WHEN Mick Ferrero moved to Western Australia in 1991 he discovered that many of his fellow Britons had an appetite for British sausages local producers just couldn't satisfy.
WHEN Mick Ferrero moved to Western Australia in 1991 he discovered that many of his fellow Britons had an appetite for British sausages local producers just couldn't satisfy.
Within a year he had established The British Sausage Company in Osborne Park. Now, 18 years later, the small business has become a market leader.
But in the early years Mr Ferrero found his limited business knowledge and experience, particularly in a foreign country, was acting as a barrier to the rapid growth the company had undergone - to the point where British Sausages was losing money.
"I was working harder and longer but earning less money," Mr Ferrero told WA Business News.
Desperate to make the business work and continue to grow in a steady and sustainable manner, Mr Ferrero began investigating courses that would teach him the necessary tools to run a successful and expanding business.
"I enrolled in a Curtin [University of Technology] small business development course, which taught me to step back and spend time working on the business rather than in the business and to trust good employees to make the right decisions, management to manage and how to produce the right KPIs [key performance indicators]," Mr Ferrero said.
"Generally it taught me that you cannot do everything and that if I wanted the business to grow in the right direction I needed to use professional advice.
"So, in a nutshell, the Curtin course stopped me from being a busy fool."
Curtin growth program manager Phil Doyle said entrepreneurs such as Mr Ferrero could take comfort in knowing they were not alone in the type of problems they faced.
He said of the more than 50 businesspeople to have taken his course, almost all have a "Eureka moment" on the first day when they realise many others are experiencing the same issues.
Mr Ferrero said the Curtin course also made him realise the importance of accountability in the workplace - an issue he overlooked in the early years of building the company.
"If you pay somebody to do a job they should be doing the job that they are getting paid for," he said. "I mean, it's as simple as that."
Since undertaking the Curtin growth course, Mr Ferrero said, the business had increased turnover and brand awareness, as well as profitability.
He said by acknowledging the importance of accountability in the workplace, management skills has also improved, allowing him to often work from his Yallingup home.
In the past year, The British Sausage Company has expanded into New South Wales, establishing a wholly owned subsidiary company called the Peppercorn Food Company.
Mr Ferrero said the NSW move was the first in a strategic push to roll-out the small business across Australia.
"We're looking at different opportunities and we'll assess them on their merits as they come along," he said.
