Owner To Owner Podcast

@philmeddings  is joint #ChiefExecutive of @BintaniAustralia - a leading Australian supplier of #craftbrewing #ingredients. He's also #co-owner and/or #nonexecutivedirector of other #businesses #familybusinesses including @bentspokebrewing @bay13brewery @konvoykegsPhil left @kpmg in 2010 to join Bintani which had been started by his father in 1995. Since then he's become immersed in the #craftbrewing industry in Australia, and more recently, via @bay13brewery the #USAIn our discussion Phil talks about;leaving the #charteredaccounting profession for what really drove him - the #businessworldhis approach to starting #newbusinesses#businesspartnershipsthe critical importance of #sharedvalues and #sharedunderstandingoperating as a #familybusinesswhere to for the #australiancraftbrewing industryin partnership launching an @aussiebrewpub in the #USA and how they plan to differentiate in a #competitivemarket with many great #craftbrewers ("less cheese" is a big clue)how you can't wind back #taste #beermoments and  why that will continue to drive the craftbrewing industry Below is a full transcript of our discussion. Hi there, it's @MichaelKerr and I'm presenting @smallbusinessbanter.A healthy #micro and #smallbusiness sector means a successful economy and a way more vibrant society. @smallbusinessbanter is about helping #regionalbusinessowners to better prepare for the current challenges, but also for the next stage of business success. I'm @MichaelKerr. The founder of @KerrCapital and we advise business owners.Each week, I interview a fellow #smallbusinessowner or an #expert and they share their stories, their lived experiences, including the wins, and the losses and overall their best advice to help you, the listener, get the most you can from your own #small business. @smallbusinessbanter is brought to you from the Studio's of 104.7 @GippslandFM and is heard right across Australia on the #communityradionetwork. Thanks also to @KerrCapital supporters of the show.Kerr: Good morning and welcome to another edition of @smallbusinessbanter. I'm @MichaelKerr, the host of @smallbusinessbanter. In the house with me today is @PhilMeddings, the Joint #ChiefExecutive of @BintaniAustralia. He's going to explain what Bintani does, but it's in and around the craft of the brewing industry. He's also co-owner of @BentSpokeBrewingCompany in #Canberra. He's a #nonexecutivedirector of another couple of entities and he's also a #cofounder of @Bay13Brewery in #Miami #Florida. So it's fantastic to have you in Phil. Firstly, welcome.Phil Meddings: Thanks for having us some. Yeah. I'm looking forward to thisKerr: Same, yeah. Look, do you want to give us a couple of minutes? You've got a pretty extensive CV and but a heavy involvement in the #craftbrewingindustry, which has been going ballistic for the last five to 10 years. So, if you could just give us a couple of minutes on the portfolio. Meddings: Yeah, no problem. Look, I started with the #familybusiness in 2010. But it's a business my dad started in '95 called Bintani. When he started it, even up until the point when I joined in 2010, it was a fairly small sort of business, supplying #ingredients into the #breweries, into #craft breweries, so that was in 2010. Since that time, quite a bit has happened including an explosion in #craftbeer. My dad's #retired and along the way in between we've sort of started a whole lot of other, and become involved in a lot of other, a lot of other businesses, most have sort of got a relationship with craft brewing and #beverage and #alcohol, I guess. But they're not all, they're not all ingredients or they're not all production. So, it's been an interesting few years. Kerr: Yes. Oh, that you’ve gone up and down the #supplychain, I guess, because you're in retail with BentSpoke as an example and maybe right back to supplying and #servicingkegs as another.Meddings: Yeah, I can give you a bit of a timeline on it. If you like it, Kerr: Yeah, please do.Meddings: We started with the ingredients and they really weren't many breweries. But as the breweries increased, we supplied more and more and my dad really put together a fantastic business built around #simplicity and I guess #transparency and #honesty with the #customers. So- Kerr: And off the back of a pretty strong #passion for #homebrewing.Meddings: Exactly. He was passionate about brewing, which meant that he explored different ingredients. He had his eyes open for different products to sell. Then he'd looked after the customers and it was kind of a simple as that. As the industry grew the business grew and then other suppliers started coming to us to say, "Can you sell our ingredients?" But, probably in around 2011-2012, we come into the business from 10 or 11 years in #charteredaccounting at @KPMG. And I came into the business and the accounting side of work. It didn't really take up very much time because it was so small. I think we only had obviously six employees, I'd be six. So, we're just left a little bit of free time to kind of consider other opportunities and we always get excited about these opportunities. And one day, we were talking with a really good brewer up in Canberra called @RichWatkins, and he was working as an #employee brewer. The conversation just started about setting up our own thing and that took a bit of time to get going. But the #BrewPub @BentSpoke opened in 2014 and has just grown enormously since that time in that partnership. We were still running our ingredients business, but we were heavily involved in the sort of the back office in the strategy side of growing Bentspoke with Rich and his partner Tracy. Kerr: And Rich was a really highly regarded brewer in his own right?Meddings: He was. He'd been brewing for a long time and he'd been a longtime customer of ours. We had a great relationship and a lot of #sharedvalues and knowledge. It was a kind of an easy decision to start this thing together. We didn't really know where it would go. It wasn't about a vision of a company of a certain size. It was really just about the excitement of #startingsomethingnew. And there's a few other businesses that we started around the same time. We started a company, #leasingequipment, #leasingbeerkegs, stainless steel beer kegs. So, we started that one in 2012. that business had a requirement to actually repair kegs as well because a brewery would lease kegs for a while. They would send them back and we would need to do a bit of refurbishment, changing some of the seals and cleaning it up. It kind of led to starting another company in servicing the kegs. So I guess if that's-Kerr: You're seeing opportunities and you really, rather than letting them go, you're capturing them and going after them. Meddings: Yeah, we did. I mean, @BentSpoke made sense, it was in #Canberra and it was always going to be a separate entity with another partner. But the keg businesses, was sort of different from the ingredients business. So we always treated those separately