The story behind DASH Symons, 18 years in the making.
"What if I buy you a HiAce and you come and work for me?"
It wasn’t your average job offer, especially coming from a third-year electrical apprentice.
But Dave Symons has never aspired to average.
Back in 2008, it was a conversation with an old friend and colleague that inspired the beginnings of DASH Symons.
Having always wanted to run his own company, when Dave learned that Kevin was thinking about leaving his job as a security technician, it didn’t sound like bad news.
In fact, it sounded like the perfect opportunity.
Dave’s first suggestion was that Kevin start a business of his own - but Kevin wasn’t interested.
The idea was percolating though, and Dave realised he could be in a position to start the business himself. He offered to buy a HiAce, start his own company and hire Kevin - and just like that, DASH Symons was underway.
With his apprenticeship still in progress, Dave spent his evenings preparing quotes, managing the paperwork and figuring out how to run a business, while Kevin was out servicing customers during the day.
"Who needs sleep, hey?" Dave recalls.
It was a steep learning curve, but the hard work began to pay off. DASH secured some significant clients early on, including the University of Queensland colleges at St Lucia and Caltex Lytton.
Before long, there was enough work to start bringing more people on board.
Completing his apprenticeship was a massive win, and Dave knew his way around electrical and security systems. The next chapter - running a company - was a whole different ball game, and felt like a brand new apprenticeship in business and life.
"Business takes no prisoners, and there's no safety net," he recalls.
In those early years, mistakes could be expensive, and Dave learned a few lessons the hard way. Being good at your trade, he quickly discovered, doesn't necessarily mean you know how to run a business.
Fortunately, he had good people around him.
His first technician was particularly valuable, bringing years of experience and a real knack for teaching others. As the team grew, he helped train new technicians and build the strong technical foundations that DASH still relies on today.
And grow it did.
More staff, a growing fleet of vehicles and eventually a factory of their own - which is now DASH Symons’ headquarters in Upper Coomera in the Gold Coast.
There was as many highlights as there were lowlights in the early years, but what Dave remembers more than anything is building a connection with the local community.
"The most joy has always come from customers saying our team’s doing a stellar job. This was so great to hear in the early years because even when things were challenging the team were delivering results to the customers independently of 'me'."
As DASH grew, Dave started to realise that he'd built something that could stand on its own two feet.
His technicians were making decisions, solving problems and looking after customers without him needing to be there every step of the way.
For someone who'd spent years pouring his time and energy into building a business, that was a pretty big moment.
It meant he could trust his team to get on with the job, even when things behind the scenes were challenging. And with good people around him, he could focus on growing DASH and building on what they'd already achieved.
"I knew I had a team that would back me. And I back them all the way."
That relationship has stayed with DASH over the years.
Today, around 30% of the team have been with the company for more than a decade.
Considering DASH is only 18 years old, that's a pretty impressive show of loyalty. And something Dave is incredibly proud of.
After 18 years in the industry, Dave knows that what a customer initially asks for isn't always what they need.
Someone might call DASH looking for CCTV cameras or a new access control system, but after taking a closer look, it might turn out that the equipment they already have is perfectly good. It just needs a little attention, or perhaps a rethink of how it's being used.
That's why DASH takes the time to understand how a business operates, what the frustrations are and where things are heading before recommending a solution.
The team has its favourite products, of course, but they're not tied to any particular brand or system. And with technology moving as quickly as it is, keeping an open mind can lead to some interesting possibilities.
For commercial customers, that might mean finding a way to save hours of administration, make a site easier to manage or get more value from an existing investment.
It's this side of the business that Dave particularly enjoys. The challenge of working out what will make the greatest difference for a customer, even if the answer is quite different from what they originally had in mind.
Here's a little piece of DASH history.
When the business first started in 2008, DASH was one of only two security companies in the area with a website. Most of the competition was still advertising in the Yellow Pages.
"Doesn't that make us sound old??!!" Dave laughs.
Eighteen years later, the conversation has moved on to artificial intelligence, and the possibilities it brings to CCTV, access control and integrated security systems.
It's an exciting time to be in the industry, particularly as technology becomes more capable and easier for customers to use.
For DASH, the plan is to keep learning, keep building the team's expertise and bring that experience to more customers across South East Queensland and the Northern Rivers.
And while the business has come a long way from that first HiAce, Dave is keen to hold on to the personal relationships and quality of service that helped it grow in the first place.
The technology will keep changing. That's half the fun.
But after 18 years in business, hearing a customer say "Your team did a great job" is still the best part of Dave's day.
