Stephen J. Hunt - Find. Build. Sell.

When I was 17 years old, my dad bought a massive BBQ and installed it down the back of the yard. It was a concrete monstrosity with a built-in chimney, removeable grills, cast-iron hotplates and more. He decked out the area with second-hand armchairs, eskies, a tarpaulin tent to keep out the rain, a tape deck and speakers so we could listen to music, and a string of party lights dripping off the trees so we didn't trip over in the dark.

He must have wanted us out of the house. It worked.

I spent most of my weekends down there, hanging out with my high-school buddies. I'd invite them all over after the footy, we'd get a few girls from school to come along and before you knew it, every teenager in the street would be popping over to see what the noise was all about. Everyone was welcome — even the teachers. It wasn't unusual on some weekends to have 100+ people down the back of the yard, partying away, with me at the helm. My parties got so popular, I rallied my mates to help me manage the logistics. One took care of the food, the other bought the grog, another manned the gate to deter any undesirables from dropping in. We were a well-oiled team.

One night we ran short of beers so my mate said, ‘Just charge them $2 for the beer you've got left in the esky' — so I did. I took that money, went down to the pub, bought more beers, came back, sold those and made $100! I was stoked. Not only had I made a few bucks, I had enabled the party to carry on late into the night. I looked around at the faces of my friends laughing, joking, dancing, drinking: I could see the joy they were experiencing, feel the happiness they were exuding, and it was exhilarating. I had brought together this disparate group of people from many walks of life, and they were all having a great time because of me. I was having a ball too, but what I really enjoyed was watching other people have a good time. In that moment, my mate Paul turned to me and he said, ‘Steve, I reckon you should do this for a living'.

‘So do I, mate. So do I.'

And now I do.

This is my story.

Success leaves clues. I've written this book so you can stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and fast track your success; so you can minimise errors, maximise opportunities and get cracking on your business idea as soon as possible. When I set out on this journey 30 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing or where it would lead. I do now and it's been a helluva ride. This book is the step-by-step guide to how I did it — a blueprint of sorts — so that you have the tools you need to find, build and sell the business of your dreams. Rip in.

What do you love? What are you good at? What does the market want? ‘Find' the intersection of these three critical questions and you've got the foundations of a successful business. ‘Find' is about identifying the right business idea for you, be it a new or existing entity, and finding the right team of people who can help you bring that idea to life. It's about finding the principles and values underpinning your entrepreneurial vision that will guide your very decision. It's about finding your strengths (and your weaknesses) so you can do more of what you love, and less of what you don't. It's about finding time to focus on what's important, and what's not, and knowing how to tell the difference. It's about finding the tools to curb anxiety, conquer worry and build resilience so you can stay the distance.

Do you run the business, or does it run you? Are you working in it, or on it? ‘Build' is about taking the business you've bought (or created) and applying robust systems, procedures and processes so that you can automate the business without duplicating effort or reinventing the wheel. It's about how to ‘build' your confidence, manage risk and create an intrapreneurial culture that answers the fundamental questions of ‘Why are you in business?' ‘What do you stand for?' and ‘Who do you want to be?' It's about building systems that minimise conflict, improve productivity and maximise profits.

Do you have an exit strategy for the business? Do you want to sell it, stay with it or list it? What's the end goal? ‘Sell' is about building upon what you've created and maximising opportunities. It's about how to ‘sell' yourself, your vision and your story to attract investors and partners who can help you realise your ambitions. It's about how to evaluate investment opportunities, source venture capital, negotiate the deal, prepare the business plan, pitch to investors and choose the right advisors.

You may not want to own a pub, but you can learn a lot of lessons from someone like me who has. Why? Because I live in the real world of business. I live in a world where my business lives and dies by the sword of selling a service at a profit that sustains me, my staff and my investors. If I don't sell something, to someone, today and every day, I fail. It's as simple as that. Unlike those in the tech sector and start-up land (and good luck to them, by the way), I don't have the luxury of telling investors, ‘Invest in this obscure, untested, untried software that one day, somehow, will make you an absolute fortune. We don't have any sales, customers, traction, history or profit yet, but trust me, one day, we will!'

No. That's not the world I live in, and chances are, it's not the world you live in either. You're a small-business owner, working hard to chase your dream and turn your idea into a profitable enterprise. You get up early, stay back late, work like crazy in between, get home, say ‘hi' to your family, collapse and then get up and do it all again the next day. In short, you're exhausted, you're overwhelmed and you want to do things differently.

You want to enjoy what you do, grow the business without going into debt, make it more profitable, do more with less and get smarter about the way you manage yourself, your team, your energy, your time and your money. You want to attract more, better customers who can afford what you offer: who love what you do and aren't afraid to tell the world about it.

You don't want to be a billionaire, or maybe even a millionaire. You just want to have a thriving business that lets you do what you want to do, that pays you for a job well done; you want a business that runs without needing you to do everything; that has systems and procedures in place that ensure you know what's going on even when you're not there; that runs like clockwork so you can get on with working on the business, instead of in the business; that lets you get back to being with your family, taking a holiday now and then and sleeping soundly at night — without waking at 3 am worrying about cash flow, deal flow or work flow.

I've been running pubs since I was 18 and I've learned a few things along the way, and how to build a multimillion-dollar, multi-venue corporation is one of them. Through trial and error, I've discovered a blueprint for business success, and the best part is, my blueprint works for any business. Whether you're a hairdresser, stockbroker, fashion designer or car dealer, this system will work for you too.

If you live in the real world, like I do, and you'd like to learn how you can turn your passion into profit, do what you love and get paid handsomely to do so (so that you never have to work in a job you hate because the work you do is what you were born to do), this is the book for you.

There's never been a better time to make a change. If ever you were going to do something differently, the time is now. Don't waste another minute doing something you don't want to do, for a boss or company you neither like nor respect, for a wage or conditions that don't reflect your true worth, talent and potential. Don't be an armchair critic. Get out there, throw your hat in the ring and get cracking. After all, if a left-handed, one kidney-ed, ginger-haired kid from the back blocks of Sydney can do it, so can you.