From a distance, the whir of a helicopter sounds Dick Smith's return to his Sydney compound.
The daily commute for most people involves two legs or four wheels - but then again, Dick Smith is famous for refusing to follow the crowd.
"It took me seven minutes to get to Cabramatta and in the car that would take an hour and a half so that's really good."
Time is clearly precious to this famous entrepreneur, who describes founding Dick Smith Electronics as his "greatest adventure".
Dick Smith's helicopter. Source: Supplied
"I was going to name Dick Smith electronics Alltronics, and I went down to a relative who was in advertising who said, 'Why are you calling it Alltronics when you have a name like Dick Smith?' and I said I can't believe people would get their car radios installed from a bloke named Dick Smith."
But they did, and despite the business' notorious collapse after 48 years, Smith didn't bear the brunt of public opinion.
"It ended because of greed - they opened far too many shops, but the interesting thing was it didn't damage my name."
Despite his electronics chain falling into administration in 2015, Dick Smith is still a national institution. Source: Supplied
Smith cheerfully admits to never having been able to read a balance sheet, and running his business from an old exercise book.
"I ran the whole business from that exercise book, I kept it incredibly simple, and when we couldn't fit all the shops in one book that's when I said let's sell the business, it's too complicated."
Keeping simple has always been an important aspect of running Dick Smith, particularly coming from humble roots.
"I was hopeless at school, I had a speech defect, I was never good at academic things, and so I left school and worked in a factory - thought I was a failure. And then started Dick Smith Electronics."
"I realised I was good at putting in systems, asking advice, copying others, surrounding myself with capable people...all of those simple formulas that you need to run a business."
Smith's down-to-earth attitude and philanthropic work around Australia may be the reason why he stands as an institution beyond his collapsed company.
His Australian-made food range Dick Smith Food Foundation donates all of its proceeds to an endless list of non-profits, while supporting local farmers and producers.
Smith's crusade for Australia to keep business onshore is simple; he wants to stem the flow of capital from Australia.
Dick Smith's own brand products support local manufacturing. Source: SBS Small Business Secrets
His divergence from electronics to launch self-branded Australian-owned products was a move to disrupt the oligopoly held by major brands in supermarkets and champion local producers.
"I think it is important to have Australian made and owned, because with globalisation, the wealth of the nation goes overseas. I had always hoped it would be a 50/50 flow of capital where companies here buy overseas and vice versa - but it is nothing like that."
"If we are not careful we will end up renting Australia from other people."
Want to find out the secret to small business success? Tune into #BizSecretsSBS at Sundays 5pm on SBS, stream on SBS Demand, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
