Innovative vitamin and supplements brands, Bondi Vite and PILLAR Performance, set out to modernise their finances to support their fast growth trajectory. Keeping Company was a partner in their success – and not just on the accounting front.
BONDI VITE & PILLAR PERFORMANCE CASE STUDY
Founded by former NSW Waratah, Damien Fitzpatrick, Bondi Vite and PILLAR Performance (both a part of Pod Health Group) provide vitamins and supplements which specifically support active lifestyles, including at an elite level. The products are HASTA and TGA certified to ensure they don’t contain banned substances giving athletes peace of mind and are uniquely formulated to support activity and recovery.
Pod Health Group is experiencing significant growth, having secured national distribution details for Bondi Vite and PILLAR with several National retail chains. Filling a unique gap in the market and growing very quickly, Pod Health Group recognised it needed to modernise its finances to enable the business to continue to scale and began looking for a cloud-based bookkeeping service.
The challenge
Previously Pod Health Group handled its finances in-house largely via a series of unwieldy spreadsheets. They recognised that they needed to move to a cloud-based system to establish a modern and sustainable solution which would see them into the long-term.
Keeping Company came highly recommended, so Damien reached out to them and was immediately impressed.
“Not long after placing a call into Keeping Company, I was surprised to receive a call back almost immediately from Keeping Company’s CEO and Founder Ryan Miller. It was a nice touch and surprise to have that kind of personal attention from the get-go.”
“Ryan was extremely engaged and interested in our business right from the outset. He delved deeper into what we were trying to achieve and it was clear he would be a great asset to us.”
How we helped
Keeping Company partnered with Pod Health Group to migrate the company to Xero and provide a close-touch cloud-based bookkeeping service. Very quickly however, it became apparent that Pod Health Group could benefit from so much more than that.
“We realised fairly quickly that we needed more than just bookkeeping. The partnership grew organically, with Keeping Company beginning to also support us with higher level CFO work.”
Keeping Company created more sophisticated financial governance for Pod Health Group, handling everything from cash flow modelling and forecasting, to budgeting and profit margin projections. Previously the company didn’t have an inventory system, however with large production runs on the horizon a better system for tracking stock was needed. Keeping Company was able to advise on inventory management system options and support the integration with Xero.
Early in the partnership, Pod Health Group underwent a capital raise. Keeping Company helped out with the required financial reporting for potential investors, developed governance agreements and registers, and tidied up the cap table. They also reached out to their contacts to help raise about a third of the total funding; approximately $700,000.
Damien invited Keeping Company CEO Ryan Miller and COO Tim Wearne to serve on Pod Health Group’s business advisory board, where they have made a significant impact in only a short time.
“As a founder, being able to draw on well established business owners for mentorship and guidance has been invaluable. Especially when it came to the more granular issues like cash flow, navigating long lead times for products or supply chain issues during the pandemic. They’ve really helped share the burden and lower my stress.”
The results
Pod Health Group has quickly gone from supplying zero stores to 1,000 stores including Terry White and Priceline and has struck up supplement deals with over 10 teams from all of the major football codes including the Sydney Roosters, Brisbane Broncos, GWS Giants, NSW Waratahs.
The partnership between Keeping Company and Pod Health Group has continued to strengthen with Keeping Company now financially backing the company, a testament to how much they believed in Damien and his business.
Damien has found the whole Keeping Company team incredibly personable and sings their praises regularly.
“We’ve formed a really nice partnership and the results speak for themselves. We’ve gone from strength to strength and a lot of that is thanks to Keeping Company. I can’t speak of them highly enough.”
At Keeping Company, we’re not just accountants, we’re business people too. With our counsel, your business can reach its full potential.
We have a team of experts; Cloud Accountants, Business Advisors, Finance Specialists working together and ready to help, contact us today.
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For all media enquires please contact Tracy Miller, CMO, Keeping Company 0414 898 452.
The material and contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained.