for the first time in my life i’m unemployed.
well, maybe not technically unemployed – i think the government would categorise me as “under-employed”, which looks better in their stats.
you’d better go get a triple venti with a pre-warmed mug for this one…
but before i start: why am i writing all this? “it’s just a former client, move on!”, some of you might say. sure, they are, and i am. but there’s also a tale i feel like telling, part history, part drama, part bitchfest, but above all about how my views of two people have changed so dramatically over the last year, not just during this recent Final Cut. generally i choose to stay isolated from most of the internal machinations of my clients. it took the collapse of REDgroup last year (and a loss of $4.2k) to spark my curiosity, starting with my ‘Seeing REDgroup’ posts over a year ago, and gathering more perspective from various people involved since then. it’s been quite an eye-opener. this post alone has been two months in the drafting. so without further ado…
when i moved to Melbourne 12 years ago, i had some casual work lined up with my just-become-former Sydney employer, and another client, both for electronics design stuff. it would be enough to get by until i worked out something more permanent in Melbourne. however within a month of arriving, my best friend Tony invited me to his employer to meet and discuss helping them through some difficult times the company was encountering with their IT setup. i spent a few months doing that, and figured that would be it. small business IT was something i was apparently capable of, though until then i’d had no intention of becoming self-employed in it!
12 years later, last May, that client called to say that my services would no longer be required, thank you very much. it was a big and mostly unexpected gut punch. as they unfortunately still make up two thirds of my income, it’s also a major OH FUCK moment, and has indefinitely postponed our European trip planned for September this year (thankfully we hadn’t quite booked flights that probably would’ve been non-refundable).
i say mostly unexpected, because although i’d just spent the previous two months making a raft of proposals to revamp various aspects of their IT (which they described as “excellent”), things had then gone very quiet. a date for the next conference call to discuss timeline & costs came and went without a phone call. a couple of my emails to the MD had gone unanswered. i proceeded with preliminary planning regardless. i should have picked up the phone, but in retrospect my suspicion is that moves were already afoot to choose a new IT provider.
Darth Maul and his apprentice Jeronimo are the new part-owners, directors and top level hands-on managers of the business, snatching it from the jaws of Administration last year following the appalling collapse of REDgroup Retail.
some background: Darth Maul brought the business’s retail concept to Australia in ’95, and then sold his interest in 2004. After Maul’s departure, Jeronimo was co-GM alongside my friend Tony, however both moved out of those roles after a couple of years, though headed in entirely different directions. Jeronimo moved up and up into the Angus & Robertson owner, and thence into the newly formed REDgroup Retail, encompassing Angus & Robertson, Borders, & Whitcoulls book retail giants, as well as this business, my “Client # 1”.
in fact Jeronimo’s rise was quite impressive, reaching the level of Managing Director through to late 2010, and encompassing other director roles including Group Commercial Director prior. I’m guessing one of the primary concerns of “Group Commercial Director” is to come up with answers to questions like “How do we make more money?” and “What do we do about sagging book sales?” and “WTF are we gonna do about these damn eBook things?” (A&R and Borders didn’t get eBook/eReader religion until early 2010, by licensing the ready-made Kobo system). As Darth Maul himself once stated in his weekly wisdom email missives, it takes a certain kind of person and skills to not just survive, but thrive in that environment.
Jeronimo resigned from REDgroup a month or three before it went into Administration in February 2011.
Darth Maul, as his pseudonym here might suggest, has somewhat of a reputation as a lion or bull when it comes to business. nevertheless, I found him quite straight forward, pleasant and fair to deal with most of the time. however it was the staff who truly bore the brunt of Maul’s management style. according to some reports, staff would be bullied, belittled or berated mercilessly, often in front of other staff to the point of tears, until they complied with Maul’s Way. it was almost always the stick, rarely the carrot, whether he was right or wrong. no one enjoys working for a bastard. the offices of Client # 1 became a far nicer place to be after his departure in 2004, and again in 2006 when Jeronimo moved up in the world. that’s not just my opinion. and the business continued to be profitable without their hands-on management.
Darth Maul sends out a weekly email (also published on an associate’s website) to chosen disciples, containing a distillation of his business wisdom. He paints himself as honest, straight forward, hard-nosed but humane, and always striving to operate with the highest of integrity. he even does a bit of volunteer community work. it’s impossible not to think highly of Darth Maul if one judges him purely through these emails. one presumes that he also tries to inspire these qualities in those he mentors.
