A key benefit of intergenerational businesses is adopting a multi decade mindset, rather than quarter-to-quarter decisions.

 

Viewing a downturn as a potential opportunity has been a strength for Tree Top Challenge.

 

David Taylor, along with his brother Stephen, runs the adventure-tourism experience started by their parents Julie and Max.

 

They invested during the Covid downturn and redefined success to mean full employment and cashflow, rather than profit, when the family business was devastated by a tornado and cyclone in quick succession.

 

“I have friends who run businesses in private equity funds – they go quarter to quarter and that’s a missed opportunity,” Taylor said.

 

“When you’re going through moments like this, you’re positioning yourself for success when the downturn passes.”

 

The current challenge is a softening of tourism the family could see coming and had already pivoted to a local, community-first market because they understood from experience that any single source of customers can disappear.

 

“We’ve seen markets come and go: Japan and China. If you’re too focused on one, it goes,” Taylor said.

 

“Our philosophy is, if we love it and our kids love it, the local community will too,” he said.

 

Over more than a decade, the business has grown from a single high ropes park into a multi-site adventure tourism operation spanning Tamborine Mountain, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, The Big Pineapple and a new development, Numinbah Escape.

 

Through the ups and downs, Westpac has backed them.

 

“We’ve had the same banker, Michelle, for the last 12 years. Having someone to call and talk through options is some thing you can’t put a price on,” Taylor said.

 

“Westpac is one of our team in those moments, they under stand that you might see a change in turnover for one month because they’ve seen that journey before. ”

 

Westpac state general manager, QLD commercial banking, Chris Langton, said family businesses thought in decades, not quarters. As did the bank.

 

“That long view shapes how the Taylors manage capital, invest through downturns and build resilience into the business,” Langton said. 

 

“When you genuinely under stand how a business operates – its seasonality, its opportunities, its people and its values – you can make much better decisions together.

 

"That’s when banking moves beyond transactions and becomes a real commercial partnership, particularly in moments of stress.”