In 2004, Angela Lawler left a full-time nursing career of 20 years to pursue her love of animals and establish a professional dog grooming service. Angela updated her business management skills and began offering mobile dogwashing in a small trailer. Now she has grooming salons and retail outlets in three Hobart locations - Rokeby, Moonah and Blackmans Bay. Her passion for animal welfare and regard for high standards of grooming has seen her business expand to 4,000 customers with four full-time staff. Woofers Dog Grooming was the first salon in Tasmania to introduce grooming by appointment and the first to have an open view salon where owners could watch their dog being groomed. Angela’s vision is to run Tasmania’s first dog grooming school. She is on the way to her dream - recently she started training her first student.

“I have always strived to be the best at what I do, so it hasn't been accidental. A lot of heart and soul has gone into my business” – Angela Lawler, Owner/Manager.

Sandy Bay company SConsulting provides innovative eLearning systems to the global retail financial services industry. Simon Offor founded the business in 2006 after gaining experience as director of a UK financial services training company and in sales management for a Scottish bank.

The industry’s need for holistic and flexible training aligned to each organisation is delivered by SConsulting’s 110 educational modules in finance, sales and management.

The nationally-accredited certificate and diploma courses allow students to take control of their learning through an interactive education system. Training costs are cut compared with traditional face-to-face classroom learning and employers get extensive data about their employees’ training. SConsulting delivered sales training which helped an insurance industry client in China to double annual turnover. The business is looking to forge links with international educational bodies and expand in Asian markets.

“Our experiences have shown us that having a clear vision of where you want to be is essential … it takes time to build a solid foundation and this process should never be rushed” - Simon Offor, CEO.

Peter Davey launched his Launceston business in 2000 from a converted home laundry. Playtas now has installed more than 650 play environments throughout Tasmania for schools, local governments, child care centres, community organisations and fast-food franchises.

Peter is passionate about the safety of children in play environments and his company specialises in supplying safe standard-compliant play equipment, surfacing, shade structures and park furniture. Peter is accredited to undertake playground inspections and audits for Tasmanian schools and councils – a significant achievement for the business.

Playtas promotes its use of Australian-made outdoor equipment and is the sole Tasmanian distributor for Megatoy Play Systems and Site Systems park furniture. Playtas has bought a double-decker bus to fit out as a mobile playground safety unit to promote child safety in the industry.

“Every parent should have the right to send their child to school or a park and be assured that the equipment and surfaces meet all playground safety standards.” - Peter Davey, Director.

Kidz Bizzzz was established in 2006 as an indoor play centre and café, catering for children up to 12 and their parents. While kids revel in a multi-level padded play zone with slides, flying fox and ball pit, toddler play zone or themed party room, the business has developed a niche by promoting healthy food options to parents in the café. After completing a demographic study of Kingston, the owners chose a site for their business just a minute from the heart of Kingston’s Channel Court shopping complex. As part of its marketing strategy, Kidz Bizzzz introduced a loyalty membership program for its repeat customers who make up 50 per cent of its business and deliver stability to its trading results. It also uses its marketing budget to support several local hospitals, the Cancer Council, and many school and community groups – which the owners believe is important and valuable to the business.

“We are committed to supporting the community which in turn supports us and nurturing young children’s social and cognitive development” – Melinda Summers, Operations Manager.

Signwriter Jamie Keeling’s day job did not give him the creative outlet he was looking for so in 2002 he started Lid Design in his spare time from his garage. Lid Design provided customised, one-off car designs and motorcycle helmet painting for the Hobart motorsport fraternity. This led to more business when car-racing customers wanted signwriting on their cars and business signage. The business growth further accelerated when it moved from simple brush and vinyl signs to airbrushing and computer designed digital sign solutions. In 2006 the company moved to a new Glenorchy studio which has a larger workshop for the four full-time staff and the controlled environment necessary for its airbrushing creativity. Lid Design offers clients unique and creative vehicle wraps whereby their car, truck or boat becomes a mobile billboard.

“Lid Design's strategy for achieving success is quite easy. Work with your client and not against them” - Jamie Keeling, Owner.

Catnip Cattery was conceived when Lionel and Narelle Brown could not find suitable high-quality boarding accommodation in Tasmania for their cat family. Tapping into the increasing popularity of ‘pet parents,’ Lionel describes the business at Old Beach in Hobart as an exclusive, feline-only resort for the discerning cat. Their success has been driven by continually delivering exceptional customer service and care of the cats. Catnip Cattery has always priced its service significantly above the competition and introduced many extras such as playtime, local and imported treats, thermostat controlled heating, night lights and themed ‘suites’. With occupancy rates at 84 per cent, Lionel says he has learned not to be afraid to increase prices if service is exceptional. Ninety per cent of new clients in the past year were from referrals and the owners are looking to expand by applying their animal care philosophy and services into other markets.

