No Plan B: The Fire in the Belly Every Business Needs, with Rajan Durarajen

Rajan Tom Hitchcock, how are you? Very good Tom, how are you going? I'm pretty good as well, pretty good as well. We just toast each other, I think we toasted coffee to tea just then. Yeah we did. But your tea, you looked purple at first glance from my bias. Oh it's coffee, black coffee. Ah, there we are, okay, well that's a new reflection. That's a pretty, pretty healthy option there to kickstart your day. I'm trying. I suppose it's still in that period of New Year's resolution. I used to publish an article every New Year saying how the average lifespan of a New Year's resolution is, and it's very short obviously. But if you do it just before New Year and don't tag it onto that like everyone else does, it actually lasts a lot longer.

There's quite an interesting site behind that, but I didn't make any decisions. the next year. Yeah, yeah, no resolution made this time. I think I've worked hard enough on any positive change I don't need to add any more to it just because we passed the sun

done another cycle. Anyway, I'm mambling. I'm keen to hear your story and have a conversation with you today. But am I right in thinking you was at the open yesterday? Oh yeah they also opened I couldn't get to it yeah there were a few of my colleagues that were there and I got held back because I have these back issues that come up and all so yeah it was just that yeah that's a sorry to bring it up then yeah or subject hmm I'm still following all the matches and quite sad that Demi no lost last night but it was still a good game yeah Yeah, fair play. So let's jump straight into it. Turn us a little bit about yourself. Introduce yourself and what you feel people should know about who you are.

Okay. Yeah, my name is Rajan and I'm currently the CEO of Sunny Pine HomeCats. It's a NDIS provider here in Melbourne. A sort of our focus area within Melbourne is towards the northwest and west of Melbourne. We're not a large provider, so we've got about just about 100 staff and about 50 clients that we support. Predominantly, we are in the sales space supported independent living. We've been here for about five years now and we've been organically just growing our footprint around this area, currently expanding towards the northeast side of Melbourne as well. As far as work is concerned, myself personally, I've been working for quite a number of years, Tom. So a couple of decades working in the corporate world.

So I worked for an American multi-national for almost 20 years in a lot of national roles, but regional as well as global roles. Decided to go for a change in career. It was me and my wife, both of us, and we wanted to focus more on community-type organizations. So we made that career change as we also moved to Australia at that point of time. It was really a good timing to do all at one go. And that's how my sort of career in this area started. We started at the, you know, somewhat at the bottom at a lot of the, you know, field work kind of thing. And just slightly over time, over 15 years, just grew up, grew ourselves into a career and into what role that I do currently at Sunny Pine Home Care.

Okay, all right, so if I'm hearing correctly there's two big leaps of faith that you've taken of note which I think people wherever they are in the world may relate to or they may be considering doing. Okay, one is changing countries, changing where you call home, which is a massive deal in all fairness, but also shifting careers coming out the comfort zone of a corporate role into being an entrepreneur. Both of those are, in my mind, are equally daunting and come with equal risk. Would you say they're the two big leaps of faith that you've made? Oh, absolutely. You know, I can, probably a number of things that that we've done quite drastic changes in our life, but absolutely those two are the biggest changes.

And I think over time, those changes define you as well. Which ones get you the most? Well, I think it was definitely the one moving countries. Okay. Yeah, that was huge for us. Do you want me to go a bit inside into it? Yeah, absolutely. So everyone's share mate, you're in control essentially. So we were actually at the peak of our career. My career was at the peak in the corporate world. And there was still something that I felt that I needed to do more and I was not achieving it. From a finance point of view, we were very comfortable. But I think from a satisfaction point of view of what we achieved and all that, I think it was a bit not there. So we decided to quit our jobs. And because we had a chance to also travel around, because of our previous job in corporate, we knew where we wanted to go pretty much.

