MULTIPANEL Pty. Ltd. is an Australian owned and operated company. Established in 2000 it manufactures light weight, waterproof building panels.
MULTIPANEL provides superior, cost-efficient applications across many industries including building and construction, marine, landscaping, caravans, signage, transport and refrigeration.
In this episode, CEO Brenton Russo describes how the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) has brought clarity and power to MULTIPANEL, resulting in the biggest growth year in its history.
Transcript
Murray Smith: Brenton Russo from MULTIPANEL, an award-winning company — welcome to Gripping Business Tales.
Brenton Russo: Great to be here. Thanks, Murray.
Murray: No problem. Now, our traditional question to kick things off — one personal success and one professional success you’ve had recently?
Brenton: A personal one’s pretty easy — the birth of my second daughter in late April. We had a COVID baby, which is always interesting! But second time around, it’s a bit easier.
Professionally, we just ticked over our best financial year ever — even a month out from the end of the financial year. We’re pumped. It’s been a growth year despite COVID. That cost us a fair bit of revenue, but we still managed to smash out a really good result.
Murray: That’s amazing. Not many businesses could say they grew during the last few months. Let’s dive into what MULTIPANEL does. You mentioned being an award-winning company?
Brenton: Yeah, we won Product Innovation of the Year at the Australian Construction Awards last year, which was exciting. We’re an Australian manufacturer of polyurethane panels — 100% waterproof, really lightweight, and much easier to work with than traditional materials.
To give you context: about 83% of building defects are due to moisture issues, usually from membrane breakdown. We’re the first product accredited by the VBA as a waterproof membrane. Instead of having a couple of millimetres of membrane to ensure a job is watertight, we provide a 25–30mm solid sheet, which means you can step on it, screw into it, even knock it accidentally — it’s tough.
We make shower bases and balcony flooring panels as part of a watertight system, and we also do wall paneling. Membrane builders love it. We’ve also developed some clever solutions like plinth boards for starting lightweight cladding straight from the ground, planter boxes, and graded panels for high-rise balconies. Instead of carting sand and cement up 50 floors, you just take our 15kg panels up in a lift and they’re watertight, fast.
We’ve even done curved staircases, lightweight cladding, and decorative stuff — the product is really versatile. But our main focus is bathrooms and balconies.
Murray: It’s impressive to hear about that innovation, especially in a year of growth. How long have you been using the Entrepreneurial Operating System?
Brenton: We started in January 2019.
Murray: Think back to before that — what were the challenges you were facing?
Brenton: We’ve been around nearly 15–20 years. Originally, we were in the marine industry — lightweight and waterproof made it perfect for boat building, especially superyacht fit-outs. Then the GFC hit and we shifted more into production, pivoting into construction around 2008.
As a family business — it’s me, my brother and dad — there were accountability issues. You trust family to do the right thing, but as we grew and brought others in, that trust didn’t always translate. We lacked planning, which made decision-making really difficult. My dad’s a big visionary — always chasing the next unicorn idea — and the product can be used in so many areas, it was hard to stay focused.
We didn’t have systems in place to support good decisions, and that’s where EOS has really helped.
Murray: You mentioned that switch from boats to buildings. If you had EOS back in 2008, do you think it would’ve made a difference in that pivot?
Brenton: Absolutely. We probably would’ve grown faster. Back then, we were reactive — just responding to whatever came up. EOS gave us a one-, three- and ten-year plan, which helped us be more proactive.
Murray: What’s the size of your business now compared to then?
Brenton: Funny thing — we just had our best financial result ever, without including June, and with the least number of staff we’ve ever had.
Murray: That’s amazing. How did you do that?
Brenton: Right people in the right seats — that’s huge. We now hire based on values. In some cases, we replaced two part-timers with one full-timer. We’ve also brought in people with more experience in key areas. Being a family business, we used to lean on friends and family, but now we look for people with external expertise.
Murray: Now that EOS is in place, what new challenges are you facing?
Brenton: One big challenge was staff turnover. When our Implementer Dennis first said we might see some change, I was sure we wouldn’t. But we turned over about half the team in 12–18 months — and we only had around 12–14 people.
It was tough, but the process helped. We now deal with challenges better. That’s the thing — EOS doesn’t eliminate problems, it gives you a framework to address them.
Murray: So Level 10 meetings have been key?
Brenton: Absolutely. If you walk out of a Level 10 still upset, that’s on you. You have every opportunity to raise issues, and once a decision is made, you move on. I might get frustrated mid-week, but after a Level 10 I always feel aligned again. That weekly pulse is powerful.
Murray: You also mentioned getting the right people in the right seats. Tell me more about that churn — why did it happen?
Brenton: It came down to values. We came up with them as a team, so now we live and die by them. If someone consistently doesn’t align, it’s time to act. In most cases, people leave of their own accord. It’s not personal — just a misalignment.
We made one recent hire based entirely on personality and values. She didn’t have experience in all areas of the role but has excelled because she’s the right fit.
Murray: That’s brilliant. And I imagine your expectations are now clear from the start?
Brenton: Exactly. It’s about how they go about their work, not just doing it. This hire sits between sales and production — a role that could be a nightmare. But one of our values is “responsible” — we call it a “MULTIPANEL first” attitude. If you apply that to any decision, it guides you every time.
Murray: With the government’s stimulus for construction, there’ll be more people building. How can they find you?
Brenton: Head to multipanel.com.au or email us at info@multipanel.com.au. We’re happy to come on-site (socially distanced, of course), look at your projects, and walk you through the products.
All our products are sold through distributors — major hardware outlets and smaller ones too. You’ll find a distributor list on the site as well.
Murray: We’ll put those in the show notes. Before we go — if listeners could take one thing from you outside of adopting EOS, what would it be?
Brenton: Planning. If you’ve got something that helps guide your decisions — a plan everyone agrees on — it’s so much easier to navigate. It doesn’t feel so lonely at the top when you’ve got that direction.
Murray: Brenton, it’s been a pleasure. Looking forward to seeing where MULTIPANEL goes next — maybe world domination, one superyacht at a time?
Brenton: That’s the plan!