How I Succeeded is a new series on Lifehacker where we ask business owners for the secrets and tactics behind their success. Today: Matt Bullock from eWAY.
Lifehacker’s How I Succeeded series, brought to you by Telstra, offers expert advice to help small business owners. For more on how Telstra helps make it easier for you to do your thing, visit Telstra.com/doyourthing.
Current gig: Founder and CEO of eWAY
Location: Canberra
Current mobile device: iPhone 6
Current computer: Surface Pro
One word that best describes how you work: Fast
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
For the day to day running of the business, Salesforce, Netsuite and Google Apps are absolutely essential.
As someone who is always on the go, I wear the Fitbit tracker to keep tabs on my daily activity. I use the GeoCaching app frequently particularly since it’s a great activity to get the whole family involved in.
I love to cook so I use the Jamie Oliver Recipe App for inspiration and ideas on meals and snacks.
What social network do you find the most useful?
LinkedIn to me is a great social network. It helps me connect with a lot of key decision makers in the industry, not just locally but all over the world. We’re also hiring at eWAY so it allows me to keep an eye out for potential candidates and grow our business.
What were the most important lessons you learned while growing your business?
Being in business for 17 years I’ve learnt that partnerships are key. A lot of people go into starting a business with the “build it and they will come” mentality. I can confidently say that it’s not as as easy that. Yes, having a great idea is a start, but at the end of the day, you need to put in the hard yards to get other businesses and brands to integrate with your business and then you’ve got to reciprocate as well.
What has been the most surprising part of your business journey?
eWAY’s growth and how businesses have responded to the service we provide has been phenomenal. It’s what gets me out of bed every day. We’ve now got 18,000 businesses worldwide accepting payments through eWAY and we’re processing 1 in every 4 dollars spent online in Australia. We’ve had businesses tell us that by using eWAY they’ve been able to increase their sales and grow their business to levels they didn’t imagine. Hearing that makes me want to keep at it.
What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?
Finding the truth. I have a knack for it!
What’s your sleep routine like?
It’s pretty shocking! Even though our HQ is in Canberra, we have staff and offices all over the world, so I’m up at all hours of the night whether it’s 2am or 4am to work and catch up with our staff overseas. That said, I still maintain a good work-life balance — I’m able to switch off for a few hours in the evening and spend quality time with my family. I cook dinner, we catch up on movies and TV shows and also tend to go on mini-getaways over the weekend.
What advice would you offer to other businesses on how to succeed?
Never, never give up. I even have this up on the wall in our office. It motivates me every day because the way I see it, a “no” is a journey to “yes”.
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