and they grew life on their own as well. We #sold both of those keg businesses now but that has lead to an involvement with the @Konvoykegs business, which you mentioned in the introduction. Kerr: I think the newest venture is @Bay13 in which is an #AustralianBrewpub in #Florida. Meddings: Yeah. So, Bay 13 is pretty awesome. Kerr: Iconic name. Meddings: Yeah, you know, it's the #Larrikin element isn't it? It kind of goes well with the concept, the idea of drinking beer, and summer I guess, warm weather. I worked with a guy called @NickSharp at @KPMG and he ended up in Miami through another job and we just stayed mates from 2005 onwards. And at one point, it just came up about a #Brewpub. So, we firstly taking a step back, we travel to #America all the time with work and we obviously spent a lot of time in the brewpubs over there. I just sort of felt that there was a bit of a gap for an #Australianstyle #BrewPub. I've had this question asked a few times, like what is an Australian-style Brewpub and what ways an Australian-style Brew Pub and why it's different to an American, it's because we feel we're offering customers a better food experience, high-quality beer, and #Americanbrewpubs have very high-quality be generally as well, so that's not a differentiator, but we want to do beers showcasing #Australianingredients. We want to have a better food offering, so less burgers and more Australian sort of café, a little bit healthier, bit less cheese, maybe.Kerr: That's it. Australia's highly regarded for isn't food? Meddings: Yeah. It is more into café and coffee. I think if you look around #Melbournecafes and you look at sort of the quality of the #fitouts, the quality of the #menudesign, and the experience for someone going out for breakfast is a mix of really informal but high-quality experience. That's kind of what we wanted to do at Bay 13 in America, it is to bring the Australian fun informality but at a high-quality level. And see whether it resonated, and actually does provide something different- Kerr: Yeah. So it's a little combination of offerings, not just beers pretty competitive and pretty personal, I guess. And so the food offering is something that you say is a differentiator. It looks like it's also that in partnering again with someone on the ground, as you did with Rich in Canberra, that seems to be a part of your model. Meddings: It's ended up that way. I guess it's kind of how you can, I mean we're all the same in that, we literally can't do everything ourselves. So, partnering with somebody is the way we've been able to #expand and #grow. It's not about growing, it's about pursuing interests really. We've been able to pursue things that we think a fun and good opportunities by #partnering with people. It wasn't always that way but that's how we've ended up. Kerr: Yeah. So in between @Bay13 what was the last “great” #aussiebeer? Was it all the way back to #Fosters?Meddings: In the U.S.? Kerr: Yeah. Like there's been some really high in #coffeepioneers from Australia going to America and paved the way. But are you out there on your own in terms of an Australian led owned business in the U.S.Meddings: I would say we are, definitely. I'm not aware of anyone doing what we're doing. The only sort of person or whatever that comes close is #LittleCreatures. Little Creatures opened a Brewpub in #SanFrancisco in around 2019. But, I think Little Creatures is owned by @Lion, obviously. @Lion purchased a really big craft brewery in U.S. called @New Belgium. They've rebranded their # littlecreatures Brewpub. Kerr: Let's say Bay 13 remains the carrying the flag. Because we're pretty, we're pretty pro Aussie aren't we?. I just want to go back on a couple of things Phil. I could say it's an amazing mix of businesses. And you know, up and down the supply chain, craft brewing has been going ballistic for the last five or ten years. But for you personally, I think you left @KPMG, you know, a successful career in chartered accounting with one of the #bigfour firms KPMG. For you personally, what was the motivation in going into the #familybusiness? And what did you bring from that professional experience to a small business that was maybe good and maybe not so good? Meddings: Yeah. In hindsight, when I look back on it, being at KPMG was probably the mismatch for me. I ended up being chartered accounting by following. I did #commerce at University because I like business. From then on, it was really about kind of taking the steps that are put in front of you. So, not really thinking it through too much. So I ended up, commerce, kept things general, and did accounting. And then went into a big four. I was lucky enough to sort of getting taken on into a Big Four firm with pretty average Uni results. Then I kind of got into this vortex of doing chartered accounting and it wasn't really was my passion or what drove, what I got excited about. What I was excited about always was being in business, and just the kind of enjoyment that comes out of #plantingtheseed and watching something #grow. I know it's a bad cliché but that's exactly how I feel about businesses. So-Kerr: It's a lesson there for a lot of younger professionals or younger people, generally, that it's pretty hard to say whether that experience is invaluable, but, you know, maybe earlier might have been better for you, just to get out of there.Meddings: I mean, I had business ideas. I was messing around with a couple of people doing. The funny one is when I was probably 18, there used to be a #Gilbeysgindistillery in #Moorabbin and they close this big beautiful sight, and we saw an opportunity to do a #ClimbingGym. So, these 18-year-old guys ringing up landlords and trying to sort of get their climbing gym together and I wasn't really built for rock climbing, but I could see it as a growing sport, a good opportunity and we never got it off the ground. But I mean that was pretty-Kerr: That's an indicator of your real inner passion for business and opportunities to see that. Just by the way, on today's edition of @smallbusinessbanter we're talking with @PhilMeddings, who amongst other things is the joint Chief Executive of Bintani Australia. Sorry, Phil. I cut you off there about that potential business opportunity around climbing. Meddings: Yeah. Well, you talked about KPMG and what I got out of it, there's no doubt that working in an environment like KPMG or a chartered firm kind of #changesyourhorizons. It shows you what's possible, and in those firms work with so many interesting businesses that all have a different story. They have a different starting point and different endpoint. Some go well, some go poorly. You meet different people. But sort of, when I came to Bintani, the thing that was very helpful was two things. Probably the horizon, like seeing what you can do and what can be done and not having a low approach, not having a low ambition, but having quite big ambition where you can take something. Secondly, it's sort of dealing with #banks. You've got that degree of familiarity, with #banks, #lawyers, #financiers, those sorts of things, that just make it a lot easier. You've read #leaseagreements, you've read #bankingdocuments. Some of those things can be quite a barrier. Once their second nature, once some of the fear factors taken away, that, you don't even think about it again. I have seen people that are quite intimidating and quite a barrier to get through some of those structural things. Kerr: Yeah, and you become familiar. The big difference, of course, is that you're putting your or your family's money into a venture. And so, maybe you read those documents with a little bit more intensity when you're personally on the line. Meddings: Yeah, I think you do. I think you definitely do. I think you do everything. We certainly didn't start with any money at all and just cautiously and carefully went from one thing to another. We've never taken, I mean that's probably another part of now. Now, I see I look at how other people #startbusinesses and how they go from step one to step three, to step five. I feel as though in my pathways have been a lot more incremental. It's been step one step, step 1.5, step 2. It's been a little bit of a slower build. It's one of the things I think about now, quite a bit, is that the different approaches to business. Some people are very bold and I think what I'm talking about really is being prepared to incur operating losses and to fund the losses for a period of time to grow scale and to get their business going. My experience wasn't, and my   kind of natural inclination, was a lot more "Start smaller, prove the growth, see revenue growth, see profitability and grow more slowly and more cautiously." I don't think either approach is wrong. I think there is pitfalls and strengths to both. So now, I try to learn a bit from taking a few more #calculatedrisks, I guess. Kerr: Yeah, and you're still operating as a family. Your work, you said your dad's retired from the business only quite recently. Your brother works operate in the business to some degree in these ventures as a family unit who runs a couple of businesses. Does that-Meddings: Yeah. I don't know whether, probably every family business is unique in the way they run. I certainly think and feel that the way we run is unique. From daydot I was talking to my dad about business, I don’t know how far to go back but even before any of the ingredients business even started, there was a business opportunity in China that never came up. That was when I was midway through high school. It's always been about that. But, joining the family business in 2010 really kind of put us all together, and the three of us, my dad, my brother, and myself. My brother's very close in age to me. We all had complementary but different skills. Importantly, all sort of shared a very common set of values and understanding. We've got very different approaches to things. And as I said, different skill sets. But that shared understanding and value set meant that we were like some sort of Three-Headed Beast. We could handle a lot more breadth of undertakings because there were the three of us working together. Kerr: It is, as you said, family businesses or small businesses, generally all, can have different ways of operating. You talk about values and I think that's so critically important that you have a shared set of values to guide you with the decisions you make. But to operate now for that length of period and go through the ups and downs,  no doubt of building out those businesses kind of means that you've got a formula that works pretty well for yourselves. Meddings: Well, just interestingly on that. My dad retired probably a year ago. But with #COVID, he wasn't in the office really at all from early last year. So, it's getting on more towards 18 months. With his retirement and not having a contact with the business it's kind of shown a need for my brother and I to reinforce the values and keep them, because we do have different approaches and my old man he's older than me, obviously. So, he's got a different presence in the office from what my brother and I do. So, I think some of those sorts of changes mean that you might have shared values, but you actually have to be conscious of the need to have them flowing through your business at different times and push them through at different times. Sometimes they're very obvious and everybody's on board. But other times you can either hire a couple of people that don't quite get it or you can take your foot, sort of losing focus on making sure people are living the values that have got the business to where it is. So, yeah, so we kind of had a bit of that lately. Kerr: Yeah. It's never set, right? You've got to constantly evolve and pushing it into America's is an incredibly fascinating step for you. I just wanted to cover off a couple of things where we could definitely continue to chat for many more minutes, but I just personally, you take on a lot as co-chief executive. How do you look at the outside of the business? Who do you admire as Business Leaders? And why? To guide you through a fast-growing group of businesses and in a fast-paced industry.Meddings: It was very #strongleaders at KPMG, both probably more external to the business than at KPMG, since I started in the craft and small business and family business area in 2010 there's been less of that type of mentor leader that I really learn or consciously listen to and learn from. But probably, recently, I've been on a very interesting board. I think the #board that I'm on is teaching me a lot because there's different personalities on there, and there's different ways of the board's themselves work. One of the guys who runs a company runs his keg business, and he's probably got that different approach that I was talking about with a bit more risk-taking. Amongst other things, I think I do admire the way his grown businesses and learn a bit from him. Kerr: We recently interviewed @LouiseBroekman from @TheAdvisoryBoardCenter and we're just talking about the critical importance, particularly at the smaller end of small business to engage with people outside of the family, or outside of the day-to-day business management team. To bring in some #externaladvice or #counsel or #perspective. I think the growth and use of #advisoryboards for small businesses is a real area that I'd encourage if you've got an eye to grow your business. Some businesses are happy just being where they are and that's wonderful. But the use of boards, and for you personally, it really does give you a range of new experiences in meeting new people. I guess, I'm also was keen to just close out with a little bit of a commentary from you on where to, for the craft brewing industry in Australia and maybe America because it's been explosive. Where to Phil? Is it gangbusters or is it may be starting to top out? Meddings: It's an irreversible trend. It'll keep growing for some time. I think people want