Brendon Dennewill is the Co-founder and CEO of Denamico, a Minneapolis-based company specializing in HubSpot CRM implementations and integrations. With a career spanning over 30 years across six countries and four languages, he has held senior management positions in the duty-free retail and commercial fishing industries, managing teams of over 200 and navigating complex international markets. He completed two years of military service in the South African Navy in 1987 and 1988. Brendon also serves on the board of Africa Classroom Connection, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit dedicated to building schools in South Africa.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- [2:44] Brendon Dennewill on how South Africa’s sanctions shaped its entrepreneurial mindset
- [3:49] Lessons from Brendon’s father on leadership, partnerships, and business growth
- [7:38] Why Brendon transitioned from family business to independent ventures
- [12:42] Pivoting from managing fishery businesses to real estate to digital marketing
- [20:23] How Brendon landed his first digital marketing client
- [23:16] Why Denamico shifted from marketing services to HubSpot CRM implementations
- [27:47] Challenges of transitioning business models while retaining clients
- [29:23] Brendon’s approach to major career and personal life changes
- [30:54] The impact of Africa Classroom Connection in building classrooms for students
In this episode…
Scaling a business in an evolving digital landscape can be challenging, especially when industries shift, markets crash, or technology forces companies to adapt. Entrepreneurs often have difficulty knowing when to pivot, how to specialize, and where to focus their efforts for long-term success. So, how can narrowing your focus open up new opportunities and drive growth in your business?
Brendon Dennewill, an adaptive and strategic thinker, shares how he successfully navigated multiple career transitions, from the fishing industry to real estate and ultimately into digital marketing and CRM technology. He explains the importance of recognizing market shifts early, leveraging networking to find clients, and making bold decisions to focus on scalable services. Brendon also discusses the challenges of switching from a marketing services agency to a HubSpot CRM implementation firm, emphasizing the need to embrace change, invest in new skills, and build strategic partnerships.
Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Brendon Dennewill, Co-founder and CEO of Denamico, about building a niche business in the tech space. Brendon talks about how he spotted opportunities in digital marketing, the strategic decision to shift Denamico’s focus, and the role of mentorship in business growth. They also discuss the impact of Africa Classroom Connection, managing career transitions, and adapting to market changes with confidence.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- John Corcoran on LinkedIn
- Rise25
- Brendon Dennewill on LinkedIn
- Denamico
- Kristin Dennewill on LinkedIn
- Vistage
- The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan, Dr. Benjamin Hardy
- Africa Classroom Connection
Quotable Moments:
- “South Africans seem to be very resourceful; they had to figure things out for themselves during apartheid sanctions.”
- “We decided to start a real estate business, which took us about a year and a half to build.”
- “The excitement of the adventure and making the decision — there was never any looking back.”
- “We realized something was missing from a systems perspective as our clients became more sophisticated.”
- “Every classroom that we build educates 50 kids per year; it’s incredible to see the impact of education.”
Action Steps:
- Recognize market shifts early: Stay informed about industry trends and economic changes to pivot your business strategy proactively.
- Leverage networking for growth: Build strong professional relationships to create new opportunities and gain valuable insights.
- Embrace business reinvention: Be open to shifting industries, restructuring services, or adopting new technologies to stay competitive.
- Focus on scalable solutions: Prioritize business models and services that offer long-term growth potential rather than short-term gains.
- Invest in continuous adaptation: Develop skills, explore emerging technologies, and refine strategies to navigate evolving market demands.
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Episode Transcript
John Corcoran: 00:00
All right. Today we’re talking about how to niche down into technology services. If you are a digital marketing agency, you’re listening to this. We got lots of digital marketing agencies that listen to this show. And you’ve got that sweet recurring revenue and you’re thinking about, oh, do I need to niche down or not? This conversation will be great for you. My guest today is Brendon Dennewill. I’ll tell you more about him in a second, so stay tuned.
Intro: 00:25
Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.
John Corcoran: 00:41
Alright. Welcome everyone. John Corcoran here. I’m the host of this show and you know, every week we talk to smart CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs from all kinds of companies. We’ve had Netflix and Grubhub, Gusto, Kinkos, YPO, EO, Activision Blizzard and so many more. Check out the archives. And of course, this episode brought to you by Rise25, where we help businesses to give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. How do we do that? We do that by helping you to run your podcast. We are the easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast. We do three things: strategy, accountability, and full execution.
