IB Woman
Issue No. 37 - October/November 2007
‘Bad guy' Amanda makes good
by Penelope Herbert
Entrepreneurial thinking hasn’t come naturally to Amanda Wood. Issues like mortgages, children and a secure job were predominant.
So when husband Greg and his two brothers decided to establish a metal finishing business, Amanda was happy to assist but kept her ‘day job’.
“At that time I retained a great sense of security in having a separate job,” she says.
A-Class Metal Finishers opened for business 18 years ago. The firm specialises in high quality metal finishing with an emphasis on servicing smaller manufacturers and restorers. The Wood brothers used their specialist skills to do the work, but the administration side of the business soon needed attention.
“I can look back and laugh now because it really was shoebox accounting,” says Amanda, referring to the archetypal storage facility for small business paperwork, “except the receipts and papers were stored in a potato chip box.”
At a loss as to what to do with all the paper work, Amanda took leave without pay from her better-paying WorkCover job to work in the business on a trial basis. That was in 1992.
“Then, the business employed seven people,” explains Amanda. “I was used to working in large organisations with excellent facilities so it was a challenge to step in to a factory environment with no computers, basic processes and lots of dust. I spent the first week cleaning.
“The account-keeping was pretty basic, with handwritten invoices and bills. I knew very little about actually running a business but I thoroughly enjoyed learning, felt very much at home and was quickly convinced I wanted to work in the business permanently.”
Amanda admits it was a huge step to leave a well-paid job and she tried to rationalise the situation on paper.
Included in her calculation was spending more time with her two children because the business was only five minutes from home. However, a computer, the internet, TAFE courses and...
