As a South Australian family-owned business with over 40 years’ experience in the industry, Amorini has seen steady growth and prosperity thanks to a strong company culture and effective use of automation. Here’s a look at their story.
The Journey
After being CEO of his father-in-law’s kitchen business, Steve Bosley started Amorini in 2004. Since then, sons Chris and Mitch have entered the business and Amorini has become a substantial joinery component supply business. Today, they buy joinery components from across Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Australia.
As a supply business buying overseas, the company has been exposed to exchange rate fluctuations over the years, which has been one of their biggest challenges, as well as initially being overly reliant on the South Australian market. However, the company has seen steady growth since 2004 and now has a team of 35 people. Thanks to both the efficient systems they’ve developed and high levels of automation, they are able to supply 50 kitchens a week on average around the country with a lean, sharply focused team.
Keys to success
Mitch Bosley says that investing heavily in systems and automation – they call it the ‘Amorini Edge’ – has been extremely important to them. The company has systems in place for all manner of business operations to help manage workflow, sales, design, procurement, retail and delivery.
“I encourage other businesses to invest in systems and processes,” he says. “When there are mistakes or problems, it’s not a single person’s fault – it’s the fault of the system, which is up to us to fix.”
Today, the average age of the Amorini workforce is 30, which means that the team is extremely young, vibrant, innovative, and plugged in to taking risks and trying new ways of doing things.
“This has served us really well to help keep the business moving,” says Bosley.
Another vital element in their success has been hiring great people and developing a company culture that is focused on helping others grow. For instance, the team hired a refugee from Syria who couldn’t speak English but needed a job. Originally employed in the warehouse, he worked his way up through the ranks and is now the Warehouse Coordinator.
About Accru Harris Orchard’s role and involvement
The family members behind the Amorini business have been clients of Accru Harris Orchard for over 25 years. As the business has grown, they’ve improved their systems and streamlined many processes, including their internal accounting systems.
Accru Harris Orchard has been instrumental in helping Amorini with succession planning in getting ownership transferred to sons Chris and Mitch.
“With a 25-year relationship, we feel like the Accru Harris Orchard team is part of the family,” says Bosley. “They provide us added benefits not offered anywhere else. Providing way more than typical accounting services, we get access to a range of experts, coaching programs and workshops. Accru Harris Orchard always thinks about the future and supports us in constantly improving the business.”
The future
The family is looking to use their great logistics and systemised approach to ‘Uberise’ the joinery industry, changing how people buy joinery components and growing the Amorini business without adding expenses or resources.
“We believe this model suits the online world we’re in,” says Bosley, who also notes that having a young workforce has really helped to spot opportunities like this and embrace them.
Currently, the team is in the middle of developing and furthering their online kitchen shop, where customers soon will be able to buy a whole kitchen – not just benchtops – online across Australia through their website www.amorini.com.au.
With a strong interest in the environment, the owners are also involved in a Kickstarter campaign called Zero Co which focuses on eliminating single-use plastic from kitchens and homes.
“Just like our work with Accru Harris Orchard,” says Bosley, “these projects help us look forwards, not backwards.”
