[Franziska] Hey Denise, thank you so much for joining me today. I’m so happy to see your face again.
[Denise] Hi Franziska, it’s always lovely to see you catch up.
[F] Yes, same. And today’s purpose is to share a little bit about your business journey, and your journey into becoming a business owner; also talking a little about a little bit about the highlights and the low lights, and also your experience in the Clever Bunch. So why don’t you tell us a little bit about your business, and also why you chose this specific industry.
[D] Sure. Our business is called TranZition Group, and we set up the business in recruiting, so recruiting in life science area because that’s my husband’s background, and also between us, we collectively have about 60 years experience in senior management and lower management and we just thought if we combined Trev’s science background with his management knowledge, plus my knowledge of coaching, training, and facilitating, we could set up a really awesome recruitment business. My side of it, I didn’t bring my side of it in straight away. We focused on recruiting. And the reason why we did it was, it’s a typical cliche, but we love working with people, and we love helping people, and we just thought, okay we do this in companies, but why can’t we do it in our own business, and really just have our own processes, and our own style and bring in what we love doing, aside from what a company does. That was it, that was over~ that was at a bar, one Friday evening, sitting there, just talking about where we’re going and what we’re doing, and we wrote notes down on the serviette.
[F] It was actually~ really, that’s how it happened; it’s not a cliche. Actually, that’s how you guys…
[D] Yeah, and at the same time, we designed the company logo on a coaster.
[F] That’s incredible. How long ago was that?
[D]19 years ago, nearly 20 years ago, yeah. So when we start to think, “oh let’s come up with some great ideas… okay let’s go find a bar,” you just let the brain wander and it’s great, yeah. I never regretted it.
[F] I know you’re super passionate and you’re also really good at what you do, and even 19 years later, so few businesses make it even past the five or ten year mark, you’re almost at the 20-year mark, which is incredible. So on this almost two decades of~ during the two decades of running a business, what were some of the most difficult times, or what stands out to you as something that was really quite challenging?
[D] I think the most difficult part is cash flow, when you first start out, because it’s scary. You have a commitment with your living expenses, and you have to make sure you bring that money in, and so cash flow was the scariest ever. Many a time we’d have a sleepless night, wondering, “okay, where’s the next dollar going to come from?” but you don’t let that stop you, you just get up and do it, and one of the things you did say just now Franziska, is you know, being in business for nearly two decades, but many people don’t make it, we were actually~ that was actually said to us quite a few times when we first mentioned we were going to start the business, many people said to us, “Oh you won’t pass three years,” and we’re still here. So don’t let those comments stay in your brain, you get rid of them
[F] And I wonder, if we drill down even more, so cash flow is definitely a topic that many business owners, whether startup or even further down the track, struggle with or are challenged by, and then also that negative talk from others often, and even our own self-talk, did you have some specific things, or activities, or things that you told yourself during those challenging times where you couldn’t sleep all night because you were thinking, “we have no idea where money is coming from…”
[D] Sure. Trev and I are really different in how we work so I have always been a journal writer, so I would just jot down all my thoughts, and if I couldn’t sleep at night, I would get up and I would just jot down what was going on. Whereas Trev doesn’t, he just thinks about it, and his brain is really interesting, from the point of view of~ I’ve seen the waves here move when he’s working on something, and he gets his answer, I have seen… it’s like having wrinkles and they move up and down, I have just seen that in him and when I see that, I know, he’s worked through it. So he’s very different from me, I also did visualising as well, and also he’s a great one for, “okay let’s do a mind map,” and he’ll write down what he’s thinking, and he’ll just jot all that down. So that’s how we coped, and it worked well, really worked well.
[F] Yeah, I love that and everyone has their own little way of dealing with some challenges or opportunities. I’m actually similar to you, too, when I’m going through something a little bit difficult, I have to think something through or I’m not sure just yet, it’s always a journal. I always grab the journal, and I just write and sometimes it might take a week or so to just write, write, write, and not really expect an outcome and then suddenly the outcome will come, it’s almost like talking it out with myself which~
[D] I often say it’s great to talk aloud to yourself because boy, it really does happen and it’s just~ it’s just, Franziska, allowing the process, don’t get stressed in what’s happening, just allow the process of, okay your writing, and allow yourself to be free, and I often say to people, even if nothing comes, just put a pen there and you’ll start writing. And that’s what I used to do, and I still do it, I still journal, I love it.
