Disability Assist
Janet Hartrick, Managing Director of DisAbility Assist, believes a philosophy of care and service has been the reason she was able to successfully move from the public service into her own business. The NEIS program at Kangan Batman TAFE BEC also assisted.
In 1992 Janet, who was a senior manager at Kew Residential Services, Department of Human Services, made a career decision to leave the public service to study an MBA and to reflect on her future. She realised then that the government's policy shift away from government run service provision to outsourcing, provided a business opportunity. There was a growing unmet need for non-government providers in an area in which she had plenty of experience and skill. As a result, Janet decided to start DisAbility Assist to provide support, therapy and training for people with disabilities and their carer.
Centrelink directed me towards the NEIS program which I found quite beneficial because it provided practical skills that don't seem to be a part of the MBA or government management responsibilities," Janet said. "NEIS equipped me not only with the skills to commence a small business, to have the confidence to do so."
"Even though I had been in management I still had very little practical experience at running a business and being totally responsible for all aspects of the business. When working in the public service you may feel responsible for large budgets but there was always someone to fall back on if there were budget overruns. This is not the case in small business," she added.
"The timing was perfect," Janet said. "Departments were looking to outsource these services. With my contacts and experience I seemed to fit the bill as I quickly picked up government work and clients from Kew Cottages. After a couple of years, this grew to many other clients".
Twelve years after starting DisAbility Assist, the business has grown continuously by an average of 30% per annum and now employs 100 full time and part-time staff. The business is still run from her home, which Janet says has worked for her - enabling her to work hours to suit family commitments and keep running costs low. The business has expanded to having revenue of 1.5 million dollars in the last financial year and has had 26 of its training topics accredited by TAFE.
Janet has plans for further growth and foresees expanding the training provided by DisAbility Assist to include OH&S issues as another growth area. "We are completing the ISO accreditation which will enable us to move into other areas," she said.
"Establishing and running my own business has been a challenge as I have had to combine it with assisting a family member who is unwell. I have put a lot of time and effort into the business and am proud of what it is today. The NEIS program was very beneficial in that it also gave me increased confidence and contacts who I could use to assist."