Removing complexity. Frictionless ordering, persona-led curation, zero admin.
Eliminating waste and inefficiency across the supply chain and the customer experience.
Scalable success. The easier we make it for operations to gear up, the faster we grow with them.
The identity question was worked deliberately, because the rest of the strategy reads differently depending on the answer. Spoke is not a technology company in the sense of selling technology, and it is not a traditional workwear company that bolts technology on to sell better.
The customer is not really buying the polo or the boot. They are buying the confidence that the right gear turns up, branded, in time, season after season, without them having to assemble the answer across five suppliers. The product is the vehicle. The understanding, plus the frictionless system that delivers on it, is the thing they are actually paying for, and the thing that is hard to leave.
Spoke operates two co-equal, genuinely distinct business models. Workforce and Brandforce are both core engines, both strategic priorities, and both paths to the $6M destination. Neither is inferior to the other. They serve different customers through different motions and are measured separately.
Five values that define how we hire, how we operate, and what we stand for.
The intersection of what Spoke is best in the world at, what drives the economic engine, and what the team is deeply passionate about.
Spoke's offer is organised around personas: the roles within a customer's operation that need gearing up. A persona defines the gear requirements, the branding approach, the volume and timing, and the level of ongoing management needed. Spoke can build as many personas as an operation requires.
The persona set is defined per industry. As Spoke enters new sectors, a new set of personas is defined for that sector. The horticulture personas are confirmed and operational today. They are listed below as the working example of how the model works in practice.
Universal persona types, applicable across any industry Spoke enters:
Horticulture personas, confirmed and operational today:
Each lever discriminates between personas. A lever that scores the same for everyone cannot sort the map. The van, curation, and industry knowledge are How to Win moves, not levers. They apply across every persona and every customer.
Spoke does not lead with consumables. But once an account is won on the three levers, consumables and other accessible products naturally extend the share of wallet. We service that tail willingly. We do not build strategy on it.
| Industry | Stance | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Apples and pears | Lead | The proven heartland. Full demand across crew, packhouse, and permanent. Defend and deepen. |
| Vegetables | Grow | Largest operational workforce, all-weather demand, durability-conscious buyers. Spoke is under-indexed relative to fit. The deliberate growth bet. |
| Kiwifruit | Opportunistic | Large headcount but thin Spoke-shaped wallet for RSE pickers. Chase the pockets only: packhouse branded workwear, supervisors, and orchard construction PPE. |
| Viticulture | Relationship hold | Genuine fit but financially soft. Held warm through the down cycle so Spoke is the obvious call when it turns. |
| Nurseries | Watch | Permanent workforce, minimal seasonal crew. Viable only through the permanent and office personas. |
| Smaller crops | Park | Avocado, berry, summerfruit, citrus. Under 1,100 workforce each. Not a Year 1 focus. |
Brandforce operates across any industry with a campaign or gifting budget. The stance below reflects where Spoke has proven traction or sees the clearest near-term opportunity.
| Industry | Stance | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and agri-supply | Lead | Proven traction. Zoetis-style gift-with-purchase campaigns. Ed's network and knowledge makes this the natural Brandforce heartland. |
| Construction | Grow | Project completion gifts, contractor branded outfitting, client relationship gifting. Good fit for premium Brandforce execution. |
| Rural servicing businesses | Opportunistic | Vet practices, irrigation suppliers, rural merchants. Gifting to farmer customers is a real and underserved opportunity. |
| Corporate and professional services | Watch | Larger market but less Ed-connected. Pursue when a strong introduction exists rather than cold. |
Help me work out what I need. Make it dead easy to order. Make it even easier to reorder next time. Give me visibility and cost control while you carry the admin.
Friction removal is not a feature. It is an operating model. Every time a customer hits a wall, that wall is logged, analysed, and removed permanently. Competitors fix complaints. Spoke eliminates the conditions that create them.
The value levers score the strategic map. The actual revenue is won customer by customer. The customer scoring model tracks wallet, penetration, and next action for every account in HubSpot.
| Spend tier | Rate per head | When to apply |
|---|---|---|
| Low | $150 per year | Minimal workwear, basic PPE, consumable-heavy account. |
| Medium | $300 per year | Branded workwear, some custom packs, growing relationship. |
| High | $500 per year | Full programme, deep branding, multiple personas, maximised account. |
The five capabilities that must be genuinely excellent for the How to Win choices to work.
