30. Wealth Enhancers

Revenue: Over $1.5 million
Growth: 76.04%
Founders: Sarah Riegelhuth, 33, and Finn Kelly, 29
Head Office: Melbourne
Year Founded: 2009
Employees: 20
Industry: Finance and insurance
Website: www.wealthenhancers.com.au

Husband and wife team Finn Kelly and Sarah Riegelhuth started Wealth Enhancers after recognising the financial advice industry was traditionally geared towards those who were older and already wealthy, ignoring Gen Y clients altogether.

“We had a lot of Gen Y friends, lawyers or bankers or entrepreneurs, and no one was offering them financial advice,” says Kelly.

The two began offering a flat-fee model for financial and lifestyle coaching, focused on helping members (they don’t call them clients) reach their financial goals.

Kelly and Riegelhuth say their business growth has happened organically through member referrals and the pair have made a conscious effort to become proactive about getting recommendations in order to maintain that growth.

Having nearly tripled Wealth Enhancers’ revenue in three years, they say scaling the business was one of their hardest challenges.

Wealth Enhancers outsourced a large part of its business to the Philippines in order to solve its scaling issues, but Kelly says that took a huge shift in mindset.

“It takes people realising that they are not the only people in the world who can do things well,” says Kelly.

And while he says Wealth Enhancers needed to invest both time and money in training the Philippines team, the move has been well received by members and has boosted Wealth Enhancers’ offering.

“I wish we’d done it from day one. It would have made life so much easier,” he says.

Kelly says managing Gen Y staff also presents a significant challenge to the business.

“There is no prescribed way of managing Gen Y,” says Kelly. “You almost need to find a new way to lead them.”

Kelly says Gen Y employees want to feel involved in something and have ownership of their role, but also can quickly change their minds or want benefits before you’re ready to give them.

“They are the most amazing generation,” says Kelly, who has spent time studying Gen Y thinking.

“They are a force to be reckoned with and Australian companies need to start embracing that.”

Moving forward, Kelly and Riegelhuth’s next big move is to turn their current coaching and advice offering into an online service that will be able to be delivered to Gen Ys across Australia and overseas.

When asked how they deal with growing a business as husband and wife, Kelly says the couple don’t distinguish between work life and personal life, believing instead in the concept of “one life”.

“Work and life is just one thing, the idea of separating it suggests work is a horrible thing. But we don’t do this because we have to; we do this because we love it.”