So moving countries, we had young kids. My daughter was seven, and my son was two. And we moved without jobs. So it was a very big risk for us to move from something that was quite stable and really doing well into nothing really. and just depending on savings and trying to make a life. But we were very keen to make that move and do that change. Now, Intel, as you know, Intel Corporation is the organization that I was working for before. And we used to have turnaround every six months. So rapid change. And I thought, I've been through enough change to be able to manage this really well. But no, I think still moving country was the toughest for me. Because it really challenged me in so many ways in terms of ego was the first thing because you have, you know, I've worked my way up to a certain level and then coming back here, going into a new industry and community, you know, and starting back in the bottom so that you can really learn it is a huge hit, uh, personally for me.

But I was willing to do it because, you know, it's really something I wanted to pick up on. And I think it was the right thing for me because I think sometimes in my life, my ego needs to be challenged. And so that it gets me to a position where I'm, that I feel a little bit more humble. And I find that when I'm in that position, I'm more responsive to the world, to the people around me and so on. So it was a good wake-up call for me. So going through it was challenging, but looking back at it, I think it was absolutely the right thing and the right thing to do for me.

So, and that's how we grew, you know. I started working for a, did a bit of consulting work, work for a council for a long time and then got this job with the NDIA. So I worked for the federal government for about four years before I came out and into the NDIA's provider space. I've been in the NDIA's provider space for about six, seven years now. So it's quite a number of years, but gradually making my name and slowly moving up the ladder and getting to where I am. You know, so it was a journey, it was a difficult one, but it was all worth it. And honestly, I'm very satisfied. I think the thing that I was missing when I left Corporate World, I think I found it. And so that satisfaction is there.

So all those challenges that you've gone through makes, it doesn't mean anything after getting to where I have in terms of personal satisfaction. Yes, well, we'll hold that fort because I think we'll come back to that one for sure. I think with me and Rinaway. just sort of moving back to your shift, you know, I concur with you that sort of self-humble

is as a recalibration tool is important because we can get institutionalised, we can get intoxicated by station and we get comfortable, which means we stop learning, we stop growing, you know, when we hit the routine and we work at almost every day's on autopilot you know because it isn't without challenges but we're good at what we do because we've here we've qualified we've earned our stripes you know absolutely right I've experienced something myself like that and and it was so good for me as individual just going right right down to the bottom again as roller sleeves up let's know nothing let's mess this up let's be uncomfortable and I think there's lot to be said for people volunteering themselves being put in that situation you know. So I suppose anybody listening to this that is on the cusp of making that up to this or that, I'll probably encourage them is you know there's nothing but good that can come out of it whatever the scenario. Yeah it's tough but I think it's a defining moment it's a challenging moment but it really unpicks everything about you.

You know, there are many times my wife and I had conversations about, you know, was this the right thing to do? You know, should we go back? And, you know, and those kind of things continue to happen because the challenges are, it's just one after the other. But I think we kept on it. And, you know, one of the things we did, Tom, is we knew that if we had come and there was challenges we would return and we didn't want that plan B. So what we did is we sold everything back home. So no property, nothing, right? And we moved. So there was not going to be an option of moving back if you ever wanted to. So that was it, you know, first time in my life, no plan B. And so we had to make it work and we knew that we had enough experience in our life to make it work. But we just didn't know what the challenges were going to be.

You could only plan for what you think you know, but there's a lot of things that you don't know about that you can't plan for and you just got to face it as you go along. And those are where the learnings were. But in that journey, we met so many great people. Just so many great people who uplifted us. And I think they also showed us what real meaning of life was and how is it to really care about others. And you know these are people who didn't have to do what they did, right? I mean they spent a lot of their time you know so that you could have a better journey while you're in Australia. You know it was our neighbors, it was a lot of friends, people, strangers that we that we don't know of that had so much you know insights into our journey and helped us through the journey and until today we are in touch with some of them and you know and we aspire to try to be like them in so many ways you know because you know that's what we found was really missing the first time around. I think the common denominator word there is motivation because

