Norm McLaughlin spent the first eleven years of his career in industry as a well-paid engineer. But Norm wanted to do something different. He took a significant pay cut and moved to an entirely different role in a non-profit organization.
Norm had twelve great years there before the itch to take on a new challenge set in. With his background in engineering, he’d always enjoyed sorting out people’s computer problems, and as he did so, some would suggest that this was something he could do professionally. So an idea was birthed. Norm decided to launch his own computer repair business.
He registered a business name, acquired a domain, and began working on a website. Looking back now, he realizes he really had little idea about much of what he was doing, but he was learning on the fly and he kept moving forward. He dropped to part-time hours in his day job at the beginning of January 2016.
The hardworking go-getter soon made the decision to go full-time and for this he chose the first day of spring, symbolic of new beginnings. This was a tremendous achievement in just a few months, having started the business from nothing. After going full-time, Norm’s customer base continued to grow, comprised mainly of small businesses and seniors, which continues to this day.
Norm’s level of activity grew to the point where he was earning a satisfactory income and also having a lot of fun. Then after three years, he made the decision to relocate from Sydney to Brisbane, which meant starting all over again. He changed the name of the company from Norm’s Computer Repairs to Norm’s Computer Services, to better reflect the range of services offered.
“The beauty of starting again is that I’ve been able to utilize the lessons learned from the first time around,” Norm says. “This meant laying a much firmer foundation for long-term success.” For example, he’s now focusing on SEO as the most significant element of his marketing strategy, rather than SEM.
Norm is driven by a strong desire to live his dream, and has the accompanying determination to succeed. He considers freedom from the restrictions of a regular job, and a more flexible lifestyle, to be a dream worth pursuing. With a clear vision of what the future looks like, there’s really no turning back.
