Craig van Asch owner of Exeloo is an Owner Manager Programme 51 alumni.
This Kiwi Business Story is based on a podcast from 11 August 2022, and all figures quoted are from that time. You can enjoy the complete podcast here.
Who is Craig, and how did you get to where you are today?
I moved into a role at Exeloo, as group sales and marketing manager for a small exporter. I come from an exporting business background which I did for many years, and I really enjoyed manufacturing. I love the complexity and the challenge. I love to see New Zealand companies doing well. I had to sort of step back and do a bit more marketing stuff, trying to tidy up the website and a few task-oriented jobs. Then lead sales results. We then went through some changes over the next few years.
Finally, once I had learnt enough and Dan and Chris had enough, they decided that they were going to sell the business. At that point, I had to find a business partner because I could not afford to buy the whole thing by myself and had tested a few potentials. I found Andy Harris, who is my business partner today, as he had joined us as a contractor, plumber, gas fitter and so Andy was not on the tools anymore. He was more interested in the management and systems approach. We met, discussed it, put some things together, and it was successful. We opened the business in April 2020.
How would you explain Exeloo to someone that that has no idea or hasn't heard of it before?
We make intelligent public toilet systems, so we build buildings that go to parks, reserves, transit stations, and our key client base is local governments and county transit authorities.
What motivates you to get up in the morning every day?
The first thing is I love the people here, I know it is a very cliche thing to say, but we have been working extremely hard on the culture of our business. We are a small team, there are only 40 or so of us, and we put a lot of energy into our staff. We have developed training systems and bits and pieces like that which we are proud of, succession planning for all our team. From that standpoint, walking in and seeing the smiling faces is nice in the morning.
Putting succession plans and training opportunities for our team downstairs has just changed the vibe significantly. All the traditional stuff as well, fishing trips, barbecues and whatnot. But I think having a sense of purpose and my sense of purpose is the development of my team and I really get a buzz out of doing that with them and seeing them come through stronger and more alive. Another thing for me is passion, I love manufacturing, my father was in manufacturing all his career.
Did you feel like The Icehouse programme was relevant to your industry and your business journey?
I guess so. I looked at the people that were on that course. There was a real mix of industries. But there was not a lot of heavy manufacturing. But then as you peeled back the layers, when you went out and you started meeting them, and you started hearing the issues that the other businesses face they were all the same. What I got from it certainly was perspectives and how people deal with those. Some of the ideas the people were producing were such awesome solutions to common issues.
Anything that you implemented into your business and maybe your lifestyle during the programme?
Well, I mean, from a technical standpoint, Knowing Your Numbers (Financial Skills Workshop) was certainly a hit amongst the group. I was working on my weakest areas as finance was something that I am working hard on. There was a lot of emphasis on wellness and taking time for yourself. I must do more work around that, especially with my business partner. Making sure we get away from the business environment, go for a fish or dive. Do something that we have a shared interest in and then kick back with a beer in the evenings and just chat about stuff. We try hard to take time out to do that at least once a month, but again we need to work on making this happen more regularly.
Any learnings from your business journey?
Resilience. Love your customers. Make sure you love them. They can be a pain, but if you do not love them, they will not love you back. I did a couple of presentations at Massey University to their export cohorts and I made them all get up and hug their customers. It is so easy to forget that those guys are paying the bills. And of course, role modeling what you want in the business. Model the behaviors, which encourage your team to model your behaviors because culture comes first, business comes second, if you get the culture wrong, it does not matter what you do, you will not get it. Lastly do not try and do everything.