Robert Boschetti - Series 3 Episode 1 Reclaiming the Joy of Business

In this episode of Reclaiming the Joy of Business, host Steve Sandor interviews Robert Boschetti, the Director of Boschetti, an electrical business based in Albury.

Robert shares his journey from working on a farm to establishing his own business, and how his upbringing instilled in him a sense of innovation and creativity. 

He discusses the importance of distinguishing between failing at a task and being a failure, and how this mindset has fostered continual improvement in his business. 

Robert also reflects on his experiences in the corporate world, which taught him resilience and the importance of adding value to clients. He emphasizes the need for transparency and leadership within his team. 

Looking ahead, Robert is excited about the next phase of growth for his company.

The episode provides valuable insights into the challenges and joys of running a business, highlighting the importance of a positive mindset and consistent self-improvement.

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Transcript

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Robert Boschetti 0:00

I may have, we may fail at certain tasks, but we are not a failure. That's totally different. And me reminding myself of the difference between having failed in a task and being a failure. Those are totally different. Um, and acknowledging failure in a, in a task, what that does, if you say, yep, hand up, I failed that, is it links it very, very closely with your responsibility in that task. Um, because straight, you're just turning inwards. How did that happen? And then I found when I do that, um, then created this environment of continual improvement.

Steve Sandor (OD) 0:46

Welcome to Reclaiming the Joy of Business. I'm your host, Steve Sandor, and my guest today is Robert Boschetti, Director at Boschetti, an Albury based top to bottom electrical business doing everything from the power pole to the power point. The story of how Robert started is not dissimilar to many in that he thought about business at an early age. Having been brought up in a rural farm setting where innovation and creativity was an essential survival skill. As you will hear, Robert always knew he would end up running his own business. His motivation came from wanting to support his family, even though he had yet As an employee, Robert soaked up the knowledge from his peers and mentors and leans into those experiences as he builds and grows his own business. There is a theme that runs through this conversation that Robert thinks deeply about his future and the impact he wants to make. Unsurprisingly, Robert's focus is on solving his clients problems and adding value and exceptional customer service. Robert has a relatively simple philosophical view of business life. He acknowledges that things don't always go well, and when you accept that, it's much easier to find solutions. It allows him to be resilient in the face of failure and continually improve through self reflection and learning. Growth is a natural objective in business, but growth for growth's sake, however, seems a pointless exercise in accumulation. And unless there is a purpose that drives not just the owner, but the stakeholders, then it sucks the fun out of it. out of the process. Robert has definitely found a balance between focused and deliberate outcomes and enjoying the challenges of being a business owner. So reclaiming the joy of business is possible. It starts with a shift in the mindset and small, consistent changes. Thank you for joining us for this conversation. I hope that it inspires you and to know that you too can reclaim the joy of business. welcome, Robert. Hey, Steve, how are you going? That was the second attempt that Robert's had at saying hello, because I stuffed up the first one. So, uh, we're all about authenticity here in this podcast. Um, so Robert, thanks very much. Uh, Bronwyn Boyle was a mutual friend of ours. She introduced me to you. And so I really do appreciate you accepting this invitation to, uh, to come onto the podcast, just to give the listener a little bit of background on you. Maybe you could just give us a, uh, you know, a brief intro of, of what it is that you do, the business that you have, um, maybe even how you got started.

Robert Boschetti 3:59

Yeah, well, I suppose it, it all started with the way my mind was set during our, during our upbringing and the type of environment I was exposed to there. It was a very, um, practical and at times quite technical environment. We were, you know, we're on a farm and you've got to make do with what you've got. So you've got to be very creative. And that sort of set my mind towards this. this perspective where I wanted to provide more value into the world by bringing together practical things with some theoretical concepts. And my intention, um, so many years ago was I could see electricity was the future pretty much. And, uh, so I started out in my career, uh, fundamentally. around electricity. I did a dual trade in electrical instrumentation. And, uh, then so as a qualified tradesman, then I went off to university and did, uh, engineering. On the back of that, that was my, that was my career path, my formal education completed. And at that point, I could start bringing value into both worlds, the engineering world from a practical perspective, because engineers need to be as close connected to the world as possible. And from a, uh, in an electrical world where I can support. Those, uh, groups of trades, uh, in the best possible way, which is what a good engineering function does. So, yeah, so I started the business. That was really the only way I could truly, um, bring those two worlds together and, and focus on providing that value direct directly to our customers. And yeah, that was 11 years ago now. And, uh, yeah, we keep on, we keep on going, but it's been quite a ride. I really, really enjoyed it.