And Brendon, I know for you, you know, you know, the importance of relationships, having, you know, reinvented your career. Many times. We’re going to get into that whole story around there. But, you know, I found that it’s critical to have someone who’s got your back, who’s going to help you.
And we like to joke that our company is like the team of magic elves behind the scenes, to allow you to do the things that you do so well. And for me, you know, the number one thing in my life has been relationships. And I’m always looking for great ways to give to my relationships. And I found no better way than to do what we’re doing here, which is to, you know, feature people and hear, hear their stories. So if you want to learn more about that, go to our website, Rise25.com or email us at [email protected].
But let me tell you about Brendon because he’s the CEO and Co-founder of Denamico, which is a HubSpot solutions partner, and he’s got a 30 plus year career across six different countries, three continents, and four languages. Amazing background. He started his story in South Africa and Namibia. Actually, South-West Africa was the name of the country that he was born in at the time. And I want to hear all about this, Brendon, because it really has a lot to do with what you’re doing today and how you choose to spend your time now.
But you grew up in South-West Africa, which later, after apartheid fell, became part of South Africa. And you’re surrounded by entrepreneurship. Actually, it’s a very entrepreneurial country. Why do you think South Africa, of all the countries on earth, has such a phenomenal reputation for entrepreneurship?
Brendon Dennewill: 02:44
Yeah, that’s actually an interesting question, which I don’t think about all that often. But unfortunately, I think one of the reasons was because of the sanctions that happened during apartheid where the, you know, South Africa, which at that point included to your earlier comment included South West Africa, which is now Namibia. They had to figure out how to do things for themselves and supply and manufacture everything that they needed because there were no other options. There were no other options. And you know that that is and I think, you know, South Africans seem to be very resourceful, you know, even before that. But I think, you know, unfortunately that’s that that was, you know, one of the few benefits that came from from the sanctions that led from, from apartheid that, you know, people had to figure it out for themselves. And I think that’s just continued again, that culture has continued through to today.
John Corcoran: 03:49
Yeah. It’s interesting. And your father actually started multiple different entrepreneurial businesses. Tell me a little bit about those.
Brendon Dennewill: 03:56
Yeah, I guess I mean, he would probably say that it was luck. You know, like so many successful people, you know, say where but what happened was he worked for he actually worked for a company from literally from the bottom up, you know, packing. He was a longshoreman, which for those of you listening to the news lately, there’s been stories about longshoremen in LA and other places. Potentially striking because they, you know, want more money. But they’re the folks that literally pack the things onto the ships. And this was before containerization. So they were manually, you know, loading sacks of whatever and boxes onto ships to go to different places.
John Corcoran: 04:39
So heavy duty labor.
Brendon Dennewill: 04:40
Heavy duty labor. Obviously we lived in a port town, which, even though it’s one of the most remote places on the planet because it was a port city. I. I saw and met people from, you know, all over the world, which so I never felt isolated, even though when you look at it on a map where you try to get there any other way than by ship, it is very remote. But anyway, he worked his way up, literally from the bottom of the company to becoming the CEO in his mid-30s.
And after about 30 years of, of, you know, essentially just running the business when Namibia became independent, one of the first things that they did was they told all the fishing fleets from all around the world that had been fishing there for decades. They said, well, you can continue fishing in our very rich, you know, nutrient waters of, you know, in the South Atlantic of Namibia, but you have to have at least 50% local ownership. And of course, my father through this business had been the agent for all these companies. For, you know, almost 30 years. And he was a he was a they were friends that he had had very deep relationships with all these people.
And of course, whether they were, you know, Russian or Spanish or Japanese, you name it. And those were finally the three nationalities that approached him and said, you know, will you be our partner? And when, when the first Japanese came along and he was like, oh, you know. Sure. And he got together three of his, you know, work buddies that were in slightly different businesses and said, you know, would you guys, I don’t want to do this on my own, but if you guys want to join me, then we can make this happen.