Tony died in 2007 in palpable, inconsolable fear that when he returned from his long vacation, Maul was rumoured to become involved in the business once again (and eventually did, at a distance at least). in previous years i would often have to endure long sessions of Tony debriefing/destressing from the torment he felt in that business at Maul’s hands. clearly it takes two to tango, and if you’re desperately unhappy in a job then you should leave, but alas he didn’t, and the stress he endured over six years consumed most of his day-to-day life, with ramifications way beyond just his work-life, even after a year or two of professional psychological help. the difference in the perspective they held of each other, and the lack of genuine communication of grievances, is instructive – Tony died nursing major psychological wounds at the hands of Maul, whereas Maul actually demonstrated he was human in his heart-felt eulogy at Tony’s funeral / memorial service, oblivious to the fear and loathing Tony harboured for him in his last few years. if Tony had his way, Maul wouldn’t have been allowed that opportunity to speak – we deliberated this in planning his memorial service, but felt it wasn’t our place to deny his request; after all, such events are largely for the benefit of those left behind rather than the deceased.
anyway, in mid-2011 Maul & Jeronimo ride in to save the day. they discarded the GM that Jeronimo himself selected several years earlier who had continued to keep the business profitable and who’d worked hard to rescue the business from Administration. at the same time the staff were denied any stake in the new business entity – they’d gone to considerable lengths and cost to arrange themselves as co-buyers of the business in an earlier failed attempt to buy the business out of Administration. lovely.
it didn’t go unnoticed by some staff that they were now under the management of one of the key personalities at the highest levels of hands-on management to preside over REDgroup’s demise. gone too a few months later was the IT Manager, who’d served the business as long as I had, and served it above & beyond the call of duty. he received his Dear John phone call on his birthday while on extended and serious sick leave. arguably the business didn’t need him any more, but if you take one look at the dysfunctionally over-worked stress-ball who already shared and was about to assume the remainder of his responsibilities for their ERP system, i’d re-think that decision.
at a Sunday lunch with most of the staff (minus Maul, Jeronimo, the Bitch Buyer, and the StressBall) a few months ago, i’d never seen their morale so low, despite their retail season just completed being entirely successful. they were distressed by the treatment of the former GM and IT Manager, denied equity in the new business despite being ready to sign, and resented being micro-managed by REDgroup’s failed chief head-kicker. micro-managing the staff of a business that was one of only two profitable entities in the entire REDgroup was a major slap in the face – these were the people who made the business worth buying out of Administration in the first place. Maul & Jeronimo weren’t the saviours they might wish to paint themselves, at least not in the sense that the business needed them specifically. credit where credit is due for pulling together the deal that ultimately did bring the business out of Administration, but frankly anyone could have stepped up to buy the business, and it would’ve resumed being just as profitable. being charitable, it smacks of the knee-jerk reaction of a guilty conscience not wanting to ever re-live the agony of a business in death throes, by “trying harder next time”.
perhaps sensing the low morale, or simply being reminded after a successful season that his old comrades weren’t stupid, this year Jeronimo embarked on an inspiring process of consultation, re-thinking and streamlining of the entire business’s processes, and I was included in that to the degree possible for an outside entity.
however the flip-side of all this warm fuzzy consultation were re-worked position descriptions and annual employment contracts. i’m told that demands and responsibilities placed upon staff had never been higher, the conditions that defined “Success” higher, and only token if any pay rise (bear in mind there probably won’t have been any pay rises since at least Q2-2010, a year before entering Administration, now over 2 years ago.)
so it probably won’t come as a shock that the exodus continued, only lately it’s those choosing to jump, rather than those of us who were pushed. the warehouse manager and the bitch buyer, both staff members since the late 90s, have given notice, preceded by the NZ manager in February. just this week another staff member gave notice. they won’t be the last. so far, and including me, 10 staff (or long term consultants like myself) are now gone. besides Maul & Jeronimo there’s only about six left. that’s two thirds of the business’s Experience Bank gone in less than a year. the success of this doggedly profitable business is now under serious threat as it enters its second year.
i’m hearing in my head Henry Rosenbloom’s words “bovver boy managers” and “brutalist regime” in relation to the tactics REDgroup used to postpone its death in its final years. “condescending prick” is another term that’s been used to describe Jeronimo, by someone I know is able to get along professionally with almost anyone.
but lets not reserve all the booting for Jeronimo. this business leases a second warehouse, which they’ve been intending to sub-let to “a friend of the business” (‘FotB’ henceforth). an unexpectedly wise temporary staff member from this FotB inspected this second warehouse, and identified a potentially significant workplace health issue. it’s probably also the case that when some staff members from FotB laid eyes on this proposed new home, said “bugger this, it’s a dump and we won’t work there!”. either way, it was significant enough for the MD of FotB to wish to retract his Letter Of Intent to lease the warehouse/office. in immediate response, Darth Maul – who’s been a close friend of the MD of FotB for probably close to two decades – threatened to sue if he didn’t proceed to sign a rental contract. unless Maul slipped in some sticky clauses, both surely would have known a LoI wouldn’t have been legally enforcable, but bizarrely the MD of FotB decided it was better to keep a “friend” who was willing to sue him to enforce the LoI, and then split his own business into a separate warehouse and office, rather than stand up for himself, legally if necessary, and say goodbye to a total arsehole of a “friend”.
