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[Voiceover]: Welcome to the Checkout. We catch up with previous add to cut guests and ask them five quick questions to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get through your Friday. Here's your host, Bushy.
[Ad]: Today's checkout features Jason Kachemski, CEO of Speedmaster, the global e commerce powerhouse selling high performance car parts to over 210 countries. From accidental online purchases to the retailer that's most inspiring him right now, Jason shares some wonderful insights, including his bold
Nathan Bush: vision for the store of the future.
[Ad]: Let's get into it.
Nathan Bush: Jason, welcome to the Checkout. We are here to ask you five quick questions. We had an awesome chat earlier around everything that you and the Speedmaster team are doing from how you've set up your technology so that you can sell into any market on any platform, through any channel, to your audience and all the way through to some of the cool experiential stuff that you're doing in the US around driving trucks around and showcasing products and car meetups in Vegas. You're making me jealous. But we're here to ask you five questions to get to know you better. All right, number one, what's the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Jason Kencevski: Oh boy. You know what? It was one of those. I bought it by accident. It was from Deals Direct and it's one of those thought it was like a proper hand that you use at a soccer game and it arrived. It was one of those gummy ones, those little ones that stick to the wall.
Speaker E: I'm like damn. And it's funny because Deals Direct, you
Jason Kencevski: know, that's what happens. It was like the $1.99 deal so you think you're getting something that could
Speaker E: be, like, massive, and actually it was small. So I told Paul Greenberg that story. I'm like, hey, man, I think your marketing is a little bit stretched. And he's like, hey, man, this deals direct. So definitely one of those little.
Nathan Bush: He didn't even, like, get two bucks out of his wallet and give you two bucks back.
Speaker E: Yike. If anyone gets two bucks out of Paul Greenberg.
Jason Kencevski: Five. Five.
Speaker E: No, just kidding. Just kidding.
Jason Kencevski: Love you, Paul.
Nathan Bush: Love it. Number two, which retailer has most inspired you recently?
Jason Kencevski: A couple. A couple. You know what? I want to throw it out there. There's been a few. One just recently going back to Australia for holidays is Star Runner. High five to the stores. Beautiful. Like, you know, this. I want to wreck it, but it's like, it's not a lime green.
Nathan Bush: It's like this.
Jason Kencevski: It's like a beautiful light green pastel. And I love the styling, the logo, and they put the little postcode link below each. So I'm going to rip that on our coffee cups next soon.
Nathan Bush: Sorry.
Jason Kencevski: Star Runner. So recently it's definitely been Star Runner. I love how they've reinvented and revived vitalized, how much they're spending on the stores. Hopefully people keep buying from the stores because they look great. So I just love the look and feel of that right now, for sure.
Nathan Bush: As a guy who grew up with E com and E comms in your bones, do you have a little bit of a thing for physical retail still?
Jason Kencevski: 100%. And I love that those two merged. You know what I mean? Like we said earlier, clicks and mortar. Fact that we got bricks and mortar slash E commerce and that person won. It makes me super happy that we can extend that online. So definitely recent experience would have been Fire Runner.
Nathan Bush: So, yeah, I would love someone to give you a huge pile of money to go and invent the store of the future. What is your version of the story of the future? Because I reckon you'd have some pretty gnarly ideas.
Jason Kencevski: A lot of cool things. You know, it has to be, I don't know, potentially things. It would be along the lines of getting things instantly. And I know, again, you know, you talk to back of the shoes of prey. Can you imagine having, like, you know, 3D printers? So you walk into a store and, I don't know, you walk out with something that you weren't expecting. So, I don't know, you know, like, you got these 3D printers and you kind of maybe just. You just start imagining crazy things. So what I love Is, I think what I'm trying to say is I go antique shopping all the time. And when you go antique shopping, you're not shopping the antiques, the antiques are shopping you. You know what I mean? Wherever you turn up. It's not like you go antique shopping saying, I'm going to come over the sofa. You go antique shopping, and whatever's there, you take home, it takes you home, vice versa. So what I'm suggesting is the store of the future might be these sorts of stores where there's these anti antique stores that might be 3D printing things. So you walk in and you're like, oh my God, that is so beautiful. I got to take it home. So every time I go antique shopping, I always come home with something amazing. Like it's old, it's eclectic, and there's no way in hell I was ever, ever going to imagine coming home with, I don't know, some of half the stuff that half that's half a shit, but half the stuff that I've taken home from antique store. You know what I mean? And so I think that would be the way of the future merging. Insane, eclectic stuff that's 3D printed or imagined, and it shows there. It's like, oh my God, this is beautiful. I don't know. There you go, out of the blue.
Nathan Bush: I love that.
Jason Kencevski: And you put me on the spot
Speaker E: just for the listeners.
Jason Kencevski: This was not written down.
Speaker E: You put me on the spot.
Jason Kencevski: So that was straight out of the archive.
[Ad]: No, but I love that idea because
Nathan Bush: it's the idea of a product shopping you, not you shopping the product. And my mind immediately went to those build a bear stores because that's so popular and those bears are so expensive. But I think it's that thing of kids wanting to go in there because they don't know what they're coming out with.
Jason Kencevski: Correct, Correct. There you go.
Nathan Bush: Love it.
Jason Kencevski: Love it.
Nathan Bush: All right, number three. Can you name a piece of tech that you or your E Commerce business couldn't live without? That's how I know that was coming.
