Hypotential Unlocking Business

Christina Papafilis is the founder and director of Connective Services Group, an NDIS support coordination business she started in 2024. In this episode, Christina and I talk about what support coordination actually involves, the maze that is the NDIS system, and why running a business on billable hours creates the same capacity ceiling trade businesses hit with travel time and gaps between jobs....

Sam Fielding is the managing director of Echelon AI Solutions. In this episode, Sam and I talk about the difference between having a ChatGPT subscription and actually implementing AI properly, using what he calls an AI operating system, a single connected workspace that replaces logging into ten separate tools. We get into APIs versus webhooks, why you don't need perfect systems in place before br...

Would you know if your business had already grown past the point of making sense? In Episode 21 of Unlocking Business, I sit down with Dan Noll, founder of T2U, a new app connecting clients with vetted, insured tradies. Before T2U, Dan spent 14 years building WTS Mechanical Projects, a tier 2 construction and HVAC business he started at 20 and sold last year. We get into what it felt like handing...

What can trade businesses learn from the corporate world? Paul O’Neil took a very different route into the trades. After building his career in corporate leadership, including senior management roles with Optus, Paul moved into small business and is now a Director of Plumbing Bros West Coast. In this episode of Unlocking Business, we get into what he's brought across from corporate Australia, and...

What is your business actually worth if you disappear tomorrow? In Episode 19 of Unlocking Business, I sit down with Dr. Mitch Catterall from Unveil Development Partners. Mitch works with owner-operated businesses to identify the gaps keeping them dependent on their founder — then build the people, systems and structures needed so the value sits inside the business, not inside the owner's head. Th...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Peter Craft, co-owner of ASAP Trades, a Perth plumbing business built around honest service, clear communication and doing the job right the first time. Peter was also one of the very first members to join Hypotential Foundations. Peter and Kane get into the real stuff: what they would do differently if starting again, why tracking your marketing spend properly...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Myles Gaebler, owner of Perth Building Inspection Repairs, for a refreshingly honest conversation about what it actually looks like to start a trade business at 21 with no plan and figure it out as you go. Myles started his business to earn more than a carpenter's wage while still having time to train for an Ironman. Less than a year in, he is booked out weeks...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Luke Randazzo, Director at Burgess Rawson, one of WA's leading commercial real estate agencies. Luke has brokered over $450 million in transactions and is one of the youngest shareholders in the business. Luke and Kane get into the real stuff: what the new negative gearing and capital gains tax changes mean for investors, why commercial property is now wide ope...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Aisha Derrick, Brand and Marketing Manager at Smartfix and co-owner of Hypotential, for a practical conversation about what actually works when it comes to marketing a residential trade business. Aisha has spent four years shaping Smartfix's branding, advertising and customer experience, and in this episode she breaks it all down for trades business owners at e...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Dan Steed, a commercial and mortgage broker operating under Fundd, who spent over a decade in senior roles at Barclays and Lloyds in the UK before moving to Australia and becoming one of Western Australia's top performing bankers at Westpac. In the financial year ending 2026, Dan settled $552 million in new lending. Dan and Kane get into the real stuff: why you...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Isabelle Charter, Head of Venture Studios at BetterLabs and CEO of Town Square, who has spent nearly two decades building, scaling and investing in startups across Australia and beyond. Isabelle previously built and exited Drip, Australia's first investing app for under 18s, and now leads BetterLabs, the strategic innovation arm of RAC, where she builds and fun...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Louis, founder of WestOz Trades, one of Perth's leading residential and commercial air conditioning businesses. Kane and Louis have known each other for 17 years, going back to their apprenticeship days, and this one has the easy honesty of two mates who have both been through the wringer building a trades business from scratch. Louis runs a team of around 22 s...

In this episode, Kane sits down with AJ from Team Ecto, his personal trainer of five years, for a wide-ranging conversation about what actually works when it comes to health, fitness and nutrition for busy people. AJ has been in the industry for 12 years and works primarily with business owners and time-poor people who are trying to improve their health without overhauling their entire life. He an...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Sarah, co-founder of Typeset, a Perth-based content and writing business, for a wide-ranging conversation about what actually works when it comes to marketing, storytelling and content strategy for business owners. Sarah has a background in software development, enterprise sales and writing, and has spent over two decades helping businesses communicate more cle...

In this episode, Kane sits down with his brother Fin, Head of Installations at Smartfix, for an honest look back at eight years of building a business together from the ground up. Fin joined Smartfix as a fourth year apprentice and has worked his way through every corner of the business, from installer to managing a team of over 35 people on the road. He and Kane get into the real stuff: what the...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Angelo, owner of Toptech Electrical, for an honest conversation about what the first couple of years of running a solo electrical business actually looks like. Angelo started Toptech Electrical in June 2024 after working at Smartfix, and has been building his client base from the ground up through Facebook community pages, school maintenance contracts and refer...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Rhys, founder of Oceania Plumbing and Gas, for a straight-talking conversation about what it actually takes to build a trades business from the ground up. Rhys started his business in 2019, living at home with mum and dad, just as Covid hit. Three months of uncertainty quickly turned into one of the busiest periods he'd ever seen, and from there he scaled to si...

In this episode, Kane sits down with Jevyn from Men's Talk, a men's health promotion charity based in Western Australia, for a raw and eye-opening conversation about the mental health crisis quietly affecting men across Australia. They cover the alarming suicide statistics (7 men die every day in Australia), the role isolation, divorce and job loss play as warning signs, why tradies are 9 times mo...

Mitch Suleau moved from Tasmania to Perth two years ago with a carpenter's ticket and nothing else. He started MBS Building Company anyway and is still figuring it out the right way. Kane and Mitch get into what the early years of a trade business actually look like. Why you have no idea what you want until you are almost there. Why hiring a tradesman as your first employee beats bringing on an ap...

Steve started E-Maintain two years ago with zero residential experience. He is still on the tools, has three staff, and is building something the right way without burning through a Google ads budget to do it. Kane and Steve cover the real story of starting a small electrical business in Perth with no residential background and figuring it out on the fly. They get into hiring your first apprentice...

Most trade business owners think hiring more people will fix their problems. It does not. It exposes them. And the cost of getting it wrong is bigger than most realise. Kane Tyler Smith and Anthony Lawler from Nimbus Tech break down what actually happens when a trade business grows without the right processes and structure in place. This is a conversation about the chaos phase of scaling, why prof...

Kane Tyler Smith started Smartfix in 2018 with one ute and zero business training. It grew to 140 staff and $30 million before a near-miss that almost took everything. In this episode, Kane and Aisha break down the real story behind building Smartfix from the ground up. How they handled Google reviews from day one, why staff retention was always a core value, what scaling too fast actually looks l...

Kane Tyler Smith built Smartfix from one ute in 2018 to over $30 million a year and 130 staff. What most people never saw was how messy that actually was. This is the intro episode of Unlocking Business: Hypotential. Kane breaks down who he is, why he built Hypotential, and the gap he kept seeing in the trade industry. Most tradies are excellent at their trade. Nobody teaches them how to run a bus...