3 minute read
Eumundi Voice - Issue 100, 22 August 2024
Hot buttered toast
Tony Botsman describes himself as an “ancient but active Aussie” with extensive experience having worked in PNG, France, UK, Jordan, Turkey and various parts of Australia. He now lives in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and wants to share his experiences and learnings about successful business planning, in a series of articles as part of “his entry fee to this part of paradise”.
This is a true success story spanning more than three quarters of a century demonstrating three vital elements for planning profitable growth in any business, anytime, anywhere.
The story begins with an Italian priest named Giovanni Battista Mazzuconi, who arrived in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1852. Fr Gio found a sun-dried ceramic artefact which was unstable due to a high concentration of alluvial gold, arguably the first indication of gold in PNG. He duly reported this discovery to his superiors in Rome but very little happened for another 70 years!
Fast forward to Italy in 1920, with the country embroiled in a brutal civil war between Benito Mussolini’s fascists and an equally strong antifascist movement. Tens of thousands died in the conflict with an even greater number fleeing for foreign shores. The USA and Canada were favoured, with a trickle, later becoming a flood, arriving in Australia.
At the same time in PNG, more gold had been discovered in the Wau Bulolo area, especially in
the Edie Creek locality. This became known to 5 Italian families in Piedmont who jointly decided to leave for the wilds of PNG. This incredible decision was at a time when there were no medical services, schools, or hospitals and thousands of warring tribes controlling PNG.
The Piedmont families commitment provides the first of three learnings from this story. The plan for this intrepid group with a diversity of skills was simply to work together, to explore whatever opportunities might be available. In 21st century parlance this was their ‘why’ – a powerful, simple but durable ‘why’ that worked for more than 75 years.
Fast forward again to Lae, PNG in the late 1970’s, the families by this time had used some of their initial success with gold to work together to build a diverse operation spanning beef, timber, plantations, steel fabrication and a Coca-Cola franchise. All but one was profitable and I was lucky to be offered the challenge of turning around the timber division and yes, I was successful.
One facet of working together was a longestablished ritual of an informal meeting every Saturday morning for excellent Italian coffee, and you guessed it – hot buttered toast!
This ritual provides the two final learnings. Informal or not, the exchanges between constant alignment of thinking and resources shared, especially in problem solving. Also, that new opportunities were identified and all market intelligence was updated on a weekly basis.
You might care to contrast this dynamic with your own planning cycle and the fundamental importance of the ‘why’ in your business rationale. Further articles in this series will help you understand other elements of a planning process which worked every time across all sectors from banking, to building, to bioscience.
In the next issue, read how $4M turnover became $50M in just five profitable years using the RADAR process. Any questions? Contact: botsmananthony@gmail.com.
Tony Botsman DDA, MBA - Founder and Caretaker, The Affordable Housing Project