to know where their products coming from. I think the taste is something that you generally don't wind back, once you've explored broader flavors and work them into your lifestyle. It doesn't mean that a basic lager is going to go out of fashion or not exist but it does mean that with the breadth of beers that the craft industry is producing, there's more and more beers that fit moments in your life, #winterstouts, and #porters, and #sourbeers for refreshment. And I think that doesn't go backwards.Kerr: Right? Just to start to parallel wine and #foodmatching. You talked about that in Bay 13. It is going to be the next evolution if you like because there's so many. If you walk into a brewpub or a bottle shop that it is an extraordinary range of beer. All growth, the head for craft beer. Hey Phil, we have unfortunately run out of time. I really appreciate you, the very busy business life that you have, experienced some time for us. It was a great chat. Thank you very much. Phil Meddings from Bintani Australia, amongst other things. Meddings: No problem at all Mike, really enjoyed the chat. Kerr: All right, Phil. You take care. Thank you.Meddings: All right. Thanks.Kerr: So, that's all for today's episode of small business banter. I continue to be inspired by bringing you small business experts and other small business owners and hearing their stories and their experiences.For any of the links, resources, or information we've talked about on the show today or just to contact me, please head over to smallbusinessbanter.com or find small business banter on Facebook or Instagram. It'd be really great to have you tuned in at the same time next week for another episode of small business banter.[END] Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@TedAllender is a co-owner of ERA Nurseries. Born and raised in #Adelaide, he set up a nursery in Adelaide Hills in the mid-1970s, which operated for 20 years. Set up ERA Nurseries in #Hamilton. Took an increasing interest in the selection and breeding of #eucalypt species for #woodproduction  which grew like topsy turvy because of #managedinvestmentschemes. After they fell over looked to diversify the business into the #manukaindustry. In our discussion Ted gives us both a history and an update on this exciting industry covering; how a university professor discovered by accident that the honey from #manukaplants had a great #therapeuticvalue  and could #sterilisewounds the ongoing #legalbattle over #manukanamingrightshttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-13/honey-wars-summit-manuka-new-zealand-trademark/100064228(think the #French with the battle over the name #Champagne) going to #NewZealand into 2014 and seeing how massive the industry and coming back thinking why aren't we doing this? how all of a sudden #Manuka had become their most valuable native planthow funnily #NZ wasn't saying that  a couple of years before when it was considered a #noxiousplant - that they couldn't get rid of it, that spread once they started clearing the land. the theory that #LeptospermumScoparium got to #NZ via #albatrossdroppings in small quantities and spread through campfires and windrowing to create pasture for sheepthe @LandlineTV program that ran in 2015 that posed the question 'why aren’t we doing something with it?'  and that sent ERA's phones off and crashed the website meeting  academics from @UniversitySunshineCoast and spending time together working collaboratively in order to #commercialise @AustralianLeptospermumhow many of our 163 Leptospermum Australian species (about 50%) were bioactive i.e. had that manuka components;#METHYLGLYOXAL (MG)#dihydroxyacetone (DHA) his work on identifying which species were most likely to thrive in cultivation and his travels to collect plant material and nectarhis current focus on two species (those that are widely distributed geographically) in the business where the industry is in Australia todaythe mismatch between production and consumption  and the estimated global levels of #fakemanukathe need to move to grow plantations and to repurpose #derelictvineyards and #derelictbluegumplantationshow #Leptospermum can be planted in with other crops and work well with #sheepfarming, #turkeyfarminghow the actual product is, is being used by militaries around the world and The @NationalHealthService in England uses it to treat wounds as it works where antibiotics don't work anymorehow #bioactive the very best Australian Leptospermum are the ongoing 'battle' #acrosstheTasman, #acrosstheditchat the other end of the spectrum the 1000s of people that are planting 50, 100, 200, 500 plants  the issues around #bees and #beepopulations globally #Beekeepers  #manuka honeywww.leptospermum.com.auwww.kerrcapital.com.au   Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@JanetBond   is the cofounder of @WattleRoad  which, based on this trend of people #movingtotheregions, was launched to guide to people considering this #lifechange, this #lifestylechange, and inspire them by talking to people who'd already done it. Through those stories, we hope that  people will know  what not to do, and what not to do.  The website is focussed on #regionalbusinesses #regionalproperty #regionalliving.It's best summarised as follows "it's as much about dreams and new beginnings, as it is about finding a house that you will love and a great school for your kids".Prior to that, she had an extensive career in business and commercial journalism, in both regional and capital cities for companies including #newscorp. Common in the publications was advocating for a city or town, helping to be really proactive about making sure it was a great place to live. But in 2019 she left the corporate world to start @WattleRoad after a chance discussion with a close friend who had recently moved to #Japarat - where #RobertMenzies was born. Her friend had escaped lockdown and unexpectedly discovered the real meaning of community;going down to the local post office and being known by her nameeating at the local pub and meeting peopleIn our wide-ranging discussion we cover;why it's no longer people escaping the city but more being attracted by what is on offer in the #regionsthe trends that are showing a return to those days where small towns and towns had their #localbaker, their #localfishmonger, their #localbutcher, their #localbrewer#housingaffordability and #livabilityhow property prices in #regionalaustralia for the first time in 15 years have outperformed capital city pricesrealising that there's a story that wasn't being told about the regions and immersing themselves in itloving what we domaking better decisions on #treechange #seachangehow people in regional towns have got the time to talk, and why they really love talking about where they livehow it's very easy to make connections in regional towns (far more than it was for her in Melbourne and in Sydney)when new in town reaching out to people and asking other newbies where they came from, and chat about what