Platform choice is the last decision, not the first. Make the scrappy founder-mode version build the right shape from day one so the developer-hardened version is an evolution, not a teardown.
The customer, or Ed, chooses industry, then persona, then steps through the offer top-to-toe. At each step the tool narrows the field, until Ed's judgement does the last bit of work. The configurator is being built now.
Recommend one to three with reasoning, allow override. Every override is captured as data showing where Ed's default did not match reality, which sharpens the engine over time. The tool gets smarter precisely because it does not pretend the rules are complete.
The Brandforce configurator guides a customer or Ed through a structured journey from campaign intent to a curated product recommendation with branding, packaging, and delivery options. It creates excitement through visual references and produces a submission that Spoke uses to begin the proposal and sourcing process.
Spoke holds no stock itself. The range is a model, not a warehouse. The core is what Spoke pushes. The pool is what Spoke fetches.
When margin and availability pull against each other, availability always wins. Margin is recoverable. A grower whose crew stood idle on day one is not. Every core line needs a second source. Single-source on a core product is a strategic risk by definition.
Two ideas bundled into one test: the same buyer and the same job. First aid kits, safety glasses, sunscreen, and certain tools pass. A smoko-room coffee machine fails, because it is a different job. Pass the gate and all three qualifiers: in. Fail the gate: out, no matter how good the margin.
The committed goal is $6M by 31 March 2030. It is the non-negotiable line. Both models are built with headroom above the committed line, and there is real potential to exceed $6M, particularly in Workforce as the engine proves itself in new sectors. $6M is the planning base, not the ceiling.
Adjust revenue, gross profit, and operating expense assumptions across all four years. Live EBITDA output with stacked bar chart. Available in the Budget tab.
A five-step loop already in use. Generate the target list, work the phone-email-phone cycle to book a van visit, run the van visit, win the first order, then repeat orders and seasonal indents through ongoing contact.
| Tier | Accounts | Each | Tier total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchor | 2 | ~$300k | $600k | 36% |
| Major | 6 | ~$50k | $300k | 18% |
| Mid | 25 | $10k to $30k | $500k | 30% |
| Small | 50 | ~$5k+ | $250k | 15% |
Winning the whole 83-account horticulture book requires only about 30 days of van time a year. The workload is the return-visit motion. Two days a week in the van, tiered cadence. The targeting question is not what an account spends today, it is their total wallet and how much Spoke is missing.
Brandforce runs on a different motion to Workforce. Ed's van days are committed to hort. Brandforce is driven by the outsourced calling engine on trial this year, at about $50k, plus Ed's existing network and warm referrals from Workforce accounts.
The indent is the forward-looking part of the sales system, and the one Ed flagged as his biggest commercial fear. A missed indent shows up in the numbers only once the order, the margin, and the season are already gone. The indent calendar drives the van calendar.
A forward, per-account, three-window calendar in Find Your Five, with a lead-time alarm that fires six weeks ahead of each window. The signal leads the window, it does not sit on it. The October run-up, roughly April and May, is the protected priority block of the year.
Marketing's job this year is to be a multiplier on outbound, not a separate lead machine. Measured on warmer conversion and shorter sales cycles, not on lead volume.
Roughly one operational FTE per $1M of sales, brought on just ahead of crossing each threshold.
| Run-rate | Operational FTEs |
|---|---|
| $2M | 3 (current team) |
| $3M | 4 |
| $4M | 5 |
| $5M | 6 |
| $6M | 7 |
| Above $6M | 8 to 9 |
The detailed sales workflow, pipeline structure, stage definitions, entry and exit criteria, step-by-step processes, Zember handoff requirements, and HubSpot usage guidelines are locked as a complete build brief. Download the full document below.
Workforce and Brandforce separated into distinct sales pipelines. One shared fulfilment pipeline. New and existing business coexist in the same pipeline.
Opportunity Identified, Quote Required, Follow Up Required, Decision Pending, Closed Won, Closed Lost. Identical stages across both pipelines for consistent reporting.
Contact made and lead qualified to enter Quote Required. Proposal sent to enter Follow Up Required. All follow-ups complete to enter Decision Pending. Customer commitment to enter Closed Won.
Customer name, staff count, industry, identified need, timing, and proposed product solution. Same criteria for both Workforce and Brandforce streams.
