Smart50 rank: 44
Revenue: $7,736,572
Growth: 40.52%
Founders: Alexander (Sandy) Dunn, 52
Head Office: Western Australia
Employees: 36
Industry: Property and business services
Website: www.assetivity.com.au
Since its inclusion in last year’s Smart50 Awards little has changed at Alexander “Sandy” Dunn’s consulting firm and he wants to keep it that way.
“We aren’t planning any big moves, just steady incremental growth at around 40-50% per annum,” he says.
Assetivity’s growth has been impressive. This year it recorded growth of 40% and revenue of $7,736,572.
Dunn started his company after being made redundant from a senior management position at a multinational corporation, a move which expelled all doubts and problems he had been weighing up as he thought about starting his own company.
Dunn found a nice niche, “bridging the gap between the technical folks and the financial/commercial decision makers at large”.
“Today we are helping many of Australia’s largest companies to increase production, revenues and profits and to reduce costs and risks by applying a combination of engineering and management consulting skills,” Dunn says.
Clients include BHP, Rio Tinto and Santos.
But Assetivity almost came to an end, according to Dunn, when it made the jump from “being a small business to being a medium-sized business”.
“There are a bunch of stressful changes that have to be made, including, in no particular order, being a lot more structured and disciplined, with formal processes and procedures, relying less on the skills and abilities of individuals and more on captured organisational knowledge,” he says.
Since his redundancy Dunn has been a big supporter of taking risks, something he highlights in his advice for other entrepreneurs.
“Give it a go, have confidence and don't be afraid to take risks,” he says.
“But always have plan B in mind also, in case it does go pear-shaped.”