their journey was likesome of the #casestudiesa woman who's moved from Melbourne to Apollo Bay and set up his psychology practice, she took her family, and young teenagers to #ApolloBay from #Brightona #physiotherapist who had a very big practice and was able to exit #Sydneythe #Accountant from the #NorthShore, who got out of Sydney, sold his home he bought the local #cobbler - he went #backtoschool  to learn how to repair shoesSo then she found herself in the middle of the fires in terrible push ties summer that we had. And she realized that while that was something she hadn't contemplated living in a place of risk, she found firsthand how that community pulled together.why the rejuvenation of the regions is actually much but its much about the rejuvenation of people and rejuvenation of our lives and living in a way that perhaps we've always dreamed ofthe key things to do to make making sure it is the right decisionthe value of the local #ChamberofCommercesome of the #ABS #netmigration numbersthe @wattleroad approach of;exploring first, spending time (weekends away) to see if you think might be a good fitlooking at propertylooking at jobs (and how it's a suprise to most people when they hear that there are 66,000 job vacancies in regional Australia at the moment - July 2021)why sometimes people may need to consider starting or acquiring a businesshow the region's do so well in promoting the local produce and the opportunities this is creating;#craftbreweries - why two-thirds are in the regions and how they convert many of old pubs on the market e.g. #smeatonhttps://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-smeaton-135538834how  #rejuvenatedpubs #brewpubs can be part of the community, the #localmeetingplace, and also put the place on the map#forrestbrewery is a great example of thatgreat country pubs, pasties, vanilla slice#awardedbakeries around the country and #australiasgreatestpieswith a heightened awareness of where our #foodproducts come from how the regions are owning #localproduce@thevillageco - based in #regional #NewSouthWales and putting some pretty #tech into #supplychains to #Keepthemoneyinthevillagewanting a different life, wanting to be more connectedwhy #transport #majortrainline is such a really big factor when you're choosing a place to live#camperdown - one of the most beautiful #historicstreetscapes in Victoria #remote work#bandwidth for communication  #NBNthe importance of getting #infrastructure right and why it will follow the #growththe #vicgov putting departments in regional towns to #createjobswww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@KarenLebsanft is the #CEO and #cofounder of @KurrajongKitchen  bakers of traditional #lavosh #flatbreadKaren is a proud #burraburra woman of the #gundungurranationBased in the #lowerbluemountains in #NSW @KurrajongKitchen is #Australianowned and #Australianmade, and has proudly supported #AustralianWheatFarmers since 1993. Karen runs her business successfully but the model is more family & community focussed. She's on a mission to make the brand the 'vegemite of the biscuit isle'!We have an indepth discussion on how it all got started, her people orientated approach to business (this was formed from deep personal experience), where she wants to take the brand and her own next steps. Karen covers;being brought up in #inner-city housing commission by #mum and #grandma after her dad passed how her mother had to go out to get work to feed three kids under threehow her mum and the family, depended so much upon those businesses in the community that employed herunderstanding deeply that those businesses who employed/engaged my mum and impacted my life will  never truly understand the true impactbeing driven to build a successful business that's also community focusedstarting off in the back of a little restaurantPurpose of the product - to support an entertaining and snacking experienceWhat is Lavosh - a little square cracker enjoyed with cheese and dipsbeing a wholesale manufacturer and brand with a team of around 35 people.being proudly #Australianmade with #localingredients and #supportinglocalfarmers wanting to maintain #lpcoalmanufacturing here,  and also support local suppliers being driven to stay, Australian made / Australian owned despite ever present opportunities to go offshore and someone always saying there are  better opportunities to save moneyher desire to keep everything Australian, because of the flowon effect that it can have in rural communitiesher desire to be more community focused, I think that's what COVID actually taught us.why for her being in business isn’t entirely about saving or making moneybeing able to offer people, families, far more extension than just a wagethe many ups and downs in our business over 28 years and the one thing that we drew on very strongly - #buildingthecommunity within a community, the #kurrajongkitchenfamilyblending family and business and how many businesses don't necessarily know how to blend those her language in the business - we're not a team, where not staff or employees, we're a familyhow that language leads onto "it's everybody's responsibility as a family to hold the space, to all play a role and responsibility authorities and accountabilities"where #smallbusiness misses opportunitiesthe #roi in her approach - intangibles that bring community building why there's always challenges when people are involved but knowing that happens in real families as well her greatest learnings over 28 years of making a lot of mistakes;giving people a voice, and treating them like humans, giving them a seat at the tablegiving them a voice to have a say without objection. using a different language at work to empower the person in the skill set that they're doing. And once we empower them, they will learn to own their role. And her first question is " how can I support you in your role?" her most important role, even though she is the #CEO and #co-founder is just is to make them the hero playing to the strengths of the team member (we all have strengths and weaknesses and we've all got  learning opportunity) but if you play to people's strengths they’ll deliver back and they will shinegeting sick of running a business by fear how to do the right thing so everybody will stay and do the right thing, and if not the team weeds those that aren’t doing the right thingnearly losing the business in 2012 - due to external environmental factors that we hadn't accounted for, a little bit like COVID external environmental factors accepting that we "don't know what we don't know" and chasing new knowledgeunderstanding that rather than saying I can’t afford the time, think about it as I can’t afford the risk of not knowingwhy there is no such thing as a  dumb question in businessand if you don’t understand the answer, ask them to go back to basics, and ask it again if you don't get it because it's your business it's your life it's your family that's going to be affected. my vision is to empower