Speaker E: Hey, listen, man, listen. I don't get paid to say that,
Jason Kencevski: but I've got to be honest with you, I am here laughing, giggling, and having a great time with you all jokes aside, thanks to the technology that we built our business on. So other than humans, there's tech capital and human capital. I just want to say thank you to Netsuite. So definitely couldn't do without NetSuite.
Nathan Bush: Awesome. And we had a really good conversation around that back in our main episode where we did Talk about how NetSuite works for your business and how you've set it up to work for you. And I think that's really healthy. It's what we need is to be able to have different solutions for different scenarios and different businesses. So thank you for explaining. That was an eye opener for me too. Number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Jason Kencevski: Yeah, so easy. One. The one that changed my life. There's two and it's actually I've got one over there that I hand out to my staff every year. There's two books, if I'm allowed to offer two.
Nathan Bush: Yeah.
Jason Kencevski: Number one is Seven Habits of Effective Leaders that literally changed my life. It talks about personal, interpersonal and interpersonal relationships, about how to see things through different lenses. So that changed my life as a leader for sure. And as a human at home and at work, that was revolutionary for me. And just one of the most simple entry level books that I love, the it's right there is Atomic Habits. Again, simple read, very easy to attach. And I think if anyone can take away one thing from that book, which is just habit stacking. So for example, he just says, you want to read more. Put your book on your bed before you go to bed and you'll either move it or you'll read it. So simple things like that I think is an amazing book. So those two in itself, I think one great entry level and one that's really revolutionary. So definitely two.
Nathan Bush: That close to that great books. They're both on the shelf behind me as well. So great taste. Is there a habit? I know you mentioned that book on the shelf beside you. I know that you are a really driven person, bloody busy person. You are traveling a hell of a lot. I can imagine when it comes to habits, you are on days all over the shop. You might not even know where you are. Is there one habit that you can't live without that you just get? You become a horrible human if you lose this habit?
Jason Kencevski: None really. I mean, at the end of the day, I think. No, not really. Definitely. I'd be pretty horrible if I didn't have coffee.
Nathan Bush: How about that one? That's a good one.
Jason Kencevski: Yeah, it's probably the only one outside of that. I mean, you know, you get better at knowing, you know, not to eat too much, not to eat too little. If you're not going to exercise, hey, just calm down on the intake because at the. You want to wake up fresh, you want to wake up ready for work, I think. But the Only thing if you were to take away from me, outside of everything would definitely be coffee. So it's pretty pathetic in this day and age we're so dependent on coffee. But I'm not. Yeah, I'm happy to be pathetic and be addicted to coffee straight out.
Nathan Bush: There's worse dependencies. Don't worry about that.
Speaker E: Yes, sir.
Nathan Bush: Yes, sir. Number five, last one I've got for you. Jace, what is your biggest challenge today?
Jason Kencevski: Biggest challenge is we're a private business, so we can only spend what we earn, right? So if I make a dollar, I can only spend a dollar. So the biggest challenge I have right now is finding people who align with our why our vision and understand that. Okay, so I'm here to get to here. We have to work together to get there. So I wish I was a public company where I could make one and spend five, but that's not the case. So it's about my biggest challenge is if I want to grow this business and bring someone on or add to it, I have to grow it, which is something that we all need to own if we're in business. To yourself, like you're here doing it yourself right now, you're growing it and then how do you get an extra one or two people? Well, you know, as it grows. So I guess my biggest challenge right now is always understanding, identifying that to grow this business, to be able to make room for new people, I have to build that for them to come. So. And then when they're here working in alignment. So yeah, I'll only have that problem while I'm a private company where I can only spend what I earn. But after that we can probably spend more than we earn. But that's the only initial part outside of that, I mean, awesome products, you'll
Nathan Bush: be on an island by then. Doesn't it matter?
Speaker E: It's true, it's true. But you know what I mean?
Jason Kencevski: You know, like, and it's just a nice thing for people to understand because sometimes they're kind of like, ah, how do other people make it? Well, it's just unfortunate. It's just what it is. You creep ahead and then you're like, oh, I'm a little bit ahead. And it's like, I got to go and share that with somebody else to keep going ahead. It's just part of the deal. So I think the challenge here is, yeah, just being able to find great people who align with your vision, which is always going to be tough. Unlike technology, which is very, very easy. It's unemotional. So you like either works or it doesn't, like netsuite. So that human capital is a tough part. So, yeah, it's pretty much it.
Nathan Bush: There must be a lot of pride being bootstrapped for so long, though.
Jason Kencevski: Oh, 100%. And I guess, you know, it is nice to turn around and say, well, you know, what we're doing, we make a profit, we're very successful. There is, you know, it creates character. And I think what they say is don't ask for an easier journey, you know, ask for the strength to endure the journey. So I'm happy for that challenge, mate.
Nathan Bush: You should be very proud, very proud of what you've built. Thank you so much for joining us on the checkout. Jason, awesome chatting with you. If you want to hear more from Jase, make sure you go back and listen to the main episode where we dive deep into the Speedmaster journey. Fascinating story, that one. Lucky you're not in a wheelchair after your soccer career and that you're doing what you're doing because we love what you're doing. Thanks again, Jason.
Speaker E: Just make sure you've got a beer
Jason Kencevski: because it's a long one. I'm sorry. It's a good one.
Nathan Bush: Thank you.
Speaker E: Thanks, Nathan.
[Ad]: To hear more from Jason, jump back into episode 498, where he shares how Speedmaster scaled from a family run garage operation operation to a global brand. He tells us about the automation that allows Speedmaster to process orders with just 10 seconds of human handling and gives us a bit of behind the scenes on why he's betting on physical experiences in retail.
