Tony Fraser-Jones

I enjoyed my time at Te Aroha College immensely and got involved in as much as I could. Now with kids of my own I can appreciate how much my parents gave up to make sure I had every opportunity! Rugby, Cricket, Basketball and Debating (I was a talker right from the get-go) were great fun. I was a bit of a geek as well. I remember Mum saying “Tony you should take a break from study and relax.” I’ve always been passionate about learning.

In 1993 I moved to study at Auckland University and had an absolute blast. I graduated with a Master of Commerce in Management and Employment Relations with First Class Honours. I wrote an 80,000 word thesis … something I’m still very proud of. I’m not sure anyone has read it since!

I was fortunate to lecture and tutor undergraduate programs whilst at University. Teaching reinforced my love of learning and was a fantastic experience. I even considered a career as an academic … but decided I like making money too much.

After graduating I secured a job with a multi-national consulting business called Accenture. I moved to Wellington and had a great time with money in hand and no one else to worry about (except the student loan). Plus I got to travel extensively on the company including several trips to the United States. A highlight was being part of the team that built the Department for Courts Fines Collection Computer system. I led the team that trained all the Court’s staff on how to use the system

Four years at Accenture convinced me that working for someone else was like trying to put a square peg in a round hole! I looked around at a bunch of business opportunities and ended up buying a restaurant franchise called Burger Fuel. At that stage Burger Fuel only had four stores and ours was the first outside of Auckland. After 4 ½ years I sold the business and turned my investment of $35,000 cash into $325,000 profit which was a great start. BUT the process of running Burger Fuel was a brutal introduction to business.

The hours, the staff, having a young family (and trying to have a life as well)…

One night I had a moment… At the end of a 13 hour shift I slipped on some oil, knocked myself out and broke a couple of ribs. When I got home that night at 2am my wife was feeding our 6 week old son Jack. I said to her, ‘This is ridiculous. This is not how I want business to be” and I vowed to her to find a better way to make it work. Which I did… I put the restaurant under management and sold it 18 months later.

Whilst owning Burger Fuel we purchased 3 investment properties. It was a magic time when houses were going up by 10% – 13% a year. After selling Burger Fuel I set up a property trading business called 0800webuyhouses and for the next 4 years we traded $15.2million worth of property (which was great for the first 2 ¾ years). In 2009 and 2010 the guts dropped out of the property market and like many we got burnt. At one stage we were facing a negative cash flow situation of more than 100K a year to pay my bills without a viable business to do it! Not a recipe for sleeping well at night.

During that time I went to a business coaching seminar looking for inspiration for my business. I listened to the speakers and thought ‘Gee I could do that’… so I did!!

Over the last 8 years we’ve worked with over 254 businesses and specialised in helping Plumbers, Electricians and other tradesmen make more profit and create freedom from their business.

I’ve always been interested in what makes some businesses successful whilst others struggle to make ends meet. Will Smith the actor says there are two keys in life. One is running (yep that’s exercise) because it teaches you discipline. Two, is reading because you can learn anything you need. Put the two together and you’re unstoppable. The way I look at it you get out of life what you put in. We are put on this earth to be creative and make the most of the capabilities we have… yet my experience is that most Plumbers only scratch the surface of what is possible.

Our clients have labelled me as “the person to call when you’re sick of thinking small.” The challenge I set for myself and you is how to continually be thinking about playing a bigger game. Better results always start with bigger thinking!