leaders and leaders, connect communities and create life changing opportunities across remote regional cities across the nationher emerging role as a mentor to business owners primarily when they get into this chaos stage - when they could be quite a big business and they just don't know they can't see the wood for the trees and they just need somebody to sit and talk to them, mentor, and have a sense of give them, accountability, and confidence in their decision making process to take those next steps.the next stage for the brand of 28 yearsmaking it into an Australian iconic brand - the vegemite of the biscuit islewhy culture eats strategyand finally why small business is and was really important to her mother, her family and communitieswww.kerrcapital.com.au  Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@LesWatson (aka The Timelord)  is a #smallbusiness #coach and #productivity expert.He was inspired by and trained with @DavidAllen who wrote #GettingThingsDone. He uses the #GTDmethodology in his work to improve productivity management, build team leadership & develop communication.Les believes higher productivity is determined by the answers to 2 key questions;1. Where is your focus? 2. What do you want to do today? What do you want to do this year?In our discussion we talk about;Creating a goal and keeping accountable for itThe power of asking 'what do you want to get done today'?Getting it out of your head and onto paper - the power of writing down what you want to get achieved (and avoiding being lost with 1000 other things going around in your head)The key to effective time management being very clear about what you want to do with your timeThe secret to project success;What's the end result?  What does done look like? What are you trying to achieve?Second question whats next?Identifying the telltale signs that signal someone is struggling at a personal level with all the overwhelmThe importance of better productivity to ensure you are keeping agreements with the people around you, the ones you love The need to #lookafteryourself Why you should treat yourself just as importantly as your highest paying client, your most valuable client.Using your diary to create blocks of #metimeWhy with all of us having the same 24 hours it's about how we prioritize the things that are going to give us the biggest returnWhy leaders need to put their own mask on first before helping others.The value of a walk around the block and enough sleepThe simple components of a trusted system - paper or electronic -  where everything gets recorded to ensure it will get doneThe power of having it all in one place Doing a brain dump and enjoying the freedom and creativity that comes in there from thatWhy the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memoryWrite it down! Write it down! Write it down!Creating accountability by meeting with somebody on a daily or weekly basis to discuss what worked, what didn't work is what I'm going to do differently next week.Why you probably can't do it aloneThe key to email managment - the 4 D’s;dodumpdelegate ordecide / diariseMaking the hard decisions for an improvement in productivity Becoming the role model in your business#OneNoteWhere you can get the book “get back an hour every day”  www.getmoretime.com.auwww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@MarnieRoberts from www.winegrapes.com.au  is a #winemaker and champion of the #cooperativeownership  and operating model. As a #businessmodel #coops have been around for a long time but she believes they are in a resurgence. She grew up in #Mildura surrounded by #coops and was really attracted to the ethos of it working for a collective. #winegrapes now has about 120 #growers and is based in #regional #SouthAustralia. In our discussion we talk about;how a #cooperative can benefit and supporting local people, local growers and their #localcommunitynot being #bigcorporate#mclarenvalethe advantages for growers;the reach  and opportunities they may not get if they went out by themselvestapping into a vast array of skill sets which creates this network of growers communicating with each othergetting more 'pull'being able to lean on each otherwhat #winegrapes offersselling as a stronger unit (and avoiding leaving fruit on the vine or dropping to the ground)making wine for the grower if they can't sell thathow the cooperative model combines #infrastructurehow one of the original founders, @Paxtonwines has developed the Paxton brand while still being part of the groupcurrent challenges with #exporting #wine#globalizationhow we are reimagining the old idea of making a product in the hope that it will sell on the market (way too risky now) and are instead pre-selling or setting up strong relationships with export markets where they've got more security in what they're sellingwhy the days of just crushing a few 1000 tonnes to make wine in the hopes that it'll sell in #China and just going to trade shows, is overthe importance of #buildingrelationships#winetechthe critical importance of the #story around where wine is grownthe benefits of the cooperative model to other local communities;giving the community more powercreating belief and positive reinforcementavoiding feeling like you're just trudging onall leading to an improvement in #mentalhealththe day to day opportunities, challenges and difficulties around, setting up a cooperative, and then managing a cooperative on an ongoing basisdriving a lot and getting face to face#LanghorneCreekprobably just the logistics of distance.how #coops work - general meetings and reporting on corporate obligationshow communication is vitalneeding a strong ethos and a driving force that's laid out to make it fair for everyonewhere the #wineindustry is headedthe loss of Chinese exports#smallproducerswww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@SabrinaRunbeck is a #peakperformanceconsultant with a background in #neuroscience and #publichealth. She #empowers her clients, including #smallbusinessowners, especially in #healthcare, to increase their #productivity and better look after themselves so that they can sustain themselves and their businesses.Her mission is to help business owners prevent their passion from becoming a prison. In this high enegery conversation she talks about;the downside of being so good at just #gettingthingsdonehow #sayingyes to the things that don't truly align with gives away our precious time, energy, and ultimately our sanitygrowing up as an only child in a family of Asians where for girls its like, oh you know you're smart, but get a job, don't rock the boat, you'll be fine.why she ended up the rebellious one because she thought "why should the boys carry out the family name and doing XYZ"getting two bachelor degrees, a masters degree finally got into medicine, and one of the best heart and lung surgery centers in the USAfeeing like  I made it and then I started working 80 plus hours a week, constantly adding more cases or seeing a new consultation