Steve Sandor (OD) 6:01

So did you, when you came out of university, did you get a job as an electrical engineer or did you go straight into running your own business?

Robert Boschetti 6:12

Nah, I did. I did. I worked, I worked on staff as a electrical engineer in the food and beverage industry, and that was, that was really, really interesting because it contrasted so heavily against, um, where I did my, uh, where I did my formative years as an electrician. Yeah. Yeah, I did. I got some time as, uh, as a, as an electrical engineer prior to starting the business,

Steve Sandor (OD) 6:39

was there any lessons that you learned, as a employee that you, know, that motivated you to starting your business? Or was it something that you always had a passion for?

Robert Boschetti 6:57

Uh, I always knew that I was gonna start the business. That was, that was never an accident and my. Formative years towards that. That was never, that was not an accident either. Um, that was planned out quite. Oh, I wouldn't say meticulously, but I absolutely knew what I had to do to get where I wanted to go. Um, did I learn any lessons working on staff? Definitely, I learned a lot about what a big, what a corporate enterprise is like, uh, working behind the scenes there, uh, there's certain parts of it that are quite heavy duty. I'd say, um, yeah I also learned about being tough as well. Um, that was probably, oh, it was, it was one of, Many times in my life where the necessity to be tough, really, it was it was a, pretty savage and savage environment at times, but, you know, very, very rewarding one, um, really super technical, worked really, really hard, but, um, was surrounded by, some, some, well experienced people, basically the, the company I was working in was, um, we were a regional, um, Uh, food and beverage business, a big, a big corporate though, uh, and we sort of had Chapel Street engineering because food and beverage at the time was going bananas. It was, uh, it was, it was so busy. we, I was surrounded by some pretty amazing people. And, mix in a whole lot of corporate experience and being tough and an opportunity to apply everything that I'd learned. And it was, it was really good.

Steve Sandor (OD) 8:47

So that when, when you say tough, are you talking about that? It was Difficult to operate or that you needed to be resilient to be in that environment.

Robert Boschetti 8:59

Probably, because it was difficult because working inside a big machine like a corporate, it's, it, it, it can be hard, very difficult to influence the trajectory. Right. And yet you have to, you have to, you absolutely have to. Um, so that probably created, um, the need. For resilience, because sometimes, you know, the, the world, the world is not perfect. So you have to work with what you've got kind of thing. You still have to deliver those results. It's not a question. You have to, um, so the resilience come about because I was surrounded by. Oh, just career experts, people, people with a million times more experience than me. And, um, there's certain things that they, you know, showed me what had to be and how it had to be. And yet that was really to satisfy their own, um, their own workflow because they were, they were in different disciplines to me. I was the only electrical guy. Um, so they were all in different disciplines each with. Their own competing demands. So the resilience comes about because, um, yeah, you have, there's certain things you can deliver certain things. You can't, you have to push back to those people, but you have to be very clear when you're communicating that. Yeah, it was, it was, it was intense, but it was fantastic.

Steve Sandor (OD) 10:34

Yeah, I, you know, every lesson that you, every, well, every experience that you have is, is, is an experiment. Right. So, and it's how you deal with each of those situations and you learn, you learn about yourself, how well you can cope with all of those. And we'll get to some of the mistakes because My saying is that mistakes are only decisions that were made with not enough information. If you have more information, you make a different decision, not necessarily better, just different. So it moves you along a pathway. Um, when you started the business, was, was there a particular goal that you had in mind?

Robert Boschetti 11:21

Yeah, absolutely. Um, it was about taking control of my future and, uh, building a prosperous future for, for me and my family that I didn't have at the time. But that, that's, that's purely what it was about. Um, it mixed that in with professional desires to bring worlds together and provide certain value that the industry hadn't experienced. Um, that was really the, the full motivation.

Steve Sandor (OD) 11:54

so it was, it was creating a future for yourself and for your family. Having control over your own destiny, and then you mentioned that you wanted to, it was, are you saying as a result of that, that you were able to make an impact on the industry to think about things differently, or did that, was that an initial goal or did that come as a result of you being successful?

