Smart50 rank: 33
Revenue: $3,356,597
Growth: 55.14%
Founders: Brett Neil Saunders, 28
Based: Queensland
Employees: 18
Industry: Other
Website: www.hiflow.com.au
It's a challenge that every start-up knows about - how can a young new business challenge big, well-entrenched competitors? For Brett Neil Saunders, founder of Queensland-based air conditioning and mechanicals services business Hiflow Industries, the answer is simple: persistence.
"I was too small for my target clients for them to give any work to me - they only wanted larger, known companies with proven track records," Saunders says.
"I kept persisting and got a few breaks when some of these larger companies were too busy to do some urgent works. I was on call 24 hours per day, 365 days per year for around a year and a half until I could get some more reliable staff.
"It took two years of persistence to finally get some major clients and as aresult of the high quality service we provide, my company is now known as a major threat in the industry to our competitors."
Saunders went into business for himself after being refused a pay rise - despite getting the highest sales in his team - because, at the age of 24, he was too young.
Just three-and-a-half years later, Saunders has built a team of 18 full-time staff and has posted average annual revenue growth of 55.14% over the past three years. Revenue, which passed $1 million in the first year of trading, hit $3.36 million in 2008-09.
But the business might have collapsed in its early days after a business partnership went bad and Saunders was forced to pay an inflated price to get his partner out of the business.
It taught him some valuable lessons.
"Sometimes it is not a smart move to go into a partnership unless you are 100% on the same page and the partner can bring something to the table," he says.
"Do your research and look at other options available such as investors and employees. If you do go into business with a business partner make sure that you have a documented exit strategy with all possible scenarios so that it doesn't end up in a very expensive legal battle."
The downturn has also created some challenges, with competitors submitting low-ball quotes in order to win work. Saunders has tried to stay out of these battles, instead relying on his company's reputation for high-quality service.
Hiflow's next big goal is interstate expansion. Saunders will have a team operating in Sydney by the end of September and then plans to open a Melbourne office next year. By the end of 2010-11, he wants to have 60 full-time staff.
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