just keep goingher 'aha' moment - waking at 8 o'clock in the am and already feeling exhausted but just pushing through it like a little thing, no big deal. If you don't do it, who's gonna do it, that type of mentality, so I had to convince myself#positivepsychology#sabotagingtendencieshow to actually #prioritize - no longer 10 things as a priority, there should just be one, very focused and knowing when you pick that one you have no regret, you're very present, and then you're not putting yourself into the #distractionzone, this #deadzonekey signs that someone should be looking out for in themselves or another's they care about, as, as an indicator that things aren't right.why we should be living more than 80% of the time in our desire zone to keep our momentum going, keep our joy, keep ourself lightdefinition of a #desirezone - it's something that you love to do and you're really good at it come natural to you.doing things that you love to do, and #movingtheneedle in your life or businessknowing that when we start to #procrastinate, we start to slow down our momentum, so that the disinterest zone which is also very dangerousa simple exercise to help you figure out 'your zone'  and how can you automate or delegate themcreating a #truefocus funnel by  eliminating and then #automatingovercoming a #mindset barrier where people feel like I'm by myself. I don't have the time, I don't have the money. I don't have the resources.pivoting into the empowerment side of us to be resourcefulhow if you continue to do the tasks that are truly mundane then you diminish who you are, And not only your confidence and your time, but then really how you see yourself as an individual, as a business owner.what to do if you're not moving the needle in your businessa #naturalpathforpeople, for #businessownersfor you to have that double win with a powerful career and a passion in life, we needed to see life as a whole.@BrendonBurchard https://www.highperformanceplanner.com/identifying and managing 5 key inputs;TimeIntrinsic valueMoneyEnergysanitywhy without the right energy you won't do anything at allthe four different #chronotypes i.e. natural energy cycles in people.#preventativemedicinehow to  preemptively reset yourself, because it's easier to recharge when you're pretty full than bring yourself completely down - constantly just sipping on something, right that's analogy,sanity - why most people are not realizing that a lot of things are just not enjoyablehow are you truly creating freedom for yourself, what does the freedom even look like for you, and is there future value. - it's not just the enjoyment of now, the instant gratification#personalgrowth, because without that constant excitement that will build for us, then people eventually gonna get to a point of being stagnanthow you just don't know what you don't know, and for someone else look at it, this chaos can become something so simplified#productivitycoach#businesscoach#relationshipcoachjudgment #sabotagingtendencywanting to serve and making sure everyone else is happy but forgetting  yourself.receiving empathyhaving a #purposestatement for me and a little me time because y'all deserve ita guide on when to say yes when to say nosaying heck yeah yes only to the things that truly light you up in lifewhy every no is a new opportunity toward  things that you truly can feel powerfully about so when you say that yes you don't feel like you're regretting or you feel like you're missing out right, you're you're comfortable with every single decisiondealing with not making the right decisionbuilding confidence in making decisions you may not have made before, that you may have put off because it was too hard ,or you didn't like saying no, so you're retraining yourselfhow important employees are to the success of just about every businesshttps://sabrinarunbeck.com/energywww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@JennDonovan  is co-founder of www.spendwithus.com.au, an #onlinemarketplace and directory for #rural and #regional #smallbusinesses of Australia who have been impacted by #bushfire, #drought, and #coronavirus. @SpendWithUs supports #ruralbusinesses that find it hard to compete due to location, size, technology, and other adversities.Jenn was a #propertylawyer for 17 years before turning to #smallbusiness and #socialmedia #marketing #coaching and #mentoring. She also has her own podcast @SmallBusinessMadeSimple. In our discussion Jenn talks about;the pro's and con's of having a few wines with her best friend and deciding to quit their corporate jobs and buying  a retail business without any retail experience, and as a result finding her passion for marketing and social mediagrowing a retail business in a regional area, and growing it during one of the worst droughtstransforming and then selling the shop before deciding to help other small business owners grow their businesses and really make marketing a priority for themthe spark for @spendwithus from spending a lot of time working with #ruralbusinesses, and touring around rural #NewSouthWales #Deniliquin #Hay #Leeton #Griffith and seeing everyone was really sad and not particularly looking forward to Christmas,#buyfromthebush#spendwithus starting as a #Facebookgroup  to help regional businesses sell to a different audience that was outside their towns ,  think #Amazon but for rural and regional Australia , that's got 315,000 people in it now.her hard won first first lessons in marketing - to listen to the customerswhy there is no such thing as mistake, just lessons to learn frombeing a ready fire aim person, who prefers to  just do it and perfect it as you go along because if we wait for the right time, it may never come,finding a business to buy by knocking on doorsher aims;start a marketplace out so people could actually put their products on a website with traffic comingget small businesses online with a shopping cart even if they don't have a  websitethe type and size of customers on the platformusing emotive language and not just telling me the features@ampaperartsbuilding brand awarenesswhy just opening the front door and expecting customers to flock in won't work offline or onlinegetting started by dipping a toe in the waterbeing blown away at the talent that rural Australia hashaving some very hairy lofty goals for @spendwithus to be a household name like @amazon by showcasing rural and regional Australiaher best three tips for owners who are struggling with social media;show up because people do business with people they know, like and trust. And if you are always just putting products and not showing this your actual face and your voice and your personality, then that is the number one thing that you can do betteras far as your marketing goes no matter what platform you're on or what piece of marketing, you're looking at, people have to get in front of that cameranetworking and collaborations - she is a  huge advocate that your network is relative to your net worth. So, if you want to get more sales, get out there join your local chamber, your local tourism board, whatever it is and brand  yourself as part of your business.