We recently had a chance to talk with Katarzyna Sektas-Bilusich - a recipient of a scholarship from the City of Charles Sturt to access Business SA's Encore Program. The program is for people aged 35 or above looking to either establish a new business or grow an existing one.
This 12-month government-funded program helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality or where a business already exists - provides support to create a sustainable business model.
We wanted to learn more about Katarzyna’s learnings from the Encore Program.
How did you hear about the program?
I participated in a Women’s Networking Event organised by the City of Charles Sturt. During the chats among the participants, I found some leaflets about extended support for businesses and entrepreneurs provided by the City of Charles Sturt and I started to do my own research on what opportunities are waiting for me and I found the Encore Program among them.
What motivated you to apply and what were you hoping to get out of the program?
My work experience is mainly from Europe in a highly advanced banking and finance industry. I established my own law & consulting firm in 2012 and it was growing through the years. Being an entrepreneur, I started to have a desire to do my MBA but instead, because of many years of managerial experience, I was admitted for an International Executive MBA at the prestigious ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, among other managers with years of experiences. My unexpected takeaway from this program was that management and sales is 90% of an entrepreneurial life. It took me a while to implement what I have learned.
When I heard about the Encore Program, I thought that it’s like a mini-MBA program, and at this stage of my life, good to refresh my knowledge, familiarise myself with Australian business culture and learn something new about how to be successful in this market.
I believe that sometimes there is this one piece of advice, one conversation, or one critique, which is the kick start required to be a successful entrepreneur and begin a new growth path or change the trajectory of the current one. I joined the program to find my inspiration for an idea for a change.
Can you tell us more about your business?
I have an entrepreneurial mindset, soul and it probably also flows in my blood. With my team based in Europe we are working on complex banking structures for Project Finance, Mergers & Acquisition and current business financing as well as short term and long-term strategies of the financing and operations of the business.
However, fashion is my passion and I love shoes, I have hundreds of them. This is probably why I entered into a business with a friend, and we created a rather successful brand, Love of Clogs. We design and produce mostly wooden sole clogs. Our production is based in Europe and our centre of business is in Adelaide. We set up an online shop www.loveofclogs.com as well as establishing wholesale relations with boutiques in several locations around Australia.
Can you give us some examples of how the program has helped you?
The program was a very useful roadmap of how to think about the business, organise it and maintain work-life balance.
I prepared my final Business Plan based on the Love of Clogs business, as I could use more data from this inventory-based business. I have never run my own inventory business and observing my clients who are large corporations, I thought it must be very simple. Once we started the Love of Clogs business, we didn’t have a complex business plan, we did a SWOT analysis and many different aspects of a business plan but not one complex and full business plan looking forward the next 1-2-3 years. This program helped me to better structure what we should have in a business plan.
This program helped me also to work on my private goals and set the direction on where I want to turn next. I needed a moment to stop and look around to understand that business advisory and entrepreneurial strategy planning is my natural interest and for this type of work I have the required set of skills from birth.
What workshops did you attend as part of the program?
I only missed one workshop on leadership. All other workshops were very interesting and concentrated in the scope of knowledge which was passed on.
My favourite one was about finances. I felt that it was my desire for a long time to study finances of companies and as a result I have enrolled for a Master of Professional Accounting and completed the first trimester already.
In my service-based business I have never paid attention on cash flow. On the one hand because it was quite successful from the early stages but on the other hand because I didn’t have to invest in inventory, machinery or other fixed assets as my main assets were people who worked for me. Having experiences from different types of businesses I found it fascinating that everything about a company is actually about finance. Even a great business idea without a good financial structure and stable cash flow will not be successful.
Also, on the workshop about finance I understood that real marketing is all about financial planning in the first place. The advertisements which we can see in social media, radio or TV are only the way of execution of the financial marketing strategy and I call this part visual marketing strategy implementation or execution of the marketing strategy.
What additional aspects to the program did you like?
I think fellowship with the other entrepreneurs was one of the best parts of the Encore Program. It was like a mental entrepreneurial support group!
I realised how many of the attendees had so much in common. Although they had different profiles of their services, different business models and different sizes of their business, yet they had the same goals, struggles and experiences.
An important part of the program is the physical and active participation during the workshops. I found it very interesting to be able to listen and talk with many wonderful entrepreneurs about their journey in the business world. It was inspiring and fascinating to meet so many open minded and business-oriented entrepreneurs. I have learned from the other participants probably 40% worth on top of the Encore Program itself, having 140% experience in total.
Do you find the environment of City of Charles Sturt to be supportive of the entrepreneurs and business owners?
I find the City of Charles Sturt very supportive for entrepreneurs. I strongly support the initiative of the Encore Program grants given by the City of Charles Sturt. I believe that this program may help many people in their dream of feeling the freedom of the entrepreneurial life.
I find many initiatives of the City of Charles Sturt very interesting for the entrepreneur, like networking events, workshops, and meeting with interesting people.
What is next for your business?
I want to develop my work with micro and small businesses on their strategy and financial planning as well as continue to work with large corporations on their strategies in Europe and start expansion on the Australian market.
I have a Business Plan for Love of Clogs ready for implementation, so the next step is the effective execution.
I also want to give to the community and partner with universities or business schools to use my experience and natural entrepreneurial skills to help more people to understand pros and cons of entrepreneurial life, explain the set of skills they must have to be successful and share my takeaways from my 11 years of experience as an entrepreneur but also my 24 years of experience in a banking sector working with many businesses on their way to growth.
Katarzyna’s experience within the program has inspired her to pursue additional study in finance. She highly recommends the program as its great for all levels of knowledge and experience.
Her learnings highlight the importance of having your business plan and finances in order, before investing in business.
Encore is taking expressions of interest for 2024.