Opinion: Three choices for sustained growth

For reseller CRN Fast50 No. 12 Reseau, becoming high growth came down to making some key strategic decisions. Reseau managing director Alfa Aminudin said the company last year decided on embedding itself in the space between enterprise and small to medium businesses. He concedes it had to draw many lines.

"We were very selective about the clients we took on last year. The clients we took on were interested in having a long term relationship,'' Aminudin says. "They were happy to pay for quality because the solutions we deliver are very high calibre. And from that we were able to increase our revenue because we were getting clients that were happy to pay a bit more because of the service that we provide."

The result: Reseau grew 41 percent in the 2008-2009 financial year and 65 percent in the 2009-2010 financial year.

Much of that, says Aminudin, comes down to that selective approach to clients. "I openly say to any client that comes in front of us that as much as you are evaluating us to be your service provider, we are evaluating you as a client because we only take on clients who are looking at working with us over a long period of time. The relationship factor is key,'' he says.

Aminudin says the team at Reseau is critical. It's about having the right people doing the right job. "The guys in here have an inherent passion for technology and that allows us to keep at the forefront because they are actively testing things out because of their interests and passions.

"We have transparent management, so that the team members regardless of their role understand what's going on in the business and where we are headed. That means idea generation is quite fluid. It becomes a great place to work in, which results in growth because everyone is involved."

He says the firm has also developed and refined its internal processes including sales, accounting and technical matters.

The important part, he says, is to focus on the clients' business processes and understand exactly what they need. It's all part of getting close to the client.

At No. 19 Advent One, the focus was on building the sales team. As a result, Advent One grew 19 percent in the 2008-2009 financial year and 53 percent last financial year.

Advent One managing director Graeme Clark says the company had acquired a number of new customers and took good care of the ones it already had.

He estimates that Advent One has had 30 to 40 new clients every year over the past two years.

"About 18 months ago, we grew our sales team so that made an important contribution because they brought new clients into our business,'' Clark says. "The skills we have and the relationship our teams have with our clients have enabled us, along with our partnership with IBM, to be a safe pair of hands with opportunity.

"There was no magic formula. It was just doing a good job of servicing our customers and the foundation of what we do lies with the skills of our consultants." He says the sales consultants also operate as client managers, looking after the clients and making sure everything is going well.

"Each representative is responsible for their own territory which they have built up in many cases over many years and with others, over a few years. In a sense, they are running their own small business within Advent One,''
he says.

"Their success is driven by their ability to bring in revenue and margin through the doors of the business. Their clients and their success is directly linked to how well they do that."

Much of it, he says, comes down to old fashioned sales prospecting. "We run activities where we put something in front of new prospects and put diffe-rent products areas in front of existing clients that we have not talked to them about before."

Based on the present rate of return, Clark estimates the company will grow 20 percent this year.

Geoff Olds, managing director of Techflare, says there is no secret - it's hard work. "You burn the candle at both ends,'' Olds says.

Techflare grew 30 percent in the 2008-09 financial year and 55 percent last year. Part of that growth came from an acquisition the company made in Canberra. The company plans to expand from 23 employees to about 90 in the next four years.

Olds says acquisitions need to be handled with care. "You need to have an open mind and take a very conservative approach about how much time you will stick with the company,'' Old says. This means Techflare is highly strategic when it recruits for its acquisitions. It recruited people who could take the company where it wanted to go.