Karl Brown is the CEO of QLD’s leading solar company – pioneering renewable energy and a story of success starting the business with only $2,500. Five years on, Karl has expanded the team and now manages almost 100 staff, dominating the QLD solar industry.
Tell us about InStyle Solar.
Ultimately, our goal is to make solar simple for the consumer to understand, this is key to a happy purchasing experience. We also focus on the main attributes the customer needs to understand, we don’t talk about busbars and technical specs that they will forget five minutes after we leave their home.
InStyle Solar remains committed to continually training, developing and mentoring our staff to keep hitting that goal of making solar simple and, in turn, ensuring our customers walk away having enjoyed the purchasing experience of a lifetime.
What inspired you to start InStyle Solar?
I worked in the corporate world for a long time and simply wasn’t enjoying it, I then took on a commission only sales role with a view to set up the Brisbane office for the company. Day one I loved it. I found myself driving between appointments fist pumping I was so excited; it completely reignited my love for sales and to be honest I would say it turned me back into the sales gun I was in my early to mid-20’s. Then, the company I was working for went through some major structural changes which I didn’t agree with. Following multiple attempts to voice my thoughts, I couldn’t commit under a structure I didn’t believe in and knowing that I could put a better model together, I decided to take the plunge and InStyle Solar began trading on the 7th of February 2014.
Tell us about your career and background.
My first ever full-time job was an apprentice mechanic, then apprentice panel beater at my father’s workshop, however it simply wasn’t for me. I then took a door to door job selling telecommunication products, this was where I found sales and knew very early on that I had found something I was good at. I have now been selling and running sales teams for 20 years.
Describe a typical workday for you.
A typical day for me starts at around 6.30am, I stumble to my coffee machine where I make an extremely strong double shot with a small amount of milk. I then sit outside with my two dogs, look at my calendar and think about how I am going to navigate through the day. Ensuring that what I have planned is the best use of my time.
I get to the office between 8:00am and 8:30am, making a couple of important calls on my way to the office. I rarely book any meetings before 10:00am or after 3:00pm, this is a new thing for me and gives me time to work on tasks to keep the business moving forward.
For my afternoon, I check the sales results for the previous day and get an understanding of how we are tracking for the week. I’ll send an update video out to the sales team giving them something to aim for in consultation with Jonah the Sales Director. I also do a snapshot of who is killing it from our call centre and direct sales teams.
I leave the office somewhere between 5:00pm and 6:00pm. I do a few calls from home and aim to completely switch off by 7:00pm and spend time with my family.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Make sure you know why you are starting the business, if it is purely for money the likelihood is that you will fail. You need to have something unique that separates you from your competitors. That doesn’t always mean the product needs to be unique, just being able to deliver the product or service in a unique way is better than most already.
Don’t split your focus, keep things simple and focus on the product or service that is working. Many people get a business off the ground and then try to diversify too quickly, I was guilty of this in prior ventures and it’s a quick way to run out of money. Sometimes a passion project or side hustle should stay a side hustle.
What’s next for you, and InStyle Solar?
Keep striving to be the largest residential solar company in Australia, which we hope to be in less than 5 years’ time.
