NEIS: A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR GLOWING PANES

Craig Williamson, Glowing Panes

'Five years ago I never thought I'd be living in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney running my own window cleaning business', laughs Craig Williamson. 

Craig's business, Glowing Panes, was made possible by his participation in the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, which he completed in early 2001.

A former optic fibre technician, Craig was looking for work when he saw the scheme advertised at Centrelink in Bondi Junction. He found the inspiration for his business on the streets outside. 

'I used to come up to Bondi Junction and I noticed that the signs outside the shops over the footpath were always really filthy. So I thought I could start a business to clean the signage.'

Craig plucked up the courage to come in and see David Baumgarten at ESBEC, and the following week found himself on the NEIS course.

'The course gave me the direction to have a proper business plan and the knowledge of what steps needed to be taken. Actually sitting down and getting in to the real nitty gritty of insurance costs and council regulations - you tend to gloss over those things on your own so it made me do things properly.'

As a result of the market research which Craig undertook during the course, he discovered that shop owners wanted their windows cleaned more than the shop signs, and were prepared to pay more for that service.

Council regulations also had an impact on Craig's ability to clean the signs out on the street, so the business naturally evolved into window cleaning.

'Things didn't quite go according to plan in my first year,' admits Craig. 'I was way too optimistic in my sales forecasts. I wouldn't have survived without NEIS, and it gave me the incentive to carry on because I knew the support was there.'

Craig also found the course was valuable to meet other aspiring business owners, as were the networking functions organised by ESBEC which he attended after the course. 

'I clean windows for some of the people in my course, and I also have a labour hire agreement with a couple of the guys I met there. When we need extra help we hire each other out for a few hours, although it's harder now that we're all getting busy.'

Craig now has a range of regular customers and plans to franchise the business in the future. He would also like to give something back to NEIS, perhaps by volunteering for a panel.

'I'd absolutely recommend the course to others, if you're serious about starting a business. Even if you may think you're not quite ready, I'd say still give it a go because the course itself gives you a bit of a spur on as well'.

 For details of NEIS businesses visit www.neisdirectory.com.au

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