The South Australian Young Entrepreneur Scheme (SAYES) has been in operation for 18 years!
We recently touched base with scheme mentor Andrew Russo from accountancy firm
PKF Kennedy.
Why did you choose to become a mentor in the SAYES program?
I have always been involved in some sort of voluntary organisation and believe we need to give back to the community. Having been involved in Apex & Rotary over a period of 25 – 30 years I was looking for a different challenge and SAYES provided me a means to do that at the same time providing me a means to practice & develop my own skills.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you have for your 18-year-old self?
The only thing that will stop you achieving your goals is your own self belief. If you have a business idea have a go but research, plan & get a mentor before you start to ensure a better chance of success. Don’t rely on friends saying what a great idea, do your research.
What is your top tip for succeeding in business?
Having a wholistic understanding of your business. Not necessarily have all the skills needed but understand what drives the business, your target market, the 20% that provide 80% of sales, 20% of employees that give 80% of productivity, free cash flow being generated etc. Key Success Factors cannot be measured by dollars & cents so there is a need to measure customer service, response times, etc
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
I had a vision of how an accountancy practice should add value to its clients, so I looked at small practices at the time and identified those individuals I thought had a similar view as me. I knew I needed other resources to do what I wanted and I started looking for key alliances to provide additional training to increase the skills I identified as key to what we needed to do.
What do you consider to be success as an entrepreneur?
I think a successful entrepreneur is someone who turns their passion into a business that achieves the goals they set. They are usually a person who organizes and manages the business with considerable initiative and risk.
Please provide us with an 18th birthday message for SAYES
I congratulate the SAYES program on 18 years of being a fantastic resource for young people who needed the backup, support & training to enable them to fulfil the vision of creating a unique business. I’m pretty sure true entrepreneurship can’t be taught. I believe the SAYES role is to encourage the true entrepreneur and I hope it will continue on doing that well into the future.