Sonny Navaratnam
My life purpose is “To educate and inspire human beings to master their fear and awaken their true radiance to shine upon this earth, transforming the lives of all they touch and creating new vistas of life for all of humanity”
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Website: | http://www.awakenwisdom.com |
| Industries: | Education, Financial, Information Technology, Internet, Retail |
| Skills: | Business, Entrepreneurship, Guerrilla marketing, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Negotiation, Public speaking, Viral marketing |
| Location: | Sydney, Australia |
| Visas: | Australia |
| Interested in: | Brainstorming, Consulting opportunities, Finding business partners, Finding cofounders, Finding experts, Finding mentors, Finding team mates, Getting press, Giving back, Helping friends, Learning about entrepreneurship, Meeting new people, Mentoring, Offering Expertise, Professional opportunities, Promoting my startups, Raising money, Recruiting for my startup, Shadowing, Sharing my projects |
| Tags: | acceptance, business, ceo, clarity, clear, clever, dance, development, dialogue, director, egoless, evolve, executive, fun, growth, happiness, happy, heart, human, Innovation, intelligent, intelligent, leadership, learn, life, love, manager, master, mediate, mentor, mischief, passion, peace, personal, plan, power, powerful, profitability, purpose, resolution, resolve, respect, sing, smart, smart, solution, spirit, Strategy, strong, teach, training, trust, wisdom |
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | Black and White Enterprises Pty LTD (Including Blunt Solutions Pty Ltd) |
| Position: | Director / Consultant |
| Time period: | August 2002 - Present |
| Description: | Black and White Enterprises comprise of a group of companies developing organisational solutions and leadership development programs for enterprises of all sizes. This is my billing entity.
- Facilitated solutions development forums within a variety of organisations/divisions ranging in (turnover) size from $30 Million to $2 Billion, based on De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats® and World Café® methodologies. – As a consequence, the organisations/divisions initiated several projects to develop and implement the uncovered solutions resolving issues that have persisted for many years (Organisations included Medtronic, Westpac, HSBC, NRMA, Admerex and St John of God Health). - Designed and developed a business solution to enhance the capability of one of the largest online portals, Fairfax Digital, (Sales $60 million) in the country to handle a projected business growth of 200% over the next three years. Included the design and implementation of systems (based on MS Dynamics Ax), processes and improvement of people. Was a team member of the implementation program. - Trained over 800 employees in adopting and using a new work and development system overcoming staff resistance and cynicism, inspiring and encouraging participation at Department of Environment and Climate Change. - Designed, developed, tested and productised a number of service products including Awaken Wisdom© (personal discovery) programmes, Great Leadership© (corporate and community leadership development) programmes, Innovation Generator© (solutions development) and LifeMaster© (youth and young peoples leadership development) programmes. - Implemented Great Plains Accounting software in a (Sales$100 million) multi company environment at Leading Edge Group Ltd, at a cost saving of 30% under budget. It also involved the implementation of a middleware platform to manage file transition and a reporting database using SQL that enabled the organisation to deliver online reports to its stakeholders. - Mentored senior executives at a Big 4 bank, listed companies and private enterprises as well as individuals to unearth new levels of potential and performance. Mentees have all been promoted beyond their previous expectations and have achieved goals that previously impossible to them. - Developed a strategy to revitalise the key distribution division of a large newspaper publisher, John Faifax (Sales $2 Billion), to enable the organisation to deliver significant gains in market share. - Re-engineered and implemented efficient financial processes including budgeting and reporting processes within a hospital and medical services group, St John of God Health (sales $30 million), to achieve previously unattainable performance levels reducing staff levels by 35% and costs by 45%. |
| Employer: | Leading Edge Group Ltd. |
| Position: | Chief Finance Officer (2 Year contract) |
| Time period: | November 2000 - July 2002 |
| Description: | Left after reaching agreed performance targets
