Why being open is a key ingredient to success
To say that Lindsay Birley is full of energy is an understatement. The ex-DHL veteran who spent over 30 years with the logistics company definitely still has a spring in his step that makes him more like someone 20 years his junior.
We’re sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Manly; Birley is in town for a meeting with a supplier that he has had earlier that day. He wears a stylish combination of jeans, brown leather shoes, pressed shirt and a tan blazer.
Birley is the CEO APAC for InXpress, a fast growing logistics company servicing tens of thousands of SME customers across the globe. Globally they’ve growing — 40–60% for the last few years — a noteworthy achievement considering logistics remains a hotly contested space where there seems to be no shortage of new startups and VC money.
He loved the business so much he ended up taking a stake in it and you can tell that’s he’s proud of what the team have achieved.
“We just got some research back literally two or three weeks ago on what our customers are saying about us,” he says. “We are getting in excess of 90% on most criteria where our customers tell us we are either good or excellent.”
“SMEs don’t have hundreds of staff. When it comes to logistics, if we can take a lot of that off the table and automate through our specialised software and have our people become consultants, that in turn provides a lot of value.”
Automation and scalability was very important from the start. According to Birley, it’s largely why the team has been so successful to date.
The proof is in their capability; whether it’s taking on another 10 or 500 customers tomorrow, the operational processes they have allow for it.
It’s a business model that’s been refined for some time. InXpress is well and truly past the point of startup and is now very much in growth mode. The team has spent a lot of time testing, refining and proving the model. Once you’re there, Birley is quite strong on pointing out that you don’t want to mess with it lightly.
“Sure, you need to be flexible but more importantly, once you’ve developed something where you have done your due diligence and you know it’s working, stick at it. In our business, if we go off that business plan then we’re in trouble.”
Birley has an open approach to most things he does in life; whether it be in the advice he gives to the rest of the team to help them avoid mistakes to the business deals he puts together.
“Let’s face it, getting a taxi from Circular Quay to come here to Manly today, most people wouldn’t think twice about it. You have to get to a point where you can jump on a plane and shoot over to Hanoi to meet with some potential business partners in the same sort of manner.” Lindsay Birley
That openness has helped him not only gain confidence but expand his horizons over the years.
“Many experienced people are only too happy to share their knowledge with you. There’s a lot out there and you will be surprised at how easy it is to get connected. You just need to make an effort.”
He very much believes that confidence is something you can teach yourself. To help illustrate this point he has a good example:
“Let’s face it, getting a taxi from Circular Quay to come here to Manly today, most people wouldn’t think twice about it,” he says. “You have to get to a point where you can jump on a plane and shoot over to Hanoi to meet with some potential business partners in the same sort of manner.”
“It’s about taking that first step; it’s the unknown that people are afraid of. Once you’ve done something once or twice and you feel comfortable your confidence will go through the roof.”
Birley is well travelled. He and his wife have lived in 11 different countries together. And the same open attitude has allowed them to experience things that they never would have otherwise.
His wife had a self imposed mantra that in the first 365 days of any country they moved to she would never say no to an invitation. It meant saying yes to a lot of things she normally wouldn’t have done but in the end she came back having a wonderful time.
“The same principle applies to business. If you’ve decided to enter a new market, don’t say no to anything. Throw yourself in and you’ll be surprised at how much fun you have along the way.”
Birley’s open attitude is also matched with a certain level of humility, something you can tell has helped him over the years of travelling to many different countries and doing many different business deals.
When it comes to asking for help, he’s quite happy to do it and tells us why it is so important when it comes to success in business.
“When the business wasn’t doing well, I’ve been happy to seek advice on how to get things back on track,” says Birley. “At one stage we were losing money so I put a stop on everything apart from the day to day. I then brought in somebody to help out and give me a different opinion.”
“Never be too proud to bring people in to help. A lot of managers are too proud to bring in people who might know more than they do. I’ve never been intimidated to bring in people smarter than me to help when needed.”
“There is a lot of wealth and knowledge out there. Doesn’t necessarily cost you a lot of money and sometimes it costs you nothing.”
To hear the full chat with Richie, Lindsay and myself, check out the podcast:
