How EMPLOYEE-OWNED Consultancy Became 10th Fastest Growing New Business in Australia

On Episode 27 of the “Future of Australia” podcast, I speak with Stephen Mabbs, the Co-Founder & CEO of Escient, a management consultancy that grew 65% last financial year, doing over $16 MILLION in annual revenue.

This made Escient, on the Financial Review list of 100 fastest growing new companies in Australia, the number 10 FASTEST GROWING new business in Australia.

[Click Here to Listen to the Podcast in SPOTIFY, or Listen in iTunes, or Listen in SoundCloud, or search 'Future of Australia' or 'Derek Stewart' in your iPhone or Android podcast app]

We Discuss...

• Growing up in Perth, studying electronics engineering, and joining the Army Reserves while at University with a group of friends, and loving the experience
• Being thrown in the deep end as soon as he joined the army, with 80 staff reporting to him and no idea what he was doing
• Leaving the army to do a PhD at university, liking both the military life as well as the academic life. Combing them in a role with Defence Science Technology in Adelaide, working on radar systems

• The growing pains of going from being a self-employed contractor, to managing non-billable staff, and other overheads, and having the responsibility for leadership and people’s livelihood
• While a lot of Mergers & Acquisitions is just “smashing together two P&Ls without a clear strategy”
• The real world “case method” of the Harvard MBAs, where they analyse real situations, and bring in the CEOs at the end of the subject to directly answer your questions
• Wanting to put what he learned into practice after the Harvard MBA, and how it took him from being risk averse due to work challenges, into being more proactive
• Seeing the need for the professional services industry to have a new entrant with a new approach
• Starting out with four points of difference in the market, and clients being super excited by their model and how transparent they are
• The co-founders asked themselves, “Assuming we had unlimited money, how fast could we grow this company?”
• The employees who joined and put in their own savings to get the company off the ground demonstrated their courage, without knowing how the company would turn out, why that made them add “Courage” to one of their key values
• Measuring their success by their ability to help their clients achieve their strategic objectives, and why consultants who do not achieve that will never be considered as partners
• Deciding to have a single share class, with everyone having a controlling and economic interest, regardless of the level you are in the company
• Seeking out people with different backgrounds, and having 100 staff with 25+ different professional backgrounds
• “I think the world is in great hands” and why he sees so many young people wanting to tackle great social causes through their business
• “Don’t try to do it all on your own” as his advice to younger people, as well as “Knowledge is an insurance policy” and “Find a mentor”
• Why “you need to grow or go” in the professional services industry, and their plans to get to 500+ staff in the next 5 years

[Click Here to Listen to the Podcast in SPOTIFY, or Listen in iTunes, or Listen in SoundCloud, or search 'Future of Australia' or 'Derek Stewart' in your iPhone or Android podcast app]

?Podcast Episode History:

Episode 1: "Family Business & Real Estate: How Husband and Wife QLD Entrepreneurs Found A Gap in The Market"

Episode 2: "Law & Accounting Firm A.I and Automation + Doubling Revenue TWICE in 12 Months"

Episode 3: "Expat Entrepreneurship & Maximising Your Marketing Dollars"

Episode 4: "Turning a Hobby Selling Quirky Gifts Online Into a Multi-Million Dollar Business"

Episode 5: "Owning 20+ Properties In His 20s to Buying 40 Per MONTH for Clients"

Episode 6: "Engineering Entrepreneurship and Managing BILLION Dollar Assets"

Episode 7: "One Day Away From Shutting Down to 1000% Annual Growth"

Episode 8: "From Losing Your Co-Founder to 59% Growth the Next Year"

Episode 9: "Female Entrepreneurship And Starting a Business 11 Days After Giving Birth"

Episode 10: "From Door-To-Door Salesman To $11 Million Annual Revenue Within FIVE Years"

Episode 11: "From Podiatry Intern to 60+ Employee Health SuperCentre"

Episode 12: "From Selling Burned CDs to $350mm in Annual Revenue"

Episode 13: "Developing a Growth Mindset and Perth Entrepreneurship Going Global"

Episode 14: "From Army Officer to $23mm Annual Revenue Canberra Consultancy in 3 Years"

Episdoe 15: "How High School Best Friends Created One of The Fastest Growing Media Agencies in Australia"

Episode 16: "Creating Entrepreneurs, Corporate Innovation and Helping 10 Year Olds Make $1000+ Per Month"

Episode 17: "From $200,000+ in Credit Card Debt to Seven Figure Annual Income"

Episode 18: "How Construction Consulting Became a Multi-Million Dollar Niche Success"

Episode 19: "Why A Fast Growth Law Firm Embraces Tech and Teaches Its Entrepreneur Clients How to Negotiate"

Episode 20: "From Neuroscience PhD to 70 Employee Fast Growth Consultancy"

Episode 21: "From Inspirational Facebook Posts to the Fastest Growing New Apparel Business in Australia"

Episode 22: "From Sleeping on the Factory Floor to 3rd Fastest Growing New Business in Australia with $40mm+ Annual Revenue"

Episode 23: "From Graduate Finance Job at 18 to Growing Revenue $55 MILLION in 12 Months"

Episode 24: "Paying Drivers MORE The Secret to the Fastest Growing New Logistics Company in Australia"

Episode 25: "From Kicked Out Of High School to Published Author Running A Multi-Million Dollar Digital Growth Agency"

Episode 26: "From $1,000,000+ in DEBT to 6th Fastest Growing New Business in Australia"

Hi, my name is Derek. "FUTURE OF AUSTRALIA" is a project I am running to interview the Founders, CEOs and Entrepreneurs behind the FASTEST GROWING new businesses in Australia. 

"FUTURE OF AUSTRALIA" is about interviewing, celebrating and sharing the knowledge, aspirations, struggles, goals and achievements of these people with a broader audience.

If you are interested in contributing, learning more of keeping in the loop with our updates and email newsletter, email me at [email protected], or give me a call or text on 0404 689 897.

www.FutureOfAustralia.com