May22239 Australian CEO Excellence Awards 2024 | 12 Sitting atop an almost four-decade tenure as both an IT specialist and a mid-level executive, a career which includes a 16-year stint at IBM with a number of international leadership roles, Shaun Crain is today an expert in this field and an individual driven to help clients maximise cutting-edge IT and data. It is this knowledge, as well as a keen interest in motorsport, which resulted in Shaun creating his own start-up, the small Australian business Team Plus Pty Ltd. Few people are able to combine their two great passions into a successful business venture, but this is exactly what Shaun Crain has done with Team Plus, which has seen him leverage his experience with IT hardware and software, as well as his history driving and as a race car engineer, to build this start-up from the ground up. Team Plus today offers a series of entirely unique products, with these spanning both hardware and applications that afford information to motorsport enthusiasts that was previously only available to high-end racing teams. Along with founding the company and serving as its CEO, Shaun is also responsible for designing the hardware of all of its electronics, firmware, and mobile applications, the latter of which see live temperature and pressure monitoring sent directly to a customer’s phone. This is all in addition to Shaun being the company’s leading sales figure, managing the business’ social media accounts, and protecting the intellectual property of this small family enterprise operating out of Canberra, Australia’s capital. Shaun credits his ability to be able to undertake such diverse functions in his business with his being on the autism spectrum, which allows him to learn new skills and then deliver outcomes quickly. Starting in 2016 as an IT consulting practice Team Plus evolved to add the motorsport electronics practice during the COVID19 years. Thus, with Shaun at the helm, Team Plus has quickly been able to establish itself as a pioneer in the field of motorsport electronics solutions. This is something reflected in the industry acclaim it has garnered, most recently at the 2023 SEMA Show. At this prestigious event that attracts motor enthusiasts from across the globe, the business was presented with a duo of coveted awards, the first for having the Best New Performance Racing Product - 2024 and the second a SEMA Global Media Award. On the back of such constant acclaim, the innovative motorsport electronics and sensors on offer from Team Plus are today sold all over the world online, and the company has reseller links across Australia, Africa, and North America. “I looked to adopt flexible and rapid production capabilities to get our designs into the market quickly and be able to produce quality products at low volumes but scale up easily”, explains Shaun. He continues, “I am running a purposely lean organisation, sourcing skills, suppliers, manufacturers, and professional services where needed and keeping the core company employees to a minimal few.” In fact, at any one time, the core Team Plus company has only between one and three employees. With its small size and because the business operates in such a specific niche, difficulties arise with funding and reaching its diverse audience. It is for this reason that Shaun believes resale channels to be the primary customer engagement/sales model looking ahead. “This has been a personally funded enterprise so far, but that needs to now transition to self-sustainability and allow for commercial funding models going forwards”, Shaun explains. It is these challenges with funding that resulted in the lean organisation model discussed above, which Shaun has recognised as being the best way to solidify the future of the business. Aiding Shaun in treading this path is his signature leadership style, which prioritises collaboration but with a follow up of quick decision making and his international experience allows him to deal effectively with varying business cultures across the globe. If 2024 has been all about telling the world that it exists and explaining how products such as CANBus racing sensors for tyre management can help race car drivers and owners, then 2025 is set to be all about pushing into the resale markets of North America, Europe, the UK, and Africa for Team Plus. As for more longterm plans, Shaun’s 5 year outlook aims to have good leaders in place who can guide the business through the next generation as he enters semi-retirement, whilst continuing to contribute to the business’ product engineering and development. Having come an incredibly long way since starting out as a software programmer back in the 1980s, it is our pleasure to celebrate Shaun Crain with this well-deserved award. Contact: Shaun Crain Company: Team Plus Pty Ltd Web Address: https://team-plus.com Best IT Consultancy CEO 2024: Shaun Crain Jul24216
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