That business was called Selfcert (Business Information Systems Pty. Ltd.) and provided e-learning solutions for Information Technology professionals interested in becoming certified with Microsoft, Cisco and Sun Microsystems. The company had humble beginnings starting with one PC on a dining room table. Within just five years it grew to be a profitable business that generated over $5m in revenue with customers in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In 2004, the business was sold to SEEK Ltd. SEEK Ltd. (ASX:SEK) is the market leader in online employment classifieds and bought our business to expand into the training market. In March 2005, Selfcert was renamed SEEK Learning prior to their listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. The learning division has since added many more products to its training portfolio and continues to thrive. At the time of writing Seek Learning had more than doubled in size since acquiring Selfcert.

This book covers the lessons that I have learned through starting, running and finally selling a successful business. It distils the knowledge and insights I have gathered along the way through dealing with investors, other successful business owners, suppliers, employees and clients.

Often business owners try to ‘reinvent the wheel’ in an effort to be successful rather than learning from those that have already been in the same situation. There is a time for innovation and a time for duplication and as a business owner you need to recognize which is which. Why waste time working out the best way to market your product if you can ask someone who knows and duplicate it. Why throw resources at operations and logistics if there is already a recognised best way, if you just took the time to find out. Knowing when to take advice and duplicate a winning formula and when to innovate for a competitive edge is a key skill in business. By asking the right questions and getting the right information you create a shortcut to success and avoid wasted time, resources and effort. As Sir Isaac Newton once said, ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ He recognised that the greatest breakthroughs come when you learn from those that have gone before and if it’s good enough for Newton it’s certainly good enough for me.

This is the book I wish I had read when I started out. If I had known what I will share with you in these pages then perhaps some of the stress would have been removed from the journey. My hope is that other current or prospective business owners will learn that it is possible to take some of the nasty surprises out of small business by doing things properly from the start.

As the mother of the three little pigs said, ‘Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world’. If the wolf comes knocking at your door, would you rather be the owner of a delicate business made of straw or a solid business made of bricks?

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