Being involved in so many companies, Braunthal has no one office he travels to everyday.
“I operate from home, but all the businesses have offices I can go to. On different days I’ll have different meetings schedules, but I don’t have any real structure to my day or week.”
Braunthal has different roles and varying levels of involvement with each of the companies he’s found and created, but his work with Incite Consulting Services (an IT recruitment company) demonstrates his desire to impart his knowledge to others he works with.
“At Incite Consulting I’ve got less of an executive role, I put in place the strategy, staff, mentoring and I’ve been establishing a blue print for its operations.
“We’ve stripped out the administration side and gone in-house with a small administration team, we’ve got people focused on business development and then another team focused on cultivating candidates in specific verticals. We work predominantly within the Melbourne market, although there are others who use its services nationwide.
Braunthal says it’s been his ability to establish recruitment businesses and create replicable business processes which has led to his success.
“That’s been my bread and butter over the last 16 years,” he says.
This recruitment company model has been applied to sectors other than IT, with Kennedy Reid also working in the accounting and travel industries, as well as recruiting recruiters.
“So really I’ve established a model which can be replicated in other recruitment sectors,” he says.
Brownvalley Investments, Braunthal says, was his first start up in 1993 and it now generates his cashflow and allows him to fund his other ventures.
“Brownvalley Investments does loans which are mortgage backed. I fund business people and property developers with first, second mortgage security and I give them loans at a set interest rate. This keeps the bills paid and allows me to do everything else which is more growth based.”
He says during the day he breaks up his jobs into “mini activities”, allowing him to focus his attention on one thing at a time.
“During business hours I try to work as efficiently as I can and break it all down into mini activities and projects. I also try and keep my inbox as clear as I can and make sure I continuously follow up with people so I’m always getting responses and keeping things moving.
Like many businessmen, Braunthal says responding to emails consumes a huge part of his day.
“Reading and responding to emails takes up the biggest part of my day. I have a huge influx of emails. Phone calls like we’re having now I generally only make while I’m travelling, I’d much rather be talking to people and using my time productively.
“I don’t take calls or make calls unless they are time critical, basically; I’m pretty ruthless with my time because I don’t want to be wasting it. I don’t answer private numbers and I only respond where it is essential. I try to avoid the clutter in my life and unsubscribe from things as quick as I can,” he says.
Braunthal says he doesn’t follow any business statistics on a daily basis, but reads widely to keep up to date with the latest financial news.
“I read the Financial Review daily; I guess that’s my financial bible. I read broadly, but only papers and magazines. I get a lot of email alerts sent to me and that’s how I keep up with things in the real world.”
When Braunthal first started Brownvalley Investments, he frequently worked 80 to 90 hour weeks and his major challenge was overcoming market competition.
“The recruitment market is overcrowded and highly competitive and you need to develop a service offering and find a niche which is really unique. And then there is the perennial challenge of having to reinvent yourself and stay relevant. You need to think, what does the client really desire?
“I’ve always had a very direct and simplistic approach to business so I tend to avoid the clutter. I don’t like politics and I’m not egotistical in anyway, so I just strip things back and that way I have clarity and make informed decisions. The issues in business are always about people when it comes down to it. I made sure I hired wisely, people with a high work ethic, similar qualities to my own, who were persistent and disciplined – staff with those qualities hold you in good stead,” he says.
Despite founding so many businesses, Braunthal says it wasn’t until he actually started to sell them he was able to make a profit.
“It was only from exiting businesses and being able to cash out that I made profits. While you’re running a business your equity is tied up in your debtors. It was only through having sold out of a few businesses along the way I’ve managed to get to a position where I’m not reliant on having a wage,” he says.
Working from home, Braunthal does not have a set finishing time, but he enjoys this flexibility.
“I’m pretty flexible, some days I’ll have to work on stuff until midnight, but family time is pretty precious, and I don’t like to have to do that too often. I’ve always had the mindset that I put in when it’s required, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Monday or a Sunday, time is pretty irrelevant.
“I’ll try and wrap things up by 6pm if I can and there are some days when I don’t do anything! I might be off on some sort of sporting activity or on holidays with the family. I’m getting better at shutting off,” he says.
Braunthal says as an entrepreneur and business owner, you’re laughing if you think you’re going to be working 9am to 5pm.
“If you’re thinking you’ve got to work by the clock, you’re not going to be successful. I’ve only been successful building businesses rapidly by putting in all the hard work and if that means working 80-90 hours a week then so be it. Not a lot of people can do it.
“That’s just the way I’ve been since I’ve gone into business. There are no rule books, so it’s up to you to write your own story. You can do it by writing a novel or make it a short story – I’m not much of a reader of novels, so I like to do things quickly,” he says.
Because he no longer needs to rely on a salary, Braunthal says his focus has shifted to his lifestyle recently.
“I guess I’ve evolved a bit, I used to work an enormous number of hours seven days a week. Now my life is a lot freer because I don’t rely on a salary and while I’m motivated by wealth generation I don’t need to work. For me it’s more of a sport. I’m a very competitive person and whatever I do I want to do the best I possibly can. My focus is around lifestyle, but I guess business is what keeps me excited and motivated.
Looking forward, Braunthal doesn’t see any major changes to his businesses.
“I’m on a pretty good path at the moment, so probably just more of the same. The businesses I’ve got will grow and flourish, so they will be cashflow positive and build an equity value in their own rights. There’s not a whole lot I want to do different other than just seeing them become more successful.
“I’m probably more focused on the lifestyle – having the ability to go on holidays when I want, where I want and how I want. I also want to impart the knowledge I’ve got onto my kids and assist them in buying a house, starting a business or in whatever their ambitions may be.
Braunthal recommends aspiring entrepreneurs test their ideas while they are young and in full-time employment.
“I think it’s good to try things while you’ve got full-time employment, you need to be able to cover your own subsistence for starters. You need to work hard outside of your nine-to-five job and just cultivate business ideas, read widely, study and take a risk, try different things but do it on a moderate level.
“You learn from mistakes, but test ideas without risking a lot. The earlier you start the better. There are a lot of ‘gonnas’, but there aren’t anywhere near as many doers. If you have an idea why not take a punt, raise some money if you can and test it on a small scale, if it works there you can pour your heart and soul into it and give it your all,” he says.
Braunthal says being an entrepreneur has inherent risk, but it was never a concern for him.
“I’ve always been a risk-taker so for me it was just natural. I’ve only ever looked forward, so I’ve never contemplated the risk I guess, I’ve always just backed myself.
“Typically, I haven’t had to make huge outlays in businesses to get them going, it’s been my own human capital at risk. It’s been more my time that I’ve sacrificed and that was always something I’ve been comfortable with.”
