Sometimes, misfortune can lead to opportunity.

Wes Maas was an aspiring young rugby league player trying to establish himself in the NRL. The kid from Dubbo had boundless energy and in his spare time, he worked in an equipment hire business. A football injury not only meant he was out of action on the field, but it also took him out of the hire yard and into head office. It was here that his world opened up.

The family-run business was successful. It concentrated heavily on return on total assets. Wes was quick to catch on. It wasn't long before he threw in his NRL dream and headed back to Dubbo for a fresh start.

Still in his early 20s, Wes spent his savings on a bobcat and borrowed twice that amount to buy a tipper. Suddenly, he was running his own business. Never happy to rest on his laurels, Wes expanded his fleet of equipment. He was keen to diversify and soon started an equipment hire business, leaning on his knowledge from his time in Sydney.

While Dubbo may seem to some to be a remote place to build an empire, Wes saw its potential. He was able to buy a quarry under the nose of an international giant. Then, his world expanded.

Property development and civil works followed in 2020. Wes looked to float the business on the share market, in the hope that a capital raise would help it grow even further. Maas Group (ASX: MGH) listed and started to expand.

Today, this former rugby league player runs a $1.5 billion business and he has amassed a personal fortune in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The group has assets throughout regional New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, with Dubbo right in the middle. Still, only in his 40s, Wes' journey has a long way to go.

In this podcast, Wes takes investors through his early days as an aspiring rugby league player and the early days of running his own business - back when his family referred to him as "Neville No-Trade".

He also shares some of the plans the Maas Group team has for the future, and some of the greatest moments in the journey so far.

https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/the-former-rugby-league-player-who-now-runs-a-1-5-billion-business

Timecodes:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 1:54 - Early rugby days
• 4:18 - Major lessons Wes took away from this time
• 5:12 - Overcoming injury and why everything happens for a reason
• 7:17 - Learning the equipment hire game on the job
• 9:49 - Moving home to Dubbo
• 11:12 - Starting his own business
• 17:02 - Building an achievable long-term business plan
• 20:27 - Scaling the business
• 24:09 - Expanding into building materials
• 29:12 - Listing on the ASX and COVID experience
• 34:32 - Rising rate environment and impact on Maas Group
• 36:34 - Importance of "steady" not "rapid" growth
• 38:20 - Growth plans for the future
• 39:16 - What happens when an acquisition doesn't work
• 40:12 - Importance of good people
• 41:17 - Areas that are exciting over the next five years
• 43:46 - How Wes defines success