Leading Edge Group Ltd has become the largest independent buying group in Australia. Comprising of over 1,600 member stores and outlets, the organisation is the last lifeline for small businesses struggling to survive the onslaught of organised and well structured competition. The organisation had begun as a small business and was on the throes of moving into the larger business realm. - Developed the “engine room” as a platform for business growth for the organisation – Turnover has grown from $20M in 2001 to over $300M in 2007. - Oversaw turnover growth from $20 million to $80 million. - Leveraged six fold increases in profitability. - Restructured capital mix to enable growth ambitions. - Introduced financial discipline and structure. - Revamped information technology and associated systems to enable great increases in transaction throughput with no staff increases. - Supported CEO in drive to improve quality of board management. - Set up foundation for future share float. - Supported the setting up of two new industrial segments within the group. - Changed back office culture from one of poor, dispirited and weak performance to one of pride, enthusiasm and valiant effort. |
| Employer: | John Fairfax Gst Project – for Business Catalyst International |
| Position: | Project Manager / Facilitator / Business Analyst (Full Time Contract) |
| Time period: | October 1999 - May 2000 |
| Description: | Left at completion of assignment
Business Catalyst International was the lead project managers of the Fairfax GST project. John Fairfax are the premier Newspaper and Business Magazine publishers in Australia, publishing among others the very influential Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Australian Financial Review and Business Review Weekly. The GST project covered all the various entities in the Fairfax group and was focussed on ensuring that the group will be fully compliant with ANTS requirements and capable of handling the transition between the old and new processes smoothly. - Identified and developed common business solutions across 8 entities and 11 business units through the effective and innovative management of functional stream user workshops. - Developed policies and procedures from the outcomes of the workshops, through managing multiple workshop teams ranging in size from 4 to 20+ - Communicated and planned the implementation of the various policies. - Successfully developed and project managed the implementation of a GST solution for BRW Media; publishers of BRW, Personal Investor and Shares magazines. - Provided the fundamentals for the development of a standardised Project Management methodology for John Fairfax. |
| Employer: | Cable and Wireless Optus |
| Position: | Business Analyst (Full Time Contract) |
| Time period: | May 1999 - August 1999 |
| Description: | Left at completion of assignment
Cable and Wireless Optus has over 8,000 desktops in a mix of 80/20 Macintosh/Wintel PC’s. These desktops hold thousands of applications developed by users (principally using Excel and FileMaker Pro). The majority of these had not been tested for Y2K compliance or remediated. - Scoped the Y2K testing for desktop developed applications extending across the entire Optus domain, covering both critical and non-critical applications. - Developed procedures for the identification, auditing and separation of critical applications. - Developed change management procedures for the control of critical desktop developed applications - Developed clean management guidelines for the post remediation management of desktop developed applications. - Set up the assisted remediation laboratory including procedures, tools, process control, applications research methodologies, staffing (managing 6 staff members), training and organisation wide communications. |
| Employer: | Franklins Ltd |
| Position: | Risks and Issues Manager / Y2K Testing Controller (Full Time Contract) |
| Time period: | June 1998 - March 1999 |
| Description: | Left at completion of assignment
Franklins was a supermarket chain of over 270 stores and 30,000 employees. Their gross turnover was approximately $5 billion and they held 16% of the Australian grocery market. Y2K Testing Controller/Project Manager for Non Core projects. Nov. 1998 to Apr. 1999 Non core projects were all those projects that had not been in production as at September 1998 but were expected to be completed before December 1999. Responsibilities involved the indirect supervision of 11 testing teams. - Directed the development of Y2K testing strategies, test plans, test scripts and defect remediation and management ensuring that the testing minimised disruptions and maximised risk mitigation for MMDS Core Records, EMS 1 in store system; Departmental Reporting system; Multi pricing project; Electronic Trading pilot; Promotional Pricing system; Ticketing system; Lettus fresh produce system; Outsourced LAN, WAN and servers. - Developed creative and innovative strategies to manage very scarce resources and still achieve overall objectives. - Contributed to the compilation of Y2K remediation and test standards for the organisation. - Supervised the creation of testing programs (including strategies, plans and scripts) ensuring adherence to prescribed standards and monitored actual testing