Name: Kevin & Pia D'Ambrose Smith
Business: Nappies Direct
Industry: Retail Trade
Location: Auckland
Programme: Coaching, 2011 - 2013
Check out their website.
When Kevin and Pia D’Ambros-Smith of Nappies Direct came to The Icehouse, their business was in good shape – but they knew it could be better. Their business had weathered the Global Financial Crisis and come through relatively unscathed. Their focus was to continue to grow the business through tough trading conditions, which is what they managed to do. However this husband and wife duo were battling the challenges that come with owning and running a business together. Despite a healthy working relationship together, family demands meant Pia was struggling to juggle being a mum as well as a director and felt she could only put 50% effort into one thing or the other.
Kevin says the business was good, and growing, but not realising its true potential. He and Pia knew there were opportunities, but needed help prioritising and identifying the best opportunities to pursue, along with help getting re-energised about the business.
“Amid this plateau we both agreed now was a good time to start looking for something, or someone, who could help us realise the real potential of the business,” says Kevin.
Kevin and Pia were searching for someone to help them to grow the business. They had participated in business growth seminars and workshops before, but were searching for something which could be tailored specifically for their needs. Kevin and Pia had heard about The Icehouse, but when Kevin won a place on the Achieving Business Growth Workshop through the North Shore Business Association, they began to understand the wide range of resources available to help their business. Kevin and Pia both agreed that the personal approach of having a coach working with them in their business was the way forward, so they engaged with Ken Leeming.
“Ken immediately ‘got’ the business. He knew what we needed straight away,” says Pia. Ken recognised Kevin and Pia were lacking passion in a business which had major potential. “They were uncertain of the future, going through the motions, focusing on the day to day operations and not taking a longer term view of the strategic imperatives required to grow the value of the business,” says Ken.
Ken says Kevin and Pia had both become a little stale and the business was tracking along without doing anything special.
“This created some frustration and most likely a decline in motivation to address the issues needed to bring the business back up a level where they would enjoy it,” says Ken.
Ken identified the business was experiencing flat growth, competition from large supermarkets and a reliance on one brand and one supplier to drive business. Ken worked with Kevin and Pia to establish clear business priorities and set up a documented plan of action that focused on driving improved revenue performance, better levels of accountability, improved company governance and developed a clear agenda of business priorities that would better prepare the business for increased efficiency and improved financial return.
Ken says he has worked with Kevin and Pia to develop an improved focus and attention to strategic and tactical planning and keep a clear view on the key metrics driving business.
“They’ve worked to develop new business channels to support the existing core business,” says Ken. “Kevin and Pia are leveraging more from key business relationships to secure and enhance current business and look at the business in longer term views rather than the short term nature they tended to do. All this helped them to both re-engage with their business and ‘fire-up’ the passion,” says Ken.
Ken helped Kevin and Pia to work through and rationalise their good ideas and helped them to get rid of the bad ones. Ken’s vast corporate experience allowed him to provide solid strategic insight for the company as well as guidance and understanding on negotiations which Kevin and Pia said could sometimes be a major challenge. Ken’s connections and industry network propelled meetings and introductions with key business players who Kevin and Pia would have otherwise struggled to meet with.
"Ken helps us to define a path to our goals and get there faster,” says Kevin. Kevin and Pia saw real value in Ken being an outside person to give perspective and an objective view on the business.
“Pia and I are married – we have the same values and same perspective on things. Having a third party who isn’t invested in the business helps us to take a step back and evaluate our decisions and thinking for the better,” says Kevin.
The flexibility of having a coach suited Kevin and Pia well, Ken fits into their schedule and adapts their coaching schedule depending on what is happening within the business.
Ken’s high-level corporate experience means that he gives Kevin and Pia valuable advice on how the corporate contacts they approach may perceive their business and what questions they may ask. “It means we go into those crucial meetings prepared and confident with the right information,” says Kevin.
Ken has a sharpened focus and his separate opinion has helped Kevin and Pia to progress things in the business. “He often acts as the casting vote in our big decisions and ensure we’re heading down the right avenue for the business,” says Kevin.
Ken helped Pia and Kevin to accelerate their growth. “We are enthusiastic about the business again, we are experiencing real new opportunities for growth and have resolved any negative issues,” says Pia. “We no longer put up with issues’. Ken has helped us to identify what is ‘unacceptable’. As owner managers you tend to put off addressing some problems, however we now quickly sort them out." says Kevin.
Since taking him on as a coach, Ken says Kevin and Pia both have a stronger focus on revenue growth and expansion of new revenue streams to support core business. “Pia and Kevin are certainly more aware of the need for closer scrutiny of cost management including inventory management,” says Ken.
“Both of them have clearly embraced the need to hold each more accountable in their respective responsibilities. In addition, both have taken a stronger and proactive role of looking at the business in longer term views which has enabled them to embark on a major new business opportunity with confidence,” he says.
Kevin and Pia have fixed the problems in their business and have the time to focus on operating a team of good staff. “We continue to tap into wider contacts and sign onto wider deals to keep us growing and developing,” says Pia. The company has been running for 10 years and now employ six staff who busily process up to 400 orders a day. “We still experience challenges like any other business but we are still going, we’re still gaining and most importantly we are both highly motivated." Ken says a major milestone the business has achieved is the development new revenue streams by leveraging off of core business. “We have developed a new future business model capable of delivering a substantial increase in revenue and value of the organisation,” says Ken. Pia has found ways to balance her work and her lifestyle – in particular being a mum and a business owner.
“Coaching is something we would definitely recommend. It’s an on-going expense, but we don’t see it as a cost – we see it as re-investment in our business,” says Pia. “We needed someone to fill the place of a CEO, a higher thinker who got us in one go – we have found that in Ken,” says Kevin.
When asked if they would recommend coaching to other business owners, Kevin and Pia don’t hesitate to say yes. “Coaching with Ken has enabled us to take things to the next level in the business and presented a raft of new opportunities- it’s an exciting position for us to be in,” says Pia.
Ken says Kevin and Pia have improved their business acumen and skill levels, expanded their thinking as to what the business is capable of delivering and are more aware of the need to commit to structured planning and execution values. “And they’ve learnt business can be fun!” he says.
