We have loved tapping into the experience and knowledge of our business advisors, who we have been working with very closely during this time and with the rollout of our Economic Support and Stimulus Package Grants.
Randal Brooks is a Chartered Accountant who has 30 years’ experience in supporting executives to implement business strategy and build business intelligence, therefore increasing their confidence in managing the business and making business decisions.
Randal Brooks of Results Business Management shares his strategic business management expertise.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Randal Brooks and I started up Results Business Management about 8 years ago after a long history of providing business advice as an employee of large corporates and small family businesses. I saw a need for CEO's or business owners to get better business information so they could make informed decisions with confidence. Scenario planning is now a critical part of business survival, given all the global shocks that are happening whether it be climate change, health emergencies, supply chain, impact of technology or anything else.
How long have you been in the business management industry and what has brought you to the City of Charles Sturt?
Initially my involvement with the City of Charles Sturt was through the executive committee of the Western Business Leaders. I was approached by the City of Charles Sturt to become an advisor to their business grants program which I was happy to do as I have seen first-hand how the City of Charles Sturt team are passionate about the west and making it a destination of choice to live and do business.
We know that consultants can specialise in a variety of areas. Where do you see your agency sitting in this ecosystem, and how do you see your areas of specialty?
Whilst I cover a lot of areas, my specialty is in looking at business viability, identifying any gaps or opportunities in the business model and being able to quantify how many widgets the business needs to sell to be successful. I use a structured approach that organises business thinking but does not stifle innovation.
For medium to large businesses, I also specialise in business planning/forecasting, business intelligence, and administrative process automation.
What are the main issues you see coming up time and time again for your business clients?
For small businesses trying to sell their product online, the cost of delivery often makes the transaction unattractive for the consumer, eg., a $10 item plus $10 postage makes the end price greater than the value being received. Businesses in this situation need to work out how they can bundle their product to increase the initial value of the transaction eg., buy 10 and get 1 free and hopefully delivery costs are still only $10.
Depending on the type of business, the lack of capital to start up the business makes it difficult to get to a scale where the business is viable.
Lots of businesses are still doing all their planning and forecasting and reporting using multiple excel workbooks and sheets which increases the risk around data integrity, version control, document distribution and productivity. There are alternative solutions available.
It is important to know who is a good fit for your business, and those people who you work best with, and can help the most. Who do you feel your agency is able to work best with and to help the most?
I can provide most value when people are just starting a business and have so much going on, their head is exploding. Using a structured approach, we can distil a lot of the noise and distractions and start to focus on the real important things like "why is someone going to buy your product; not just because you think they will."
Also, I can help the most when an established business knows they need to improve their decision making but not exactly sure how to go about it.
What do you see as the biggest upcoming opportunities for businesses?
In my opinion the answer solely depends on the people running the business. Being able to identify opportunities and take advantage of them is the difference between an entrepreneur and a business manager. Business owners need to understand what business they are in, not what they make. For example, a small business manufacturing a food product should think more about how the business is keeping someone alive rather than it just tastes good. This will then lead to uncovering opportunities.
For my business, the speed of change and improvement in technology is presenting new opportunities for me to work with businesses to improve their productivity particularly in the administrative/finance areas.
If there was one key message you wanted to give to business owners, what would it be?
- Make sure this is what you want to do.
- Understand how many widgets you need to sell to be successful and assess whether you are up for the challenge.
- Give yourself a timeframe for it to work and if it doesn't, then walk away.
- If you are in a relationship with someone make sure they are ready for the ride.
About Results Business Management
Randal offers the following services and support:
- Finance operations management and business risk identification
- Process documentation, analysis and improvement
- Developing business models to enable “What If” analysis
- Development of business intelligence and corporate dashboards
- Designing and implementing Activity Based Costing systems
- Product and customer profitability analysis
- Strategic planning and business plan compilation
Learn more: www.resultsbm.com.au
Results Business Management provides advice to business owners as part of the Business Support Program.
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Emma Grivell
Business Engagement Advisor - Urban Projects
E: egrivell@charlessturt.sa.gov.au