Richele Janjatovic has seen first-hand the power of the Fresh Network to build business for its members and to provide massive value to clients.
When Richele left her corporate banking career in 2023 to set up her own Commercial Lending business, one of her top priorities was to expand her network. Her corporate days had given her some good connections with lenders and brokers, but for the new business she also needed relationships with accountants and commercial lawyers. Having relocated from Perth a few years earlier, she didn’t have these relationships in Melbourne. Joining Fresh helped her expand her network and build my business.
Richele was introduced to Fresh by an accountant that she had cold called in her efforts to build her network. ‘We were talking about networking, and I mentioned what a bad experience I had had with another networking group’, she says. ‘He suggested I come to Fresh. I loved the warm welcome, the airtime that guests had and the fact that it was about relationships, not transactions. The vibe was completely aligned with my value set. I joined the South Yarra hub and gave myself a year to see if I could make it work.’
Richele certainly succeeded in ‘making it work’ – for herself, her fellow Freshies and their mutual clients. Two situations exemplify the power of the Fresh network:
‘Megan Hungerford, the bookkeeper at South Yarra had a client whose online retail business was struggling. The client had cashflow issues, was very stressed, had lost motivation and was even considering liquidating her company. Megan encouraged her to talk to me about consolidating her debts and reducing the administration costs of managing her loans.’
‘I consolidated five debts totalling $200,000, and added a working capital loan of $60,000. I was able to reduce her loan payments from $25,000 to $1300 a month.
But rather than stopping there, I introduced her to Imran, a business coach and cashflow specialist, also in South Yarra hub. Imran, Megan and I worked together to work out which part of her business was the leaky bucket and Imran figured out that although she was advertising Afterpay, the facility had disappeared from her website. There was a significant drop in her Afterpay sales. With our help she is back on track and motivated, pumped and ready to continue with the business, with Imran’s ongoing support. It’s a fabulous example of Fresh value – Megan saw the symptoms and called me in. I realised it was more than just a debt issue and saw the opportunity to provide broader guidance, so got Imran involved. I only have debt in my tool bag, but Imran has a wider set of tools he can use. The situation not only provided referrals for two Fresh members but above all a transformational result for the client.’
‘In a second example of Fresh collaboration, a referral from Adam Diamond of the CBD hub for a client buying a property involved three Freshies working together: I organised the loan pre-approval, Vicky Likoudis was the commercial buyers advocate, and Ron Cohen was the property lawyer. We all worked really well together, forming a strong deal team to support the client. Being part of a network, and able to refer clients to other professionals has helped me to strengthen my relationships and goodwill with my customers. The clients to whom I have referred my fellow Fresh members sing their praises.’
Richele understands the ‘give before you take’ mentality of successful networking. ‘I truly believe in reciprocity, to build the trust and credibility that creates strong relationships. I think that mindset is why I have achieved success with Fresh.’
