Owner To Owner Podcast

@RossCameron is the owner of Cameron Research Group who researches #smallbusinessowners. Since starting 30 years ago he's personally done a few thousand face-to-face interviews and more than 700 focus groups. He didn't set out to be a small business owner himself. He worked for a company that did similar sort of research and then went overseas. When he came back to Australia he had some bright ideas he thought would make a million bucks. They didn't quite play out so when he needed cash flow he thought  "I'll do a little bit of market research." Back then there was no one really focusing on small and medium-sized businesses (#SME). No one was really giving SMEs the time of day and he just found that completely bizarre. 97% to 98% of the businesses in the country had less than 20 people and nobody was actually interested in what they have to say! In this time he's marvelled at the unique personal motivations, #resilience and #wisdom of business owners. He's also heard some really funny stories. Here's some of what Ross talks about;why most SMEs don't actually want to growhow people who run a business can "take it in the ring" and when they get knocked down they'll dust themselves off  and bloody show up againthe feeling of being  "king of the world" one minute and then when things are down looking in the mirror and hearing that great song Nowhere To Run To Baby, Nowhere To Hideowners putting their #heartandsoul into itthe misnomer that business owners are risk seekers, that they're nuts - they're not that way at all - there was just an opportunity that made common sense17% of these businesses he interviewed actually want to grow and 83% are actually trying to achieve different things not about business growth including achieving and maintaining a particular lifestyle#lifestyleseekers#passionateprofessionalshow society puts a lot of pressure on these owners for not growingwhat a very lonely place it can be  and why it's so important for business owners need to stay connected with other business owners, because no one understands the blows and no one can really call it like another business owner@smallbusinessmentoringservices in Victoriathe difficulty for business owners in employing somebody else to truly run the business independentlythe tale of the customer who said  "if you don't sell that to me for 150 bucks, I'm going to put a spell on you." and the business owners response 'you're 25 years, too late. I had a spell put on me when I bought this bloody business 25 years ago." 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 

@MichaelDuregon founded www.bringbackaustralia.app to help current Australian consumers better understand what products & services they buy are Australian-owned, and not just Australian-made. The highly successful #australianmade campaign was his prompt and he couldn't walk past what he saw as a big gap and lost opportunities for local #makers and #manufacturers. He had to do something about this!Michael trained as a fitter and turner (trained in Port  Augusta), worked in the #familyhardwarebusiness and also ran (and sold) a couple of his own businesses (signage industry). In our discussion we talk about;getting fascinated with #IT in the #familybusinessprogressing to #appshis #covid19 #silverlining - a sustained exposure to and frustration from lots of stuff on social media saying how they were supporting Australia but confusing consumers on what's Australian owned and what's notthe #australianowned movement and getting people onboard to embrace Australian-owned and to understand the importance of Australian-ownedhis fear that as a nation if we don't own anything then we're going to be renting everything  from offshorelost national identitydoing a better job of commercialising what we invent#foreigninvestment#bobhawke and the 1986  Australian-made campaign#multinationaltaxavoidance@MichaelWestmichaelwest.com.au/revealed-australias-top-40-tax-dodgers-for-2021/how his app overcomes the difficulty consumers have when trying to read the packaging on some itemsAustralian barcode and perception that any bar code starting with 93 means, it's Australian and that's not the case#bootstrappingself funding a startup through #covid#mvp (minimum viable product)@taxjusticenetwork#manufacturingsovereignity#supplychainsthe need for education about business ownershipusing an advisory board#howyoushopmatters  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 