[F] Yeah, same here. Now, on this 19-year journey, what is one of the highlights that jump out at you? What is one of your favourite parts? I’m sure there are many.
[D] Yeah, I think the biggest one was once again, Trev being creative with his brain and partnering with companies to have~ so he now has partnerships with companies, that he does their recruiting, and so by doing that, you don’t have any cash flow problem because you partner with them, that you have continuous business at a certain dollar value per month, and that’s a great way of doing business. It takes a lot of stress, but also companies love it because they understand that you are totally dedicated to them and you will look after, them so that’s one of the the biggest ideas. And the other great idea was bringing in the courses to help job seekers, you know, find what they’re really good at, or find what they’d like to do, and that’s been really good to do because I used to coach but doing the courses, it frees people up because they can just access the courses themselves.
[F] Yeah, and it’s additional support and so something that makes you different in this space which is a really great way to to be known too, in your space. Now you’re also a graduate from the Clever Bunch program.
[D] Yep, I am.
[F] Yes you are a proud graduate, both of you.
[D] I am.
[F] Why did you choose to join the Clever Bunch, when you did?
[D] Okay, good question! Why did I choose… I think the bottom line is, I was ready to work… I wanted to work with a company who would really help me with the marketing side of our courses and you were recommended by our daughter-in-law, and I loved what you do and did, but I was ready to get my teeth into working with someone who had far more knowledge than me, he just took the weight off me; so in speaking to Trev and speaking to Christo all about it, we just thought, no this is what we need. So we did it.
[F] And at the time what were some of the biggest challenges? So cash flow might have been…
[D] Well cash flow by then was okay, but it was more the frustrations of, “oh gosh here we go, we’ve got to do it all again, and how do we do it and what is the right type of marketing, and the frustrations of not knowing. It’s fine to ask people and it’s fine to google, but who knows the answers are the people who are the experts in the area, that is it, it’s like don’t waste your time, just go to people who know, so I didn’t want the frustration of ‘I’ve tried this, I’ve tried that, I don’t know where to go,’ I just wanted to work with someone, or a group, or a company who can help me with all of that and that was you guys.
[F] And I’m glad it was us, because we love having you in the community and it’s like you say, we can spend hours and hours on any area, whether it’s marketing, or relationships, or investing, we can spend thousand hours googling and trying to sift through all this information, or we can fast track and go to someone who is specialised in…
[D] Exactly, exactly.
[F] …and same with recruitment, we can either, you know google, or we can go and fast-track our success by working with someone like you. How has the Clever Bunch helped you achieve some of your goals?
[D] Well, I think the biggest thing for me was Clever Bunch took the pressure off me, Clever Bunch took the frustrations off me. Clever Bunch took the scariness of where do I go, and what do I do. So what the Clever Bunch did was, it gave me the tools and the processes to use to go through; what are the marketing tools that we are needing right now, eg: social media. I needed to understand social media. I didn’t understand I’d use it, but I didn’t really understand it. So just~ I shouldn’t say just… but, by having that really helped me because by being in the Clever Bunch, I realised social media was one of our biggest things we needed to do. We have a really good database, we have really good connections, this is in recruitment and this is in life sciences, but we know nothing about social media and we needed to learn that, and that’s what the Clever Bunch helped us with.
[F] And you’ve definitely embraced some of the social channels especially LinkedIn, Liesl just came in before and she said, “Oh yeah, I see you everywhere on LinkedIn,” and you’re getting great results now too.
[D] Yes, so thank you because that’s what Trev and I needed to learn from you guys was what was lacking with~ like we needed to be validated, and you guys validated that for us that that was something that was lacking in our skill set, and you guys helped us with that skill set, and you also taught me, ‘contract things out’, don’t try and do it all yourself because another problem when you do start out is you want to do it all yourself but there comes a stage where no, enough’s enough.
[F] Exactly and one thing that we talk a lot about in the Clever Bunch and and we create is the strategies that then can be outsourced without wasting time and money which is exactly what you’ve done, yeah.
