Anton Thysse (CT Group)
The ‘Partner Spotlight’ series explores partners operating in the local channel landscape right around the country, from Cape York to Hobart, Byron Bay to Fremantle and beyond. This edition focuses on Osborne Park-based ICT consultancy firm CT Group.
It’s fine to start out servicing your regional area, but eventually partners will need to dip their toes into a broader market. For CT Group, the decision worked in their favour.
The consultancy’s current managing director, Anton Thysse, started with CT Group as a solutions architect in 2012, back when the business was known as Craven Technology, after returning from a stint in London. It was there he picked up data security experience through data centre design and regulation surrounding the UK’s Financial Services Authority.
“When I started in my role at CT Group, it was very obvious that we were working with businesses that didn’t necessarily have the budgets like the larger organisations in London had and I became very passionate about being able to deliver the same level of design, deployment and security for small to medium businesses, but at a budget that were better suited to them,” he told ARN.
“It was easier to be able to do this from the top and with an already established client base and reputable name within WA, my partner Mathew Williamson and I decided to purchase the business from the owner [Paul Craven].”
Since the purchase, which took place in 2013, the consultancy has grown more than tenfold in size, from a headcount of three to 40.
Four years later, in 2017, Thysse set his sights on going national with Williamson, with its first client on the east coast being picked up in 2018.
“We have had great success in WA, but when you embark on this expansion journey – even with doing a huge amount of market research – you don’t necessarily know how your business will be received on the east coast having your headquarters based in Perth,” he said.
“It has been a very successful journey so far in terms of both employment and client acquisition in NSW, Queensland and Victoria and that is all despite our directors not being able to get to the east coast as often as we would like due to the travel and border restrictions.
“I think this just goes to show that if you have a client-centric approach in everything you do and you strive to have an open and honest relationship with your clients, it has the ability to overcome any reservations a new client might have – regardless of where you are based.”
However, despite having his pick of states and territories to operate out of, he firmly believes in working out of WA.
“I can’t foresee us moving our headquarters anywhere else. WA has a lot to offer businesses, especially when it comes to having a client centric mindset, which is something that is very much appreciated by local businesses, vendors and partners on the west coast – they gravitate to this, more so than anything else,” he said.
“Because of this factor being ‘heroed’ here in WA, a lot of people – including staff – have this engrained in them and it makes recruiting the right people in WA a lot easier.
“The partnership opportunities in WA are immense, you really tend to see great return on investment from a marketing point of view when partnering up with the right organisations and we are definitely not lacking in resources and vendors over here, with great quality to back.”
The decision to go national didn’t come without its challenges, with Thysse stating there was a massive change in operational procedures and management structures.
“Whilst we have overcome this challenge, as we grow it will continue to be something that we will have to change, update and improve on moving forward,” he said.
“But we love our jobs and therefore challenges like these are something that we actually enjoy.
“Employment of staff to cater for the needs of the business as we grow has also been a challenge in the current climate of staff shortages, which is not something we haven’t really experienced before,” he added.
Would Thysse have acted differently if he knew those changes were coming? At the end of the day, he doesn’t think so.
“Whilst there have been challenges along the way that, when looking back you might have wanted to approach it differently, I don’t think we would have been able to get to where we are now if we weren’t faced with those challenges to begin with," he said.
“We absolutely love what we do and we are very passionate about it. I think we can count ourselves lucky to be able to do it as owners of our own business.”
In the short-term, Thysse said CT Group plans to focus on growing its Australian business and maintaining its current level of quality. Past this however, he added that he hopes to expand the company to New Zealand “one day”.
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