Rick Goody (Catalytic IT)
The combination of all of Catalytic IT’s business decisions has paid off, with the its revenue growing, on average, 25 per cent year-on-year since its inception, as well as noting a 40 per cent growth in revenue during the last financial year.
"We're not off to the moon in terms of our growth rate, but we are growing very solidly in a sustained responsible manner," Lester said.
Keeping it in the family
But like with any business, generating that level of growth didn’t come easy. In this case, the challenges have come from on employees moving on from the business — something Lester compared to losing a member of a family.
The most noteworthy departures for Goody included that of Healey and an employee in the business’ operations team, both of which had a profound impact on the business.
Those departures, he added, provided Catalytic IT’s employees with an opportunity to grow. For example, Goody said the consultancy’s current operations employee "stepped up and she exceeded all expectations”.
“It's been remarkable when and how well the company has actually gone from what we thought was going to be a downturn in how it was seen within the staff, but it has actually become very positive,” he said.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a problem to many businesses but, for the most part, it hasn’t bothered Catalytic IT or its clients too much, which has come down to Lester’s strategic planning — something Goody spoke highly of.
“Corpus Christi predates us as a business, but it was Mike that actually started this process and put in a five-year strategy of how they can transform their IT. We continue to do this, and it's how we engage generally with new business and new clients — trying to give them that five-year, three-year plan,” he said.
These plans have managed to weather the pandemic, as Goody mentioned how the strategies have tried to account for any potential disruption. In saying that, there was a shift on Catalytic IT’s part to providing that support remotely.
“I don't think we were really slowed down at all. It actually, in some ways, allowed us to be more flexible,” he said. "A lot of our support, we actually provide in person through IT consulting, where it's a three-hour visit, or a seven-hour visit. When COVID hit and everything was locked down, we made a decision as a company just to still provide that, but remote.
“With that, we got to engage with more end users and provide better support, because they're also at home and the systems that we had in place already allowed us to do that. I don't think many of our many of our clients were impacted as people thought they would.”
The only issues the consultancy did face however were logistical, which included dealing with couriers to get devices to homes.
Planning ahead
Moving through the new year ahead, Goody wants to try and continue the way the business has always operated — by looking into the latest technologies and certifications.
“I don't think we plan on making any wholesale changes in anything we do. And we believe for our client set, and our staff, we've got it right. I just want to keep on doing better,” he said.
Lester, being the strategist he is, added that the consultancy has a three-year strategic plan in place, which includes growth in headcount and vertical types.
Another area Catalytic IT is moving into is managed services, with it recently launching an offering in the space that Lester believes has longevity for the consultancy.
“The challenge for us was always, 'How do we deliver managed services in a way that's not faceless?'” Lester asked.
“Our strength is our people, so why would we go and deliver a managed services offering that's based around being faceless and not delivering some of the benefits that you have from engaging with the people or with a personal organisation?”
"We think we found a way to deliver managed services in a in a way that plays to our strengths and delivers the combination of strategy as well as support as well as peace of mind. So, we see that as an area that's going to grow for us over the coming years.”
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