Rodger Spencer bought, improved and then sold his inbound call centre business, @AceAnsweringAfter a professional background in structural #engineering, cost engineering #estimating, and #projectmanagement in the oil and gas industry he'd reached that point where he needed a big change. He wanted a break from the intensity of previous jobs entailed and thought the only way out of it completely was to start again.That's when in 2001 he ended up buying an existing #callcentrebusiness. He openly admits he didn't know a lot about the industry when he went into it. He thought running a business would be easy, but it wasn't. He soon discovered it was hands-on and that he had to do everything himself. If he didn't, it wouldn't happen. It was hand-to-mouth for about 4-5 years but over the  years and step by step he built it up.He's learned a lot from this experience. In our discussion we talk about; initially not being in a hurry to sell because he felt like he was improving the business every day anywayseeing the #businesssaleplanning process as interesting process because it made him look more deeply at some of the things that he was doing day to day, the #systems and the #procedures (that needed to be brought up to date) - he called it phase 2 of the journey aka getting the 'house in order' to make the business presentable for sellingremoving himself over time from the day to day operations and customer-facing activitieshow surprised he was at the length of time it took for anyone to actually take a more intense interest in the businessrealising late that it takes a lot longer than everybody thinkstye-kickers who need a ground up education in the industryfocussing on buyers from within the industryhis major reasons for employing @kerrcapital as his #businessbroker;so you can get on with your workso you don't have to get involved in the negotiationsdealing with the up's and down's during the selling process - having an attitude "well, if it happens, it happens. It'll be great. But if it doesn't happen, we just got to keep going, anyway"not getting too excited about people coming along and showing an interest but staying positivedealing with staff while selling and when to tell them about the sale to avoid unnecessary upheavalthe merits of a #companysharesale (which allowed contracts to stay in place) vs an #assetsalethe #duediligence processwhat happens after you sellhis advice for others considering leaving a job to #buyabusinesshis takeouts for owners thinking of selling;start thinking about it much earlierput things in place to make your business more attractivecontinue run your business (like you would if you were going to keep it)don't do a DIY 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 

@SaeedJoulaei talks about his experience #buyingabusiness and the big move from being an #employee to a #businessowner.It's a very topical discussion. If you've ever thought about becoming a business owner you have two main alternatives. Start your own or buy an existing #smallbusiness.  Saeed has now done both and can talk about the pro's and con's of both.He grew up in a little town in North of #Iran above his dad's little grocery shop and was a very young employee! After finishing an electrical engineering degree he co-founded his first business which for the first time brought the internet to his small hometown.  As a #startup he did a lot of all-nighters to get things moving. He still draws on those experiences today. An opportunity came up to move to Australia in 2008. He gave himself  time to get to know the culture and the environment. He worked as an employee before buying @CentrelineEngineering in 2019. In our discussion Saeed shares his personal experiences and tips on buying a business - we cover;the online search process he used to find businesses for salethe filters e.g. industry, geography he used to help sort through the thousands for salehow the maths he did on starting his own business (i.e. how long it would take to be viable, the risks etc) led him to buying an established businessremembering the feeling the moment he came to realise "you don't have to build it from scratch" - and the relief that he felt with thatthe different risks you can or can't take at different agesdealing with #businessbrokersfeeling unprepared for the buying process, stopping for a while to educate himself with any book or other material he could find to just filter through all the jargon, what the numbers mean,  and how they've come up with the number they've come up.how long the process tooktreating the search as a hobby while working as an employeethe ideal time to get professionals involvedthe importance of understanding the reason why an owner is sellingwhy it's not  always about the dollar - the business has often been someone's baby and you need to factor that inmultiples and  well-understood approaches for valuing businesses#earnoutsCentreline today - designing and #manufacturing the best #IndustrialAutomationMachinery for #Food and #Pharmaceutical Industries.#localmanufacturingthe challenges in finding a #skilledworkforcethe need to do a lot of work on yourself if you're moving from being an employee to owning a businessthe upside of tapping into your communityhaving your stakeholders 'in the loop' - communicating with your partner, your family and making sure they understand the implications - that's very important to help get through the hard times later down the track@kerrcapital  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 

@SaeedJoulaei talks about his experience #buyingabusiness and the big move from being an #employee to a #businessowner.It's a very topical discussion. If you've ever thought about becoming a business owner you have two main alternatives. Start your own or buy an existing #smallbusiness.  Saeed has now done both and can talk about the pro's and con's of both.He grew up in a little town in North of #Iran above his dad's little grocery shop and was a very young employee! After finishing an electrical engineering degree he co-founded his first business which for the first time brought the internet to his small hometown.  As a #startup he did a lot of all-nighters to get things moving. He still draws on those experiences today. An opportunity came up to move to Australia in 2008. He gave himself  time to get to know the culture and the environment. He worked as an employee before buying @CentrelineEngineering in 2019. In our discussion Saeed shares his personal experiences and tips on buying a business - we cover;the online search process he used to find businesses for salethe filters e.g. industry, geography he used to help sort through the thousands for salehow the maths he did on starting his own business (i.e. how long it would take to be viable, the risks etc) led him to buying an established businessremembering the feeling the moment he came to realise "you don't have to build it from scratch" - and the relief that he felt with thatthe different risks you can or can't take at different agesdealing with #businessbrokersfeeling unprepared for the buying process, stopping for a while to educate himself with any book or other material he could find to just filter through all the jargon, what the numbers mean,  and how they've come up with the number they've come up.how long the process tooktreating the search as a hobby while working as an employeethe ideal time to get professionals involvedthe importance of understanding the reason why an owner is sellingwhy it's not  always about the dollar - the business has often been someone's baby and you need to factor that inmultiples and  well-understood approaches for valuing businesses#earnoutsCentreline today - designing and #manufacturing the best #IndustrialAutomationMachinery for #Food and #Pharmaceutical Industries.#localmanufacturingthe challenges in finding a #skilledworkforcethe need to do a lot of work on yourself if you're moving from being an employee to owning a businessthe upside of tapping into your communityhaving your stakeholders 'in the loop' - communicating with your partner, your family and making sure they understand the implications - that's very important to help get through the hard times later down the track@kerrcapital  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 

