About Ben Bernstone

Ben’s dual passions of sailing and business go hand in hand. In sailing you set a clear direction but there are many variables to contend with; the strengths and weaknesses of your crew, the skipper’s leadership style, the information and technology you can leverage, and the uncontrollable aspects like the weather and sea state (which are much like the economy in that you can’t control them but you have to adapt to them)… In both sailing and business there are courageous moves to be made, and uncertainty to deal with, while you’re trying to achieve something great.

The companies that outsail their peers are the ones that surround themselves with good people – with A players. For the clients Ben chooses to work with, he goes above and beyond – taking a deep personal interest in the outcomes they are wanting to achieve. The connections he’s built with clients go deep, which is why he’s worked with some clients for more than 10 years.

Before becoming a consultant with Advisory.Works, Ben held senior leadership positions in fast growth New Zealand tech companies Exonet and Enprise Group, and was a co-founder of innovative amphibious marine craft manufacturers Sealegs International. In 2008, he decided to use his skills to help other businesses and joined Advisory.Works.

Some of the achievements that make Ben a legend include:

• Building a global reseller channel of 104 resellers across Asia, UK, North America and Australasia for a NZ software vendor.
• Designing and executing a unique business model for a manufacturer and rental company which lead to 4x growth in revenue and 5x increase in profitability as well as directly introducing $3m of investor funds through an innovative investor scheme.
• Building and leading a national sales team for ERP software, growing sales from $500K to $4M over 3 years.
• Facilitating a number of turnarounds
• Driving the strategic execution and export strategy for multiple NZ businesses, including one NZ manufacturer who grew from $7.5m to $26m over an 8 year period.
• Owning and selling multiple businesses, and now investing in other great businesses.

Ben is an unconventional, deep thinker who brings a future-focused, empathetic perspective to helping his clients. Over the years, he’s earned a reputation as a problem solver for family businesses – with different dynamics at play and emotions running high, it’s helpful to have someone who brings a huge amount of empathy to solving the challenges involved.

For Ben, making a difference means moving you from feeling stuck into a position of greater certainty. He helps businesses with strategy, execution, capital raising, negotiation, mediation, legal and accounting issues, and people – all with the goal of solving clients’ unique challenges, injecting enthusiasm, and helping them feel in control.