Aspire Retire features in today's Courier Mail

Winner proves she’s in for the long haul

It’s a sobering statistic but less than 40 per cent of businesses that launched a decade ago are still around today, according to official figures.

Worse, Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers show half never make it to their fourth year. It’s for this reason that Telstra’s 2008 Queensland Young Business Women’s Award winner, Olivia Maragna, can celebrate.

Her financial planning firm Aspire Retire reaches its 10th anniversary this year. Her Woolloongabba firm, with partner Stephen Degiovanni, has notched up accolades including the 2009 Telstra Qld Small Business of the Year and 2012 Hall of Fame Business Achievers Award but her biggest claim is “good old-fashioned service”.

“When the GFC hit we immediately took a front foot approach, holding seminars, and staying in touch constantly no matter whether we had good news or bad,” she said. “We always want a client to feel that they are the most important person we will see that day. We know their families, what issues they are facing, their financial dreams and even how they like their tea or coffee.”

About 95 per cent of new clients come from word-of-mouth referrals -“a statistic that we are very proud of.”

Read the full article here – Courier mail

Source:Courier Mail – Sophie Foster