The client list reads like the index of Australian enterprise: the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZ, Bunnings, Australia Post, NAB, Coles, Jetstar, WorkSafe, Victoria Police, the Queensland Government, Daimler.
Design Industries delivered the collaboration software those organisations run on, and the complex migrations from on-premise to cloud underneath it.
The business was growing fast, and nearly everything still crossed the CEO’s desk.
Strategy
A founder-led services firm scales until the founder becomes the constraint. Every contract, every proposal, every partner conversation and piece of communication routed through one person.
The work was to stand beside him for the long haul – take what could be taken, sharpen what couldn’t, and put structure under the growth so it would hold.
Action
Over four and a half years, I worked across the whole business.
The commercial foundations – consolidated the service offering, restructured and simplified the client engagement process, refined the core messaging, rebranded, and revised the payment and legal terms.
The CEO’s desk – I regularly drafted his communications across client and vendor correspondence, reviewed legal material, proofed contracts and proposals, supported tender responses, and provided presentation and pitch coaching.
The partners – I introduced and established Design Industries as the first Atlassian provider in the world to partner with Alibaba Cloud, alongside existing agreements with Amazon Web Services.
The team – trained new members, established account management processes, and built the enquiry and delivery automation so growth didn’t depend on any one person’s memory.
Outcome
Revenue and headcount more than doubled. The team expanded to ten in the Philippines.
Design Industries became the highest level of Atlassian partner possible, and was recognised as the most effective partner in the Asia Pacific region.
If everything in your business still routes through you – it’s not scalable, sustainable, or sellable! Let’s fix it.
