Land of plenty of opportunity
“All you have to do is put your heart and soul into it, I know not every business is a winner but the success rate in this part of the world is a lot higher than anywhere else around.”
Mechanic and new father, Andrew Pearce had a decision to make. Stay in Townsville and make the transition from working in town to shift work in the mines, while wife Leisa stays home with their new baby, living separate lives away from each other. Or take a risk, move back to their home town of Barcaldine and start their own business.
Spoiler alert. They moved west and haven’t looked back.
They started All Roads Automotive & Mechanical in Barcaldine in 2009.
“We pretty much do anything that opens and shuts, vehicles, boats, trucks, tractors, mowers, whipper snippers, new vehicles which you normally wouldn’t get serviced at an independent workshop. We do the lot,” he explains.
He found working in a trade out west means getting a huge variety, being able to do things your own way, getting a broad skills base, and that there is never a dull day.
The region has supported their business aspirations in a way they don’t believe would happen in a larger centre.
“When we first started, cash flow was tight.
“The locals understood that and would pay for their work before the due date to help us. This really helped our cashflow and allowed us to grow, and now we can do lease work, government work we can carry work that takes time to be paid for,” he said.
Over the past 12 years, their business has grown, they now employ four apprentices and two tradesmen.
“We’ve got plenty of government work on we’ve got plenty of private work, such as the sheep stations the cattle stations all around town,”
“If you want to work anywhere in Barcaldine or the central west, and you are not working, well it’s your own fault pretty much,” he said.
It’s not just the business growth or community support that has made his call to move far out a great one.
He loves the work-life balance he’s got, he especially appreciates its only two blocks between his home and the workshop.
When the family is not working they enjoy speedway, waterskiing, mud racing and many other outdoor activities.
There is one drawback though.
“The worst part about working out here on the vehicles we do is the amount of dirt underneath them – we are always finishing the day dirty,” he laughs.
The father of three considers himself living proof that out west is a land of plenty of work and opportunity.
“All you have to do is put your heart and soul into it, I know not every business is a winner, but the success rate in this part of the world is a lot higher than anywhere else around,” he said.
When we first started cash flow was tight and the locals understood that so they’d pay before the due date to help us. I can’t think of many other places that would happen.
Andrew Pearce
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