,000-volt electrical shock and a motivational speaker focusing on workplace safety.

An electrical linesman by trade, Theo has worked in the high voltage business for over 23 years. After leaving his home country of South Africa, Theo and his family immigrated to Australia where his trade was in high demand. He commenced work as a contractor in Australia working on a major electricity network where he had a huge workplace accident while working on live power lines.

In this interview, Theo talks candidly of his time in hospital where he found himself waiting to die and his desperate fight to survive both physically and mentally which continued long after the event.

Theo has delivered his talk called "Just Another Day" in many parts of the world to people ranging from company boards right through to field workers at toolbox meetings.

This is a hard-hitting story with a very personal and very powerful safety message.

To find out more about Theo and his current work, head to justanother-day.com

A big thanks to Coby, one of our Trench Talk listeners, for setting this one up.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #039 with Theo Venter…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Sachi Wickramage (@sachiwickramage) is a Jury Member of the United Nations' World Summit Awards Global Contest, a panel that selects and promotes the world's best Disruptive Digital Innovation Technologies with a Positive Impact on Society.

He is also appointed as the National Expert for Australia by the UN WSA to spearhead the World Summit Awards Australian Chapter.

In addition to all of that, Sachi is the Chief Operating Officer at i4Tradies.

Prior to joining i4Tradies in 2017, Sachi worked as the Head of hSenid Outsourcing, a wholly owned subsidiary of hSenid Software International. In his 10+ years' with the group, he managed over 50 large, highly scalable IT projects spanning across multiple sectors varying from Telco, HR, e-Commerce, Finance and Healthcare, to Entertainment.

Sachi has a strong passion for Mobile Apps and has managed over 70 Mobile App projects. He also Co-Founded the mobile & wearable apps "FlipBeats" & "Expense Tracker 2.0" which have won 13 international awards to-date, while generating enormous media buzz. These Apps have an active user base of over 1 Million worldwide.

During our chat, we covered:

• his work and thoughts on sustainability, including is work involving the United Nations
• how he designed a system that facilitates over 8.5 million transactions every day
• the marketing campaign they used during the World Cup that sent his app FlipBeats to #1 (downloads) in Brazil
• how he got FlipBeats preloaded on all the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphones that T-mobile released in Germany, and
• the challenges of building large IT systems.

To find out more about Sachi, head to Sachi Wickramage.

More information about i4Tradies can be found at i4Tradies.com.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #038 with Sachi Wickramage…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Dave Porter (@daveporter) is the Founder of PorterVac, Australia's only specialist vacuum gutter cleaning service employing qualified roof tilers and the latest cutting edge technology.

The neat thing about Dave's story is that he started at ground zero. He's a former roof tiler but knew his time as a roofer was limited, so he closed down the business and went back to the drawing board. He took a chance, started PorterVac and now has a growing business which employs over 30 people.

During our chat, we covered:

• those early days
• the moment that changed his whole career and how it affected his attitude and mindset
• every tradies dream
• why he's learned to be proud of his weaknesses
• developing employees, and
• why he has got involved in groups like the entrepreneur's organisation.

To find out more about Dave, head to portervac.com.au.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #037 with Dave Porter…

----

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Feel free to email me with any suggestions or feedback to [email protected].

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.