it would seem Jeronimo has learned all the worst lessons from his mentor Darth Maul, too few of the positive ones, and despite whatever part he had (or didn’t have, but would surely have observed & had to approve of) in REDgroup’s demise, continues not to realise that being a head-kicker and condescending prick is neither attractive nor guaranteed to be profitable.
it’s like they view Doing Business as a mathematical equation with a bunch of variables that can be tweaked, in order to achieve a maximum result, but without any consideration of how those variables are known to interact. 10 out of 16 staff/partners gone. how’s that approach working out for you, guys?
anyway, back to me.
i don’t have any specific knowledge of what lead Maul & Jeronimo to make this decision, despite asking. Jeronimo says it wasn’t an easy decision to make. presumably he’s referring to the number of years i’ve served them and the common departed friend who brought us together originally. so lets run through some obvious possibilities…
i doubt my distance from Melbourne really has much to do with it. in the 3 instances in 6 months where on-site attendance was necessary, they received it from the organisation i’d arranged to provide it, and received it as promptly as it takes to drop everything and drive out to their outer backwater suburban location.
maybe it’s about business risk, or professional indemnity insurance, or IT staffing redundancy, and all that good stuff you theoretically get from a larger IT consultancy, or maybe they just see themselves as being in a league deserving of IT support from a larger organisation, rather than the perceived risk of what would happen if i were run over by the proverbial bus? i say perceived, because i’ve been providing service to them for 12 years so i think i’ve demonstrated some solidity, reliability, and wise navigation through myriad IT issues, and the organisation i’d arranged to provide onsite support would easily be able to step in.
in response to Jeronimo’s curiously vague question (as part of the comprehensive review of the business & its processes, & answered in my proposal) “Who should provide IT support to us?”, i acknowledged the obvious vested interest I had in answering the question, and stated my ability and commitment to continue doing so for at least the next 2 years, and that i was looking to make a career adjustment after a coupe of years along with a relocation to the NSW Northern Rivers; which to me seemed suited to the minimum period of time he’d indicated after which they might wish to sell the business. when I expressed my disappointment that they’d not discussed or negotiated on any of the issues that obviously lead to their decision, Jeronimo’s response was characteristically vague and self-contradictory:
“The decision we have made is based on our assessment of the challenges we face and how we think we are best served to deliver them. I did not take into account your “palm tree” , I long for the same thing and it was never an issue. I gave this long and considered thought and summed up your proposals which were excellent as well as the opportunities elsewhere. I did not see the need to re-engage as i had the information i needed to decide. We have no intention to sell the business but we’d like to be able to sell if it came up and therefore want our infrastructure and support ready for that time.”
So, that my commitment is not rock solid beyond 2 years wasn’t a problem, but it was. Ah huh… This is from a person who would probably describe himself as a “straight shooter”. i think that’s what politicians call a Non-Answer Answer. obviously the real reason lies elsewhere.
btw, that email conversation was also CC’d to Darth Maul, who despite our long history together, has not said or written a single word to me on this matter – no “look, here’s how it is” or “mate, we love what you’ve done for the business for so long, but we just need to go in another direction”, or even “Anthony, we’ve had issues with XYZ and just don’t think you’re meeting our needs any more”. nothing.
nothing, except for Maul’s next weekly wisdom email titled “Kill those sacred cows”. ouch.
but if I know Maul & Jeronimo, it’ll almost certainly be about money – *everything* they do, or don’t do, comes back to money, and they’ll proudly claim that to be a virtue no matter what the circumstances. one can’t help but be attracted to the “managed services” IT consultancies that have proliferated in the last several years, one of whom they’ve now chosen over me. many of these larger consultancies offer unlimited support on a per-seat/computer rate per month, often on a long contract period. that deal typically includes reactive support for when things go wrong, preventative maintenance, and automated monitoring of systems.
however it usually leaves out an entire category of IT support, which I call the “Giving a shit” category:
- when a staff member joins an organisation, or simply moves to a new/different PC, there’s a bunch of guff that one must go through – all that ‘first fun’ crap setting up a new user profile that Windows and its apps typically throw at you. my clients rarely have to face that, because I do it for them, because I learned long ago that it’s 50/50 whether “normal people” get totally freaked out when they see that unexpected barrage at the start – they usually forget they once had to go through it on their own home PC 3 years ago (or had their teenager do it for them).
