Entrepreneurship

Angus Davidson BAPPSC (AG), MAGRIBUS, MAICD, AFNZIM, DIRECTOR Prime Consulting International

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Guest Speaker

Recently the class was visited by Angus Davidson from Prime Consulting International (http://www.primeconsultants.net) who shared with the class his experience as an Entrepreneur.

 

Angus’s business offers agricultural consultancy services internationally to governments, industry bodies and local corporations.  The company has offices in Australia, NZ, Fiji, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Zambia and Dubai.

 

Angus has qualifications and career experience in Agribusiness. The opportunity arose to set up Prime Consulting in Australia 15 years ago, and he jumped at the chance even though it was extremely risky to leave a high paid senior executive position with a salary, and move into a business of his own. He saw a niche in the market, problems that needed solving, and moved to fill the void.

 

The consultancy deals with everything from exporting livestock from Australia to China to assisting governments in delivering agricultural AID to the developing world. They work with every stage of the agricultural cycle from the farmers to governments, solving problems and developing infrastructure to ensure food security.  90% of the company’s revenue comes from off-shore.

 

Angus has had to sacrifice a lot to build the business. He is often away from home, travelling to the different markets they have around the world.  In the early days of developing Prime Consulting, he lived for a few years in a war zone outside Kabul in Afghanistan. This brought business risk to new heights, as his own safety was at stake. However, this sacrifice was worth it, and provided the foundation needed for the business to grow.

 

Initially the business had only 2 people, but by 2015 they had so much work, that more consultants were employed. Then they required administrative staff around the world to stay on top of the paperwork demands. The company now employs 90 people internationally and is continuing to grow.  Angus refers to administrative staff as ‘fee burners’ as they do not generate income for the business but they are critical in order to complete work efficiently. He believes that he has a 'responsibility to all these staff'.  Needing to pay wages for a large workforce, ‘really does focus the mind’ and ensures that Angus continues to seek more markets to guarantee a ‘pipeline of work’ that is needed to employ and pay all these people.

 

Before employing more administrative staff, Angus would work extremely long days.  He stated, "God invented nights to do administrative work".  He wanted the boys to understand that he worked up to 16-hour days for years, until the business was profitable enough to employ more people. He said, ‘Business is exciting but it’s not for everyone’. The financial risk and personal cost need to be weighed up.

 

Angus outlined how a business ensures it has enough operating capital to cover costs by using equity or debt financing.  He explained the pros and cons of both approaches to the boys.

 

Drawing on his market knowledge internationally, he believes that the next big growth areas are the Middle East and Northern Africa. The world is running out of water and arable land, so there are numerous opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to these problems. He used the example of Cape Town to illustrate his point about limited water supply.  He also recognises the impact of automation and robotics and explained how drones are revolutionizing agricultural practice in cropping and horticulture.

 

The class is very grateful that Angus took the time to come and speak with them.  He provided a great deal of useful information for the boys to ponder, and he mentioned that he is keen to mentor any young people interested in his line of work.

 

Ms Kathleen Johnson

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION TEACHER/SOSE CURRICULUM LEADER