The Business Growth Podcast Series

“One of the skills that is absolutely required is the ability to be a self-starter and to ship… and essentially to be a super-learner.”James Tynan (@jamestynan) is CEO of Startmate. A leading startup accelerator, Startmate brings together the best people in Australian startups to fund and support the next wave of founders. James and Rachael discuss all the different parts that need to work together for a successful business to grow.

“One of the challenges was growing as a leader myself as we’ve evolved and are bringing senior people on to the team.”Edward Staughton is CEO of Staughton Group. The Group started out as a family business 30 years ago and has grown into a multi-brand pet food business. Brand’s include Vets All Natural, Dried & True, and the “The Healthy Pet Treat Company”. The Group’s healthy pet foods and treats are available at major grocery chains across Australia with exporting to the USA and Asia. Edward talks with Rachael about his experience juggling the changing roles of the CEO.

“…it actually doesn’t matter if it is a commercial business, a not for profit… key to business is promoting what you do and your brand in a way that is really clear and people will understand quickly, because then adoption happens quiet naturally and organically and all of a sudden you have referrers…”Jane Martino (@janemartino), co-founder of Smiling Mind and now COO at Unlockd Media talks about navigating the stages of a company’s growth, the importance of a clear mission, the importance of ‘referrers’ in customer acquisition and her experiences of existing businesses.

“My default is assuming they can achieve the level of delegation that they have been given and it is on me to check that I have made that good decision.”Jodie Auster (@DoctorJodieA) of UberEats chats with Rachael about how to successfully delegate and support her people to be achieve, as well as sharing some of the tools she uses to manage delegation, how she views accountability and trust and how she mentors her managers to delegate too.

“This is not slow moving. This is fast moving. Consumers can change preference quite quickly… we always talk about the bright shiny new toys… we try to give consumers something exciting to look at.”David Worth is the co-founder of Go Natural. Over 25 years, David and his family has grown Go Natural into a significant FMCG business with an enviable distribution network. Go Natural uses high quality, natural ingredients and supports local farmers wherever possible. It’s this very approach that resonates with today’s consumers in the fiercely competitive snack bar category. David discusses the key questions every CEO must answer to grow such a thriving business.