Business Benchmark Group Podcast

Bek McMillan is the owner of Gourmet Living in Templestowe Victoria (https://www.gourmetliving.com.au/). Bek shares her really incredible business journey, which started with just an idea, and led to her being named as a Finalist in Telstra’s Young Business Woman of the Year in 2015. Bek achieved incredible success in a short space of time. In a period of just 12 months, Bek was able to increase her revenue by 350%, more than double her average dollar sale and double her database. Much of...

How do you build the most successful business model in the world? Generating repeat customers and getting referrals is the most effective and affordable way to build your business. It costs far less to keep an existing customer, and to get referrals from those customers, compared to any other marketing technique. Repeat and referral customers also require less work to convert to a sale because they already have some familiarity with you, and reason to trust you. Stefan shares a three-part...

Interview with the owners of family-run plumbing business H2Pro, Tony Welsh and Tristan Wise. Tony started working on his own business in 2000 with the philosophy that he offered "more than ‘Bum Crack and Blue Heeler’ plumbing" - it was plumbing with professionalism. Over the years, the business evolved to become H2-Pro plumbing. H2-Pro became a client of Business Benchmark Group in 2014, and since then has gone from strength-to-strength, including winning the Manningham Business Excellence...

Stefan explores the topic of business diversification. Many business owners look to diversify their business far too early, putting more and more balls in the air before really mastering one yet. It’s important to build upon your business’s core strengths – don’t diversify your business into new areas where you spread yourself too thin and become mediocre. Instead, focus on your strengths, leverage your assets and deliver more value to your customers. Be consistent in your excellence,...

Stefan interviews Ben and Emma Stallworthy - husband and wife owners of Pinnacle Health Clubs in Melbourne. In this fantastic interview, Ben and Emma share the story of their business journey, the challenges they've faced and the successes they've had as they've grown from a single club to the four premises they have today. This is a must-listen to episode for business owners, especially so for those in the fitness sector. Ben and Emma discuss how they dealt with the competition of...

This week’s podcast explores the good, the bad and the ugly of business partnerships. The idea of going into business with a partner can often appear to be a great idea - whether that’s a husband and wife team, a trio of siblings or just a couple of mates who planned their business on the back of a beer coaster! But as the wise often say ‘all my problems today started out as a good idea’! Every partnership is different and it depends on the business and the personalities involved. It’s...

As we enter a new financial year, it's time to take stock of your business and ensure you are continuing to be brilliant at the basics - that's where the diamonds are found after all. In this episode, Stefan strips it all back to discuss the basics of building and running a successful business. Stefan's golden advice includes the need for business owners to continuously focus on your core business, your core product, your core target market and your core lead generation strategy. Focus on...

In this special episode, Melbourne Storm's Football Manager, Frank Ponissi, shares his views on leadership and crisis management. Ponissi is certainly no stranger to crisis management. In 2010, Melbourne Storm was found to have breached the NRL's salary cap over a period of 5 years, resulting in punishments including the stripping of Melbourne's 2007 and 2009 premierships, fines of almost $1.7 million and the team being stripped of all premiership points in 2010. Ponissi shares how this...

In this episode, Stefan shares more of his famous "Stefanisms" - key advice on how to constantly improve, and ultimately succeed, in achieving and executing your vision for your business. Key to this is a need to develop outcome-based thinking. Always ask 3 key questions: 1. What's working? 2. What's not working? 3. What will we do about it? Stefan also discusses the need to always see things from an optimistic perspective, how to prioritize work so that you always get your most valuable...

If you aren't leading, nobody's following. This short episode explores the need for business owners to schedule time every week, dedicated to thinking strategically about their business. Stefan delivers key advice about taking advantage of every opportunity in your business and in life. Be deliberate with your strategy. Leverage your team, your peers, relationships, technology and systems and use them all to your advantage. But it's utterly important to keep your focus local, on your core,...

If you don't have something driving you to be your Personal Best, then chances are each day, each week and each month you are going to be spending more time in mediocrity. But if you are clear about your opportunties, your strategic planning, and your use of time and money, you can make the decision that you can be your Personal Best. You will be able to make 1% improvements each day. You can revolutionise and transform your business and yourself if you have the attitude of doing whatever...

In this special episode of our podcast, Brendan Dover from The Drain Man shares the story of his business, it's enormous growth since becoming a client with Business Benchmark Group in 2007, and offers tremendous insight into the decisions he's made on his business journey. Brendan gives his unique perspective on a number of key topics: - The difference between running and growing a business - Business structure - The importance of developing the right people - Marketing - and the...

Do you lead or manage for success? The leader provides direction, encouragement and inspiration to motivate a team to achieve business success. A manager coordinates the efforts of the team and the allocation of resources to maximise efficiency in achieving individual goals. Both these roles operate hand in hand and both are especially so during times of crisis or a choke point. As a leader and manager, it is most important that you “walk your talk”. Stay focused on the issues that are...

Why do we hear the term 'back to basics' so frequently? Because it works! Regardless of what you are doing, going 'back to basics' is something everyone understands. Being "brilliant at the basics" is where diamonds are found! In this week’s episode, Stefan Kazakis delivers a key lesson in how to develop a competitive advantage in your business. First and foremost, it is about attitude. To be able to create a competitive advantage is not about having the cheapest price, or working harder....

As business owners, we are bridge builders, taking target clients from a point of a problem, frustration and challenge to a place of solutions, problems being solved and freedom. The bricks with which you build your bridge are all inspired by “re” words: Relationships, results, reputation, reengagement, reactivation, reliability, retention, referrals. It’s obvious that people will do business with people they like, and most importantly, trust. So it’s integral that the fusion of...

As you market your product or service, be sure to share your success stories. Marketing is something that happens every day, so it’s vital that you get better at telling your story. Genuinely believe in who you are and what you stand for – your core values – and demonstrate trust and genuine authenticity. Learn how to deliver your “elevator pitch”. The “rule of threes” gives you just 3 seconds to buy the right for 30 seconds. 3 minutes to get 30 minutes. 30 minutes to get 3 hours. How do...

Welcome to the Business Benchmark Group podcast, where you will learn how to think strategically about your business and discover that whilst business ownership is not always easy, it doesn't need to be hard. With over 20 years' experience in turning stalling businesses into thriving enterprises, here is your host, Stefan Kazakis. In our second episode, Stefan discusses why choosing how you structure your business is very important. Tune in today to hear: - How to build structures for...