Case Study

From Adviser to Founder: How Anthony Built KODE Finance with Clarity and Scale

Growth Had Stalled. Uncertainity Had Settled In.

After 13 years as a financial adviser, Anthony had seen the same issue play out over and over. Quality financial advice was becoming harder to access, and most everyday Australians were left to figure it out on their own. At the same time, his own experience as a small business owner showed him how difficult it was to get the right funding advice when you actually needed it. KODE was built to change that. Not just to write loans, but to help people understand money, make better decisions, and approach finance with more confidence.

That belief went beyond clients. After having his first child, Anthony became increasingly focused on financial literacy for the next generation. He even wrote children’s books to simplify money concepts, and saw firsthand the impact. One young reader went and opened a CommSec account to buy shares in Coles with her own savings. For Anthony, that’s what this is really about. Changing behavior, not just completing transactions. But turning that vision into a business wasn’t straightforward.

Two years in, growth had stalled. It was just Anthony and one offshore team member, with settlements sitting around 1 to 2 million per month. The challenge wasn’t effort. It was uncertainty. What to focus on, when to hire, and how to actually build something that could scale.

challenges

Momentum Beats Waiting. Growth Follows Action.

Rebuilding A Business

Anthony made a decision most brokers delay. He invested in Success & Broker before he felt ready, with the goal of
building the business properly from the ground up.

The biggest shift was moving from reactive to structured. Instead of trying to do everything at once, the focus became clear. Build the right things at the right time. He refined how KODE showed up to clients, creating a stronger proposition built on education and trust. He introduced clear activity targets so growth wasn’t left to chance. And most importantly, he backed himself to hire, creating capacity and removing the bottlenecks that were holding the business back.

With that came something he hadn’t had before. Confidence in the decisions he was making.

the game-changer

Working with Success & Broker

The biggest shift from working with Success & Broker was clarity.

Clear direction on what to prioritise, when to hire, and how to grow the business in a way that was both intentional and sustainable.

That clarity translated directly into results. We’ve grown from settling $1–2 million a month to consistently achieving $5–10 million plus, and more importantly, we’re now in a position to scale properly—with the right structure, people, and systems in place for long‑term growth.

Anthony recalls:

I CHOSE THE RIGHT STRUCTURE OVER WAITING FOR PERFECT TIMING.

I joined before I felt I could afford it, but I knew I needed to build this the right way.

results

Explosive Growth & Business Expansion

Over the next 18 to 24 months, the business transformed.

Monthly settlements grew from 1 to 2 million to consistently sitting between 5 and 10 million plus.

KEY BUSINESS WINS:
  • The team expanded from a solo operator to a structured support model including a credit analyst, associate credit analyst, data entry support, with broker support currently being recruited.
  • KODE also launched an asset finance division and established foundations across residential, commercial, and asset finance.
  • More importantly, the business now has the structure, capacity, and direction needed to scale.
  • Clear systems, defined roles, and stronger foundations mean operations are no longer dependent on Anthony managing everything himself.
  • This shift has enabled the business to operate more efficiently, support sustainable growth, and focus on long‑term strategy rather than day‑to‑day survival.

final thoughts

Built to scale. Grounded in education.

The next phase is about scale.

Building each division into its own team, hiring brokers to take ownership, and moving into a larger office to support growth.

The focus is now on expanding without losing what made KODE different in the first place. An education-first approach that helps clients make smarter decisions long term.

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Ian Winn profile picture
Ian Winn
24 September 2026
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Ruan has been my mortgage broking coach for 6 months. Having owned a very successful mortgage broking business and now a coach of many businesses he has unparalleled experience to share with his clients. He does this in a very clear and consultative manner. He is always looking for improvements and innovation for clients to implement in their businesses. He has a big picture approach which really helps you get out of the weeds when analysing your business. He has helped me grow my business and provide clarity to achieve my goals. Thanks for your support.
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Anisa Buckley
14 September 2026
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I have learnt so much from Ruan and the team at Success & Broker. Ruan's practical advice to me as a new broker has been incredibly helpful and I have incorporated many of his strategies and approaches into my own business.
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Bree Rivers
14 September 2026
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Working with Ruan has been great. He genuinely cares about your success and provides honest practical advice from his own experience that can be applied to get real results. I highly recommend Ruan to any broker wanting to grow.
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Your favourite Bald & Bespectacled broker
6 August 2026
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Great weekly 50min session with Ruan himself, done online over Zoom with other brokers. Intimate session of around a dozen people, including Ruan and the host. If you're a new broker and have under three or four years of experience, and wish to get an insight into Ruan's mind + pick up tips and tricks, it's a very good six month-long training program. Even if you're a more seasoned broker like myself (nine years in December 2026), it's worth an education session - I have a few pages of notes and thoughts. Give it a go, brokers.
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Christopher Dodson
6 August 2026
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Thanks Ruan for your insight and warm approach
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Achani Kodippili
4 August 2026
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That was an amazing journey with Success & Broker. Excellent guidance is simply practical. Thank you team for the opportunity.
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Sara Shome
1 August 2026
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I’ve really enjoyed being part of Ruan’s Grow Broker Program. As a broker with an over 5 years of experience, it is easy to reach a point where you feel like you’re doing well but not really moving forward. This program challenged me to rethink almost everything I thought I knew about broking, relationships, branding and what it really takes to build a sustainable career. Ruan has an incredible ability to make you look at your business and thinking from a completely different perspective while providing genuine support and practical strategies that you can implement immediately and easily. It is not about quick wins or generic coaching. It is about building the right foundations and becoming a better broker and business owner. The confidence and clarity I gained through the program played a crucial role in my decision to move into a BDM role. It helped me recognise where my strengths truly lie and gave me the self confidence to take that next step. I would highly recommend Success and Broker to anyone who feels they have reached a plateau or wants to take their career to the next level. It has been one of the best self investments I have made.
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Jonathon Rhydderch
22 July 2026
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The Success & Broker course has been fantastic. As a new broker, you learn a lot about the technical side early on: compliance, lending policy, structuring deals. But what nobody really teaches you is how to build a sustainable business around all that. Ruan's program fills exactly that gap, giving you so many practical, actionable ways to grow: daily habits and consistency, marketing that actually works for a brokerage, operations and systems that scale, and how to genuinely deliver a great client experience rather than just process loans. What I liked most is that it's not generic coaching. It's built specifically around where you are as a broker, whether that's establishing strong foundations early on or working toward running a proper business with leverage and a team behind you. The 'Broker Journal' kept me on track throughout the course and is a great reference point when i need to work on my business. It is like a blueprint for success. All of it is delivered in a refreshingly warm, positive, and genuinely invested way. You can tell they actually care about your outcomes, not just ticking a coaching box. Big thanks to Ruan, and to Ryan too. Highly recommend to any broker serious about building a real business, not just writing loans.
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Alex Ritchie
8 July 2026
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Ruan and the Success & Broker team have been really helpful in getting us to think about how we operate, how we build out or team, and where we want to go. Ruan is super knowledgeable, having spent many years as a broker running multiple firms. He asks the right questions and challenges your thinking.
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Lachlan McKean
6 July 2026
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I've worked with Ruan at Success & Broker for the last 12 months~ and it's been great. Always makes time to discuss what's going on and the advice is invaluable. If you're a broker thinking of using Ruan's services, it's definitely worth jumping on board.
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