“Believe in your dream, monitor your progress and make improvements as you go” - Lionel Brown, Director.

In seven years, Hobart-based software development and IT consultancy, Insight4, has become a key supplier in the Tasmanian market. From a four-person team at launch, it has grown to twenty full time staff and remains a business operating at the cutting edge of technology. Insight4 delivers information and communications technology solutions to a diverse range of public and private organisations across health, education, utilities, telecommunications, finance and construction.

Insight4 is a Microsoft Certified Partner, specialising in data management and enterprise grade custom application solutions.

It also has strong links with the University of Tasmania, offering summer training to computer students. Insight4’s focus on emerging mobile technologies and cloud computing has led to the development of commercial applications that have received international uptake. It has won industry acclaim including winning the Emerging Business Award in the 2009 Tasmanian ICT Awards.

“We have developed a reputation for our problem solving, innovation and forward thinking solutions” – Richard Roff, Marketing Manager.

The consumer’s appetite for higher level results from beauty salons is stimulated by magazines and the internet, according to Kim Digby, owner of the InSPArations Day Spa in Spreyton near Devonport.

She says clients expect experience, knowledge and the latest treatments. In 2003, with those factors in mind, Kim bought an older hair salon with a plan to transform and expand it into a modern salon incorporating all services.

In 2006, she opened her shiny new premises and in 2008 extended to a complete day spa with new equipment and rooms for hydro fusion body treatment, facials, pedi spa, colour therapy, skin rejuvenation and other services. Kim calls her day spa the most relaxing place on Tasmania’s north-west coast, promising to exceed client expectations and stay ahead of her competitors by offering new procedures, the latest equipment and advancing the skills of her nine staff.

“I had a dream and I have made that dream become reality with hard work and a passion for my industry” – Kim Digby, Owner

Audiologists Nick and Heidi Modrovich moved to Tasmania in 2007 motivated by a desire to make a difference in a location where service for adults with hearing impairment was limited. They also wished to gain independence in their practice, so they bought a small Hobart clinic which had operated for two decades.

Audioclinic Tasmania provides hearing assessments, hearing aid fitting and rehabilitation to the hearing impaired. The business and its reputation have grown in the past three years - from one clinic to five permanently staffed clinics and from one clinician to three audiologists. The owners have introduced a fully-networked, real-time record management system ensuring that patients get the same personal care across the state. To counter consumer confusion that exists about hearing aids, the business talks to community groups about hearing technologies and related issues.

“We now have over 18 sites that are regularly serviced by an audiologist so that the elderly don't have to travel great distances” - Nick Modrovich, Owner.

After 85 years as a family-owned business in the centre of Launceston, Watson’s Showcase Jewellers drives its success by keeping up with changing customer expectations. A jewellery manufacturing, retail and watch repair business, they design and make individual pieces to specification. Loose stones are sourced for the creations from Antwerp, Hong Kong and Australia.

Business Manager Samantha Stevenson says three generations of Launceston families have shopped at Watson’s and the business has to ensure it meets the ever-changing desires of its customers for new jewellery products. The company’s continued success is based on its manufacturing service, commitment to using excellent quality diamonds and creation of extraordinary design setting. The business also places the highest priority on maintaining excellent service not only to keep loyal customers but to attract new clients.

“A lesson of success is never under-estimate the power of employee input” - Samantha Stevenson, Business Manager.

Care Bears Cottage offers a fun place where children can be children and is one of the few small privately-owned and operated childcare centres in southern Tasmania. Set in bushland, the Mornington centre started with 15 children in its care five years ago. It has since expanded to offer a toddler room for up to 20 children and a baby room for up to 14 children. Director Michelle Beakley says it is a privilege to play a part in such an important time of the children’s lives. With 10 full-time equivalent staff, she says Care Bears Cottage has always been overstaffed, compared to industry standards, in order to provide high quality care, great supervision, relaxed and consistent educators and effective educational programs. Michelle says her team is inspired and delighted by the children in their care and forms close and lasting friendships with their families.

“Our biggest lesson is to never give up. We have had our fair share of adversity but I have a ‘can’t be beaten’ attitude so here we are - still standing.” - Michelle Beakley, Director.

Bartech Switchboards’ products are used in some of the world’s harshest and challenging environments, including powering sites in Antarctica and the Bass Link cable. The Moonah-based business manufactures custom and type-tested electrical switchboards for commercial and industrial clients including the Tasmanian supply authority, major food process and manufacturing plants.

