Chaotic situations can bring out the best in people and deliver good business opportunities says Auctions Plus chief executive officer, Angus Street.
Mr Street used this week's NSW Farm Writers Association's Agribuzz event to review some extraordinary challenges posed by the sudden COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
The small AuctionsPlus team was hit with a perfect storm of soaring post-drought demand for its services, good restocker and stud breeder prices driving a surge of new business, and, without warning, a COVID-related cut to its internet sale platform's bandwidth capacity just as nationwide lockdowns hit in March 2020.
As livestock numbers offered at auction via the platform ballooned and online bidders and vendors pushed the AuctionsPlus' operating capacity to the max - and even broke it - it was all hands on deck for the 25 staff, for months.
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Even the company's accountant and finance support staff were enlisted to handle customer service calls to help deal with the crisis.
Mr Street was guest speaker at Agribuzz, hosted by financial consulting firm FTI Consulting at its harbourside Sydney office, at Circular Quay.
The event attracted about 100 guests to hear of his experiences since taking the helm at AuctionsPlus four years ago and earlier career learnings, flops and unanticipated opportunities.
Agribuzz is a popular agribusiness sector event which also promotes networking and professional development opportunities while attendees learn some life experiences from industry leaders and leaders-in-the-making.
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Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
