Wellness & Lifestyles Australia Case Study

CEO Nick Heywood-Smith, the E&Y Young Entrepreneur of the Year for SA in 2010, started Wellness & Lifestyles Australia (W&L) in 2003 with his wife Nikki. He was joined by General Manager Michael Peachey while the company was still young, and the company is now established as the leading provider of quality mobile allied health care services in South Australia.

With over 100 therapists servicing over 200 aged care facilities in South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory, Kent Town based W&L works to improve the level of care and assist care facilities increase revenue streams by applying for relevant Government funding.

Since their engagement with Innovate SA, W&L has experienced an 80% increase in revenue.

Key issue

Developing business skills and exploring new markets

Rapid growth over the past 24 months led to competing demands on resources and recruitment with a team of young, emerging and dynamic managers.

Many of the staff at W&L are trained aged care and physiotherapy professionals seeking to further develop their leadership and general business skills allowing them to excel in their own roles and obtain the best results from their staff.

W&L also wanted to develop a more engaging presentation style when pitching for new business to highlight the impact of its resources and allow them to grow the company beyond the boundaries of SA.

As the company grew, the need to promote and market its new services also increased. The company was also seeking advice on how to best leverage both traditional and digital marketing tools.

Key outcomes

Growing Global Companies Program

Senior staff at W&L took part in several Innovate SA Growing Global Companies programs - equipping them with business skills and acumen to expand their business both in SA and interstate.

Michael and Nick both completed the Presentation and Media course which helped the company understand the benefit of targeted presentation styles. The course also outlined the benefits of social media – resulting in the development of effective strategies for marketing and recruitment within the company.

The team also completed the two day Leadership in Action course and received targeted one on one mentoring which covered various management styles and assisted the company to develop leadership skills to strengthen the management structure.

Feedback

“The opportunity to gain knowledge, network and learn strategies to assist our business growth and development through keen and dynamic facilitators has proven to be an asset to W&L.

“It was nice to step back and reflect on management styles, strengths and weaknesses and how we can all aspire to be more effective managers.