NICK & NAZLA, COCKTAIL COLLECTIVE

Cocktail Collective is an eCommerce alcohol delivery business, meaning we don’t follow the traditional sales models for distribution. 75% of our revenue comes directly from online and we don’t follow the traditional path of selling to retail stores via a distributor. Zac’s experience with a wide range of businesses – including traditional, tech and fast-growing eCommerce — has given us meaningful insights, advice and the confidence to execute on our digital strategy. Where many people we encounter struggle with data-led decision-making, Zac understands the key metrics that lead to the growth of our business and he gives us support as we execute on them.

Working with Zac has been collaborative and a true pleasure. Sitting down with him to work through the near-term, mid-term and long-term horizons keeps us focused on achievable tasks which join the dots to our longer strategic goals. He keeps us grounded and adds fresh ideas and impetus to make us stretch for the next milestone.

Zac is a great taskmaster — he’s held us to account when supplier relationships haven’t been working, making us act on hard decisions and conversations. We love that his experience informs him not just around our performance but also the performance of our contractors and bottom-line expenses that impact our margins and profitability. He’s also well networked with contacts across a wide range of industries, which has really come in handy at times, for references and introductions.

The past year has seen us grow by 250% and we’re projecting similar growth again this year. With a fast-growing small business comes the challenge of planning and funding that growth and Zac is fantastic with data, chunking our cashflow projections down to enable us to understand where the challenges lie ahead in the next 6 to 12 months. He sees growth opportunities and tempers these with the reality of the balance sheet. He understands that data drives eCommerce businesses and works with us to maximize our return on our digital investments.

Overall, we couldn’t have asked for or expected a better mentor for our business. Zac continues to act as a virtual Board Member, CFO and coach. It’s been reassuring to have his steady hand in the business over the past few years and we anticipate Zac to be part of our team as we continue to quickly grow our business year on year.