Finalists unveiled for $250k Game On comp

Business management software company Greentree International has unveiled the finalists of its Game On competition, which will see 10 Australian companies compete for a $250,000 prize.

The competition, open to Australian SMEs, will see one company walk away with $250,000 worth of business management software, cloud hosting and implementation hand-holding.

Competition entrants were asked to describe their business pain points, the day-to-day problems confronted by their business, and how their growth plans are hindered by inadequate systems.

The company with the most persuasive case will win the award.

Greentree International chief executive Peter Dickinson says the competition attracted entries “from companies with turnovers ranging from $1 million to more than $100 million”.

“There are many super businesses out there that could perform so much better if they had the right management software,” Dickinson says.

According to Dickinson, Australian businesses are not the only ones held back by inadequate management systems, citing a research paper published by the University of California.

The paper, titled Building sustainable high growth start-up companies: Management systems as an accelerator, highlights the extent of the problem in the United States.

According to the paper’s authors, start-up companies often fail to meet the expectations of their founders and investors due to their failure to adopt the right management systems and processes.

Dickinson says the winner of the Game On competition will be decided by a panel of judges and public votes, and will be announced in December.

“While [the finalists’] work is hugely diverse, they share many common issues,” Dickinson says.

“They’re running outdated, non-integrated systems, they want better visibility of their performance, and are confident they can grow even stronger with better computing power.”

“Greentree implementation and cloud partners will work with the winner to ensure seamless implementation and staff training. The prize will transform the winning company.”

The 10 finalists are:

• Cymax, a Queensland-based provider of high-tech IT and telephony, which would like to grow its revenue by 50% but is hampered by low-tech business systems.
• GMW Group. Based in Sydney, infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is among the major architecture and engineering projects being run by this company.
• Mecrus Group, which is a Melbourne-based business, helps other businesses with asset and project management, operations and maintenance.
• Hydro International is a Victoria-based business specialising in drainage solutions while sister company Rhino Grating makes covers to prevent people from falling into drains.
• Central Diesel, based in Adelaide, provides and services diesel equipment. It has grown from a two-man operation into a business with an annual turnover of $20 million.
• Newcastle Airport, which is positioned at the gateway to the Hunter Valley wine region in NSW, wants to expand into an international airport.
• Kimberley Accommodation Group, based in WA tourist hotspot Broome, runs a group of hotels.
• Southern Cross Lubes distributes Mobil lubricants in Victoria and Tasmania.
• Asthma Foundation NSW is a not-for-profit organisation in need of better CRM.
• Caesars is a NSW-based furniture retailer.