1. Your business discussion points on starting and growing your business

2. Resources to help you start Small Business Victoria http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/HOMEPAGE CPA Australia - Knowledge Portals - Leadership and Management http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/cpa- site/hs.xsl/knowledge-leadership.html

3. IS GROWTH IMPORTANT? Depends on where you are in the life cycle of the business Start up Second stage Maturity Exit

4. Traditional business life cycle

5. Sigmoid curve

6. Critical items to manage The customer and the proposition Competitive advantage – your unique place in the market Return on investment – the investment story Scalability Pricing and margins

7. Focus as an entrepreneur Focus on the problem you solve – what is your market offering Charge and collect on sales Keep customers happy and the business generation model working Prepare cash flow and budgets Monitor performance weekly and manage cash daily

8. Supply chain solutions – what worked Market change created niche opportunity Large competitors targeted top 50 companies – we targeted next level down Built a great team and had fun Managed cash carefully and had good relationship with bankers

9. A growth trajectory – Supply chain solutions

10. Supply chain solutions – what failed Competitors targeted business and board chose not to sell Competitors targeted top staff and we couldn’t retain them Internal division and dispute Lost focus

11. Avoiding common traps Have enough money to cope with growth – equity – suppliers – clients - banks can help Capacity constraints – systems and people – be prepared so you can cope with extra workload – have a system in place when you start As your organisation grows it changes – be aware of what to expect and prepare for worst case or back off – manage the downside risk to ensure survival Employ people who are better than you Prepare for exit from day one – even if you never do

12. Funding gap

13. Capital raising example Amount raisedStageCompany valueSourceOwner's equityValue of owner's equity $50kSeed$50kYou100%$50k $100k Start up$500kFFF80%$400k $500kEarly stage$2m20/1260%$1.2m $2mExpansion$8mP/E45%$3.6m Exit$10m$4.5m

14. Some suggestions Clear goals about what you do (and make the choice about what you won’t do) Be objective – get an advisory board/independent advice in need Don’t get greedy - raise enough capital and share equity Hire right – people to do the job not who you like – and get diversity in the company Know when to recruit

15. Resources Barry J MoltzYou need to be a little CRAZY http://barrymoltz.com Michael Bungay StanierDo More Great Work http://www.domoregreatwork.com Al Ries and Jack TroutPositioning http://www.ries.com Jim CollinsGood to Great http://www.jimcollins.com Dr. Tom McKaskillInvest to Exit http://www.tommckaskill.com