#madethegrampianswayunderstanding that the community depends on the viability of small businesses, and why we're better off supporting each otherwww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Ashley Darwen is the founder of @ADITS, an #ITservicecompany run out of #Bowen in #Queensland. He started the business as a 20 year old, and now has 36 employees.Born and bred in Bowen he started his business / working career when still in year 11 at the suggestion of a #teacher who thought he could be putting his efforts into something productive (because obviously, schoolwork wasn't going 100% to plan!). He was offered a school-based traineeship and hasn't looked back.In our discussion he talks about;starting at a local high school one day a week, which then turned into two days a week and three days school then fourgetting bored  at 20 and then starting his own businessgoing home to his parents and saying yeah this is what I want to do and getting the support he wantednot being so sure he would as supportive if his child came home and said the same thing now!!the luck of having a supportive teacher that identified he had an aptitudebeing a managed service providerthe services ADITS offers and the customers they work with , from a #startup or one or two employees to a large school or enterprise with 500acting as a conduit between 300 vendors, it providers out there and the businessthe importance of company culture in growing a one person business to 36 employees from Bowen in Queenslandunderstanding that for a service based business the greatest asset is your team, your peoplehis approach to hiring and the value of doing the last bit of the interview over lunch in an informal settingthe challenges with getting people (employees) to #remoteareas, a town of 10,000 peopleThe challenges of coming from a Metro area to a country townhaving offices in #Townsville and Brisbane because you're not always get to find the skill set that you need or the people you needhow #COVID has brought everyone's attention to the fact that we actually can work from home now, where you can live in a, in a rural or regional location and still work for a metro company#businessculture - creating it vs evolving itthe need to genuinely care about your customers and staff how it takes a whole team to make this thing workmaking the team part of somethingtrusting your teamthe importance of customers aligning their #businessstrategy and their #ITstrategyfirst thing that we do is take an audit of their business as such to see what they've got from a technology point of view to, you know, to see what they've got.the importance of sitting down with the business and understanding what they do, how they do it and then what their plan is in the next 12 to 24 months the need to make sure is that from a technology perspective they have what is needed to scale in the next 12 to 24 monthsbusinesses going onlinebusinesses having a new appreciation for #technology and how, how they can benefit from using IT the gaps  in regional areas (1) #digitalinfrastructure and (2)  #digitalliteracythe roadblocks and challenges in regional Australia to do with #connectivity and #internetspeedwhy in terms of education for businesses the IT industry needs to get better at working with businesses to bridge that gap and to be that conduit and to help them through the journeysome of the risks and challenges emerging now for businesses  - via data breaches, cybercrime#Cybercrime as our biggest threat to technology at the momentpreventative IT solutions#databreaches in Australia, 85% of them come from end usersexciting uses of technologies and businesses in the medical space or aged care spacethe flexible work environment where people can work two days a week at home instead of commuting so they've got more time with their families.Keys to success;having a good team around you that share the same vision and are on the same page to make sure you know from an operational point of view that the business works wellan advisory committee and mentorswww.kerrcapital.com.auwww.adits.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Stephen Dowling is the founder of www.granthelper.com.au  and helps businesses to access #grants and increase their chances of being successful. In this discussion we talk about;the massive and confusing array of grants at #councilgrants #stategrants and #federalgrants the size of the grant market (currently in the billions)the industries where the grants are e.g. #medical, #foodandbeverage, #defense, #space, #mining, #resources#regionalgrantswhere to go to actually find itfinding a #grantconsultant that is well connected and knowledgeable#manufacturingsovereignty - a real issue - the federal government has invested quite a lot of money in that areato prop up the nation's capabilitythe #export arena, and helping #exporters to develop their channels, develop their relationships through innovative means given the travel restrictions at the momentthe #femalebusinessfoundergrant helping #femaleentrepreneurs or #businessowners to grow their businesseshis best tips for increasing chances of success;thinking about what is the project that they want to undertake and being clear on what their activities as the  starting point, rather than worrying about what the grant isincorporating  a business strategy overview, and, and a marketing plan as to have it going to grow the business as a result of the activity that they're plantingtelling a story about how a business is making some sort of transformation and how that transformation benefits the business, but also benefits the sector, maybe the #localeconomy, and so has these sort of rippling effectsusing the right sort of language when responding to questionsusing a grant consultantlooking at the grant and the benefits from an external perspectivethinking of it as an investment in a business by an external party, whether it be government or investorsreporting back to the granter -  there is compliancedeveloping business by looking at new markets and new productsthe #modernmanufacturinginitiative which is currently being rolled out across Australia. food beverage covering ;#Medical#recycling#space#waste#cleanenergycase studies;working with a manufacturer in the food and beverage sector based in South Australia who work across an entire supply chain, from harvesting wild game animals and processing them, and exporting the outputs as much as selling them domestically, and they utilize 100% of the carcass on the animal and have no waste so this particular business is actually applicable across a number of different sectors food and beverage manufacturing circular economy.a biomedtech companyunderstanding that there can be an opportunity costs associated with applying for a grant because there's often a long lead timewww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au