After the liabilities were taken care of for the short-term, Malone shaved off seven of Allomak’s original 13 businesses. One of them was sold, two were liquidated, and four were shut down.
Those who worked for the sold companies, kept their jobs. “When we did that, we did it in a way that was fair for the staff,” Malone adds. “They retained their job and all their accruals; we made sure everything was fine.” The cuts shaved AMA Group’s staff count from 370 to 210.
Some more jobs came out of head office.
Before Malone took over, there were 17 people working out of an office in Sydney.
“I closed it down,” Malone says. He spends most of his time on site, either at Mr Gloss or the other businesses.
“Before, it was HQ-centric. They thought head office knew more than the subsidiaries.
“It was patently ridiculous! We were this micro-cap, and had this huge support. They were taking up our time and we only had so much.”
Today, AMA Group has an accountant who works in Sydney. There’s Malone, COO Roberts-Smith, six general managers, and a head accountant.
After Malone took over, he kept a low profile for a few years. “Things were going well, but we wanted the numbers to speak for themselves,” he says. “Particularly given we come from a history of spruiking under the previous management. They were fantastic at talking. They just didn’t do it.”
Malone says he’s building a conservative company.
“What we’ve got to be careful of – we’ve got a fantastic model and culture, and we’re in a great space we know like the back of our hand. We’ve just got to be careful not to shoot the goose that lays the golden eggs. If you grow too quickly, you’re either very lucky, or it gets smashed. For us, it’s not about getting smashed. We’re conservative.”
“We don’t like debt,” he says. “We’d rather pay it out and have control.” In June this year, AMA Group’s total debt was down to $10 million, from $50 in February 2009.
“Sometimes, you have to take a step back to take two forward. You’ve got to consolidate. You can’t grow forever.”
AMA Group has grown since 2009, but organically. Asked where the added revenue has come from, Malone says it’s from their competitors.
“We get it from our competitors, then we put a fence around it,” Malone says. “We do it by service and quality. No frills, nothing else. We don’t buy business. We just look after our customers extraordinarily well, so we get repeat business and loyalty. It’s all about relationships.”
There’s plenty of incentive for AMA Group staff to do well by their customers. After all, the business, while publically listed, is majority owned by people who work in it.
“If you work for someone, your family will come first,” Malone says. “I don’t expect the earth from people unless they have equity as well. I’ve always had the golden handcuffs on key people, because I think it’s very important to keep them with us.
AMA’s board has plenty of skin in the game. Malone says they earn more from dividends than they do from their wages.
The executive ranks are also heavily invested.
“Our COO will do very well,” Malone says. “As he deserves to – I always thought I wasn’t too shabby but this guy’s a gun at what he does.”
“All my general managers have equity, as do plenty of staff in every business. I’ve put non-compete agreements in with many of them. I’ve done all sorts of stuff to build proper succession and a safety-buffer for the business.
“This isn’t some ‘Gen Y’ stuff where you move every few years. This is a fantastic opportunity. We get amazing buy-in, and customer service goes up because of that.
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Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