Robert Boschetti 12:24

Um, good question. Chicken and the egg, I think. Um, but definitely, well, I always had to set up my future. That was, that was always there. And yet I also, um, have these perhaps arrogant traits, maybe where I knew that the way I did things, the way I wanted to do things, the way I would do things is how it had to be done. And, uh, that was, that was the form that the business had to take. So, I say, I say arrogant because the only way I could absolutely do things, the way that I knew was the right way to do things was to create my own environment. Um, and in that I could create the most value for our customers. And that was personally so motivating because I knew that they were getting something that they wouldn't have got somewhere, else or somehow else. And, yeah, that's how I'm a bit of a personal motivation

Steve Sandor (OD) 13:28

for me. So am I correct in saying that when you were in that corporate environment, you had a disconnect. Because the fact that you weren't as influential, or at least you didn't have as much control over, over your destiny, because there's, there's all these competing factors, you're a small cog in a massive machine. I know I've been there, I've been a part of corporate, that's why I don't deal with corporates now, Um, So, the fact that you've got control now, that's, is that given you connection to your purpose?

Robert Boschetti 14:12

yeah, definitely a big part of it. For me. Um, I, I, I keep saying the word value and that is when I know our customers are getting value. That's, that's a personal feel good for me and when I put that invoice in, I know we deserve it because we've given them value. Um, being in the corporate, Yeah, like, there is some frustrations there, um, there's certain things that have got to be done, perhaps for good reason, perhaps not, perhaps unnecessary, at least from an individual's perspective, but you have to, you have to do it. I was, I was doing it because it was part of my job, and then that's, that was absolutely fine, but I did know at the time. That I was yet to establish the business and establish that real opportunity to focus, focus on the technical end of our job, rather than, um, is a bit of churn in corporate bit of churn, you know, CapEx and things like this. Even OPEX, it can burn a lot of time just in processing how how you're going to, uh, achieve the funding or whatever. It's very, uh, it's very top heavy. And then, you know, when the project lands it's high fives, cheering all around, everyone's popping, you know, bottles of champagne or whatever. Um, so it's very, um, it's very joyous at those, at those points, but at other times, it can be a bit of a grind.

Steve Sandor (OD) 15:48

So what were the biggest challenges you had when you started your business some 10, 11 years ago now?.

Robert Boschetti 15:57

I was exposed to all of the normal challenges. It's a small business owner has, I started with no money. I I had been working, I was working in Europe before that, um, as a control systems engineer. And, uh, basically I'd spent, I spent all my money on the last part of my travels before returning to Australia. And, um, yeah, I started, basically I registered the company, uh, as soon as I got back into the airport, because you can't do that from overseas. and purchased my insurances that was like on a Thursday and then I started trading on the Monday. Um, I had like I had to financial reasons, but I was ready to as well. Um, so everything was very, very tight. I had, I started working and, um, you know, I'd never even written an invoice before. I didn't know. I didn't know anything about it. so, and by the time I bought the insurance, you know, um, the appropriate public liability and whatever, I had practically nothing left. So, it was tight, but, uh, that was a major challenge. that challenge doesn't go away because growth costs money, um, but challenge between, you know, Different, um, cycles of growth and regrowth, which demand time, resources, whatever, um, it's not just about delivering the technical value as I keep referring to it, um, That's more straightforward. If you don't plan on growing, growing a business to create a future. If you just want to be technical, just do your job. Straightforward, you just get to do your job for your 40 hours a week, whatever it is. Yeah, but, um, I was building something. So that, that, that was very demanding on time and my other personal resources.

Steve Sandor (OD) 17:54

Yep. So, so you, did you, when you, if I can just go back to that point, uh, of that start, you know, if you arrived in, back in Australia, was there ever any time where you went, I'm, I'm going to go back and get a corporate job? And sort of find some grounding there and then and then start my business. So it was pretty much all in. So you're all the chips were in from the get go.

Robert Boschetti 18:21

All in. Yeah, it was. It was it was all in in every way. Um, I had no time to spend like don't time to waste. I was. That was my time and I was so excited by it. I seriously was, um, you know, I sometimes didn't even sleep. I was so excited. So yeah, I had no time to waste. I also had no money. So I had to get out there and start earning some. Perfect combination, isn't it? Yeah. And, and my customers at the time, they, they seemed to feed on that. as I said, I was so excited. I was so thrilled to be in the position I was in. so I just got straight into it. But I, I established those, um, those clients from when I was, even from, from when I was overseas, right before I, uh, started the, um, started the business. Right. So when I went in Australia, I was ready to go.

