Motlop Facility Management Services is a Darwin-based, Indigenous-owned family business nearing its first anniversary.
We first assisted Stephanie and Brenton when they contacted us at the start of their business journey. Initially requiring guidance on running their business, recently they utilised our grant writing service to level up their fast-growing enterprise.
Our business support services
AIG has been offering business support services to Aboriginal corporations for over 10 years. We offer five categories of support: governance training, project management, grant writing, CEO, COO and CFO outsourcing and bookkeeping.
The uniqueness of our business support is twofold:
- We too are an Aboriginal corporation, and we understand the complexities and challenges of the sector we work in.
- We have a team of highly skilled individuals as found in professional firms but at a discounted or free-of-charge service rate.
We recently sat down with Brenton and Stephanie to find out about how our business support services have contributed to their successes in their first year of business.
The Motlop story…
Owner names
Brenton Motlop (Managing Director), Stephanie Blanckensee (Assistant Manager)
Tell us about your business
We started trading as of January 1, 2023, so coming up to a year running our facility management business.
Why did you start the business?
Previously, Brenton worked in a Victoria-based company in the facility management industry as the NT Client Manager. An opportunity came up in 2022 to start his own business and remain servicing the NT sites he managed. With his prior knowledge, skill base and calm ‘can-do’ attitude, this was the perfect opportunity to establish himself in the industry, this time, as a business owner.
How did you hear about AIG?
When not on maternity leave, Steph normally works at a bank. When we first started speaking about starting our own business, she spoke to a few of the bank’s big business customers and asked for recommendations on accountants, lawyers, and anyone else that we should speak to.
One of the business customers I spoke to referred me to Jason Elsegood from Cross Cultural Consultants. I called Jason and had a chat with him about our business and what areas we needed help in. He told me to give AIG a call. I ended up emailing them and Liz was quick to respond and organise a meeting with us.
AIG has been the biggest help from the start. We initially approached AIG for help partly because they were recommended by a fellow Indigenous business and partly because we were starting out so were looking for help/guidance to running a business and thought why not see what assistance they can offer?
How has AIG business support services team assisted you?
Where do we start?
They have been a great asset to our business from the very beginning and in many areas. One of the first things that Liz and Alexa assisted us with was developing our business plan and gave us helpful advice to fine-tune it. Steph also dealt with Jolene to do a business cash flow/budget and some Xero training.
This was so helpful at the start of our business venture as they made us reflect on the where, what, and why of Motlop FMS as well as the importance of managing the finances correctly.
More recently AIG have also assisted us with applying for a grant. We had never applied for a grant before so didn’t know exactly what was involved. Liz and James were very helpful in this process and made the whole thing very seamless and easy to understand.
We were successful in this grant application so owe this to AIG for their support and guidance. We are currently reviewing our business plan and cash flow/budget as a lot has changed in the short time we have been in business. They have been our phone a friend for many questions. Nothing ever seems too difficult for them or like you are interrupting their day.
What has been the biggest positive about working with AIG for your business?
Apart from the above previously mentioned, one of the other big positives is just having that ‘phone a friend’ support. I know that the team are always there to help us in any way they can. I know that I can always pick up the phone or send an email and I will always get a response. It feels good to know that you have that background support to call on when needed. Also, it feels good when you get an email from AIG of an event or something that they think we might be interested in or could benefit from, it’s nice to know that you aren’t just a number or tick in the box.
Where to now for your business?
This first year has been a whirlwind with more ups than downs thankfully. We are both still learning how to run a business and balance life with three young children. We have a 4-year-old boy who is starting Transition next year so a big change for him is about to happen. We also have a 2-year-old boy and a 6-month-old girl who is our little mascot. She puts her work clothes on and comes to work with us every day.
When we first started talking about starting our own business our kids were always in our minds. What we wanted for their present and for their futures and what we wanted for our present and future. The business has grown a lot in the past year, quicker than we could have imagined. We have succeeded in meeting our short-term goals already. We aspire to continue our growth and expand with the need for more staff. We want to continue to give back to the community and employ local.
The grant we have just been successful in gives us the ability to purchase plant and equipment that will allow us to grow and expand our clientele market as well as maintain our current clients and continue to build on our relationship with them.
Our next focus is to look at how we can grow our business and expand on what we have created. We have our long-term goals we always keep in mind when we make decisions. AIG has been and continues to be a great partner to have on our side. To see, hear and feel how they believe in our business and us as business owners, gives us confidence we made the right decision and that we can achieve anything. The only way is up from here.
You can get support too
If you’re an Aboriginal corporation or Aboriginal-owned business, we can help you too. AIG is a fast-moving, agile organisation staffed by highly skilled people who aren’t afraid of new ideas and trying new things.
When you’re starting out it isn’t feasible to have top-notch CFOs or experts in grant writing, for example. By using our business support services you get quality staff when you need them.
Call (08) 8922 2666 to talk to us about your business ideas and how we can help your ideas come to life.