In 2005, Director Layton Barker was manager of the switchboard division of Sackett Services and bought it to establish his own business. With the commitment of key staff and the support of friends, there was a steady stream of business from day one. With a proven track record and reputation for quality, Bartech has continued to grow and has won contracts to provide Hydro Tasmania with protection panels for the turbines at its generation sites. The company’s diversification and flexibility has also ensured the business weathered the storm of the global financial crisis. While mining work slumped, irrigation was strong and school contracts increased.

“Good communication between our design and manufacturing teams and investment in manufacturing tools has enabled Bartech to reduce manufacturing time and improve the bottom line” - Layton Barker, Director.

Adam Brooks was a middle manager in the mining and resources sector in Central Queensland when he identified a gap in professional services. He founded Maintenance Systems Solutions to meet a lack of onsite maintenance planning and SAP support within the resources industry. In less than six years, the business has flourished from a concept to an employer of 160 people. It is expanding from its Port Sorell head office to a training centre in Perth and premises in Townsville, Texas, Canada, London and New Zealand. Some of Australia’s biggest resource companies use its consultants in maintenance strategies and systems development.

Over time, the business has added reliability and maintenance management system integration, software development and logistics to its core business. It is the launch of these new services that the former Navy apprentice says keeps his company unique and ahead of his competitors.

“We are maintenance and software experts. Essentially, we created a new service” – Adam Brooks, Chairman.

When the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery was considering the redevelopment of a site containing some of Hobart’s most historic buildings, it turned to Lester Franks to undertake a comprehensive site survey and prepare a land and features investigation. The survey work received national industry acclaim and drew upon all of Lester Franks’ cadastral and engineering survey skills, terrestrial laser scanning as well as historical research. Lester Franks had been in business since 1964, but the company was expanded in 2002 by Managing Director Malcolm Lester into Lester Franks Survey & Geographic. His leadership experience in professional surveyors’ associations gave Malcolm a belief that many surveying businesses were too small to realise the industry’s enormous potential for growth. With that in mind, Lester Franks has grown to employing more than 50 staff who are engaged in diverse surveying tasks including defining complex boundaries, sub-divisions, pipeline routes, mining expansion and major engineering infrastructure projects.

“Lester Franks recognises that it must constantly change as the world in which it operates evolves” – Malcolm Lester, Managing Director.

Promising superior customer service is not all hot air for Air Technology Tasmania, a supplier of domestic and commercial heating, cooling, solar energy and refrigeration services. From a business with five staff working out of a shed in 1997, it now employs 40 staff at its Devonport base and Launceston workshop. Owner-directors Neil and Irene Quinn have decades of experience in refrigeration and retail administration. The business specialises in the design, supply, installation and service of air conditioning, solar hot water and electrical products. The key to Air Technology’s success is its simple marketing strategy of delivering exemplary customer service. This includes providing customers with the assurance of being on time. In the past year, seventy per cent of new business has come from referrals. According to Air Technology, this strategy is important as Tasmania is a word-of-mouth market where they believe a good review reaches three people and a bad review reaches ten.

“Word-of-mouth referrals are the major generator of our new business” - Ian Clarquinn, Commercial Sales Consultant.

Wet days on building sites do not present a problem for Park Homes delivering on time and in budget, as they manufacture their homes inside a Cambridge factory. The 32 year old family-owned business constructs durable transportable homes on a steel chassis, meeting the needs for affordable homes in a hurry or holiday homes. The business initially constructed lightweight cabins for caravan park accommodation and ‘granny flats’ which Managing Director Tony Park says were a major development for the welfare of the elderly. In 2007, the business changed its direction and brand as it moved to building more conventional, larger homes, while still retaining the factory production line. Park Homes now can build an eight square meter home unit every day. It is looking to expand its lifestyle village homes for people aged over 55 and move into multi-story residential buildings.

“Park Homes has become a true solution for the huge increase in housing needs in Tasmania.” - Tony Park, Managing Director.

Tasmanian surveying business Lester Franks Survey & Geographic is bringing the fourth dimension of time to surveying. The business is conducting research using 4D GIS software into the use of scenario modelling in strategic land use planning. This will help determine when roads and underground services need to be upgraded following the development of a new building and the resulting pressure it will place on existing infrastructure. Lester Franks has been developing the concept for several years and when software became available in the past year, it enabled the company to investigate the use of time in its surveying work. Managing Director Malcolm Lester says strategic land use planning is a field that will become more important as population and environmental pressures increase. The potential for policy makers to apply such a tool in changing environments is enormous.

“Lester Franks was one of the first surveying companies in Australia to purchase a laser scanner and it has stayed at the leading edge of technology” – Malcolm Lester, Managing Director.

