Startup Central Victoria hosted a panel discussion on the topic of Managing Business Growth with special guests Lindsay Callaway from Warral Maldon and Adrian Kowal from Kowelec. This was held in conjunction with the Mount Alexander Shire Micro & Small Business Expo on Friday 27 June 2025.
Is business growth for everyone? This is the question that Lindsay and Adrian did their best to answer, along with some great advice for those who do want to grow their businesses.
When introducing our two guests, Kerry Anderson noted that both Lindsay and Adrian were owners of businesses that operated within the Mount Alexander Shire, had won a business award, and experienced growth. She thought that this may be where the similarities ended given their very different sectors, but as the conversation proceeded, we learned that they had one other thing in common and it has been instrumental in their decision making along the way.
Check out their websites to get a sense of the calibre of our guests:
https://warralmaldon.com.au/
https://kowelec.com.au/
To provide context, both our guests were asked how they got started in business. As a fifth-generation apiarist, Lindsay grew up in the family business that has operated for 130 years. By comparison, Adrian learnt his trade as an electrician working for another local business then took the leap of faith to build his own company.
Did you plan for where you wanted to be?
As a tradie Adrian believes that there is a timeframe as to how long you can stay on the tools so early on, he chose to grow the business so he can take on more of a management role. He said that there are new challenges with staff and cashflows every time the business grows or declines. He tracks a lot of data – hours (incoming) and financials (outgoing) – to stay on top of profit margins and find that “sweet spot.”
Lindsay admitted that he is big on continuous improvement, so it was a natural pathway towards growth and more efficient operations. Travelling to NZ and the USA on industry tours, sparked even more ideas. He was struck by the volume of production in the US models, and realised what is possible, and how they did it.
Main decision drivers of growth
Adrian said that getting a business coach was the best decision he made once he got to the 8 staff level. Working in the business and not on the business. A long journey, not a quick one. Having just been through the biggest construction boom many were forced into scaling up at an unnatural speed. It is important to have a diverse range of work/clients for when some areas do slow down. He embraced technology very quickly – which has been appreciated from a customer perspective.
Lindsay originally planned growth to match the building of a new factory in Maldon, but then a major client demanded that they meet global food standards. In retrospect, this was a good decision, he said, as it opened doors to multinational clients. The problem is that now he needs a bigger factory! An increase of hives from 1,000 to 5,000 has driven a lot of their internal growth. It has given Warral the ability to produce its own honey and to take on pollination services that is an added income stream.
Hardest aspects of growth
“Letting go,” according to Lindsay. “I had to delegate, had to trust and let go of a lot of things. This was a big part of my growth.” Now he is ultra organised and has a weekly plan, a basic spreadsheet. The global food standard is also tough to maintain – they are doing scenario plans, mock recalls and crises, testing all the time – but it makes them operate at the highest level. A business coach helped him to get more proactive, with less looking in the revision mirror, and the ability to identify leakages in the business.
Adrian admitted that when you start out in business you have to learn quick, sometimes saying “yes, we can do that,” and then working out how to do it. Getting systems in place to manage staff and sub-contractors has been massive to roll out but well worth the effort, he said. Estimators now do a video and run through the job how it has been quoted that is then viewed by the employee or sub-contractor performing the work. This, combined with documentation, takes out the risk of human error.
The construction boom presented Kowelec with the challenge of having to meet demand, and yet the past six months has presented the oppositive with a downturn. Although they have had to let a few staff go, broadening their geographic reach and maintaining a diversity in the type of work they take on is keeping them on track with the ability to scale up again.
Warral has also struggled to find beekeepers and undertook a recruitment campaign that targeted the trades. Lindsay said that they realised they needed to focus on the bigger picture and the culture of the team. “12 months ago, we created a “swarm of apiarists” where is everyone is part of the swarm, one big honey pack, regardless of their role.” They focus on structure with weekly team meetings and quarterly management meetings plus social activities. “Culture can be built organically through structure.”
Why plan for growth?
Adrian said that it is important to weigh up: do you want to grow? “There are always problems, no matter the size of your business, but you can become a better boss and better manage it.” He recommends that you ask yourself the question: Is it an ego thing or are you thinking about where you need to be with your family? Sometimes, it is worth saying no to a new client or type of work if it doesn’t fit in with your plans.
Lindsay is happy where he is at now even though much of his journey has been organic and intuitive. After working with a business coach, his advice is to find out what the DNA of your business is and don’t try to be something else.
Final words of advice
Lindsay: Do a scenario plan and find out where your leakages are, where your energy is being lost. Work with your competitors, collaboration is a good part of growth.
Adrian: Think about whether growth is something you want to do or if you are being forced into it. Calculate the way that you want to do it.
Thank you to both Lindsay and Adrian for generously sharing some of their growth experiences. Did you pick what else they had in common? They both have a business coach!