About Us
Near Side Strategy is the culmination of my 2-decade journey in business.
My aim is simple: to provide small business owners with actionable insights designed to equip them with the skills, knowledge and tools to build a better business and achieve financial freedom.
In 2005, at the age of 24, I was offered $200,000 for my first business. I launched it with $7,500 just a few years prior. Overnight, my biggest customer went bankrupt. Needless to say, the sale didn’t go through.
By 2011 we were turning over just shy of $1,000,000 per year when the biggest floods in 30 years hit Brisbane. My business was cut in half for a second time.
"Startups don't die when they run out of cash, they die when the founders run out of energy".
I was 30-years old, had neglected all other facets of my life for nearly a decade, was living on a fast-food diet, working 80-hour weeks and was facing the prospect of going backward 3-years.
Closing the roller door for the last time was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Ultimately, it would prove to be one of my best, because within 3-years I was directing strategy for a team of 40 marketers as the Marketing Manager at Australian NaturalCare, responsible for an annual budget of $15 million.
I was living in Bali, working 38-hours per week, surfing, eating healthy food, hanging with friends and just generally enjoying life again.
I held that position for the better part of 6-years and learnt a great deal about data-driven marketing, systems design, brand narrative, brand asset management, data analytics, project management, customer lifecycle management, and much more. Lessons that would have been invaluable to me as a young entrepreneur.
Founding a business in my early-twenties was an enriching experience. It gave me skills that enabled me to progress quickly in larger organisations, but it was a long, hard road, and ultimately didn’t translate into the financial freedom I desired. The opposite in fact.
The mistake I made was thinking I could learn how to build a lasting business on-the-go. The reality was I had more work to do than could possibly get done. Customers were relentless. Staff were flat-footed, waiting for my direction. There wasn’t time for me to discover Eliyahu M. Goldratt’s process for ongoing improvement, or study agile methodologies, or learn SQL and relational databases, or implement marketing automation strategies. I needed quick solutions.
The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber’s describes a fatal assumption that I made, “if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.” This assumption is “the root cause of most small business failures.” In essence, just because you know how to build and install a kitchen, doesn’t mean you know how to run a cabinet making business.
This is the reason I started Near Side Strategy: to give small business owners the tools they need to learn as they go.
My own experience as an entrepreneur and the fact that there are nearly as many small businesses failing in Australia today as there are ones surviving – and surviving isn’t necessarily succeeding – shows me there are business owners out there who need some help.
"We're here to provide answers"
What Our Clients Say
Looking to improve, but not sure where to start?
Whether it's sales, marketing, finance, systems, or value delivery we can bring you up to speed.
Let us together build a lasting business
When connected with us, you aren’t growing your business alone. We develop and implement strategies on your behalf so you can focus on what you do best.