A love of travel and web technology inspired researchers from Insight4, a Hobart-based software development and IT consultancy, to develop an online answers service to travel queries. After validation and system development their “crowd-sourcing” of travel advice concept attracted an AusIndustry COMET grant and won a wildcard entry into the CeBIT Webciety in 2009. This was commercialised in 2009 as Travellr. It is just one of the innovations to come out of Insight4’s Emergent Technology Group, a dedicated research and development group led by one of Insight4’s founders, Ian Cumming.

Another of Insight4’s commercialised products is QikTimes, an innovative web-based timesheet application for small businesses and professionals. It allows workflow management and timesheet tasks to be performed with more convenience, speed and efficiency using a unique drag-and-drop style calendar interface.

“Insight4’s research and development encourages employees to put their skills to the test on an international level.” – Richard Roff, Marketing Manager.

As a financial services industry consultant in Australasia and Europe, Simon Offor had first-hand experience with the difficulties companies faced in accessing staff education opportunities. For many, it costs a considerable amount in money and time for staff to travel to a central location for training. After launching SConsulting in 2006, Simon developed a flexible online education system which offers financial organisations training tailored to their specific needs at lower costs.

Students can undertake 110 educational modules in multiple languages, irrespective of their location. The system is unique in combining the latest technology with qualitative results about each employee. SConsulting has recently conducted an industry seminar in Malaysia, won a major contract in Singapore and started a research project on corporate education with the University of Tasmania. This has given Simon confidence about the commercial potential of his innovative training system.

“Our education system is delivered online reducing the need for paper based material and the need to travel” - Simon Offor, CEO.

Based on demands for a solution to enhance its own workforce management, Maintenance Systems Solutions, developed its own software which is now being widely adopted by its customer base. The Port Sorell business, founded by Managing Director Adam Brooks, created and developed a software solution called Snatcher. The SAP and PC based solution allows work orders and attachments to be printed in one easily controlled process via the PC. Snatcher took MSS six months to develop and test. Since its development, the Snatcher technology has been rolled out to clients in vehicle manufacturing, mining and food production. Adam says it addressed a specific shortfall in available solutions and has since been adopted by all of the company’s clients.

“Our biggest challenge has been acquiring the resources to sustain our growth. A key lesson is that we need to ensure we can deliver on the growth we create” - Adam Brooks, Chairman.

Lester Franks Survey & Geographic has taken action to help overcome the difficulties that the spatial sciences industry finds in sourcing appropriately educated and trained surveyors and planners. Lester Franks partners with the University of Tasmania to offer under-graduate, post-graduate, honours and master scholarships in surveying and planning disciplines. The business currently has six scholarship students working with it and all of its previous post-graduate students have taken full-time employment on completion of their studies. Managing Director Malcolm Lester, a former chairman of the Association of Consulting Surveyors Australia, says Lester Franks is an active participant in the Co-operative Research Centres for both Mining and Spatial Information. Employees are encouraged to participate in their local communities and the business contributes to Planning Aid, a free service offering planning advice to people who could not otherwise afford it.

“Corporate social responsibility activities boost morale and pride within the business while making a difference to the community” – Malcom Lester, Managing Director.

Park Homes Managing Director Tony Park has made a significant contribution to Tasmanian life while running his own custom-designed re-locatable home business for three decades. A former director of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tourism Council of Tasmania, Tony has actively supported the Scout Association, Rural Youth and Junior Chambers of Commerce, charities, sports clubs and Tasmanian Devil Research. This community support extends to Park Homes, which has taken on unskilled workers who have become major house builders. Its move in 2007 away from caravan park cabins to conventional housing, albeit still factory built, provided more jobs for Tasmanians - up from seven to 70. Park Homes is expanding its products by developing village living for the over 55 market, beginning at Geilston Bay in Hobart, and is involved with government and council planners over joint venture developments of affordable housing for Tasmanians.

“Our community activities are linked to the development of Tasmania.” - Tony Park, Managing Director.

Hobart-based software development and IT consultancy Insight4 sponsored University of Tasmania computing students to develop a collaborative drawing iPhone application called ScribbleShare. The mobile app was downloaded by 10,000 customers in its first few days. The support for student creativity by Insight4’s founders including Jared Hill and Ian Cumming comes from their own experience as young ICT professionals. As the business grew, they made a conscious decision to give back to the industry by supporting the State’s future talent and assist in their retention in Tasmania. The business offers multiple paid work experience positions each year which give a jumpstart to the careers of aspiring software developers and an alternative to seeking opportunities on the mainland. Insight4 offers a 12-week summer intern program, a graduate program and has been involved for four years as a project sponsor for the University of Tasmania’s software engineering projects.

“All the staff are supportive of the undergraduates – they remember what it was like for them when they started out.” - Richard Roff, Marketing Manager.