Broadband Solutions started with a single, second-hand router and one big idea.
That first item cost $1000, the second was priceless; launching a company now worth $25 million, which employs 25 people across Australian and New Zealand and provides internet for 80 per cent of the Australian hotel industry.
The company now provides businesses across various industries with speedy, reliable broadband connection, in addition to cloud storage and specialist IT services.
Secondhand resources
"We didn't have a lot of money and had no savings, so what we did was looked on eBay and we managed to find a second-hand router which was around $1000 and we used that plus a few other things to set up the network that we needed to supply internet to our clients."
It's a transformation that parallels the life of its founder, Sam Bashiry, whose life in Australia began as a child behind barbed wire, where words were foreign and childhood was fleeting.
A young Sam Bashiry before he and his family fled Iran. Source: Small Business Secrets
From behind the barbed wire
The Iranian refugee spent his formative years in an Australian detention centre with his family.
"It was quite intimidating having to be locked up and seeing all those big fences around. You learn to grow up really quickly, so you sort of skip that childhood period."
If he skipped his childhood, Bashiry has missed little since; as a young salesman at an IT firm, he noted Australian businesses' increasing reliance on the internet and later cashed in on that trend.
One step in Bashiry's evolution from worker to CEO was to hire his boss of 20 years prior, Greg Ashmore in 2014 - later appointing him General Manager of Broadband Solutions.
"I remember a young 24 year old being held back by working in sales at the company we worked for, you could see he had this entrepreneurial spirit in him," Ashmore recalls.
From mentor to employer - former boss Greg Ashmore now works for Sam. Source: Small Business Secrets
What's next?
The business is now focussed on nurturing the next generation of tech-savvy entrepreneurs, by offering scholarships to students who have a passion for the industry.
Ten years ago, it was a bold move by Bashiry to launch a venture with no money or clients. HIs next step is to expand into Asia, and as with any financial risks he has taken, he sees only opportunity.
"Having gone through all the stuff I have been through and all the challenges, I don't believe in fear. I think where I'm from and what I had to deal with there - it really can't get any worse."
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