Profile

Ken Meek is the principal of M2 Strategic Management, specialising in maximising business performances and strategic and change management.

He holds qualifications in marketing and accounting and is the recipient of an export award from the Australian Government.

He has extensive experience managing at corporate level both in Australia and overseas for Unilever, Elders, Inchcape, Government of Dubai. This knowledge is applied in a practical, non-academic, way to businesses; small to large.

He is also an experienced coach and mentor and, in partnership, writes and edits business plans, tenders and reports.

“I started my business 17 years ago in a recession to help other businesses get through. Together we did a lot of things right, and the businesses did more than survive… they grew and prospered. What worked back then still works today.”

Approach

M2 is not about vision and mission statements, but about the actions that make difference. He is a hands-on operator who is quick to find practical solutions and identify opportunities and weaknesses. Above all, if invited, he works on alongside managers inside businesses to the successful fulfillment of the agreed actions.

“Managers can often lose direction by being too close to their businesses. I specialise in removing the barnacles and helping them to refocus on the problems, and opportunities, then resetting the course for greater success. Usually my fee returns the business four times in the first year alone”

Achievements

1. •Turning a loss-making motor dealership into a profitable company, which went on to be named Regional then National Dealer of the Year.
   

1. •On behalf of a major bank, working with a failing commuter airline and turning it into a profitable venture in just one year.
   

1. •Launching the Woolworths/Commonwealth Ezy Banking program in Australia.
   

1. •Building a localised forestry harvesting company into the nation’s largest, diversifying into vineyards and wine.
   

1. •Successfully negotiating the first-ever sale of live oysters between Australia and Japan.
   

1. •Strategically advising for five years the top sales force of a national LPG company.
   

1. •Mentoring nine of Dubai’s nominated business leaders for the Executive Office of the Government of Dubai, and going on to an assignment in the newly established Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
   

1. •In partnership, preparing the case and the winning tender to move copper concentrate north from central South Australia to China.
   

“When the economy rebounds, well-managed companies will be positioned to capitalise on new emerging opportunities.”