Steve Sandor (OD) 19:14

Right, right. So you'd done, you'd done a little bit of pre-work, so it hadn't been all holidays. Right. Okay. No, no. Um, of the reasons for this podcast is that. You know, we were having a conversation before we, before we started and I was talking about, what I see is, is there is a, there is a sense, um, that lot of business is easy if you just follow the six simple steps, right? So buy this book, listen to this podcast, watch this video, you know, this influencer will tell you, you know, here's the six steps to success. All you need to do is apply. And then we. And we start that process and we find that the nuances of our own business around personality, um, you know, we can apply some of it, but it doesn't work, um, for whatever reason, right? Not because we're good or bad, it just, it worked for them, didn't work for us, or it worked, right? So one of the two. And, and, and so we tend to, I feel this is my view, at least that business owners tend to. Be very critical of their own abilities and to, you know, often you hear people say that if I spoke to my clients or to my staff, the way that I speak to myself, right, I'd have no friends, that internal dialogue, you, you idiot. What do you think? You know, uh, and we all have it. We all do it, right. Suggesting that we live in a Pollyanna world where there's, where there's only, you know, Positivity. So the, so what, what I'm trying to do is going to bring reclaiming the joy of business. So that there are there, you know, business is challenging, but we've chosen to play in this space. You know, we, we otherwise go and get a job or, you know, retire or do whatever it is you want to do, but we've chosen to be here. So whilst we're here, why, why don't we, why don't we enjoy what it is that we're doing, even though it's challenging. So when you are faced with those challenges, you know, when every day something new pops up that you, you know, you, that you either expected or you didn't expect, what's your go-to? What's the one thing that you sort of lean into, um, that helps you to continue with that resilience to continue being focused on delivering value as you put it? Mm-Hmm.

Robert Boschetti 21:43

Yeah, there's not a day that goes by that something as you just mentioned doesn't happen business. It's a roller coaster. It's intense. Um, and the type of work that we do, we are right at the coalface. So even as value providers, um, That can be quite intense because, you know, we're exposed to all of the ups and downs of the particular happening. Sometimes they're, uh, sometimes they're sort of, um, career makers or career breakers for those project managers that we work for. So for them, it's, it's all in as well. So in that sense, it can be quite intense, but what's, what's my go to, um, what's my go to? Well, um, probably my motivation, it became easier when I, when I learned about myself, because it does feel like you get kicked in the pants. A lot, like, a lot, but, um, probably, uh, ways of self talk and motivating myself, um, I think perhaps I started learning a lot more about that when I've worked on a major project with an old colleague, um, his name is Lee Klug. He was the project manager. I was reporting to him and he, he used to, he did this thing and it really, it really stuck with me. Um, he used to, he used to point out people, like he would, he would say you failed. He would do that a lot. And I found just witnessing that, I found that so harsh. So powerful, uh, savage in fact, um, because people put their heart and soul into this thing. And, uh, but he would do that a lot and probably the way that he did it isn't something that I've picked up, but that, that actually stuck with me in a sense of, I started thinking about it and, uh, you know, I started telling myself, Oh, you failed and things like this. And that's quite, that's very negative, but. I think I, I think I practiced that for a couple of years, and then I started to learn that actually the, the, the, There's, there's some nuance there. It's, I may have, we may fail at certain tasks, but we are not a failure. That's totally different. And me reminding myself of the difference between having failed in a task and being a failure. Those are totally different. Um, and acknowledging failure in a, in a task, what that does, if you say, yep, hand up, I failed that, is it links it very, very closely with your responsibility in that task. Um, because straight, you're just turning inwards. How did that happen? And then I found when I do that, um, then created this environment of continual improvement. Okay. Yeah, this particular thing didn't go very well. It was my fault. I could have done this, this, or that better. Next time, I'm going to set myself up, not on the same foundation. I'm going to build on what happened last time. Always building on what happened last time. So, what's my go to? Um, it's probably, yeah, it's, it's probably that perspective. Um, being tough in that failure. I talked about being tough earlier. If you're going to acknowledge your failures, you've got to be tough. And in, in my position, when the business is basically how company is a. Pretty much an expression of myself. I learned that after some years as well. All of the good things, all the things I was good at, our company was good at. All the things I was bad at, our company was bad at. And um, that, it's exacerbated as the business grows. The good bits get bigger and bad bits get bigger. And the problem with that is, or the challenge with that is, that the bad bits get bigger and exposing, like, you have to face the harsh reality of those, those sort of bad parts of your own personal expression of. Into a company. So the bad parts get bigger. You have to address them. That is brutal. It's hard. And that takes years. Um, it takes years even to learn about yourself. Takes years to do anything about it, but, um, then taking responsibility of those parts through failure, um, is, is that process is probably a bit of a go to for me and, and just thinking about, you know, next time and that, that, that emphasis on, um, continual improvement that. That motivates me as well, because if I had to go back from, go back to square one every time and go through all that again, you know, that, that, that just drain, that's just, that's painful, big time. So I spend a lot of effort. Um, um, setting up a situation. So as I can see how I did it last time, um, because sometimes the type of work we do as well, we're not, every job, every project, every client, every site, every project manager, they're all different. So, and they all have their own, their own wishes. So, yeah, it's so important for me to be able to see my basis for decision making at that time.

