I’m a bit late getting this up, but hey, it’s timeless information so better late than never!

About a month ago on 89.9 LightFM, I spoke to Tony Gattari ahead of his visit to Melbourne for the Cre8 Kingdom Business conference.

Tony, as a self-described “firebrand 27-year-old”, was, under the leadership of Gerry Harvey, responsible for taking Harvey Norman’s communications division from a $12 million turnover to an incredible $565 million in just nine years. Now he runs the Achievers Group, where he helps business owners reach their potential.

In this interview, we talked about Tony’s experience at Harvey Norman – where his story shows that although he started off at a fairly naive position (something I’m sure he wouldn’t mind admitting!), he was able to achieve some pretty cool things. My point: if you think that you haven’t got what it takes to succeed in business, take a look at stories like Tony’s to remind you of the humble beginnings many of our high achievers came from.

In the interview, Tony also gave advice for small business owners on business survival, work/life balance, and involvement in partnerships.

You can listen to the entire interview with Tony below, or if you’re short on time, I’ve transcribed some of his key ‘nugget’ advice points.

[See post to listen to audio]
(download file – 9.5 MB, 6:55)

• One of the biggest issues in business is cashflow
• Tony’s premier advice to small business owners: “Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cashflow is reality”
• Many business owners overestimate what they’re going to do in the short term, and under estimate what they’re going to do in the longterm
• What ever you think you’re going to make in the first year, halve it, and halve it again – if you can survive on that sort of income, then you may well be successful in business
• If you’re in a partnership because you need money – go and see a bank. If the partnership is based on a shared vision, then that’s a good reason to do it.
• Don’t go into partnership based on skills – do it based on attitudes, belief and character

On the morning of New Year’s Eve James Scott and I presented the Inaugural 1WAY FM Breakfast Show New Year’s Eve Spectacular Extravaganza 2007. It was a look back at the news, sport, movies, technology and deaths of 2007 – here are some of the highlights (apologies for the quality!).

[See post to listen to audio]
(download file – 16.1 MB, 17:40)