Best Debtor Finance Testimonial Ever, Owner Of Skydome Tells It Like It Is

 In Debtor Finance, Invoice Factoring, Invoice Finance

Does your current financier keep you awake at night?

How do you hire a great employee? What’s the best type of finance? Natural lighting specialist and successful businessman Michael Bonello from Skydome  reveals all in our latest video interview.

A must see for anyone starting out.

For an appointment with a Product Specialist, call the office on 1300 652 158.

Watch the video and/or read the transcript below.

Question: Tell us about Skydome and how you got started;

Michael: You need to go back to 1976. When I first started Skydome, I
was 25, and I was working for quite a large company, a very well-
known company that dabbled in skylights. I was given an
opportunity to work in that particular division. In fact, I was
the only employee in that division.

I set about learning a lot about skylighting, even though that
particular product back in the early ’70s or mid ’70s wasn’t all
that well-known within Australia. It certainly was established
in Europe. But for Australia, the market was quite new. It was
very much in the embryonic stages. If people wanted a skylight
fitted to their home, they would normally ask their builder to
fabricate something up for them, and invariably it would leak.

That’s when I picked up on the product and decided that there was a
future in establishing skylights within the Australian market. I
had the thought that if I sold one skylight a day, that would be
fine. I could feed my family. One grew to five grew to ten. I
was working from home basically. I would get up in the morning,
assemble the skylights, pack them into the back of a trailer,
and deliver them. Then I would have a change of clothes. I would
put my tie on and call on architects. That would lead me to a
project nearby. I would call on the builder and sell the
product. Over two and half to three years, that grew and grew
and grew. Eventually, I moved out of home, so to speak, and set
up a proper manufacturing process at Five Dock.

Question: Most detrimental type of finance used? And what has worked the
best?

Michael: Detrimental, I have been associated with the four major banks
over the years, and you’re at their mercy if they tend to focus
on specific industry groups and decide that, I don’t know, the
clothing industry needs to or the rag trade needs to be
reviewed, they’ll just focus on that particular industry group.
It could be building product manufacturers, like I am. Once they
focus in on those types of companies, you’re at their whim and
mercy.

Many years ago I decided that I really wanted to disassociate myself
and the company with those banks, and I found the most useful
resource is cashing in my asset and being paid for my product
within a day or two of lodgement of my invoices. That’s proven
so beneficial to my organization. Sure, we’re audited once or
twice a year. Providing we’re playing the game according to the
rules, we have absolutely no problem. At the end of the day,
there are no borrowings as such. Yes, there is a cost attached
to it. But I can sleep at night knowing that it’s my asset that
I’m receiving, and my money is in my bank within a day or two of
lodging invoices.

Question: What’s your secret to employing the right people?

Michael: If I tell you what the secret is, it won’t be a secret anymore.
Okay. What’s the secret to employing the right employees? I
think one of the most important considerations is when I’m
interviewing people, you develop a sense of whether they have
empathy. I know during interviews that people can become quite
nervous, especially if there are two people interviewing the
applicant. But I look to see whether they have empathy for two
reasons. They have to have empathy toward customers, and the two
reasons are internal customers and external customers, internal
customers being other staff members, and of course the other
parties are the external customers.

In terms of employees, I also look for passion. That’s a hard thing
to be objective about. But I look for their passion to want to
succeed in life. I don’t necessarily look for someone who can
sell something to someone else. I look for someone that has the
ability, where the customer wants to buy from that particular
person, and I think that’s more important.

Light up your life with a skylight from Skydome. Skylight from
Skydome is the best light all day.

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