42. Holloway Removals & Storage
A fiery disaster in 2012 nearly spelled doom for this logistics business, but it is a shiny example of how perseverance pays off.
Revenue: $4.6 million
Growth: 79.5%
Founder: Andrew Holloway (37)
Head Office: New South Wales
Employees: 40
Industry: Manufacturing, transport and logistics
Website: hollowayremovals.com.au
Back in 2012, things were going swimmingly for Andrew Holloway’s removal and delivery business, having grown beyond just being ‘Andy the Guy with the Van’ and into a proper removalist business with multiple trucks and regular clients.
So it was a disaster when one of those trucks crashed into a petrol bowser in 2012, destroying the truck and significantly denting the reputation of the company.
“Internally, it flagged we had some serious administration issues as although the truck was insured it was not the correct category of cover. The business took a big hit financially, we had to dig deep and move forward,” Holloway told SmartCompany.
The business got back on its feet and recovered despite the financial hit, and operations continued smoothly for a number of years — until last year, when disaster struck again.
The business had just implemented new logistics cloud software to manage multiple parts of the business, including payroll, customer accounts, customer jobs and inventory. The project took 12 months to implement, and the day after it was switched on, Holloway Removals almost came to a “grinding halt”.
“Shortly after the system went live the problem started, customers were receiving automated payment requests that were grossly incorrect, the accounts reconciliation was taking longer, creating resource issues across the business,” the founder says.
“As one problem was identified in one department, another would crop elsewhere in the business — the software system was fundamentally flawed.”
Perseverance, plus numerous cups of coffee, brought the business back to life, and today Holloway boasts three-year revenue growth of 79% and a revenue of $4.6 million.
Looking to the future, Holloway is looking to bring back Andy the Guy with the Van as a separate business to do smaller removals, along with a move to a 7,000 square metre warehouse in Arncliffe.
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