and results. Risks and Issues Manager Jul. 1998 to Nov. 1998 Testing and implementation of MMDS merchandising system for Core Records. MMDS was the first stage of the re-engineering program, which covered the replacement of the existing Legacy Core Records (Product, Vendor and Pricing) system. MMDS runs on an Oracle database and the project included data conversion and multiple interface development. An understanding of the supply chain process was essential to the assignment. - Developed risk identification, classification and tracking processes. - Reduced disruption and failure at deployment and testing through effective risks and issues management. - Reversed the impact of some poorly designed (ineffective business analysis) processes and interfaces by identifying key design defects and developing remediation. - Smoothened transition of defect remediation and regression testing through efficient management of process. - Helped stabilise previously volatile relationship with product vendor. - Minimised post deployment issues through strong management of Red Central support. - Developed internal controls for operational processes to ensure integrity of the system and information. - Managed the design and development of user reports and management information databases. - Provided consultation and guidance to Systems testing and End to End testing teams. |
| Employer: | TNT Pallecon Systems |
| Position: | Project Manager – Y2000 Part Time Contract |
| Time period: | January 1998 - June 1998 |
| Description: | Left at completion of assignment
TNT Pallecon Systems is part of the Global TNT group. Their principal activity is the hiring and sale of palletised containers for the transport of all types of goods ranging from electronic components to hazardous chemicals. The responsibility of the contract was to identify Y2K risks, develop testing and remediation where applicable and ensure a change management process to control Y2K exposure. - Minimised risk of organisation’s exposure to Y2K issue. - Analysed business processes to identify those critical to business function; - Carried out a stocktake of all electronic objects; - Tested objects where relevant; - Matched objects to processes; - Analysed and evaluated third party risk; - Analysed and evaluated legal exposure; - Compiled exposure document; - Developed procedures and plans for remediation. - Developed a change management process to ensure that Y2K exposure is controlled. - Ensured that all Y2K activity was carried out at a cost 35% under budget. - Developed asset management system and carried out relevant stocktakes reconciling records with General Ledger. |
| Employer: | Interactive Trade Catalogues And Australian Business On Line |
| Position: | Project Manager – Internet Electronic Commerce System (Full time contract) |
| Time period: | January 1997 - October 1997 |
| Description: | Left as joint venture was dissolved
The joint venture was formed with the intention of developing a full-scale electronic commerce system catering to the business to business markets. My Principal responsibility was to develop a prototype through a full systems development lifecycle and included the management of a team of up to 9 staff and 2 development partners. - Developed comprehensive project plan based on accepted methodologies. - Analysed and determined the requirements of the business to business electronic commerce market (Has been described as the most comprehensive and complete analysis available today) - Designed and laid out functional specifications. - Investigated Internet based electronic commerce systems in the market to determine their suitability to client’s requirements. - Designed prototype. - Designed user interfaces. - Designed and specified process flows. - Developed systems architecture. - Managed testing of prototype. - Developed business plans and financial models for enterprise. - Sold concept to numerous businesses to sign up as early adopters. |
| Employer: | Energy Australia |
| Position: | Operations Manager – PowerSmart Appliance Retail (Full Time Contract) |
| Time period: | November 1994 - December 1996 |
| Description: | Left as HQ was moved to Newcastle
Energy Australia is the largest single energy retailer in Australia. I was recruited in tandem with the Business Manager to set up its first commercial retail operation as a precursor to the move into full commercialisation. As operations manager I oversaw a staff of up to 36 people. - Achieved sales of $7,000,000.00 in first year of operation in a declining market with heavy competition. - Trained, supervised and managed raw sales force to achieve targets. - Formulated business strategy including positioning statement (which was subsequently adopted for the entire residential retail operation). - Developed marketing and sales plans. - Designed, developed, commissioned and implemented complete business process system based around state of the art radio mobile computing and focussed on operational efficiency and low overheads. - Negotiated and set up trading system with (previously reluctant) business partners to maximise supplier participation and operational efficiencies. - Designed and set up performance based profit sharing scheme to form the basis of staff remuneration after extensive negotiations with the trade unions. - Helped set up operational culture that focussed on autonomy and empowerment to all employees with a strong allegiance to exceeding customer expectations. - Set up a sales / profit centre based accounting system based on Sirius ERP. |