- it goes without saying that i pre-emptively take care of Windows & software updates, largely as part of sound security policy, and because staff too often don’t notice that so many software updates cunningly install unwanted crapware if you’re not paying attention.
- when someone moves a computer to a new desk, I’m the one who comes along afterward and makes all the cables tidy.
- when servers need updating and rebooting, i always wait until after hours, so as to minimise the impact on the client’s business.
- when i notice something not quite right in the look or feel of anything i’m doing, it usually triggers a brief investigation or a mental note, in case it’s a symptom of some unrevealed or unreported problem.
when you’re working to a money-clock with calls from other clients mounting up, this level of service or vigilance is too easily ignored. unlike previous management, Darth Maul & Jeronimo have decided that’s not worth paying for, whether they realise they were getting it or not.
maybe it’s because i don’t send invoices regularly enough?
maybe it’s because i’m not a rabid Collingwood supporter who likes to schmooze with my clients after hours?
maybe it’s because i didn’t pull any punches in my ‘Seeing REDgroup‘ blog posts? ( which were necessarily based on publicly available information & personal observation – it’s not like any of the smartest minds in the room are talking ) i’ve no idea if Jeronimo ever read them, but Darth Maul probably did – i emailed him a link to my ‘The Future Of Calendars’ blog post which directly followed the ‘Seeing REDgroup’ 4-parter (asking for his thoughts, which he kindly provided, dismissing the whole idea of software calendars & seemed content with a business model that’s as sure to dwindle as the years roll on as books have already). late last year he made at least a couple of half-joking references to me being a ‘anarchistic troublemaker’, or words to that effect, and the likely source of that opinion would surely be this blog. in retrospect, when Maul “half-jokingly” refers to you as an anarchistic troublemaker, it seems you’re pretty much screwed, even if it doesn’t impact at all on the service you provide.
or maybe it was my quip to Jeronimo last year (before I was fully aware of his position in REDgroup!) about “men in suits 20km away proving to be a greater risk to the business than a gap in their data backup regime”. oops ;)
the most disappointing thing is that despite asking for more tangible reasons for their decision, i’ll probably never know for sure, because they just didn’t have the balls to say so.
so what have i learned from all this?
clients / customers never last forever, and i knew from the get-go last October that having all my eggs in 2 baskets (clients) after leaving Melbourne was a risk, and I should’ve applied myself much more to that task. one tantalising and substantial lead here in Sydney came up, then went dead, then resurrected itself but then died again just as suddenly, all of it being a big waste of time waiting for something to happen, before eventually moving on.
another reason i held myself back from diversifying my client base was that in all honestly i’d not seriously considered / recognised the possibility that they were looking elsewhere for IT support. with 20/20 hindsight i ignored or discounted warning signs as to what was going on. i assumed i’d get the work as i had for the previous 12 years, and that for the next 6-9 months i’d be busy to capacity implementing this once-in-5-years refresh of their IT infrastructure. such are the decisions / risks of the self-employed.
put these two together, and in my own mind at least it seemed like a reasonable excuse for procrastination. bugga.
although i helped out Maul with some trivial IT stuff in the year or two that followed his departure from the business in 2004, it didn’t lead to any recommendations / referrals (me ditching his numpty business partner-at-the-time for being such a PITA probably didn’t help). at any rate it’s another reason not to care about burning this bridge here now.
i’d not seen these two characters in a larger context until I sat down and laid it all out here, and accumulated other first-hand accounts, and combined it with the exodus currently in progress. in that light, i’m actually happy to have nothing more to do with them, because i no longer have any respect for either of them. Jeronimo appears to be incapable of reflecting on his own actions to see what part he might have played in the staff exodus in progress in his new venture, nor on the demise of REDgroup (at least not evidenced by the way he’s conducting himself so far). all his fingers point outwards. and Darth Maul, well, there’s Darth Maul, and there’s the picture he paints of himself every week – about all i will say is there’s some overlap.
it’s also given me a kick up the arse to get my website & other social media presences up to scratch, with a matching business card, and above all, a renewed commitment to stoking some new fire into my self-employment / business.
i’ve always felt a little guilty that i’ve never had to lift a finger to acquire my clients, most of whom i’ve served for many years. its also been an extremely rare event to lose a client – client “churn” is a foreign concept to me, and I can recall losing only two clients in 12 years. alas, now i will have to become accustomed to “breakfast networking” and other self-promotion for which i’m not well suited!
no-comply.org 