firstly with the plan B it's a reverse motivation it's something there to remind you well we don't want to activate a plan B make it hard as possible to go to a plan B so that it keeps us on that plan A and makes sure that plan A works. Then you've got the motivations of people that have helped you without justification. So there's a lesson there as to, you know, you don't need to do this. We don't necessarily know you well, you know. And then obviously you've got your motivations as to why you wanted to sort of pull yourself out of the matrix, if you like, of the corporate sphere and take that leap of faith. faith. Okay, all right, so actually I do want to ask one other thing as well. Just out of curiosity, this is for the parents out here. So you said your thoughts at the time was six years old? Yes, she was seven, yeah. Seven, okay. Was she at that point where she had an opinion? She had some input? No, dad, I don't want to go. I'm happy where I am. I like my friends. Oh, was it? I'm really excited. I want to go and see some kangaroos. Well, you know, they do have opinions, you know, kids this day is the younger they are, the quicker they get to have an opinion. So she did. But I also think

kids as opposed to parents are a little bit more open to change than we were. So it was at that time back home where she was just going into primary school and she just had finished Kindi. So she was going to undergo a change anyway and so we thought maybe that timing was good. She could start primary here and so on. But so she did but they were willing to go through, I mean my daughter was willing to take that chance and to be honest I think our kids actually the transition of our kids or what you call the adjustment was a lot probably smoother than we did. I think we think as adults we think too much. Their mind is a bit more simple you know so the adjustment was pretty quick. So we were quite fascinated by that. And one other thing that reminded us that that's what happened, because about a year or so after we went back home, we decided to go back, see family for about a month, and we took some time off for about a month. And after the first week, you know, kids were asking us like, okay, when are we going back home? You know, so it clicked on to us that they recognise home here in Australia and not anymore in Malaysia.

That's interesting, that's very interesting and I think there's lessons we can take from our kids that you know how agile they are and how open they are to change. You know they're at that stage now and their executive function and nationality isn't fully developed so everything they're They soak it, they have a sponge or what have you, but they're in a really good state that we've grown out of, we've cast it right. And I think it's a beautiful situation where we can learn from observing our own kids. That's it. Because most of the time we say to them, don't do this, you should do this, you should spar to do that. It's nice to have it that way round. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Hello. Okay, so we've settled in Australia. We're now home. Your plan A is Plan Australia.

And then you were caught in this bubble of the NDIS. It entrapped you like it did with myself. Okay. Tell me how you stepped in and couldn't get back out again. It was easy. So we knew that community was the area that we wanted to go, but not specifically disability, we were not sure at the time, we didn't have any insights into the NDIS. This was around 2012 when the NDIS was just getting into parliament to be approved and so on. We didn't know what that was. When I was working in council, a good friend of mine that I worked very closely with, he was visually impaired. And so we used to enjoy a lot of lunch conversations and he always used to talk about NDIS. And so that actually got me very excited because he was sort of my guru through the NDIS.

He was telling me how he came about, why it's there and why people are so excited about it. And he got me really excited as well. And so that's how the journey started. And then I thought, maybe this is an area that I want to get into. And so we applied for the NDIS. And we were an adulate at that time and the jobs were essentially in Melbourne. They were in Jalong, really where the headquarters was. So I'd applied for a few roles in that area and I was lucky to secure one. And I thought, you know, this is going to be it. You know, I'm going to pursue this and see where that takes us. So it was an exciting journey from then on. Moving to Melbourne, taking up that role, working in the NDIA for the number of years I did and really getting an insight to what we were doing for people with disability.

And you know the scheme, theoretically the scheme, it's such a good scheme. It's such a wonderful scheme from what we ever had before, what other countries have. And so it's so amazing to be part of it, you know. And I came across a lot of great people, you know, who were in the NDIA, who had worked on this for a long time. and a lot of people who are so passionate about helping people with disability. So I felt like I was in the right spot. I felt very comfortable. I felt that there was so much… I was in sync in terms of what I wanted to do in life, plus also the people that I was mingling with. And we all had the same purpose. So that was really an important moment for me to define my pathway.

