For David and Virginia, financial freedom and lifestyle flexibility have been at the core of their story with Navigate Advisory.
As business owners who successfully transitioned from corporate careers to running their own industrial supply company, they have navigated redundancies, business start-ups, and built a future that aligns with their vision of a great life.
David and Virginia have been clients of Navigate Advisory for many years, engaging with various financial services that have supported them through different life stages. From setting up their superannuation and structuring their business to using their self-managed super fund to purchase their warehouse, their financial story has been deeply intertwined with Navigate’s guidance.
Thank you, David and Virginia, for chatting with us today. We would love to hear how Navigate Advisory supports you.
“We started with them when I was still working full time and David was just starting the business at home,” Virginia explains. “Navigate Advisory initially set up our superannuation, and then it continued with other services from there.”
David adds, “Harry and Dennis gave us advice for our business structure and our family structure as well, and are helping us generate wealth for our retirement. Because they really helped us with the structural plan, we’ve been able to grow our business whilst having a plan in place for the future.”
What does it mean to live a great life for you both?
“Coming from a corporate background, working five days a week from eight till seven at night was quite stressful,” says David. “But now we’ve moved away from that. We only work three to four days a week with much fewer hours. It’s more like a lifestyle – we choose when we want to work and we can block out times when we don’t need to.”
“Having that financial freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want to travel – that’s what a great life means to us,” he reflects.
Virginia shares her perspective: “For me, it’s the work-life balance. I can take the kids to school, to lessons, or to any sports activities. Before, you had to ask permission from your manager. Now I’m in charge of my own hours.”
What were some of your biggest financial challenges before working with Navigate Advisory?
The couple faced uncertainty early in their journey.
“When David was made redundant, I was made redundant a few months later as well. At that time, we had debt,” Virginia recalls.
Faced with redundancy, David made the bold decision to start his own business. But the timing brought immense pressure. “Getting into the housing market, you’ve got debt. Starting a business, you’ve got to pay your suppliers. Growing the business was quite worrying because you’re not sure how your sales will grow. You’ve got to look after everybody, including your family first,” David reflects.
How specifically has Navigate Advisory helped you?
A pivotal moment came when Navigate helped them structure their new business in an innovative way.
“The first thing was when Navigate set up our self-managed superannuation,” Virginia explains. “We managed to buy our warehouse using our super fund rather than borrowing from the bank. The strategy they implemented was that the business would pay rent to our super, so it’s a win-win situation for our super and the business.”
David emphasises the impact: “Rather than paying someone else’s property interest, we were actually renting from our own property to pay it off over time. These are things that people don’t know about.”
How do you feel about your financial future now compared to when you started?
“It’s been way better than when we started,” David reflected. “We’re in the housing market, we’ve got our own office warehouse, and we have staff running our business now. We don’t work seven days a week – we work a lot less and choose when we want to work.”
“There’s a lot more confidence knowing that most of our debt is paid off and whatever we have is growing.”
Virginia adds, “Before, when we still had the loans and were both working, it was really stressful with kids, thinking about how we’re going to pay off these big loans. Now it’s a lot different.”
“If it wasn’t for Navigate getting us the structure in place to fund our property, we wouldn’t have had the space we needed to grow our business,” David states. “We’ve grown from operating out of my garage to a proper warehouse with mezzanine floors and pallet racking. We thought it was big for what we needed, but now we are outgrowing it.”
Are there any goals you’re working towards now?
For David and Virginia, the next chapter is about supporting the next generation.
“Currently, we’re working on helping our kids with their own futures,” Virginia shares. “That’s our next goal. They’re at that stage where they’re just starting out.”
What advice would you give to anyone considering financial planning?
We’re not experts in everything, and we use specialists to help us out,” David says. “Navigate is one of them. If we don’t know anything about finances or structuring, we get support to do that.”
David concludes, “It’s more about the structure and having a clear plan of where we’re heading. It’s like a blueprint, so you know which step is next. Having those regular meetings guides us and keeps us on the right track, especially when you’re running a business and can get sidetracked quite a bit.”
If you, like David and Virginia, are looking for financial confidence and strategic guidance, book in a call. We would love to see how we can help you get closer to your great life.