Founder of SCS Performance
I’m a business banker turned business builder, helping Australian family businesses keep more of the money they make, so they build their own wealth instead of just that of their bank.
I was coming off the back of my 27th year in finance – had teams spread all around the country, was getting paid well, reporting into senior management and had just landed a massive project with savings to my employer of around $70M per annum, but I was cooked. For a couple of years I had been flying around the country every other week, and had gotten to the point that I had to write down my room number as it was no longer “special” enough to remember. I would even spot when they changed my normal plane or one of my flight crew. I was away a lot.
Long story short, my efforts had resulted in the job offer to take over a more senior role – but we had to move to Perth. Perth is a lovely place, but our roots were all in Melbourne and with two boys in school – we did not want to change things.
All of this aligned with a road trip over Christmas, so for countless hours in the car – I just drove and thought things through. Some people talk about a light bulb moment – well for me it was more like an ember that was fanned with the more thought that I gave it. Over the duration of our trip of a few weeks, I had realised that for decades I had been using my skills for the corporates – but these could be just as effective for the business segment I had funded and worked around for so many years. The same segment who often did not get access to quality guidance. By the time we returned home, I had declined the job offer and worked out an exit strategy with my employer over the forward 6 months.
And so started our coaching practice.
I would love to say that on day # one we hit the numbers and business zoomed along – but that would be a lie. We had some learning to do – I had some learning to do. There is nothing like walking the path a bit to gain a full appreciation of what business owners face day to day. We made some mistakes, we lost a few dollars, we did the cold calling bit, we evolved our product and our pitch, refined our delivery and started to take on more clients. The first three years were valuable – but difficult.
From that point however, we have been able to continue to evolve – with great stability, with it eventually getting us to where we are now. Since starting with our formal coaching, we have been able to work with a great diversity of clients – whilst at the same time identifying who we can assist the most. This was not just about the size of a business or a particular industry type, but more about where they were at and how serious they are about creating change. We have come across a lot of businesses over time who say they want to improve – but are not ready to change.
Change by itself takes an effort – as you are doing something different. This can be pretty foreign, as you need to break some old habits and form some new ones. It’s no shock that the profile for our most successful clients is that they are the ones who have made the changes to their business and got things done. We actively avoid clients who we detect are not serious about change, and we would sack around a client a year because they are fooling themselves with our time and their money.
Affiliations
We are proud members and supporters of the following businesses and associations:
“It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep”
As a published author, Stewart’s book, “It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep” provides a highly effective guide to Business Owners who want a business improvement framework to follow.
Using a combination of live case studies and practical action steps, this book provides the tools and know how to undertake incremental and sustainable business improvement – either for profit now or sale later.