So the Japanese deal was pretty easy. And then the Spanish came along and did the same thing. They made it happen. And then the Russians came along, and that was a little more complicated, but. But they figured it out.
And that actually became so because the, the Russian you know, the Soviet Union fell around at the same time. But they essentially did a, a joint venture with the big Soviet floated was called the Soviet fishing fleet, which eventually became one of the most successful companies in the country. And that was so that the sort of the last 10 to 20 years of his career were very much more entrepreneurial and but of course, was set up by being in the right place at the right time and, you know, making his own luck.
John Corcoran: 07:23
And fortunate, I guess, in a sense that he had worked for the right company and that that opportunity came later because he could work for a company for 30 or 40 years and not get any ownership stake. Now, you ended up doing some work for your father for some of these businesses later. What was that like?
Brendon Dennewill: 07:38
Yeah. So I never actually worked for him directly, but through some of these companies and, and then through that partnership, They actually started a duty free business with a Swiss company as a partner. And my first job was actually working for one of these companies that, you know, exporting all their fish from southern Africa. So they eventually had operations in Namibia and in Cape Town in South Africa. And I worked for them for a couple of years doing all their export business.
And then they acquired this, this duty free partnership. And they asked me if I’d move over to run that, which I did for six years. And then and then they realized that that wasn’t really part of their core business and wanted to get out of it. So I sort of worked an additional six months through the transition to the new owner, and then they asked me to go back to the fishing side, which was essentially to understudy the CEO of the Whitefish operation back in Namibia. The rest of the time I was actually based in Cape Town which I saw was a great opportunity.
And was actually dating my now wife at the time. And knowing this little town where I’d grown up, I knew that I liked the opportunity, but I didn’t like going back there as a single guy. And so I said to Kristen, you know, I’ll take this job if you agree to move there with me. Which she did. She eventually left her, you know, very, very great job at McKinsey in Madrid and moved to Namibia with me.
And anyway, the rest, as they say, is history. We were, you know, we were married a year later and had, you know, all three of our kids were born there. But then as the business progressed, we actually realized that it wasn’t going to be a great business for us, and I was. Why is that? Primarily because of the way that.
So fishing in most countries is based on a quota system and of course in Africa. Which is, I guess, somewhat understandable. The intention there was continuously to, to pass more of the quota to, to, to less fortunate people. But unfortunately, the folks who were ending up with the quota didn’t actually have the boats or the ships to catch the fish. So, they would get the quota and then come to us and, you know, sell us the quota back, but buy.
John Corcoran: 10:27
The rights to buy to go fishing. Yeah. Correct.
Brendon Dennewill: 10:30
But of course, our margins just kept getting smaller. And we didn’t know from one year to the next how much we would actually get. So not a great business model when you have no control over your upside, right? Yeah. So we, you know, so we ended up making the decision and it took probably two years to, to happen, but to, to sell the business I was part of the management team.
And then when that deal was done, Kristen and I were there with, you know, a 11 year old, a two year old and a three year old. And we were like, you know, now what do we do? And Spain had always been our sort of neutral territory and neutral ground. That’s actually where we were married, because it was kind of halfway between the US, where she was originally from, and, and all of our friends in Africa and, and Europe. So we decided to move to Mallorca, Spain. So it’s the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.
John Corcoran: 11:24
Not a bad place.
Brendon Dennewill: 11:26
It was not bad at all. In fact, when we arrived there, we moved there in 2007 on what we now reflect on as the crest of the wave. It was great.
John Corcoran: 11:39
Economic, the economic rave. You mean the.
Brendon Dennewill: 11:41
Yeah. It was like life was great. I mean, 2007 was a great time even in Spain. And and then we were like, well, so what are we going to do? And we decided to start a real estate business, which I guess the most similar thing that that you would equate it to here is, is a, you know, residential real estate broker.
But the way that it works in Spain is just a lot more complicated because again, first of all, we were living on an island and our business was based on foreigners who wanted to buy, you know, fairly valuable properties on the island. So, you know, anywhere from sort of 2 to $10 million as sort of a second home or what have you. And they were looking for more efficient ways to do that, which we then created a system for them to do. And it was actually, you know, it took us about a year and a half to build it. And it was going really well until the zero eight crisis hit. And yeah.