Secret #6: Separating Personal Identity from Your Business To Secure Future Saleability and True Wealth for Yourself
Interview with Leanne O’Connor
Kerry: I’m really thrilled today to be talking to Leanne O’Connor, whose former business was Systems and People. Leanne, can you give us a little bit of a background about Systems and People, how you started and about your inspiration?
Leanne O’Connor: Sure. I did an I.T. degree at university and started off working at BHP. They taught me how to use a program called ABAP which is a part of SAP, and 90% of the world’s transactions now run through an SAP system.
Two years after that I started contracting, as an independent consultant. I found a niche, I guess, where I thought that a recruitment business run by someone who was actually in the industry, knowing what the client’s needs were, and the candidate needs, was a bit of a gap. So I started the business in 1995 when I was 24 years old – so quite young. I had no idea what it would become almost 20 years later.
I stayed working as a consultant for about 8 years after that because it was a bit of a challenge when you’re starting your business. Often financially it’s very difficult to give up your full-time job and guaranteed earnings for something that is a bit pie in the sky and not guaranteed financially.
It took me until 2003 when we had 15 consultants working in the company to give up my full-time earnings and focus on the business. 10 years later we had a national recruitment, consulting, and contracting management business with offices in Melbourne and Sydney, and we employed over 230 consultants and 11 full-time staff.
Kerry: That is fantastic. It’s a really good success story. Finding that niche, in particular recognising it and being able to take it to the next level is inspirational to a lot of people…[download to read more>>]
