Customer introduction
Platinum Traffic Management is a family-owned and operated company in Bayswater North, Victoria, Australia, focusing on traffic management services. Matt and Katherine Clements founded the company in 2021 on a foundation of loyal customers with whom Matt had developed trusted relationships over his career. They wanted to maintain his expertise and support and thus encouraged him to back himself and stay in the industry with his own business.
The business started with humble DIY beginnings. Matt began by carting signs around in a single vehicle, then upgraded to a trailer and eventually added more vehicles. Eighteen months later, Platinum Traffic is a successful business with seventeen vehicles and over forty staff. This is a real achievement for a new small business, particularly one developed during the COVID pandemic. ‘It has taken off far quicker than I ever dreamed,’ noted Matt.
Today the busy team is responsible for various projects on our roads concerning traffic and emergency work-related roles. They work on contra flow, lane delineation, road and lane closures, detours and pedestrian care. They also improve roads during motor vehicle accidents, bushfires, storms, floods, power outages and around fallen trees. Platinum Traffic is committed to getting people home safely.
The situation
Matt and Katherine started the company in a strong position with clients from Matt’s prior roles and longstanding experience in traffic management. However, the unforeseen arrival of the COVID pandemic and the socio-economic impacts of the Victorian lockdown created some significant obstacles. In addition, they urgently needed to source VicRoads accreditation for the business to accept major road projects.
Matt was running the business from his laptop and his own car in this early period. When he achieved the necessary accreditations, they quickly obtained a major client, meaning the company needed to scale rapidly and source reliable, consistent finances to fund this growth.
Matt and Katherine were under incredible levels of stress trying to source the required staff, vehicles and funds to satisfy customers’ needs.
As Platinum Traffic started working with clients with longer payment periods, the Clements wondered how to pay their growing staff headcount while waiting for payments. There was too much of a gap between completing work and getting paid for their efforts, and the balancing act of paying staff on time while funding the resources required to complete the projects became untenable.
This led to the couple doing large amounts of time-consuming paperwork, timesheets and risk assessments to continue juggling finances, which all compounded their stress levels and took them away from focusing on their customers and the future of the business.
"There were countless times when my wife and I would be sitting at the dining table, stressing about the money. How are we going to do this?"
Matt Clements, Managing Director
Enter APositive
"The account with APositive was arranged and created, and here we are. It's a far smoother process. We've now been using that system for probably the last 12 months or so. It was just instant relief."
Matt Clements
Managing Director
Matt relayed his concerns and payroll complications to a trusted contact in the industry who suggested that Platinum Traffic needed to set up an agreement with a payroll funding company. They recommended APositive.
Matt and Katherine set up an arrangement with APositive to get started. It was a decision that would transform their business and livelihood.
This new partnership was a perfect match because APositive, unlike one-size-fits-all finance solutions from larger organisations, specialises in the traffic management industry and, much like Platinum Traffic themselves, dedicates itself to comprehensive customer support. APositive is experienced in helping traffic management companies relieve financial pressures and constraints and understand this highly competitive, labour-driven industry’s specific needs and specifications.
Platinum Traffic no longer had to wait for invoice payments, as these were advanced by APositive when the invoices were sent. Instead of stressing over paying staff, they could again look to the future and grow their workforce to satisfy customer demand.
In addition, APositive provided expert support for Platinum Traffic to integrate timesheets, manage contractors, and pay their supplier invoices, all while fulfilling payroll requirements. This coupled up with support and guidance on their core traffic management booking and scheduling software, Traffio. While this was already implemented and used by Platinum Traffic, APositive supported Katherine in harnessing the powerful software to its full potential and integrated the use of Traffio’s offsite docket signing into their funding facility for same-day access to cash.
"With some invoices taking 60 days minimum to be paid, we really needed to relieve the pressure of paying our staff on time. To input an invoice into our APositive portal and then overnight have the payroll funds transferred into our account was just instant relief. The thing that made me stressed the most is now resolved."
The outcomes
The payroll funding solution provided to Platinum Traffic unburdened the stress of paying their team on time, every time. Matt and Katherine maintained enough consistency that their staff never needed to become aware and stressed about the company’s financial struggles. They remained confident that their employer was looking after their needs and could focus on succeeding in their roles.
Matt feels relieved, thanks to the support from APositive. He recently even recommended the service to a friend in a similar situation. ‘I was actually talking to a builder who does construction maintenance. He was having issues with payroll. I said to him, “Get onto APositive.” It’s taken off all my pressure.’
Today, Platinum Traffic continues to grow and successfully and safely guide traffic across the country. Time and finances are no longer a significant cause of concern, and the Clements can now focus on their family and the future growth of their business.
‘If anyone approached me, I would immediately recommend them to APositive.’ Matt concluded regarding the transformative support provided to Platinum Traffic.