Hey everyone, Adam here.
This year has been an interesting one, with some unexpected challenges, some truly blessed moments, and what I genuinely believe the best is yet to come.
I’m normally one for jokes, but there is no fun way to intro this one:
John Burkhardt (Insuring theProduct -> Trilogy Insurance, Kerrilee’s husband, and my Dad) was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, which seems to have some unusual complications.
For anyone that has not had the pleasure of knowing John, he is the living embodiment of “Keep calm and carry on“. Try as I might, I don’t think I will ever achieve a fraction of the patience, calmness, and ability to keep ‘soldiering on‘ (regardless of circumstances) as the man I am honoured to call my dad. Cancer doesn’t stand a chance against him
Many of you probably noticed that lately, I’ve been busier than a one-armed monkey with two bananas. I recently started a second business, and things were taking off, and I was getting to the point where I needed to look at bringing on a full time Manager to help with theProduct. But then… well.. this happened.
I had to make a call:
- Do I try and bring on a manager, splitting my focus, and tying up my capital (meaning I couldn’t help my parents)…
- Or do I try to find the right person (with the right team and the right ethos) to buy theProduct?
It had to be someone that could not only continue to grow the business beyond what I had the means to, that could look after you – our amazing clients of the last 14 Years – the way you properly deserve for your continued loyalty, and also provide me with an opportunity to financially help my parents.
It is on that note that I want to introduce you to the founder of SBIM and WP Butler WordPress Support, as well as the new owner of theProduct – Gary Weis.
Q: Wondering how “right” a fit Gary is to take over theProduct?
A: When I gave the agent managing our sale an example of the ‘ideal person’ to acquire theProduct – the example I gave turned out to actually be one of Gary’s businesses! (WP Butler, to be specific).
As you know, we build all our websites on WordPress – so does Gary. We use WP-Engine for our Managed Hosting infrastructure (because they’re amazing), and so does Gary.
We use Synergy Wholesale for our Domains, and so does Gary. We use CloudFlare for our DNS, and.. well… you’re probably seeing where we’re going with this – it’s going to be a very smooth transition.
What happens now?
- Firstly, everything stays the same!
- Email still works (support@theproduct.com.au), phone number still works (07 5370 2400).
- Secondly, Gary would love to meet and talk with you!
- Gary and his team will be reaching out to everyone they can to introduce themselves.
- If you’re keen to catch up with him sooner rather than later, just reply to this message and he’ll get it booked in ASAP
- Plans: Same (everything gets grandfathered in)
- Pricing: Same (everything gets grandfathered in)
- Site Migrations: No migrations needed (all seamless)
- Support: Improving! Adam was mostly just Adam + a sidekick. Gary has a small army.
- The Team: The amazing team at SBIM will be working alongside Paul (PPC), Lizzie (Content), and Ethan (Photography/Videography/Graphic Design).
- Handover & Intros: I will ‘officially’ be assisting Gary with an 8 week handover period.
- I never leave my desk anyway, so if there is some weird and wonderful “weird thing that Adam always sorted” issue that bamboozles everyone, I’ll come running to assist.
- Email Address: Because I had literally everything going there, my adam@theproduct.com.au address will be received by Gary’s team from April 14th onwards.
- If you want to reach me directly, my personal email is adam@ithiel.net.
- Phone Number: The office line (07 5370 2400) will be directing to Gary’s team as of this afternoon.
- My personal mobile (0422 844 009), which I’ve had for 20 years, will continue directing to me, with all theProduct related matters being handed to Gary’s amazing team.
- New Phone Number: Gary has a new number – 07 5329 5003 (but the old one will keep working).
- I imagine his team is much better at answering calls first time than I am (pretty sure you’re all quite over my quite awful voice to text answering service, haha)
What’s next for theProduct?
- More resources, more people, more services, more better!
- I hope you will all give Gary and his team a warm welcome, kind patience during the transition, and an opportunity to prove their passion for helping people.
- They’re the heroes of this story, and they’ve helped create an outcome where everyone wins 🙂
What next for me?
- First, I’m going to see what I can do about that “mortgage” thing that John has on that new place they finally got themselves out in the boonies last year.
- Then, I’ll be making sure that John actually slows down, reduces his working hours a little, and focuses on his health.
- Finally, because I’m also a workaholic, I’ll be fully focused on my new business.
- It’s in the crypto space – it’s a totally new adventure, the project is bigger than Ben Hur, and I believe it has the possibility to change a lot of people’s lives.
- Happy to catch up for an hour over coffee if you’re curious about it though!
In closing, I want to wish you all a heart felt thank you for your many years of loyalty, support, and patronage. I am humbled by the support I’ve received from you all over the years, and I sleep easy knowing that you’ll be in good hands with Gary’s team. Despite the sadness surrounding the circumstances, I also feel very blessed that I’ve been afforded an opportunity to help support two of the most important people in my life when they need it.
Thank you again, and God bless.
Endless thanks and kindest regards,
Adam Ithiel
