Growth Newsletter

Mrs King was my PE teacher when I started Year 9 at Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School on the Gold Coast in 1982. Having recently relocated from Sydney, I ended up in a school that was completely sports obsessed – something I wasn’t.

In Edition 65 of Growth (Why Holden is dead in the water – 19th April, 2017), I prophesied that “Australia’s Own”, Holden will not survive as a full line importer.

It was Easter Saturday 1993 and the plan was to pop out to the supermarket and pick up some fruit and vegetables. We were in the middle of a lazy Easter weekend and the weather was overcast. As we headed into Campbelltown Mall, the Pet Shop strategically positioned on the corner of one of the main entry had some Boxer dogs inside.

My wife likes shoes. Lots of shoes. Not necessarily expensive ones and most often quite well priced. It’s just that Trish really can’t walk past a shoe store without stepping inside just like I can’t walk past a patisserie. Sigh!

Today’s edition of Growth is an example of something that most family business owners and managers would consider stupid – and have probably experienced themselves at some stage.

This week, we’re not sowing the seeds of love, as the 80’s power band Tears for Fears espoused in 1989 (I know, 30 years ago, who’d have thought?). But we are talking sowing the seeds, much like farmers do. Let me explain.

It was before 5am on a Saturday morning. The sun wasn’t up, however Prince, our King Charles Cavalier was. Leaving the back door slightly ajar the previous evening meant that he was the first to notice the dawn chorus. The Willy Wagtails were the opening act and, if there’s the opportunity, Prince quickly follows, even before the Kookaburras break into their glorious early morning song.

Some time ago, I was talking with one of my great clients who lamented a situation he found himself in. He was talking with a supposed expert about an issue and was looking to have a question answered. Instead, all my client was offered was options, not solutions.

One of the most powerful songs I have heard over the past few years is the duet from Zayn and Sia, Dusk Till Dawn. In the modern era of an artist featuring another one, for me it is one of the best combinations not only in terms of the music, but also the lyrics.

Happy New Year! Here’s to a prosperous, exciting and well balanced 2020 – and a decade of evolution, growth and doing more of what you want to do with your life, through your family business.