A new strategic direction has delivered momentum to our growth and continued success 

It’s been a strong and prosperous year for the business as we continue to grow in line with our strategy. We have secured stronger positioning through our strategic plan, worked closely with the CEO to develop the leadership team, and built upon our service offering to be a greater resource for the small business community and our stakeholders.

Strength in our strategy

Off the back of our strategic plan, CEO Jacqui Attard, has worked well with her team to develop a strong business plan and reporting strategy. I’ve watched a transference of ownership move from the Board, to the CEO, and on to the whole Realise Business team.

In working on our strategy, business plans and processes, we’ve facilitated a culture, connecting the Board to the business and the team to create a truly collaborative environment. It’s been rewarding for the Board to watch the team grow in size and in capability, along with the growth of the business.

Financially, the last year has been a profitable one for which puts us in a great position to invest back into the business and in the Australian small business community with new services and programs on the horizon.

Ongoing growth of the business

The business is growing both financially and in scope of capability. We’ve restructured and reorganised to deliver a higher quality of practice and increased in scale to offer more services to new markets, and new products to our existing client base. The 3-year strategic plan has provided capacity for the business to scale up and in the second year of our plan, we’ve already seen substantial growth.

I’d like to not only acknowledge the work of the Board but the work of the whole Realise Business team in embracing the business changes, the strategy and in their collaboration in building a strong business plan. Jacqui has worked well with the leadership team to develop and execute the business plan and empowered them to achieve their targets as part of our ongoing growth.

Not only has the business grown but we’ve achieved our biggest surplus to date, and I commend Jacqui, the operations team and our team of Business Advisors for their buy-in and support in working towards excellent service and sustainable growth. I’ve seen the vision and strategy we laid out come into fruition already and I have faith in what we’ll continue to achieve moving forward with the good team we have in place.

The Realise Business Board and the year ahead

The November 2018 AGM saw my official appointment as Chair of the Realise Business Board. It’s been a pleasure working with Board Members, Lindsay Munns, Dez Viranna, Marcus Marchant, Treasurer, Adrian Brock, and Secretary, Robert James, over the last year. We’ve achieved a great deal and I know we’ll continue to do so in the coming year in working with Jacqui Attard and the team.

The Board’s priority for the year ahead is to strengthen our governance practices and become a more vital asset to the business. We’ll continue to drive our 3-year strategic plan and work to achieve a seamless integration across the business, as well as with our Government, Small Business, Big Business and Advisory Stakeholders.

We’ll again work with the business to continue to scale and broaden our service offering to become a stronger influence in the small business community and a greater asset to our stakeholders. We’ll build on our technology further to expand our reach as our virtual coaching offering continues to boom. Our existing contracts will be a priority, as always, and we’ll work with the CEO and leadership team on the potential for new business in this space.

With the great team and Board we have in place in Realise Business, along with the ongoing support from our members and stakeholders, the year ahead will be productive and fruitful as we work to achieve our plan and strategy to bring us into a stronger position in 2021 and for years to come.

Peter Holtmann

Chair