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Gina Frisby, Co-owner, Cariboo Hiab Service Ltd.

Truck transportation service is is booming for Quesnel entrepreneur.

The jump into self-employment was easy for Gina Frisby. "My husband was quite qualified to run the equipment and I was really good at telling him what to do," she says.

The couple owns Cariboo Hiab Service Ltd., a boom-crane truck transportation service located in Quesnel. Business is booming. The truck is constantly on the road at the beck and call of logging contractors, building contractors, road construction crews, and more.

"Our market is pretty wide," Gina says. "It could be big business or the little guy who has a shed to move. We provide our service to everyone."

This isn't their first foray into self-employment. Years ago, the couple was so deeply in debt they decided to start a mobile catering business - they supplied office staff rooms with baked goods, fresh vegetables and dip, chips and pop etc. They lived off what the catering business made, while her husband continued to work. They used his income to get rid of the debt.

When their second child was born, they sold the catering business and her husband gave up his seasonal work for a job in retail. "Going from a 14-hour day to an 8-hour day was hard on him," Gina says. "My husband likes to work."

Eventually, he took a job with Quesnel Hiab Service. It turned out to be a providential move. "They wanted to get out of the hiab business and we wanted to get back into working for ourselves." It was the kind of work her husband liked to do, so they struck a deal.

Separating the "new" business from the "old" was one of the couple's first challenges, but the customers soon learned what to expect. "We had to show them that when we were hired by them that we would be committed to the job," says Gina. "Our number one priority was to keep the customer happy 110%." But purchasing an existing company had other complications as well.

Women's Enterprise Centre had assisted with a loan, and also analysed the couple's vendor-financed purchase contract, asking questions Gina and her husband had overlooked, particularly with respect to the limitations of the contract. The experience was an eye-opener.

Gina appreciates Women's Enterprise Centre's willingness to listen, and she'll seek their expertise again when the business is able to expand.

Her advice to anyone considering starting a business: do your homework. "Learn anything and everything about that business," she suggests. "Ask lots of questions and don't go on somebody's word for it."

Her willingness to ask questions continues to help the business grow. "It has contributed to my success in getting to know my customers. This is a service industry and we would like to stay on top."

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