I was waiting for the word to come up there and you said it in the end purpose. That was the one that's where it is going to. So it sounds and just listening to the change tone of voice like this, well, it feels like you've found your calling. Yeah, I absolutely think I have, you know, and I'm very happy to be honest on very, very happy with what I've personally, me and also me and my wife, we've achieved in our careers and the journey, the risk that we have taken, the changes that we have made, you know, when you're going through those things, you don't know what's in front of you. You don't know whether you're going to succeed, you're going to fail, whatever it's going to happen. But nevertheless, it's important to take those steps, this leap of faith. It's got us to where we want to because we are very determined, you know, to seek that truth, you know, for us. And when we have achieved this, it's really enlightening, you know, in so many ways, like I'm happy doing what I'm doing, right? And I continue to look forward to do this. And the biggest kick I get off my job is not being a CEO and telling people, you know, this is what we're going to do. It's just going and visiting our clients in the sills or whether some of the clients that we support in the SRS and just seeing the transformation that's taking place. Yeah, I like that. And that's the amazing part of this job. Okay, well, you mentioned earlier and quite rightly so the NDIS is a wonderful scheme. When we look here on a global scale, it's unique. It makes you wonder how we got by before without it. However it's not without its learnings and flaws okay and it's probably not due to the IndioS itself it's probably due to opportunistic providers which

give it a bad name sometimes when people come in and they take advantage of the vulnerable whereas is their desire to protect their vulnerable so it can be a double-edged sword. So I find that cyber issue interesting but you're in a space that's quite populous. Okay so for those people that don't know the NDIS, the civil space has supported independent living, there's locks and providers out there. So with that in mind as with any business in a competitive space you need to make sure that you stand out okay and especially don't not get confused with those that maybe tarnish it as well. Okay. What is it that makes you and your business unique compared to the others in that busy space? Yeah. That's a loaded question.

I'm sorry about that. I'm very nice when I say it. Yeah. Yeah. But let me try to start from the start really. So there was a few things when I took this role as well and that was really important to me that I had to get sort of aligned with business owners and so on. The first thing was that we wouldn't have numbers or dollars as our targets for every year. We will have organic growth. The first couple of years would focus on building infrastructure and foundation of the organization and making sure that we put a very sustainable foundation so that we can organically grow. And so there were a number of things that were really important to me and I learned a lot of this because of my corporate world. And a lot of the work that I did in corporate was around this functional team, business units as well as organizational restructuring transformation. And so taking some of those learnings, that's what I really wanted to really set those foundation and get that alignment for my business owners upfront itself. And that alignment was there that allows us to pave the way.

To be honest, I know there's a lot of silk providers and I know there are a lot, there are not a lot but there are some who are not doing the right thing by the NDIs or by the client. I don't necessarily look at competing with them to be honest, you know, I'm looking for people that I can partner with, right. And the reason is because if I were to look at holistic supports for any of our clients, we can't do it on our own just doing SIL. We need to partner with, you know, light health providers and all that. So that partnership continues to go. The other thing is when we defined the model for the SIL and how we wanted to operate. Yes, we did look at one or two other SILs. We looked at the practice standards and so on.

But we sort of crafted what we thought would be the ideal SIL. So we didn't do too much of of a benchmark because we didn't know who was doing the right thing and who was not. Right? And we said that once we put that in place, that model in place, we'll continue to improve it over time and that's what we did. So today, the way that we grow, a lot of our clients come to us by word of mouth. We're not heavily advertising. And even if we do advertise and if a lot of people were to walk by our door, I don't think we have, we don't have the night kind of resource and staffing to transition everyone quickly. And the word transition is a very important word for sunny pine home care. We don't do a pick and rock sort of a thing.

