Entrepreneur: Taking Risks for Greater Reward
It was late October 2007 when I was contacted by a customer….. “we need a camp built, is this something that you can do?” – being the entrepreneur that I am, of course my answer was “yes, no worries, what type of camp did you want built”
….and then it all began
The Risks
Our customer had just won the bid to construct a 275km X70 grade steel oil pipeline. They had but 30 days to have ‘the camp’ operational and ready for personnel.
Our customer had put their faith in me to deliver a camp on time and on budget because it was a problem that they needed fixed.
This was a risk for them and a risk for me.
- If we both succeed, then we both will open the doorway to greater opportunities.
- If we both fail, then there are all sorts of consequences. (So let’s not fail)
Besides achieving the timeframe for construction, the hidden catch is the camp size and where it needed to be built…..
Camp Description
The camp needed to be a 130 man individual ensuite camp complete with sewer, fire hydrants, commercial kitchen, diner to seat 80 people, laundries (x2), generator and backup generator system, load bank for generator power, telecommunications, sewerage treatment plant, water storage to last 7 days, offices to suite 20 people and parking.
Camp Location
The camp needed to be positioned at a very remote part of Queensland, Australia. Located 1,000km’s North of Adelaide, 1,400km’s Northwest of Sydney, 1,300km’s West of Brisbane between 2 sandhills on a cattle station called Epsilon.
The region is culturally rich and environmentally fragile; it requires responsible care for the establishment of such a camp so that no harm is caused to cultural heritage sites, environment, safety of personnel or a breach of construction codes simply because things were missed. We could not make exceptions.
Services in Close Proximity
There are no service companies (plumbing, carpenters, electricians etc.) that service this region, and there are no logistics companies that regularly service this location or nearby to it.
How things played out…
- We already had another 160 man camp being constructed at a different site about 1,000km’s away, this had taken all of our trained resources. Utilising the same resources was not a possible option.
- I needed to find a construction crew capable of completing this project; builders, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, machine operators and delivery (logistics) to enable materials and equipment to arrive at the right time.
- There are no logistics companies that service this area so we had to establish one.
- We had to arrange for the construction crew to camp on site to achieve such a tight deadline.
“Being an entrepreneur, I wanted our business to grow and this project was a key opportunity for us to make that happen.”
Stage 1 – Agree on Design
Within the first few hours I had drawn up a design and the camp layout was agreed. Our customer took on board sourcing the buildings and routine transport of the buildings to site. This allowed me to focus on building the camp.
Within the next 2 days we had agreed on minor changes to the design, this is based around the availability of some camp buildings (size, shape, fixtures etc.) and what arrangement needed to be amended to cater for the change.
Stage 2 – Mobilisation
Within the first 2 days I had sourced our builders/carpenters and with 5 days I had sourced all the other necessary personnel for the construction works. Some of these people I had never met before, and, with that situation there are some big risks (don’t arrive on time, quality is poor, not like minded and cause conflict etc.).
I mobilised myself with our builders/carpenters on the 3rd day to peg out the site. We required all necessary permits an clearances before we began, those people met us on site to quarantine the area from any such risks.
For immediate accommodation we found 6 rooms were available at the cattle station quarters, any more people had to camp in swags.
Stage 3 – Start Work
We drove our first peg and work began.
on the 4th day our excavation machinery and preliminary equipment arrived with our transport and the site was levelled.
on the 5th and 6th day the site profiles were laid out and building corner pegs were constructed.
On the 7th day the plumbers and electricians arrived with their remaining materials, along with our first truck loads of buildings.
Stage 4 – Bringing Camp Online
Construction continued solidly for the next 20 days, with every building being positioned and utilised as they were tested and accepted for use by our client.
Catering began operating before the camp was finished.
The daily temperatures of the site were reaching as high as 47-48deg C.
Logistics had set backs because the Cooper Creek flooded, this meant hat transport to site was blocked and could only be passed via the Burke and Wills Bridge. This problem cause the transport of buildings to be taken an additional 1,00km’s by road via Blackall and Longreach.
The generator utilisation difference between daytime & nighttime was a 50%. To prevent generator damage we had to install a load bank that regulated the camp power consumption to prevent generator damage and therefore failure.
Stage 5 – Hand Over & Looking Back
The project was delivered with great success. News Article.
Our customer was credited by delivering a major project on time and on budget. We were credited by constructing future camps, building stronger business relationships and growing our ‘can do’ reputation that isn’t hindered by risk or adversity.
This job was a highlight for me because it was a moment where anything could have happened but we made it work.
As an entrepreneur, I am always seeking opportunities, I constantly measure the risks in order to achieve them. Because without taking on risks, and accepting some failures along the way, I will never be able to grow.
Written by Geoff Pike, Entrepreneur, Speaker & Business Mentor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-pike-australia
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ABOUT GEOFF
Geoff founded a sole trader plumbing business in a remotely located and vastly underpopulated location in outback Australia. Starting business with only enough money to pay 4 weeks wages, Geoff persisted by growing the business into a multi-disciplined trade services company. Over a period of 12 years, the company Geoff established grew to employ a workforce of over 300 personnel covering an area almost half the size of Europe, receiving international award recognition with an annual revenue of over $30mil. Geoff knows what it takes to overcome adversity.