Any deal not moved in seven days is flagged for human review. Deals are never auto-closed. Escalation to Ed or Arne.
| Month | Sales | Budget | Variance | GP% | EBITDA | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | $186,045 | $40,000 | +$146,045 | 39% | $28,444 | Actual |
| May 2026 | $90,877 | $150,000 | ($59,123) | 37% | ($9,911) | Actual |
| June 2026 | n/a | $62,500 | n/a | 34% | ($25,835) | Budget |
| July 2026 | n/a | $102,500 | n/a | 34% | ($22,145) | Budget |
| August 2026 | n/a | $152,500 | n/a | 35% | $6,630 | Budget |
| September 2026 | n/a | $202,500 | n/a | 35% | $4,119 | Budget |
| October 2026 | n/a | $252,500 | n/a | 35% | $38,080 | Budget |
| November 2026 | n/a | $252,500 | n/a | 35% | $38,080 | Budget |
| December 2026 | n/a | $202,500 | n/a | 35% | $17,860 | Budget |
| January 2027 | n/a | $202,500 | n/a | 35% | $19,374 | Budget |
| February 2027 | n/a | $202,500 | n/a | 35% | $22,774 | Budget |
| March 2027 | n/a | $202,500 | n/a | 35% | $5,913 | Budget |
| Full year | $276,922 YTD | $2,111,923 | n/a | ~35% | $108,473 | FY Mar 27 |
Adjust the sliders to stress-test the revenue model. Defaults reflect the locked numbers.
Live data from HubSpot. Enter the Spoke password to view.
| Frequency | What | Who | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Management reports | Lauren, DCH Chartered Accountants | Produced by the 10th of the following month. Uploaded to Spoke OS. Reviewed at the monthly management meeting. |
| Monthly | Cashflow forecast update | Lauren | Rolling forecast updated with actuals and revised forward projections. ASB facility position monitored. |
| Quarterly | Budget reforecast | Lauren, Arne, Ed | At each quarterly sprint review. Material changes reflected in the scenario builder. |
| Annually | Full budget set | Lauren, Arne, Ed | Set at the annual strategy session. Financial year end 31 March. Aligned to the VSBE strategy cycle. |
We hire AI agents before we hire people. Where humans are deployed, they are in roles that require judgement, relationship, and trust. The team below delivers a $2M Year 1 target with no new permanent headcount.
| Person | Focus | Time split | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Sales Director |
Workforce sales. Growing existing accounts, van visits, indent calendar, new account acquisition. | 70% BAU, running the business. 30% working on the business: sprint tasks, building systems, making the business go faster. | The 70/30 split formalises what is already happening. Gives the board clear visibility on how Ed's time is structured. |
| Mark Sales |
Brandforce sales. Outbound acquisition, anchor account pursuit, hero product campaigns. | Full focus on Brandforce during the sprint. | Existing resource, already in budget. Focused lane switch to Brandforce for the sprint period. |
| Arne Director |
Systems and strategy support. AI build, technology enablers, HubSpot architecture, configurator builds, strategic oversight. | Part time in the business, focused on enabling the sales motion. | Primary builder of the technology layer that makes the sales engine run. |
| Sage Admin and marketing |
Admin, marketing support, knowledge coordination, Microsoft Planner, HubSpot data entry. | Role unchanged. | Executes tasks flowing from the sprint plan. First point of contact for Planner updates and knowledge folder management. |
| Lauren Finance and accounts |
Finance, accounts, and financial reporting. | Role unchanged. | |
| Yvette Operations |
Operations. Order fulfilment, branding job coordination, supplier liaison. | Role unchanged. | Key feedback loop for what is working in practice versus in theory. |
Spoke is using Zember as its external lead generation partner for both the Workforce and Brandforce streams. Zember handles outbound calling, qualification, and lead handoff. Ed and Mark close.
The engagement is deliberately staged. Spoke starts at the entry rate for the first one to two months to test quality and fit. If results justify it, the engagement scales. If not, Spoke exits with minimal commitment.
This team, structured this way, is capable of delivering $2M in Year 1 revenue without adding permanent headcount. The AI layer handles the operational load that would otherwise require two to three additional hires. The resourcing model is the commercial case for being AI-native: lean, fast, and margin-protective by design.
