By Leon Gettler >>

AFTER starting business just 10 years ago, Fred Schebesta is now in charge of a $1 billion global enterprise.

Finder.com is a global phenomenon as a comparison website.

“We’re obsessed about helping customers make better decisions,” Finder co-founder Mr Schebesta told Talking Business.

“We help people learn and solve their problems on the site and go on to make great decisions because decisions at the end of the day help you better your life and get you into a better situation so that you can go on and do the things you want to do.”

At its core, Finder.com offers lots of tables and comparisons on the website. This means customers can compare credit cards, mortgages, insurance, personal loans, broadband offerings and mobile phone plans. 

The site offers hundreds of different things people can compare to get the best possible deal and it’s all free.

A GOOD IDEA GOES GLOBAL

The company has now turned itself into a global business.

“We started here in Sydney Australia and we’ve slowly but surely grown,’’ Mr Schebesta said. “We now have offices in the US and the UK. We also market to the rest of the world – Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, New Zealand, and we’re really pushing on our vision bettering all the world’s decisions.”

Mr Schebesta has also set up a venture capital arm for the business, Finder Ventures, which invests in new businesses.

One of these new businesses is the crypto currency brokerage Hive X. It is also moving into the ‘fin-tech’ space.

His advice for other start-ups wanting to expand is to think global.

“I think that it’s really important if you want to build a global business that you need to get out of Australia,” Mr Schebesta said.

“Australia doesn’t have the same dynamics as the rest of the world. It’s actually a bit of an island, it’s a small place on the earth. And it has similar systems to the UK.

“When you go to other countries and you realise the state of things and the innovations that are taking place and the cadence of the majority of the population, you’ll find it’s very different to what’s happening in Australia.

“The second thing I would do is ensure your business is robust and scalable and tested in a small way. So do it small first and start to build on it and then once you find some success, you go from there,” he said. 

“A lot of people go for a big bang but that’s not really my style. My style is a consistent, considered approach and hen when we find success, we invest big. 

“That’s what we did in the US and the UK. We put a lot of money into those businesses.

“We want to make the first global comparison service.”

www.finder.com

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.  

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By Leon Gettler >>

STRUGGLING businesses looking for assistance can expect to get some ‘sweat equity’ from Tamara Loehr.

Ms Loehr has delved into the world of investment with a current focus on her online beauty-disrupter, Dollar Beauty Tribe, designed to promote cruelty-free, vegan indie brands. Ms Loehr has become globally known as a leading wellness entrepreneur.

What she does is she goes out into the world looking for businesses need what she calls ‘sweat equity’.

Her businesses include hair care, a health range, and vitamins. She also looks for businesses she can invest in and grow through her ‘sweat equity’ model, which sees her investing her marketing services, instead of money.

“There’s a real gap in the market, there’s a lot of small businesses that need help with their business,” Ms Loehr told Talking Business.

“They’re not going to get access to capital unless they have a business that’s usually over $10 million, preferably around the $20 million mark because that’s less risky for investors. 

“But before that, they often need a lot of help so that’s where I come in, I fill that gap. I come in where they might be struggling.”

‘SMARTS’ BETTER THAN CAPITAL

Ms Loehr said for a lot of small business, capital was not the best thing they need from angel investors – it’s business ‘smarts’ – as many of them spend that money figuring out the lessons more experienced businesses have already learned.

This is where Ms Loehr, who had an agency for 20 years before she turned investor, comes in and – if she sees the business has a great product but is really struggling with the market and struggling with the dollars to create marketing campaigns – she will take equity in exchange for marketing.

This is something a new business would not ordinarily be able to afford with her agency, and she gets them to their key milestones – which is, primarily, how much revenue they want to achieve.

The businesses she chooses are usually product-based operations in the wellness sector. Her mandate is vegan, organic and cruelty-free.

VALUE INVALUABLE

The business is valued with due diligence, assessed, and priced as if it was being sold in the real market or raising capital. Ms Loehr provides her equity to the business in services.

So if, for example, the business is valued at $200,000 and she takes 50 percent, she will give that business $100,000 worth of marketing. Ms Loehr then has to get them to a certain agreed target to take that 50 percent. If they don’t reach that target, she gives them back their equity.

A timeline is put in place, and that is critical.

“That’s really good for me because if, in 12 months, I have given them four or five hundred thousand dollars of free marketing time and agency time, and a little bit of capital, if that doesn’t work in 12 months, and I’m not hitting those targets, I believe in failing quickly, I’ll pull out,” Ms Loehr said. 

“Because at the end of the day, if that business isn’t reaching those targets, that business isn’t one I would want to be on the bus of. So fail quickly, give them back their equity and move on to the next project.”

Then again, as she says, that hasn’t happened too often.

www.loehrblend.com

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.  

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By Leon Gettler >>

LIVESMILES, brought to you by independent software vendor LiveTiles, is an intelligent corporate wellness solution, kicked off in collaboration with global launch partner Microsoft.

Available on a freemium model, LiveSmiles incorporates key features. These include an artificial intelligence-powered Bot Assistant, data analytics and insights. It also provides real-time recommendations to managers on how to improve engagement and understanding of wellness of employees.

Peter Nguyen-Brown, LiveTiles co-founder and executive director, said wellness is a growth area.

“Our aim is to make wellness part of the workplace as opposed to an after-thought which it often is today,” Mr Nguyen-Brown told Talking Business. 