Steve Sandor (OD) 27:49

thanks very much for that openness, at least, you know, sometimes it's, it's hard for business owners to, there's a terminology that was brought in some 20 years ago about being vulnerable in business. So I don't particularly like that terminology because vulnerable has. Like if you're vulnerable, it's the, the perception is that you're actually being attacked, right? So vulnerability, even though we understand the context is that what you're doing is you're actually being open. I prefer to use the word transparent. Right. So that when you're in a situation and this is the responsibility or accountability for your actions, if you're, if you've made a mistake that you are transparent, then with that, as the leader in your business, how do you balance the concept of having to be the leader and, and being seen as the leader, you know, the person who is, you know, Leading the charge, if you like, and the need to be transparent when things don't go well and being accountable for that and, um, you know, reconciling that where it's your, you know, where it's been your mistake to do that, is there, is, is that a challenge or, or how do you go about sort of reconciling those two behaviors?

Robert Boschetti 29:33

Well, for me, it's about if I expect others to be, uh, to be responsible for their actions, then I have to be as well. Um, and the moment we acknowledge the world's not perfect means that we've got to work with what we've got and then the outcomes aren't necessarily going to be perfect, but they don't have to be either. Um, so how do I balance transparency with leadership? Yeah, it's those 2 go hand in hand. I expect everyone else to be the same. Uh, even if they're members of my team, they still need to be leaders because they have to lead their way through the task that they have at hand. Um, so in turn, their sphere might be smaller. That's okay, but I still expect them to behave in the same way. Uh, in that spirit of leadership and transparency.

Steve Sandor (OD) 30:29

Wonderful. Thank you. Um, we're getting to the end. I'm trying to, um, the first series of podcasts that we had, they were an hour long. I'm trying to bring these in, in under 30 minutes. And so we're, we're getting close to that. So I do really appreciate. Robert, the transparency that you've shown that, you know, the humor putting up with me at the beginning, at least, um, I've just got one more question. Um, you know, we're talking about the joy of business. So over the next 12 months, what are you, what are you actually looking forward to?

Robert Boschetti 31:10

We were getting ready for another springboard of growth. Actually, we're ready. Um, so the business goes, our company's going to go through build and rebuild, uh, cycles. We've been through a rebuild. It's, um, taken. A bit over 12 months, and now we're ready to build again. So, yeah, we're all, we're all, as I said, we're, we're ready, but we've actually already started. Um, things are pumping really hard as, as planned. So, um, yeah, I'm looking forward to that next stage of growth, which means maturing into what we've rebuilt and that will create more rebuild, but that's okay. We do it from a different starting point. Wonderful. All right.

Steve Sandor (OD) 31:53

Well, maybe we'll come back in 12 months time and see how you're cracking on with, with this. so thanks very much, Robert. Really appreciate it. Um, how do people get in contact with you if they're interested in, um, you know, learning more about your organization?

Robert Boschetti 32:10

Oh, the best way is, um, probably through our website, boschetti. au. Um, check it out. There's phone numbers and emails and whatnot on there, but we've got everything. We've got a type of, you know, the type of services we provide as well as the people in our business, um, they're all on there. So yeah, I welcome, I love it. Good chit chat, please get in touch.

Steve Sandor (OD) 32:31

Great. Well, we'll put all your details in our show notes and people, um, you know, if they're interested in, in having a chat with you, I recommend it. I've enjoyed this set. Thanks very much. Really do appreciate it. Robert Buschetti, thanks very much for being a, my guest on the Reclaiming the Joy of Business. Thank you so much, Steve. I really appreciate it. My guest today is Robert Boschetti from Boschetti, um, based in Albury, New South Wales. Yeah. Let me start My guest today is Robert Boschetti from Boschetti, based in Albury in New South Wales. Welcome, Robert. Well, hey, Steve, how are you going today? Yeah, good. Um, we've had about five cracks at that intro. So there's plenty of boopers. There's plenty of bloopers that we've got or at least I've got. Um, so thanks very much for, uh, accepting the invitation here. Um, you were recommended to me by a mutual friend of ours. Um, and so I'm really pleased that you, um, I'm really pleased that you've, uh, taken the time out to share your Oh God, Steve, cut it out.