What the CEO of MYOB learned from running his small business as a side hustle

Growing up, my parents ran a small business. And like many small business owners, their work took place around the clock. I remember the dining table covered with paper, and saw them work at all hours of the day and night. This gave me a first hand insight into the diligence and dedication it takes to be a small business owner. 

It also gave me a deep appreciation for the experiences of our 2.5+ million small and medium business owners across Australia, often working seven days a week to support their families, while also contributing more than half of Australia’s GDP.

Those observations and lessons were invaluable as I moved into the corporate world, while working with my wife on the small businesses we started and grew.

From corporate leader to weekend delivery man

During university, I had a number of part-time jobs, from delivering pizzas to working as a bell boy at a hotel in Sydney’s CBD. One of my favourite jobs was in retail sales, at a Sydney institution called Gowings, a department store that unfortunately no longer exists. I was mainly in customer-facing roles, and if I reflect on the main learning, it was that customer experience is everything, and it’s something that every person in an organisation has the ability to impact.

After finishing a business degree, I started my journey in the corporate world, firstly joining Philips Electronics on a graduate program, before moving to Compaq Computer Corporation, then to Hewlett Packard, Adobe, Benchling and ultimately here to MYOB.

My first foray into the world of small business was when I was working at Compaq. My wife Sue and I went to the UK for a friend’s wedding. In the invitation was a card that asked us to use an online registry, which in those days, was unheard of. The usual experience necessitated downloading a list and going to a store and buying a product. We were inspired by the idea and knew it had huge potential in Australia.

We wrote up the business plan on the plane home from London and tossed a coin to see who would quit their job to run it. 

Depending on how you look at it, my wife either won or lost that toss, and she left her job to focus on our new venture.

That startup was my second job too. On Saturday mornings, I would run deliveries around Sydney with my dog in the van next to me, and I spent the rest of the weekend doing unglamorous tasks like taking out the rubbish and entering sales data into spreadsheets. On Mondays, I’d be back in the corporate world. 

It was later I realised how many people start a business this way, starting with a great idea, initially running it as a side hustle, while also working inside another business.

Passion and hard work aren’t always enough

Any startup owner will recognise the effort and fervour it takes to build a business. Despite the mistakes we made along the way, what kept us going was a passion for the business, and the dream of being successful, generating an income, and building a future for our family.  

More importantly, and a few false starts notwithstanding, we had a plan, the ability to manage cash flow, and a business model that allowed us to transform as we grew. These are crucial elements for businesses of all sizes. 

After growing our startup to become the largest online provider of wedding registries in Australia, we made the decision to sell it five years later. At that point, all the major department stores had built their own digital registries and we could see we were about to be disrupted. 

Business lessons learned

For me personally, experience in the corporate world has complemented the lessons from running and growing a small business from the ground up, and vice versa. 

Here are a few things I’ve learned about what it takes to create a successful business:

• Cash flow is king: It’s a cliché for a reason. You can have all the passion, desire and willingness in the world, but a failure to manage cash flow is one of the main reasons businesses go bust.
• Prioritise the customer: Do everything you can to ensure the customer comes first. If you don’t have happy customers, you don’t have a business.
• Don’t play politics: Always play the ball, never the person. Politics is toxic in a company, and even worse in a personal relationship. 
• Be direct, but don’t be rude: That one speaks for itself. It’s important to not burn bridges or operate with ambiguity.
• Invest in the right talent: Find, nurture and develop your talent, and build a team with the expertise and vision to navigate the ever-changing tech landscape.
• Foster a culture of innovation: Encourage your team to explore new technologies and identify areas where you could enhance your operations.
• Embrace change management: Accept that change is inevitable and equip yourself and your team with the skills to adapt. Including when to make the tough decisions.

Starting your own business is rarely the easy option, but it is so rewarding. Small business owners often work around the clock – just as my parents did – to make their business dreams a reality. They are driven by passion or expertise, a great idea, or a need to strike out on their own. They share the ability to take a risk. No matter how frightening it may feel, they take a leap of faith in themselves.

It’s the reason I love my job as the CEO of MYOB. 

Every single day my team and I wake up and help small businesses by giving them access to technology to help them make that leap of faith. From their version of the business plan on a napkin through to being a side hustle, a sole trader, or an employing enterprise — it’s an understatement to say it’s rewarding to be even a part of that journey.

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