Thinking big drives small business success

ON the surface an IT company has little in common with a restaurant business and a food waste charity but Victoria Kluth said she has learned plenty from star chef Matt Moran and OzHarvest’s Ronnie Kahn, among others at the 2017 Westpac Businesses of Tomorrow Summit.

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ON the surface an IT company has little in common with a restaurant business and a food waste charity but Victoria Kluth said she has learned plenty from star chef Matt Moran and OzHarvest’s Ronnie Kahn, among others at the 2017 Westpac Businesses of Tomorrow Summit.

“Being in a room with people that are thinking in such interesting ways and hearing all their stories has helped us think outside the box,” Ms Kluth said. “I wasn’t thinking big enough and it inspired me.”

Not that Kluth had been resting in her laurels.  In just four years, she has carved a niche in the IT service industry; launching Araza which specialises in consulting, cloud computing and digital transformation for some of Australia’s largest organisations. She has a workforce of 250 people and is a leader in gender equality in the workplace.

Indeed she has managed to maintain almost 50/50 gender split in her workforce since she started, simply by hiring the best person for the job and not setting quotas.  

The tech entrepreneur was one of of 200 Australian movers and shakers involved in last year’s inaugural Westpac Businesses of Tomorrow program. It is designed to reward and recognise small or large businesses with a clear purpose and vision with the drive to shape Australia’s future, providing opportunities to network with likeminded people and learn from business leaders.

The opportunity was extraordinary, she says and she is considering applying again this year.

She said Khan’s talk to the top 200 businesses was “amazing” and inspired her to start her own workplace charity called Araza Gives where staff are encouraged not to donate money but to contribute to the community once a month.

“Last month everyone bought in a toothbrush and we donated them to a homeless shelter.  The idea of asking my employees to give money doesn’t sit well with me so we are trying to create a more organic way of donating.” 

She said while she has paid “lip service” to the idea of extending her business internationally, she is now going to take the leap. She is also looking at how to incorporate more technology, such as artificial intelligence, into her services.

“I run a very conservative business and I thought if I stick to that motto I will be successful. But hearing what others are doing really forced me to realise if I stay the same I won’t be successful because things are changing so quickly,” she said.

Westpac launched the Businesses of Tomorrow program as part of its bicentennial celebrations last year, recently launching the 2018 program with applications open until 8 April.

“We saw some really impressive businesses as part of our 2017 program across many industries like healthcare, retail, publishing, technology, education and manufacturing,” said Ganesh Chandrasekkar, General Manager of Westpac SME Banking. “A Business of Tomorrow can be large or small, working in any industry across metropolitan or regional Australia, and doesn’t need to be a Westpac customer.”

This year, a panel of independent experts from Deloitte and Westpac will select the top 200 businesses who will receive a three-day Melbourne Business School program and access to the Businesses of Tomorrow network among other money can’t buy experiences.

A prestigious panel including Tim Fung, CEO and co-founder of Airtasker and Westpac director Alison Deans will then select the top 20 businesses who will win a two-week study tour to the US, one-on-one mentoring, a professional services package worth $50,000 and further media recognition.

The mentors include business leaders such as former Westpac CEO Gail Kelly, McDonald’s Australia CEO Andrew Gregory, Mecca cosmetics founder and CEO Jo Horgan and Airtasker CEO and Co-founder Tim Fung.

To apply go to https://businessesoftomorrow.com.au/

Originally published as Thinking big drives small business success