My name is Alistair, and I’m the owner of Van Dude. We have been in business for over 10 years in Sydneys eastern suburbs. I am a sole trader. For those of you who don’t know what that means, essentially I am self employed. Which means I own van dude, I am van dude, and it’s just me. This can of course be a hindrance when trying to offer scale to customers. I don’t have a huge depot and cant distribute your furniture Australia wide. It does however have many advantages. It occurred to me recently that my client list has become increasingly higher end. My average cargo has gone from $300 to $20,000. The main reason for this is that I am a sole trader. I am the face of the business. If there’s a problem you speak to me. If there’s some change in circumstances, you talk to me. If you need someone to message your customer exactly 1 hour before arrival… guess who messages them? That’s right it’s me! But the number 1 difference I can offer is quality control. I am the face of my business, but I also become the face of yours. I spend time in your customers house. I put blankets down on their floor, chock their gate open, ask their neighbour for permission to block their driveway, and pat their dog, I also say good morning or afternoon to their kids and spend a fair bit of time in their beautiful home. This being Sydney that home is sometimes worth $100 million! This isn’t a bragging post, quite far from in in fact, I’m a humble van dude driving around Sydney delivering furniture or artwork, its just that I may be the little guy in this industry, but sometimes the little guy is best.