| Employer: | Toshiba International Corporation |
| Position: | Project Manager - Systems Implementation (Full time contract) |
| Time period: | November 1993 - August 1994 |
| Description: | Left on completion of assignment
Toshiba International Corporation operates as a branch office dealing mainly in Heavy Electrical Equipment. The company had Sun Accounting system set up to handle its General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. This assignment required the implementation of the Sun Business modules to complete the computerisation of the enterprise (ERP). - Installed and implemented complete enterprise wide operations system based on SUN Business/Unix platform for sales, purchases, inventory and warehouse management: - analysed clients needs and assessed systems fit; - designed systems and processes to overcome inconsistencies; - modified procedures and processes, and developed ancillary systems to ensure effective implementation; - designed training packages and trained all staff in use of system; - designed and installed barcode based inventory and warehouse management system; - supervised conversion to new system; - set up data recovery process, carried out data recovery and reconciliations after hardware and operating systems failure; - developed user-friendly documentation and manuals; designed follow up training programs. - Developed feedback system on software defects to system supplier to enable future modifications (which included many that had not been previously identified before). |
| Employer: | Australian Stock Exchange |
| Position: | Management Accountant (Full time contract) |
| Time period: | March 1992 - October 1993 |
| Description: | Left on completion of assignments
The Australian Stock Exchange had been formed by the amalgamation of the individual stock exchanges in each state. The organisation had been attempting since 1987 to streamline its Capital Acquisition processes and reconcile its asset registers. - Designed and implemented procedures and controls for Capital Expenditure approvals and acquisitions to ensure all expenditures met budgetary guidelines and overall budget expenditure was properly justified and approved. - Completed amalgamation of fixed assets records of previously separate entities and reconciled Fixed Assets General Ledger Account which had been in progress for 5 years: - implemented barcode based control system; - developed programs to run barcode system; - analysed and streamlined existing data; - trained all staff in use of system; - organised and managed national stocktakes of assets and reconciled physical count with database. - Developed interfaces between Barcode system and the COFAS asset management system. - Set up Excel spreadsheet based data entry system for COFAS asset management system: devolved data capture responsibility to line managers and reduced dependence of accounting staff - reduced data entry from one full-time person to 2 days per week. The combined impact of these has resulted in a reduction of total staff costs from $80,000 per annum to $30,000 per annum. - For IT Division - researched, designed and developed spreadsheet based process based costing model; prepared documentation and guidelines and trained all staff. |
| Employer: | Contract Accounting |
| Position: | For AUSTRALIAN POSTERS – 3M (Part Time Contract) |
| Time period: | June 1991 - February 1992 |
| Description: | Left on completion of assignments
The company owns and / or manages thousands of advertising billboard sites all over Australia. These sites are treated as assets of the company. - Developed spreadsheet based fixed asset register; created worksheets to maintain fixed assets information and reconciled fixed assets - reducing workload of financial accountant from average 30 hours per month to 2. - Completed range of general accounting functions, including: - reconciliation of accrual accounts; - preparation of information for tax returns; - calculation of Fringe Benefits Tax liability; - reconciliation of stock and work in progress. - Installed and coached staff in operation of “Leasecat” accounting software for leased assets. - Created and developed posting computer files for posting of budgets worksheets into Prime System; assisted with preparation of Management Information Statements. |
| Employer: | Outreach Corporate Consultants, Sri Lanka |
| Position: | Partner |
| Time period: | December 1987 - April 1991 |
| Description: | Left to migrate to Australia
