BaleTime

Hone TEK Program 2

25 Sept 2023

Introduction

As a successful shearer Gavin Leersen has had more than 20 years interacting and contracting to primary producers and the farming sector. Prior to shearing Gavin pursued his passion for electronics by completing a Diploma in Engineering Electronics. Gavin is passionate about assisting farmers to be happier, efficient and more successful and is known to farmers to be a creative innovator. He’s built technical solutions for modern farming problems by successfully blending his electronics and primary production knowledge and has a vision to convert his passion into a full time business.

Gavin has applied his skills and knowledge to assist farmers and silage/hay contactors to be more efficient through use of his system to measure and hit the “sweet-spot” for haymaking/bailing. His idea is to engineer and simplify hay bale and irrigation monitoring, making it easy to deploy and vastly improve decision making. Gavin has sought to ensure his technology is simple to use, water proof, robust and is locally manufactured and serviceable.

Hone Journey

With his motivation resparked, by joining the Hone program, Gavin has challenged himself to think more broadly about potential markets, digital marketing and different approaches with client interaction. Gavin shared that being a part of the Hone cohort opened his eyes up to see how much potential BaleTime actually has;
“I reckon I can take it all over Australia”. I believe it can be a lot bigger than what I originally thought, and that’s coz of Farmers2Founders helping me to see what’s possible”.
When asked what the biggest learning was for him, Gavin said that it had to be around pitching. Gavin shared that his confidence has grown so much since starting the program and both coaches and fellow cohort agree that Gavin’s articulation of his offering has improved massively since the beginning of the Hone program; an excellent example of what progress looks like when you absorb feedback and apply it accordingly.

You definitely need to do one of these programs if you’re thinking about doing a startup. I have no doubt about that now. If I had this about 5 years ago, I would have learned a lot more and things would be a lot different.

What's Next

With his new found confidence and redirected attitude, Gavin is proud of the little things; regaining that motivation & making plans for future Field Days, looking further into potential overseas markets, improving his pitch, and simply balancing a busy startup with a day job and family; taking his time to ensure he focuses on one thing and executes it well, it’s clear that 2024 is full of opportunity for BaleTime! With Field Days, a growing customer base and a goal of selling 100 BaleTime devices in the next 12 months, we’re certain that the grass will definitely be greener for BaleTime in the year ahead!