As we are all aware within the small business and startup world, most new businesses don’t make it past the three year mark and are forced to close up shop.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it’s more than 60 per cent of small businesses that cease operating within their first three years – with even more falling over before the five-year mark.
ISR Training have made it to their fifth birthday milestone this month, an achievement that many startups never realise, one year after securing support from Shark Tank.
Co-founders and young entrepreneurs Jack Corbett and Ryan Tuckwood have defied their naysayers and have excelled in an incredibly competitive industry to see their ethical sales training business become a multimillion-dollar operation with a client base of more than 1000 companies.
The Surfers Paradise-based business has grown from a team of two – Mr Corbett and Mr Tuckwood – in 2014, to employ 15 staff and have achieved a 100 percent year-on-year revenue growth since its inception.
The company came to public fame last year when its enterprising co-founders secured the investment and corporate support of three judges on television’s Shark Tank, the first time an entrepreneur had received the formal tick of approval from every expert on the show.
Mr Corbett, who was named the 2017 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year, said the five-year landmark was a particularly proud moment given the challenges all start-ups face.
“It’s no secret the survival rate of new businesses is low but ISR Training is not only still standing but thriving,” he said.
“We recognised very early that it is crucial to build a business around your passion and ensure your product or service has market demand. That seems obvious but too many start-ups focus on a niche and end up struggling as not enough people want or need what they are offering.
Mr Tuckwood said while the pair would celebrate the company’s birthday, they had their eyes set on where ISR Training would be in another five years.
“As a forward-thinking organisation, we have very specific goals about where the company is headed and global expansion is a key driver,” he said.
“Having already launched in New Zealand, we envisage our services being deployed in 100 countries by our 10thbirthday and the company recognised as the global number one in sales training on the back of SWISH accreditation that would see businesses certified in ethical selling.
“We have always aimed for the sky at ISR Training and with projections to employ more than 100 people and have annual revenue of $100 million by 2024, that is going to continue.”
