Buyers and Builders
00:43:25 · Chris Rolls, Mikk
So I look at them and say, a bolt on acquisition can be quite risky because you're faced with that that that the the cultural risk of merging the businesses together. But we've done a few. We've done... We've done three or four of them. [00:43:38] S0: Now when it comes to this building this long term holding company, obviously, lot of risk, lot of grind, lot of hard work. It takes twenty to thirty years. You mentioned maybe in in in the future doing an IPO. Now a bit like a personal question, like, do you sustain this energy and enthusiasm over such a long periods of time?
00:44:04 · Chris Rolls
[00:44:04] S1: Oh, it's a good question. I think think I just like it. It's fun. Now, it's not always fun. But I really enjoy creating something. I really enjoy building something from scratch. It's not... It's it's certainly not just about financial reward. Although, if you do a good job, you can generate financial reward. I also do it because it allows me to invest my own capital in a way that I think is relatively low risk in relation to the return. It's certainly a lot less risky than private equity or venture capital because we're buying businesses at lower prices, we're putting less debt in, they are much safer businesses to invest in. But it's no different to running any business. You have the ups and downs and not everything goes according to plan. But over life as a business owner, you just get used to that. And you always know that nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems. So when things are not going well, can seem like it's the end of the world, eventually you turn them around. If you just keep going, keep making good decisions, keep trying to improve everything, keep hiring better and better people, keep moving out the people that aren't performing, if you just do that every day, you know, one step at a time, my experience is you almost always generate good results. The issue that most people have is that two things. One, they're not willing to learn from the mistakes they make. And we've made mistakes and we've learned from them. But I think the second one is the persistence. I looked at this and sort of said, Well, we promised our investors this is a ten year time frame. I look at this and go, Well, the point that we create liquidity, that's just the start of the next ten years. So I'll be doing this for a very long time. Well past that ten year liquidity, you know, period.
00:46:06 · Mikk
[00:46:06] S0: Now a lot of people, especially I think the younger ones, are are talking about building those companies and they're sometimes talking about the word balance. But me and my my one of my mates, like you say in Australia, have discussed that the better word is probably a harmony where work, family, curiosity, friendship, and ambition all become integrated into one life. So what else what else do you do? So how do you think about this?
00:46:33 · Chris Rolls
[00:46:33] S1: I tend to agree. Think... Look, this is probably gonna sound politically incorrect, but there's not that many people that are successful in business that haven't worked really hard, you know, and I think I think that's just a fact. I work hard, but what what enables me to do it is that I enjoy doing it. So it's my it's my hobby. Like when I'm when I'm at home on the weekend and I'm reading a book, I'm not... I'm I'm reading a book about business because it's something that interests me or investing or, you know, maybe maybe a biography on a business figure or an investor. And I'm doing it because I enjoy learning. And so, you know, the whole concept of work life balance is important, but it's also hard if you don't like what you do. And if you do like what you do, working hard is much easier. So I sort of... I I don't struggle with it because I've spent my whole life doing things I want to do because that's the advantage you have when you're an entrepreneur and you're making things happen. So don't struggle with it at all but I'm probably lucky because it's a natural personal interest of mine. And even if I wasn't working, if I had no job, I would still be reading those same books and I'd still be looking at businesses that popped up online to buy. I just can't help myself. That's what I would do.
00:48:12 · Mikk, Chris Rolls
[00:48:12] S0: Okay, Chris. I really enjoyed this one. We covered it all. I had 14 pages of notes for myself. We we went through it all. So thanks a lot for your time. Very special company you're building. Being the first one in in Australia, I know already that you are not the only one anymore. So thanks a lot for sharing your story. [00:48:36] S1: No worries. Thanks, Mikk. Great to chat.