We hire AI agents before we hire people. Where humans are deployed, they are in roles that require judgement, relationship, and trust. The team below delivers a $2M Year 1 target with no new permanent headcount.
| Person | Focus | Time split | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Sales Director |
Workforce sales. Growing existing accounts, van visits, indent calendar, new account acquisition. | 70% BAU, running the business. 30% working on the business: sprint tasks, building systems, making the business go faster. | The 70/30 split formalises what is already happening. Gives the board clear visibility on how Ed's time is structured. |
| Mark Sales |
Brandforce sales. Outbound acquisition, anchor account pursuit, hero product campaigns. | Full focus on Brandforce during the sprint. | Existing resource, already in budget. Focused lane switch to Brandforce for the sprint period. |
| Arne Director |
Systems and strategy support. AI build, technology enablers, HubSpot architecture, configurator builds, strategic oversight. | Part time in the business, focused on enabling the sales motion. | Primary builder of the technology layer that makes the sales engine run. |
| Sage Admin and marketing |
Admin, marketing support, knowledge coordination, Microsoft Planner, HubSpot data entry. | Role unchanged. | Executes tasks flowing from the sprint plan. First point of contact for Planner updates and knowledge folder management. |
| Lauren Finance and accounts |
Finance, accounts, and financial reporting. | Role unchanged. | |
| Yvette Operations |
Operations. Order fulfilment, branding job coordination, supplier liaison. | Role unchanged. | Key feedback loop for what is working in practice versus in theory. |
Spoke is using Zember as its external lead generation partner for both the Workforce and Brandforce streams. Zember handles outbound calling, qualification, and lead handoff. Ed and Mark close.
The engagement is deliberately staged. Spoke starts at the entry rate for the first one to two months to test quality and fit. If results justify it, the engagement scales. If not, Spoke exits with minimal commitment.
This team, structured this way, is capable of delivering $2M in Year 1 revenue without adding permanent headcount. The AI layer handles the operational load that would otherwise require two to three additional hires. The resourcing model is the commercial case for being AI-native: lean, fast, and margin-protective by design.
Execution is maintained through a regular cadence of meetings. Each meeting has a clear purpose and a clear output.
| Frequency | Meeting | Purpose | Attendees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Arne and Ed one-to-one | Pipeline review, Find Your Five, van calendar for the coming week, sprint task progress. 30 minutes every Monday. | Arne, Ed |
| Weekly | Marketing meeting | Rolling monthly planning cadence. First or last meeting of the month locks next month's van calendar and marketing priorities. | Arne, Ed, Sage |
| Weekly | Ed one-to-ones with team | Individual accountability conversations. Standing agenda: one friction sentence from the week. Feeds the friction log. | Ed and each team member |
| Monthly | Management meeting | Revenue versus budget (Lauren presents), sprint progress, friction log review, strategy updates captured. 60 minutes. | Full team |
| Quarterly | Sprint review | Review sprint results, set next 90-day priorities, update strategy document, reforecast budget. Half day. | Arne, Ed, board input |
| Annual | Strategy session | Full VSBE strategy refresh. Melbourne-style. Lock in the calendar six months before financial year end. | Arne, Ed, board |
This is a sales sprint, not a build sprint. For 90 days Spoke focuses on sales execution. Technology builds run only where they directly enable a sale. Ed is in the van. Arne is enabling the van.
| Stream | July target | August target | September target | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workforce, horticulture | TBC after budget review | TBC after budget review | TBC after budget review | To be updated after sales budget review |
| Brandforce | TBC after budget review | TBC after budget review | TBC after budget review | New stream. First anchor account target: end of July |
Applies to Workforce horticulture only. Brandforce is not bound by the indent calendar. Indent is something to be aware of, not the primary driver of the van calendar.
The van calendar is a living plan, not a fixed schedule. At every marketing meeting, Arne and Ed plan what two van days per week (on average) look like for the coming month. The plan locks into an Outlook calendar appointment showing the region the van will be in on each day. This is visible to Zember so they can book visits in the right regions at the right times.
The indent calendar informs which accounts appear as priorities in which months. It is one input into the planning conversation, not the only one.
| Milestone | Date | Criteria to pass | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 30 | Early July 2026 | HubSpot fields built. Telemarketing running for both streams. Website live. Van location system live. Find Your Five running weekly. Five or more Workforce leads in pipeline. First Brandforce prospect conversation held. | Arne and Ed |
| Day 60 | Early August 2026 | January indent commitments won from target packhouse accounts. First Brandforce anchor account won. Workforce configurator deployed internally. Persona-category mapping 80% complete. First case study drafted. | Arne and Ed |
| Day 90 | Early September 2026 | Revenue on track for $2M by March 2027. Five to ten Brandforce anchor accounts in play or won. New sector identified and scoped. Board update prepared. Resourcing decision made. | Arne and Ed, board input |