John Reale learned from a young age, observing his father's consultancy firm, that success hinges on ambitious goals, innovative thinking, and hard work. His interest in business continued to flourish during high school, particularly in accounting and economics. Consequently, he pursued a Bachelor of Commerce at ACU. With a career mostly spent in office settings, John noticed significant shortcomings within the commercial cleaning sector, including subpar standards and a lack of systemisation.
In response to these observations, he seized the opportunity to establish his own venture, Realcorp, in 2016. Realcorp's primary mission is to revolutionise the facility services landscape, modernising and elevating the importance of commercial cleaning for businesses. Since its inception, John has partnered with a diverse array of industries, spanning commercial offices, strata, food manufacturing, industrial, and retail.
As both the Managing Director and Brand Ambassador, John channels his energies towards steering the business strategically, refining its positioning, and driving its growth. Realcorp is at the forefront of industry transformation, harnessing cutting-edge technology, nurturing client relationships, and delivering top-tier services to reshape our perception of cleaning.
Q: Can you briefly describe yourself, your family, and your business?
I grew up in a large family where money was not exactly free-flowing. My father ran his own engineering consulting business but had no employees and was either extremely busy or he had zero work. I was always interested in watching from afar and thinking about what he could do to improve his business. This interest led me to a career in accounting, starting in audit for a mid-tier firm and then moving across to work in the industry as a Group Financial Controller where, at the same time, I started my business Realcorp Commercial Cleaning as a side hustle. Within 2 years of commencing, I quit my day job to dedicate my time 100% to the business. My wife, Amber, and I have three boys – Cedar, 5 years old, and 2-year-old twins, Loch and Marlon. We live on 20 acres on the edge of the Yarra Valley and love to spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors.
Q: What inspired you to embark on the entrepreneurial journey?
I think it was always in my blood. I loved playing Monopoly as a kid and remember harassing my parents about when they would start projects that they had spoken about for years (like extending the family home). Working firsthand with businesspeople in my accounting career, especially as a Group Financial Controller where I worked closely with the Owners/Directors in the day-to-day running of a group of medium-sized businesses, I really got my taste for entrepreneurship. It was a perfect apprenticeship.
Q: What aspects of being an entrepreneur do you enjoy the most?
Now my business has got through the start-up phase, I am really enjoying being in the position to strategize and pull levers to further accelerate our growth or to mitigate operational weaknesses. From the start-up phase where I did almost everything myself, I really love having a great team who I can oversee and together we can achieve so much more output.
Q: What are the significant challenges you have encountered as an entrepreneur?
The start-up phase. Sales did not come naturally to me and I got my first few clients by literally knocking on doors during my lunch breaks from my Financial Controller job at neighbouring offices in Cremorne to get my first opportunities. It scared the pants off me at the time, but now, sales are one of my primary functions and I actually love it.
Q: What motivated you to join EO?
It’s sharing my challenges and experiences with like-minded business owners and surrounding myself with ambitious and energetic entrepreneurs. I don’t have a lot of friends who own their own businesses so it’s great to be part of a community where people get your challenges and are hungry for similar outcomes.
Q: Can you share a valuable lesson you've learned from your own experience or another entrepreneur or mentor?
I have learned so much in the 7 years I have been in business that it is hard to know where to start. But to me, the most important lesson is to get armed as much as possible to get through the start-up phase. As we all know, most businesses don’t make it through. Things that worked for me included regular mentoring/accountability sessions with a trusted partner, absorbing as much training content as possible, especially in areas where I lacked (sales for me), and practising A LOT of resilience.