Bill Lang is Founder and Director of @smallbusinessaustralia.org.  He's a #HarvardMBA, and a seasoned #smallbusinessowner and operator. It started in the #foodvan industry with Doctor Dog, selling hot dogs outside of nightclubs and pubs in Melbourne in the 1980's.But more recently the businesses he's involved with are all about helping (including coaching and mentoring) owners;better use the internetbetter use digital tools to attract customersattract staff, and run their businesses more efficiently.In our wide-ranging discussion we cover;why small business is bigger than jobs and being the economic backbone that we hear politicians spoutsmall business owners are the hearts and souls of their local communities (and not the big companies) why politicians really do not understand what makes small business people tickwhy it's his concern that big business gets looked after (a number of them have quite anti-competitive tactics that drive many, many small businesses out of town)how we're now competing with millions and millions of competitors, unlike pre-internet timesturning the in-depth research from business owners across the country into particular policy initiatives and requests for governments at all three levels incentives to get people to buy local and support local businesseswww.buylocal.smallbusinessesaustralia.orgwww.businessadvantage.onlinethe #invoicingclasswhy if you've never sent an invoice and then had to chase it up, you don't really understand what it's like to be in business for yourself and your family@judobankJim Penman from @JimsGroup why the best business advisors are other people in businesswhy it's wrong to believe the best way to learn is by making mistakes - the better way to learn is by learning from other people's mistakes and thats what you can learn from other business owners that might be a few years older, maybe in different industries@kerrcapital  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 

@BarbaraBraithwaite is the principal #speechpathologist at @SafeSwallowingEducation in Sydney, and #founder of a couple of #smallbusinesses in or around #SpeechPathology. Barbara came into talk about her experience selling her first practice. In the episode we talk about;early-career guidance to steer her away from Accountancy and towards Speech Pathologyher love of being able to empower a client whether a child through communication, or developing their literacy skills, or an adult improving their communication skillsthe positive influence from having  a father who owned his own businessstarting out in a #CommunityHealthCenter and struggling with the long wait for clients (up to five years)becoming pregnant with her first child, going on maternity leave, and using that opportunity to start my own private practicethe source of her passion - #empoweringpeople, and #empoweringstaffher #onlineeducation program for #AgedCare staff about safe swallowing which is a massive issue in the elderlythe impetus to sell her practice so she could devote more time to educationhard, internal questions"Should I sell my practice?""What should I do?""How can I still keep within the profession?"#mentoringstaffmoving more into managing which enabled me to present the practice as a Speech Pathology practice that could continue to grow with or without megoogle searching to get the inside word on selling a businessworking with a #businessbrokerdeciding not to sell staff about the sale at the beginning for fear the whole thing falls throughwhy her practice was like another childdealing with people inquiring about my business whose names she recognised  and learning to detachwhat happened in the year or so it took to sellworking with a good buyer with intent and with credentialsher advice to start putting things in place to sell while you have the energythe emotionsthe importance of really understanding the buyer's intentionswhy buyers will have a different plan for your business and how that translates to different values for your business@kerrcapital 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 

