The B2Me Story

The B2Me story begins deep in the heart of the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The Papua New Guinea Experience

PNG is Australia's closest neighbour and friend which is a situation that stems back to their support of Australian soldiers during the war effort. The Western Highlands is situated in the central part of the main island, is topographically forbidding, and characterised by political and clan-based instability.

Although stories about PNG are told in a way that stereotypes the people in a negative light, my experiences of living in country amongst the Kyaka people (2006-2011) are some of the best years of my life. I came to know some  of the most beautiful people who, despite their levels of education, are resourceful and contributing in amazing ways to help their communities move forward out of the cycle of poverty.

During my time in country, I came to understand that as individual members of a community come together and draw on their strengths for the benefit of the whole community, there can be some remarkable change.

Time to Learn

As a result of our time in country, I had much to learn and had a spectacular fall from grace amongst the Kyaka people that would challenge my Western assumptions and move me towards being open to learning new ways of thinking. 

During this time, I witnessed a number of changes in some very remote communities and decided to learn more about and document what led to the change. Thus, began a project that would take me six years and see me through to the completion of my doctorate in philosophy.

Homecoming

Upon the return of my family to Perth, I started to identify gaps in our Australian culture and had a growing desire to see the same kind of community I experienced overseas reflected in my own country. I noticed that people were 'alone in a crowd', and more fragmented than ever. I thought that there had to be a way for people to connect more meaningfully in face-to-face relationships.

I commenced my own consultancy in business, education and community development and experienced many of the same challenges that small business face in getting access to markets and promoting one's services. I thought that there had to be a far simpler and better way than paying a premium to be seen at the top of search lists.

At the same time, I came to see how community groups such as schools, churches and sporting clubs are full of many members but few if any of these groups have the knowledge or capacity to identify or mobilise the strengths of its members. I thought that there had to be a way of mapping the strengths of community members for the benefit of the individuals and the community group.

As we renovated our home on our return, we found it difficult to find service providers that we knew, that we liked and that we trusted. Naturally we would have preferred to look for positive recommendations from friends, family and our community groups but we did not have an easy tool that could help us make a judgement about who to use. I though that there had to be a way of accessing service providers recommended by our 'friends who know best' and people in our community groups where there are similar values, goals and interests.

When it came to purchasing decisions, we were also overwhelmed with the abundance of choice which tends to creates frustration and inertia in decision making. I thought that there had to be an easier way to make a purchasing decision.

Germinating the Idea

In April 2017, our family took a holiday in Albany to get away for a while.

A few months following our break away, I conceived the idea of a person-to-person services finding platform that could address the issues that were concerning me. I tested my idea with some trusted advisors who encouraged me with these words "with a little bit of enthusiasm you can do anything!"

And the rest is history...

Thanks for joining us in the B2Me community. We hope that you have some insights into the beginnings of the story of B2Me. We look forward to seeing you around.

Ray Bartell (Founder)