Meet Clover

“Oh gosh, in a moment of madness, we decided that we should run our own business,” says Clover Laurier.

While Clover had decades of experience developing and managing high-profile community service programs, Fiona had decades of direct service experience in the disability sector. Being a perfect match, Next Wave launched in July 2020.

It's definitely saved 100% of my time – a hundred percent. A lot of other organisations do things just paper-based. We're able to have a central file for things, we don't have documents flying around everywhere.

Based in Melbourne, Next Wave’s support coordinators and recovery coaches help guide NDIS participants on their NDIS journey, creating road maps and matching them with the right support people.

But it was the Covid-19 pandemic that encouraged this career change: “I wanted to stay working from home. I wanted more of a work-life balance, even though I probably work more hours than I ever had in my entire life,” says Clover. “But, I can do it in my PJs.” 

Clients are attracted to the team’s diverse backgrounds, and ability to manage complex scenarios and bring lightheartedness at the same time: “We have a really good sense of humour,” she says.

The most rewarding thing? “Seeing our clients achieve different things. It could be one person making their first ever cup of coffee or for another person, it could be going to VCAT to assert their rights.”

The challenge

Clover knows that to build a business, one must invest in infrastructure – and she had done a lot of research prior to Next Wave. Once working for National Disability Services, Clover helped organisations of different sizes – from 3 to 7000 employees – find their best systems.

“We needed something comprehensive, but I also had seen so many systems that were really difficult to use and there was just too much admin within that system,” she says.

The team wanted to focus on helping people, not being bogged down in new operations: “I wanted something simple. Something I could learn that didn’t take all of my time up. I wanted something that collected what we needed, and I wanted something that I didn't always have to constantly troubleshoot myself and support the team in trying to navigate the system because they've got so much on their plate.”

And as a start-up, it had to be affordable without complicated payment structures. 

The solution

It never gets old: Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.)

Being cost-effective, and comprehensive enough while remaining simple in its design and usability, ShiftCare won over the hearts of Clover and Fiona. Plus, “ShiftCare spoke in a language I could understand. I just went ‘you know what, let's just go there’. The others are a bit too jargonistic.” 

It’s been genuinely fun, says Clover: “The team actually really enjoys the system. I enjoy the system and when I say “enjoy”, I'm not saying that lightly because it's very hard to enjoy a database.”

It's definitely saved 100% of my time – a hundred percent. A lot of other organisations do things just paper-based. We're able to have a central file for things, we don't have documents flying around everywhere.

Streamlining everything

ShiftCare has become the skeleton of Next Wave’s business operations: “The team uses it daily. I use it daily, I'm on it 24/7. I track where the team’s at. I do all of the billing and invoicing – I have contractors, they send in an invoice, I'm able to double-check. I read the case notes to make sure I'm up to date with what's going on. I'm able to understand what's going on in participants’ plans and add notes myself if I need to. And the schedules, we use that to track our hours and bill the clients accordingly.”

Technical support is also easier, through the use of a ShiftCare feature that’s one of their favourites: “They really like the chatbox element where you can pop in a question if you’re lost.”

Stress-free audit and compliance

ShiftCare also brings a peace of mind when it comes to following rules and regulations: “In audit and compliance, we've got everything at hand. If we have any query about what we're doing, it's just at the tip of a finger.”

They say time is money, and Clover thanks ShiftCare for giving her more of it: “It's definitely saved 100% of my time – a hundred percent. A lot of other organisations do things just paper-based. We're able to have a central file for things, we don't have documents flying around everywhere.”

Running her business without ShiftCare would be difficult: “If I'd gone down a different route, or waited to have a system in place, I would not be able to run Next Wave as efficiently!” she jokes.

Looking ahead

Asking what she’s looking forward to in business, Clover responds: “I’m looking forward to retiring [laughs].” But really, it’s that every day is different for Next Wave – and the opportunities to grow are endless, it’s all exciting for the team. 

As ShiftCare continues to be their operational backbone, Next Wave will continue to make monumental waves for individuals in need.