For Stefan Kazakis, business is a brutal sport, that needs to be built on strong foundations. Otherwise, you are simply blown away.

And as a first-born son of immigrant parents, who in the late ’70s started a textile manufacturing business that was employing around 100 people, he knows what he is talking about. From experience, he knows what happens to businesses built on foundations of sand, including his family business, which he took from near bankruptcy to become a multimillion dollar business.

“My sister and I grew up in a family that was very privileged. But our parents were so consumed, absorbed by the business that was growing and growing rapidly.

“When I came back from 12 months overseas in 1992, my parents’ business had gone from what was a very prominent business to being almost broke. Looking back, it was built on foundations of sand. When the threat and challenges of that particular period came in, my parents, their business and livelihood was challenged, so I was asked to step in,” Stefan tells Neos Kosmos.

In a matter of 10 years, the then 23-year-old Stefan, a social sciences graduate, rebuilt the family business – to the point where it became a benchmark business, doing jobs with the likes of Nike, Adidas, Puma, AFL, NRL, Sony.

“One of the first things I did was appoint a mentor. I brought someone into business tat would mentor me and coach me for the next 11 years. We decided to work with the companies not just based on price, but also based on value.

“We decreased the amount of business we needed to do, but we were going to do jobs with leading businesses. Ten years later we sold it, as a multimillion dollar turning business.”

It was the experience with his family business that made Stefan Kazakis the meaningful, trusted and gifted advisor that he is today, ranked in the top one per cent of coaches globally.

After years of experience running successful small to medium sized businesses, Stefan’s career in business coaching took off in 2005. Now he is a world renowned business strategist.

The morning we talk, he has already done one conference – his 45 minute talk was worth $5,000. He doesn’t want the numbers to be misinterpreted, but to serve as an example of how far you can go with hard work.

“Some people are just in a hurry. We are born with our talents. But you have to awake the talent, work the talent and practise the talent – not the talents.
“Some of us tap into the talent, follow it and believe in it; versus others hoping and wishing for another talent and consistently juggling 15 balls in the air while their talent is only one ball in the air. The future is no different to the past – it just depends on how you decide to shape it,” he says meaningfully.
The wisdoms and experiences of the Melbourne-based business strategist Stefan Kazakis are now collected in his recently released book From Deadwood to Diamonds, a practical guide for small business owners to achieve long term success.

The book is aimed at those who may have lost a sense of direction or are at a crossroad of opportunity and don’t know what to do next. The book provides advice on how to overcome common obstacles and seize an opportunity to achieve long term success.

“Diamonds derive from fossil fuel which is dead wood. And that meaning goes for anything in life, not only for business. Dead wood – it’s when the mind convinces ourselves that there is no more energy, no more hope, no more chance. But there are so many more flowers in our garden than there are weeds.
“This book is for every business owner and anyone who is leading, that truly has lost direction in terms of future opportunity. Not only for them, but also for the business owners that believe that there is a better way, more opportunities, the next slice of the market to conquer…

“It’s all in the mindset – the first component of diamond business is clarity. It is brutal truth that makes my strategy to work. The ability to accept it, to go to a place where you are not intimidated by the things you don’t know. The ability to go into the room, and not be the smartest person there, and not feel intimidated by it.

“I don’t hold back from the brutal truth that success is about commitment and digging deep; you are required to make a consistent effort. So the real brutal truth questions are – are you ready for business growth? Are you ready for profit growth? Are you ready for a better quality of life?” Stefan says passionately.
In 2005, when Stefan Kazakis embarked on his professional business coaching career, two things were giving him the guidance. His vision – to be a leader of future leaders; and his mission – to be an epicentre of resources and results for all his clients and his team’s goals. The two remain his ultimate goals.
“I’m always looking for a new piece of information. On a yearly basis, I invest $85,000 a year for my professional development. We live in the information age, where the only thing that will separate the good and bad is education and wisdom.

“There is no better time than now to take up the global market. We are in the economic winter now, and guess what the next season is?”
To find out more about Stefan Kazakis and to download a chapter of his new book, visit www.stefankazakis.com