A specialist consultancy providing financial management, project management, sales, marketing and information technology services.. For JL Morison, Son & Jones (Ceylon) Ltd - - Set up SL Rs 100 million (US $ 2.5 million) manufacturing business: - Investigated and evaluated potential business opportunities for investment; - Prepared feasibility studies; - Structured and secured financing; marketed equity; - Located, evaluated and negotiated with technology suppliers; - Structured and negotiated international sales and marketing agreements; - Sourced and negotiated lease of factory site. For Nova (Lanka) Ltd - - Set up winning SL Rs 880 million (US$ 22 million bid) for purchase of state owned Kelani Tyres Ltd (against bids from large multinationals): - Investigated feasibility and prepared reports and recommendations; - Negotiated with potential Sri Lankan and overseas investors; - Designed financial structures and negotiated with debt financiers; - Researched and assessed international sources of tyre technology; negotiated technology transfer with selected party, Avon Tyres PLC of the UK. - Supervised the provision of financial management services for a total of 42 clients (small and medium scale manufacturing businesses) on a permanent basis, which included day to day financial and operational management, sales and marketing, guidance on medium and long term planning, development of expansion and diversification programs and the introduction of information technology. Despite almost all these clients having their manufacturing bases in the middle of the war zone, during the insurrection of 1988-90, everyone of them increased overall turnover and profitability during that period. Other projects included - Setting up businesses and projects for miscellaneous clients totalling more than SL Rs 300 million (US$8 million). - Set up operations for Sun Microsystems and Microsoft Corporation in Sri Lanka, including negotiations, staffing, training, initial launch and making the first sales. - Project Managed the design, development and installation of organisation wide information systems (ERP); for rubber traders, tyre traders, PC resellers, Importers, Exporters, finance company and software developers. - Project Managed the design, development and installation of a computerised production control system for a diamond production factory. - Investigation of defalcations - identified and provided proof for prosecutions. |
| Employer: | AJ Milton (Lanka) Ltd |
| Position: | Group Financial Controller / Chief Operating Officer (Contract) |
| Time period: | January 1986 - October 1987 |
| Description: | Left as contracted goals had been achieved
An Indian/Sri Lankan joint venture with over 1,700 employees - exporting manufactured garments principally to USA. - Changed business strategy toward high value added products. - Implemented systems to increase productivity and reduce costs; set up computer system for production control and MIS (One of the first in the industry in South Asia) - Set up productivity based incentive scheme for production staff. - Introduced welfare scheme to improve morale; - Redeveloped production floor structure; - introduced award provisions for long service, productivity and attendance. - Improved staff facilities and introduced medical scheme. - Set up and implemented first organised worker-training program in garment industry in Sri Lanka. - Set up financial and operational controls to enable easy monitoring of daily operations and quick response to crises. - Set up subsidiary company - collaborative joint venture with Norwegian partner - to manufacture and export fishing gear. - Resulting in increased turnover of 98% and 400% increase in net profit. |
| Employer: | Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co |
| Position: | Articled Clerk/Accounts Trainee (Full Time, Permanent) |
| Time period: | September 1978 - March 1985 |
| Description: | Left to further career
The premier firm of chartered accountants in Sri Lanka: representatives of KPMG Peat Marwick; associates of Robson Rhodes & Co (UK). Conducted end of year audits; investigated frauds and cash defalcations; liquidated companies, provided Company Secretarial services. |
INFORMATION
| Hobbies: | Rugby Union, Cricket, Photography, Theatre and Music. |
| Memberships: | Licentiate Membership, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Sri Lanka, 1987 |
Sonny's Startups (1)
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Black and White Enterprises P/L
Leadership and human development programmes based on exploration of Consciousness. A full suite of training and educational products are almost completed and will go online from June 09. All products have been extensively tested.
Sonny's Contacts (1)
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Karen Arvidsson
Follow me on Twitter: @creatingchange - experienced, creative, innovative, collaborative and strategic thinker/leader/designer/writer. Iconoclastic (Berns), it seems! I work alone or in teams on projects.