Buying an established business out of receivership seemed like a bargain for a creative husband and wife team. If only things were that easy...
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Entrepreneur: Michael Boltman, Managing Director
Company: Brenniston First Aid And Workplace Safety
Business type: Suppliers of first aid and workplace safety equipment
Founded: 1973
Employees: 20 full-time
Turnover: (2008 - 2009) $3M
Head office: Hawthorn, Victoria
Contact details: 1300 730 079
The Brenniston Story
As freelance film producers and writers, husband and wife team Michael Boltman and Pia Abrahams were used to erratic work schedules and random pay dates. But with their first baby on the way and a desire for regular employment, they bit the bullet in October 2000 and bought an existing business, Brenniston First Aid and Workplace Safety. Boltman says: "I didn't want to work in a seven-day retail type business. We were about to start a family and I wanted the weekends free. We borrowed against the house and bought the business".
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Key learning points:
- Failure - Boltman says his biggest lessons have been rammed home by his failures. When things go wrong, don't try to sweep the dirt under the carpet. Look failure in the face so that you recognise how to think next time.
- Creativity - Are you bringing all your life skills and wisdom to your business? Or could they be better applied in another industry? Creativity is all about how you use what you've got.
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Brenniston was established in 1973 by another husband and wife team, Brian and Jennifer List. In 1999 they sold their healthy business to a partnership and 14 months later, when Boltman and Abrahams bought the business, it was in receivership. Boltman says: "It's very easy to do if you don't work in the business and starve it of cash".
Boltman and Abrahams had looked at a few other manufacturing businesses but Brenniston offered something the others did not - value for money. So with no previous experience in first aid and safety, Boltman and Abrahams threw themselves into the business. Only 9 of the 23 staff members who had been in the business in 1999 were left. "We had no idea about what we were doing but you have got to believe that you can make it work. We learnt by failure, we learnt by mucking up".
The Challenge
Rebuilding a business reputation.
The Solution
Boltman says that he and Abrahams were quick to define their roles within the company. "Pia was a production manager and producer, so she was in charge of purchasing and looked after everything we were buying. I worried about what was being sold".
Buying a well-established business had been particularly appealing to the couple but they soon learnt how damaging the period in between the Lists' reign and theirs had been. Boltman says: "Because the name has been around since 1973 we assumed that it would have some respect but it was an absolute nightmare. We should never have kept the name".
The tarnished reputation meant that Brenniston's credit rating was poor. Boltman explains: "For the first six months, no one would sell anything to us on credit. We'd have to go to the bank, get bank cheques, deposit it directly in accounts and fax them deposit slips". Six months later, after diligently managing their finances, Brenniston was offered their first account by a supplier.
Boltman learned some valuable lessons early on. "Smart business people do not manufacture anything or hold stock until they get the order. And the really smart ones get paid on order and then they manufacture. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the smart ones".
Boltman believed in hard work, honesty and integrity and was prepared to put in the hours but as an enthusiastic new father he was naturally keen to make time for his family. He cast his creative eye over the business and looked at smarter ways to sell their products. "We started packaging kits together and branding products for people. For instance, we put together a bird flu kit and branded workplace safety kits with informative packaging".
The business lost money for the first two years but by 2003 Boltman saw a modest profit. He says: "We had to keep investing back into the business to make it grow". In 2005 Boltman spotted a new product - a pocket defibrillator - at the Medica trade show in Germany. Since then Brenniston has sold more than 150 of the defibrillators which retails for $2795 each.
Boltman continued to think outside the square, looking for new products and innovative ways to sell them. In 2004 Brenniston sold Temp Teddies - an adhesive fever monitor that can be placed on a child's forehead so a child could keep sleeping while a parent checked their temperature - through pharmacies and Coles supermarkets. But Boltman says it is hard for small businesses to compete in the cutthroat supermarket environment. "For a while we sold The Wiggles sunscreen sachets into Woolworths, and had a product called QuickFix, a pocket first aid kit in Kmart, but it's not easy if you're not Coca-Cola".
Slowly but surely the business was growing. In 2006 Brenniston won the tender to supply first aid equipment and products to Ambulance Victoria. Brenniston has since won major contracts with: Officeworks, RACV, NRMA, RAA, DSE, Ambulance Victoria, University of Ballarat and Wesfarmers Industrial Safety.
In 2009 Brenniston installed the first Australian online defibrillator at Coles' head office in Melbourne. This is a networked system that alerts people to the emergency and stores important data, which can be accessed by the hospital emergency department while the patient is being transported to the hospital by ambulance. Boltman made another leap of faith in 2009 by moving Brenniston from its long-standing rental property in Richmond. He has borrowed against his house again to purchase premises in Hawthorn on a failed development site.
With his hands still covered in paint from a hands-on stint at the new premises over the weekend he says: "The plan for the next three years is to continue to grow. If we'd stayed in Richmond the business couldn't have grown. You need space to bring in new products. We now have the capacity to store products and we have some major contracts in the pipeline".
The Result
Since 1999 Brenniston's revenue has increased by 350% and employee numbers are steady with 20 full-time staff.
Like many businesses Brenniston felt the impact of the global financial crisis. Boltman says: "From November 2008 to January 2009 we were affected; but between February and June 2009 we recovered, pulled any losses back, made up our budget and then some".
Boltman and Abrahams now have three children. Abrahams no longer works in the business on a day-to-day basis but she still steps in when needed.
Boltman believes their artistic backgrounds have been beneficial to the business. He says: "Business is creative - you have to deal with people, products and opportunities creatively. This is a creative way of making money. I love things that no one else wants; we took this business and this building that no one else wanted and turned them into something".