[D] Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
[F] Now in the Clever Bunch, there are so many different things, there are the sessions that we have together, there is the Help Desk, there’s the community, they are the masterminds, what is one of your favourite things about the Clever Bunch or even a favourite moment throughout the program?
[D] Gee, there’s a lot. I think being in a group~ with a group of people who have the same frustrations as you is number one because that is a great support network because never once did I feel stupid, intimidated, uncomfortable, never once because the majority of us were all new business owners or been in business for a while but we needed to learn something. So that was one, the other one was learning about your keywords on your website, where to place them, that was… that’s been great, that one, loved that one. And also one of the things I liked was you know how when we started each session we’d always start with a celebration, my gosh, that is awesome because you get to learn other people are still like you, they might not have the sales to celebrate as in, “I made five thousand last week”, other people were like myself, I didn’t make five thousand but I have got a celebration to share and each person in the group was really, really, happy for you no matter what your celebration was. So it was that. It was the knowledge of yourself and Christo, it’s worth a million dollars, the information you guys have and the information that you’re prepared to share, plus your support from Liesl and everybody else who works with you, so there’s a lot of things.
[F] Oh thank you, and one of the highlights that you mentioned is definitely one of my favourite parts which is the community, I really love seeing business owners get together and then the aha moment you have from somebody else who doesn’t know your business is looking suddenly at your business and sort of sharing things that you don’t see because you’re so close to it and some of it is like “oh!”
[D] Oh you’re right.
[F] I don’t see this and that’s one of my favourite things, it’s just this energy that the community creates for each other.
[D] Yeah, you’re absolutely right, and everyone is just so helpful, so positive, and they want you to succeed. No one in my group~ I never felt anyone in my group be impatient with me, think what I’m doing is silly, I never ever felt that but I think that also goes back to the way you and Christo facilitate it as well. So it’s just a combination, it was really good.
[F] And then obviously we also do interviews with everyone who applies so nobody can just join the program so we can sort of see what they like and and you know if they’re a good human and they have a business that we know we can help, then they’re invited, if not, then…
[D] Yes, very much, yes because some~ I actually remember Christo saying that once, that it’s important to interview your people because they might not suit your business, eg. with you guys. Sure, all of us want business, and all of us want money, but if they’re going to be hard work, not just… it’s just in any business, if a client is going to be hard work, no, no, no, don’t take it on just for the money.
[F] That’s one of the key lessons I think that we all need to take away from this. Now talking about key lessons, I do have two last questions.
[D] Sure.
[F] You’ve been in business for 19 years, there’s so much gold right there that you can share with other business owners whether they’ve been in business for a while, or they’re new to business. One question that I have is what do you wish you had known when you first started your business?
[D] I wish I had not done?
[F] or what do you wish you had known, you know for your person when you 19 years ago, what do you wish you had known back then?
[D] Back then I wish I had known that you don’t know everything, because you know what, you think you do, you really do, because you’re confident and you do know your subject matter. But I wish I had known the ins and outs of running a business, there’s more to it. Eg. marketing is a good one.
[F] Yeah, and it’s okay to ask for help.
[D] Yep, no absolutely don’t be scared but however Franziska, be careful who you ask for help from.
[F] that’s a big one
[D] You gotta make sure they know what they’re talking about.
[F] Yeah and we’ve seen it all, we’ve seen it all. So yes, that’s a big qualifier on that question. The last question I have for you is what is a word or a few words of wisdom you’d like to share with fellow business owners?
[D] I think the biggest thing is have faith in yourself. If you have made a decision that you want to run a business and you are very confident and competent in your abilities and you’ve done your homework on it, then have faith in your decision and make that decision work. And focus on what you’re doing, don’t give in, just don’t give in, and please do not allow all the people who say you won’t make it get into your head. Just keep focusing on what you want, have your vision, you’ll get there.
[F] I love it! Thanks so much. Very wise words from a very seasoned business owner. Thank you again so much, Denise, you’re always very generous and giving.
[D] Pleasure, Franziska. Thank you, thank you to Clever Bunch, you’re an awesome group and just keep doing the good work!
[F] We will, we love it and we will keep doing the good work, thanks to people like you, so thanks again, Denise.
[D] Very welcome, you take care.
[F] Bye for now!
[D] See you, bye!
