Case study: Cable8 building on its fast start

Achieving revenue figures of close to $2.3 million after just three years in business has earned North Perth-based cabling solutions firm Cable8 Electrical Communications a place in the country’s top 50 fastest growing start-ups.

The company was founded in September 2003 by Ren Stefanuto and Danny Smith, both of whom were dissatisfied with their (then) employers, and were eager to run their own business.

With a background in large-scale corporate and commercial cabling projects, the founders were able to capitalise on their contacts and reputation within the industry to attract clients to their new business.

Starting out with just one vehicle and working from a garage, the company now employs 20 staff and services clients such as Alinta Gas, Vodafone and the WA Treasury.

Mr Stefanuto said the company had grown so fast that the projections laid out in the company’s initial business plan became redundant less than two years after they were made.

“Eighteen months later we threw that plan in the bin and re-invented it,” Mr Stefanuto told WA Business News.

But while the revenue projections were abandoned, the business strategy was pivotal to their start-up success.

With 25 years’ experience and an intimate knowledge of the type of service expected by major corporate clients, the founders aimed at the high-end, specialised commercial market, offering complete cabling solutions and removing the need for clients to engage a number of different companies to do entire fit-outs.

Cable8 incorporated interior, lighting and data centre fit-outs, as well as structure cabling systems and fibre and copper rack management into its service offering.

The business sub-contracted out the aspects of the job it couldn’t do itself.

“We deliberately aimed at that market – we weren’t interested in the domestic market,” Mr Stefanuto said.

Cable8 also stayed away from the construction sector, with the margins offered in that market unsustainable for the business.

“We’re very selective in who we work for. We’ve stayed out of construction; we can’t compete in that area,” Mr Stefanuto said.

And when a major player in the cabling sector – and Mr Smith’s former employer – went into receivership, a number of its clients came across to Cable8.

Among this client list was a handful of key organisation, including a major utility, finance organisations and insurance companies.

“It was by default really that people came across to us. They heard we had started something new, and basically they found us,” Mr Stefanuto said.

Now the company is well established, Mr Stefanuto believes that building and maintaining strong relationships with clients is vital.

“It all comes through having good relationships – we know where they’re coming from, and they feel comfortable with us,” he said.

“The client feels confident that we’re going to do the fit-out to their specifications, that it’s going to work and be on time.”

And while the company is on track for revenues of more than $3 million for 2006-07, Mr Stefanuto believes the main barrier to future growth will be finding the right staff.

“The mining industry is really testing us – there’s only a limited pool of tradespeople we can draw on,” he said.

With money a big driver, Mr Stefanuto believes that creating a positive, social working environment with potential for career advancement contributes to attracting and retaining experienced staff.

“We try and make it a better job for them. We have a close environment with the guys, we know everyone individually. And we’re very social,” he said.

“We are looking at putting on more employees. Growth is important, but only if we can maintain our high quality of service.