And transition is important because that's when change really sticks. So, and in order to do that right, and each client's quite different, We need to do it gradually. We need to do it in a very informed way. So the organic growth that we have experienced is really through the word of mouth, to people who are knowing us. And one of the things that we do very openly when we meet with any potential or any prospect is we ask them to come visit us. And we don't even prepare for the visit. So I said, you can choose any of the sills. And all we need to do is just ask the clients there whether they are happy to have a visitor come in and see them, you know, because it's rightfully their residence.

And if they are, then you could go visit, you know, and you look at you, you make a call as to what is happening and how we're doing, how we're providing our services and support and what you like or don't like. And you make up your mind that way. So we don't necessarily advertise that we're great at this. We do this and all that. We know what we are good at. We know that we are not the best. We know that we always endeavor to get better at what we're doing. And we will, right? But that's really how it is. So competition is there, but it's not the thing that keeps us awake. We want to make sure that at the end of the day, if a client walks through our doors, that we do our best to see whether we can support them.

And if we can't, then we are upfront with it as well. And make sure the supports are transitional. And so that when they actually stay with us, it's a more pleasant journey for them as much as it is for us as well. Well, I think that in itself is what will define you because you're probably aware now you've a few years into it that that is different to the majority. Okay. And for that reason, the word of mouth will be positive because word of mouth is the best advertiser if you're doing the right thing. If you're not, it's not. It's pretty hard to go find someone who hasn't heard of you. And it's a bit like having an open-plan kitchen and a restaurant, isn't it? You can see where our things are, is there, and you've got that transparency and vulnerability to, okay, this may be us at our worst, but you never know what day they're gonna walk in, you know, I think that's brilliant, so moving forward as we wrap up then, what does, do you have any plans in the future that you want to hold yourself accountable for on this episode?

Obviously from a career point of view and I think from a personal point of view as well, let me start with the career. I think that would be a little bit more easier. We are in the NDI space, there are tremendous changes happening. So navigating through the changes is going to be quite a big challenge. I think one of the great things about my leadership team is we are quite flexible. you know, I mean, if you talk to any of us, we've got a job, we've got a job title, but we seem to be doing a bit of everything here and there. So we're kind of agile in that sense. And I think that level of flexibility and agility within an organization is critical. And I look for more people who are willing to work that way so that it can help us grow this organization.

Because there's so much we can plan for, but there's so much that's going to hit us that we don't know what that is until it does. And I think that's really what's exciting me. I like these challenges and I think and I'm happy to take those challenges hit on But also having making sure we have the right kind of people within the organization to help us maneuver through those challenges It's going to be really important this year. So that's that's that's what I'm looking forward in terms of career from a personal point of view

I really I I was thinking about this coming to 2026 and I think I've worked hard really really hard for about 40 years of my life. And I think I've come to a time where I need to stop thinking about the next thing, the next thing and the next thing and start really reflecting and enjoying a bit of what we have today and where we've got today. You know, whether as a family or from a career point of view. And I think that's really important because I don't want it to be too late. And I think the messaging was like, my daughter had just finished her union, she's into a job, my son just finished year 12, his VC and he's looking at getting into university. So the kids are growing very quickly, they're gonna have their own thing and they're not looking at, they might not look at doing things together with me and my wife in the future.

So if you've got a little bit of time where we still can spend time together, then I think I want to really, you know, capitalize on that. I'm going to be honest with you, Rajem. That sounds a lot like a news resolution. Well, ask me at the end of the year whether I've achieved it. Let's just say you've made it very early for next year.

OK, well, that takes us to a wrap now. So thanks a lot for your time. I appreciate it, the conversation and the openness. Anybody listening to this, they'd like to reach out to you on any of the topics that you've covered. What would be the best route for them to make contact with? My email, obviously, that would be the best. It says RajanD at Sunnypine.com.au. Fantastic. When we publish this, put maybe stick it in the comments below, maybe your links in as well, whatever works for you. So then it relates. And yeah, as I said, thanks a lot for your time. I enjoyed that. Thank you very much Tom, thank you for the time as well. Hello again, it is I am Mr Purple. Thanks again for watching this video.

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