Just like a quality ginger beer, a great business takes time to develop. Bundaberg Brewed Drinks (BBD) began producing ginger beer 60 years ago. Today the company is the largest Australian-owned soft drinks company, it exports to more than 60 countries, and was named 2022 Queensland Exporter of the Year.

This is an inspiring family business success story , and Growth Faculty is proud to play a part in helping to grow this iconic Australian company.

We spoke to Bundaberg Brewed Drinks CEO and Growth Faculty Premium Member John McLean about business challenges, adaptive leadership, the Jim Collins principles which shape the companys strategic and operational plans, and snake wrangling (literally!). Here is an edited version of our interview.

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John McLean: Weve got a brand that we dont have to make up. On top of that, we take a lot of time to make our product (a standard beverage could take 40 mins to make, and we take between 3 and 7 days).

In a business sense, BBD holds to some very strong foundations , and we keep them very clear in how we do business with our partners both domestically and internationally.

• Doing what we say

• Doing it how we say were going to do it.

And that can only be achieved when we surround ourselves with fantastic people so recruiting and the development of our teams is crucial.

John McLean: Its one of the challenges we are facing like everyone else. Weve got a few positions that are vacant now but one of the things we dont do is employ quickly, incorrectly. We take our timethat is one of the costs of getting the right staff.

John McLean: Theyre all associated with Covid -19 and the knock-on effect from thatthe congestion and escalation in pricing in the supply chain, the congestion in ports, and the transport in some countries are challenges.

Hard lockdowns have certainly affected our Chinese business dramatically over the last 18 months.

John McLean : Irrespective of the challenges that were facing at present, the skills we look for in leaders are those of an adaptive person.

To be a good leader you need to be flexible , able to operate quickly in our global environment, be able to listen to staff, read the situation, and make sound business decisions moving forwards (without having to always consult on every single detail).

And the fundamentals of how we do that, a lot of the ways we teach and work with our staff to improve their decision-making skills, are covered in the Growth Faculty teachings and offerings.

John McLean : Im a big believer in the simple and easy principles of Jim Collins, and weve built our business on some of those principles.

We keep coming back and seeing Jim at Growth Faculty events. His material is deceptively simple, but very complex.

Ive found it to be something that I can follow and work with, and weve built our strategic plan and all our operational plans around the simple principles hes outlined in his map for business success.

'20-mile march', 'BHAGs','bullets and cannonballs,' were 'clock-building' not 'time-telling', getting 'the right people on the bus' before you even start, the 'windows and mirrors'you name it, weve got them.

And we talk about them quarterly, we talk about them in meetings, our values reflect it. Its an easy way to communicate it to the wide audience that we have in our business.

John McLean: Well, were trying to build an enduring good company, and for me, I think thats quite a good foundation to start from.

Our whole strategy session is based on flywheels, and BHAGs, and SMAC lists. My executive and my board have come on board with me. So, were plodding along, were about our third year into implementing his processes and principles, and were still learning.

John McLean: I went along to a Simon Sinek live presentation and that started me off, and then I went along to a Jim Collins workshop in Boulder, Colorado, with [Growth Faculty founder] Karen and the team, and that really reinforced to me the benefits of it.

So, Ive subscribed as a member, and I attend the seminars, watch the webinars, and read the books that come out. You need to continuously stay abreast of the changes that are occurring, and [Growth Faculty] is a great resource to do that.

John McLean: Weve got a HR department; theyre certainly helping us out. Weve got a very strong operational excellence programme. Also, Ive had the Growth Faculty subscriptions go to a number of different team members at different times, and were constantly sharing articles and developing ourselves.

On top of that weve got a scholarship programme, so that anyone in the business can apply for courses, and it doesnt have to be in their line of expertise it could be in anything.

So, weve had one gentleman do snake wrangling which doesnt sound logical, but so far weve used him four times in the business to catch snakes in different locations in our premises, so I think that ones paid off!

Were hoping to build peoples toolkits so they can either develop in our business, or we can develop them so they can go off and be a brand ambassador for our business and hopefully come back to us in the future.

John McLean: Learning and development is a lifelong process.

And its like when you go to a buffet , you get a little bit of a whole range of things, and you work out what you like.

What I like about Growth Faculty is you get an opportunity to have a look at the buffet, you get to see and try a lot of different offerings, and its quite an economical investment. [See what John means by Growth Faculty's 'buffet' of events here]

It gives you an opportunity to go hey Id like to explore more , Id like to understand a big deeper here, or thats coming up, Id like to participate in that.

In our business what got you the job will hold you that job for about two to three years, youve got to continue to build your toolkit,or you will run out of tools.

John McLean : 270 which is big for Australia in HR we have five people, one of those is a full-time payroll, and weve got a recruiter internally.

Yes, we are big, but we dont see ourselves as big we see ourselves as a small little business thats a family business thats getting on and taking a fantastic brand all the way around the world.

Our facility were in at the present my father-in-law built in 1972. Now its just too small so were in the process of building a new facility to be operational at the end of next calendar year. Thats part of our BHAG! ('Big Hairy Audacious Goal' - a Jim Collins concept)

John McLean: As China has been constricted, other areas in the Asian market have certainly expanded.

The biggest international partner is the United States, but our fastest-growing is South Korea. Up until the lockdown China was the largest ASEAN market, and South Korea has just leapfrogged on that this calendar year. So, if youre in Seoul, dont forget to buy a bottle of Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

John McLean: Whats new is old. Weve got a very focused strategic plan that gives us a very clear goal of where were going. Next step is getting our business operationally ready to move 10 km and its only 10 km - but its a lifetime away.

For us, the change is internally focused over the next 12 to 18 months, and whilst were doing that we are developing new products , were looking at whats out there in the world at the present stage and what we can offer, and were working in a number of areas at the moment so we can continue to take high quality drinks to the world.

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