@RichardShrapnel is a #BusinessStrategist and has deep experience working with the owners of #SmallMediumBusinesses. His strength is looking at how businesses are performing and where they are going. He has recently updated and published a third edition (to take account of #covid19) of Going Broke Staying Sane, a workbook to help owners facing #financialdistress to work their way through those problems.  The workbook outlines a 7-step process to help when things don't go as expected - when #cashflows dry up or when you're aksing yourself "What do I do?". It's especially relevant now following the covid-19 lockdowns and the likelihood that so many #SMEs have been hit hard.In our discussion we talk about;finding a way through but expecting scarsthe many types of businesses that have been impacted #restaurants #tourism #hospitality the apparently low number of #insolvencies to date and the potential for numbers to escalate when business people stop hanging onthe sneaking, slow, gradual  pathway to #financialdistress#DeathByAThousandCuts#hardquestions;how much do I dig into my reserves?How much do I increase the debt which I'm carrying?How much do I pull out for my superannuation to try and keep the business alive?How much do I allow the outstanding commercial rents to grow?the natural tendency for small business people to lock themselves down and not share the difficulties with their family because they don't want to take the burdens of the business at homethe importance of #connectingwithpeople around you, of #sharingtheburdenthe #sevenstepsAccept - it's not about saying it's okay, it's about acceptingClarify - getting the facts on the table - so what are my losses? Where are my assets? Where are my liabilities? Whose name is on the line? Who were site guarantees? Whose assets are exposed? What are the opportunities?Action - what are my options? What can I do? What is the exposure? How do I mitigate that exposure? What can I save?Champions - the people going to have your back. They believe in you, they want you to succeed. They have some business sense. They're honest and they'll cord as they see itBe Real - do not surrender your values. Just compare the actions and decisions you take against what is important to youCare - maintain your emotional, mental, and physical fitness.A Light - you need to look for that by creating something,  that light at the end of that tunnel, which you can hang onto and pull yourself outthe tipping point and calling it quits - it's not a failure - it is a sensible commercial decision to release yourself in the business, make a sensible commercial decision, and then take with you what you need to restart#Seekinghelp @BeyondBlueSeeking help @smallbusinessdebthelpline#reinvention#restructuringYou can buy the workbook here www.richardschrapnel.com@kerrcapital 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 

@JamesMurphy from @kerekere is a #social and #businessentrepreneur. At a young age, he moved over to #Fiji. The @kerekere brand was formed based on a Fijian #custom in which a relative or a neighbor can request something and it must be willingly given with no expectation of repayment.He has a track record of building businesses with a social bent.  Under the @kerekere brand he has built and successfully sold 2 of those businesses. We chat about the process of #preparingforsale and then undertaking a #businesssale.He grew up in a #familybusiness #smallbusiness environment. Both grandparents had businesses, one an electrical contractor and the other owned a #servicestation. Even from an early age they always talked to him about #values, #valuesinbusiness and the nuances of #competition and #collaboration. Our discussion covers;#smallbusinessdeciding that being an accountant (like father and two uncles) was not the path, and instead becoming a #socialworker#startingup and progressing from a #coffeecart to a #coffeekiosk to a 'proper' business  at the #BoydCommunityHub#KereKereSouth and #KereKereGreenwhat's needed to run a business #udermanagementhis two pieces of advice in terms of selling;you just got to transact regularly, because you never know sort of what's around the corneronce you start thinking, it's probably time to sellbeing #purposedriventhe reality of getting close to #burnout and losing some of the original enthusiasmhow #purpose was a  strength in the #sellingprocessgetting #saleready for someone to knock on the door and actually getting out to find that ideal buyermaking sure you leave something in for the person who buys the business.the early days of making 1000 coffees a daywhy business is very personal and turning transactions into relationships@kerrcapital 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 

@JamesMurphy from @kerekere is a #social and #businessentrepreneur. At a young age, he moved over to #Fiji. The @kerekere brand was formed based on a Fijian #custom in which a relative or a neighbor can request something and it must be willingly given with no expectation of repayment.He has a track record of building businesses with a social bent.  Under the @kerekere brand he has built and successfully sold 2 of those businesses. We chat about the process of #preparingforsale and then undertaking a #businesssale.He grew up in a #familybusiness #smallbusiness environment. Both grandparents had businesses, one an electrical contractor and the other owned a #servicestation. Even from an early age they always talked to him about #values, #valuesinbusiness and the nuances of #competition and #collaboration. Our discussion covers;#smallbusinessdeciding that being an accountant (like father and two uncles) was not the path, and instead becoming a #socialworker#startingup and progressing from a #coffeecart to a #coffeekiosk to a 'proper' business  at the #BoydCommunityHub#KereKereSouth and #KereKereGreenwhat's needed to run a business #udermanagementhis two pieces of advice in terms of selling;you just got to transact regularly, because you never know sort of what's around the corneronce you start thinking, it's probably time to sellbeing #purposedriventhe reality of getting close to #burnout and losing some of the original enthusiasmhow #purpose was a  strength in the #sellingprocessgetting #saleready for someone to knock on the door and actually getting out to find that ideal buyermaking sure you leave something in for the person who buys the business.the early days of making 1000 coffees a daywhy business is very personal and turning transactions into relationships@kerrcapital 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