He said it offered the complete range of technologies from LiveTiles which is listed on the ASX.

“What we’re effectively doing is taking all the technology that we’ve built over these four years, tailor it to a wellness activity, a wellness solution for the workplace and we’re giving it away for free globally so we think that combining all our technology and doing something with it in a global viral sense it can have a big impact,” Mr Nguyen-Brown said.

“Effectively what it’s doing is providing organisations with the ability to build and tailor their own wellness portal, their own wellness solution that suits them.”

He said about 70 percent of companies were trying to do something with wellness but modelling it as an add-on to employees’ workplace experience.

“What we’re finding is that most wellness strategies with organisations are actually overwhelming employees so what we’re doing is helping companies by providing the technology behind it,” Mr Nguyen-Brown said. “We see a lot of companies trying hard but they don’t have the technology to support it.”

WELLNESS SPECTRUM

Mr Nguyen-Brown said wellness was a broad area. For some it was physical health, for others it was mental health. Some saw it as a matter of mindfulness, while for others it was about spirituality.

The key here was to allow employers and employees use the technology to develop a wellness solution that suited them.

He said the wellness industry was growing massively.

“By connecting really good wellness experts with employers, it’s up to them to forge relationships and engage employees,” Mr Nguyen-Brown said.

At the same time, different companies and employees had their own take on wellness. For some it could be about mental health, for others it could be physical health starting with the basics of yoga classes to getting people on their bikes. 

“If we can connect the wellness industry with some of the best employers in Australia, we can accelerate those outcomes,” he said.

Mr Nguyen-Brown said it also worked as a platform to help employers and employees collaborate on their existing initiatives.

https://www.livetiles.nyc/intelligent-intranet/livesmiles

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.  

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A DOUBLE US acquisition by Australian telecommunications company Pivotel has dialled up business into North America, Latin America and Europe for the group. 

Australia’s fourth largest mobile carrier, Pivotel this week acquired two US-based mobile satellite solution businesses, MVS USA Inc. and Explorer Satellite Communications Inc., through its US based subsidiary Pivotel America Inc. This has the immediate effect of significantly increasing Pivotel’s scale in North America and opening new markets in Latin America and Europe.

The double acquisition is expected to see Pivotel’s annual revenue jump to more than US$85 million (A$120m) in 2019/20.

Pivotel has now acquired four international companies within two years with the two new businesses joining North American maritime solutions provider Global Marine Networks LLC, acquired in 2017, and Wellington, NZ based mobile satellite communications provider Wright Satellite Connections Limited, acquired in 2018.

Pivotel chief executive officer Peter Bolger said he was motivated to continue the search for further Pivotel acquisitions that bring in essentials skill sets and capabilities, access to new markets and an expanded pool of customers. 

“Through acquisitions such as these we are able to access new technology capabilities as well as new markets,” Mr Bolger said.

“In the telecommunications business, scale is always important. We expect to achieve synergies at the network level which will drive improved margins across our now expanded customer base and increase the opportunity to sell our existing solutions to new customers and new markets.

“We have historically invested up to 10 percent of revenue on R&D, developing new and better solutions that simplify the use of satellite communications, improve its affordability and deliver the effective outcomes our customers are seeking,” he said. “By having access to more markets and a larger customer base we can get better returns on our R&D investments.”

Pivotel America Inc. president Robert Sakker saw the acquisitions as highly complementary to Pivotel’s existing operations and to each other, important factors in Pivotel’s broader growth strategy.
“With a significant base of retail customers across the Americas, a strong network of reseller partners around the world, and a talented team of professionals, MVS not only provides an immediate revenue lift but also provides enormous potential to accelerate our organic growth,” Mr Sakker said.

“In addition, the MVS FLEXX service management platform is world class and will further enhance Pivotel’s existing service management capabilities.

“Explorer Satellite Communications has a unique and strong presence in the American and international adventure market, with an established customer base and sales channel. Explorer has had amazing sales success despite its relatively small size, and we think they will do great things with the resources of Pivotel behind them and access to a stronger portfolio of products and services.”

The acquisitions also open up new markets in Latin America and Europe, truly globalising the company to now represent over 105,000 current services spread across its Australian, New Zealand, Indonesian, Americas and European operations.

The catalyst for the deal according to Deborah Deffaa, CEO of MVS USA, was Pivotel’s innovation led, customer first strategy to running its business.

“Pivotel is known for its innovative approach to service delivery and its investment in network and application services to improve the customer experience,” Ms Deffaa said. “The allure of connecting our North American, Latin American and European network to Pivotel’s Asia-Pac network is irresistible.

“We will literally span the globe with a satellite data super-highway that allows us to bring our intelligent solutions to customers everywhere,” she said.

“There is no doubt that joining forces with Pivotel will strengthen, heighten and broaden our capabilities as a business. Their impressive history, awards and innovative thinking is well matched with our premium partnerships and personalised approach to communication solutions.”

Explorer Satellite’s principal Andy Cool reflected that “Pivotel America Inc. and Explorer Satellite are a great fit, and we are very excited to be a part of a growing and innovative organisation”.

Today, Pivotel Group has more than 250 dealers and partners across its Asia-Pacific and Americas operations and employs more than 125 staff spanning Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe and Indonesia.

Mr Bolger said the group’s goal was to achieve further strong revenue growth over the coming years via focused organic growth within existing operations and through further acquisitions.

www.pivotel.com.au

www.mvsusa.com

 www.explorersatellite.com

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