Client Profile: Elton Truong, Incert

Starting a new business is never easy, but for the founders of InCert, the motivation was clear. After over ten years in the industry, Elton Truong and Michael Liem saw a gap in the market for the building certification of tenancy fitouts and specialised consultancy services. Despite initial nervousness, their shared vision and commitment to balancing hard work with a positive company culture have driven rapid success and growth. Join us as we speak with Elton and learn more about the Incert story.

You began Incert with Michael Liem just over a year ago. What led you to start your own building certification and consultancy company? 

I've been in the industry for over ten years now. I began my career as a Quantity Surveyor, but quickly realised it wasn't my passion. Seeking a change, I applied to various construction companies and was offered a position with a small building certification firm, Kudos Building Certification, becoming their first employee. It was there that I met Michael Liem, and we've stayed in touch over the past eight years. Eventually, I moved on to a large building compliance and consulting firm, where I joined their airports division. This role allowed me to work at Sydney, Bankstown, and the new Western Sydney Airport, which proved to be incredibly interesting work.

During this time, previous clients continued to reach out to me for assistance with small tenancy fitout work. Recognising an opportunity in the market for these services, Michael and I decided to take action. We share a like-minded approach, so I knew it was a great idea when he suggested starting our own business. We both firmly believe in the mantra ‘work hard, play hard.’ While we are committed to putting in long hours, we also prioritise enjoying ourselves. Our goal is to create a company culture that feels relaxed but is dedicated to hard work.

Is it just the two of you?

No, we have some support staff as well. Currently, we have one administrator, with another joining us next month. Additionally, we brought on a cadet a couple of months ago and plan to hire another cadet by the end of the year.

So, you are growing quite quickly.

Yes, we are very fortunate. Initially, I was a bit nervous because I had a secure and comfortable job in the Airports division, where I had been for four years and was familiar with all the clients, procedures, and processes. Starting your own firm is always a risk, but we've managed to pick up a lot of clients, and it has worked out well so far.

Tell us about certifying fitouts. How is that different from other types of certification?

Most of our clients are commercial retail businesses, and they typically aim to open on a Thursday night. As a result, we often receive an influx of OC (Occupation Certificate) requests on Wednesday or Thursday mornings, requiring us to be readily available to push the project forward and issue the OC promptly. The process of certifying fitouts is much quicker than certifying a building from scratch, with timelines that might be as short as four months instead of two years. We follow the same procedures but within a significantly shorter timeframe, which can create a high-pressure environment to get the work done quickly.

I really enjoy this type of work because we get to see a lot of different interior designs and stay updated on current trends. We handle many franchise projects and travel around NSW whenever a new shop or retail outlet opens, which helps build strong customer relationships. Working with the same teams repeatedly allows us to develop a solid understanding of each other, making the collaboration very rewarding.

Do you do some work outside of Sydney, then?

Yes, since we work with franchises and aim to service those customers wherever they open new locations, we often travel to Newcastle, Wollongong, and surrounding areas of Sydney.

How is the business going?

When we started, we had just one client. I made a post on LinkedIn, which generated a lot of inquiries and helped bring in initial business. However, our most significant growth has come from word of mouth. Many people reached out to me once they heard I was back in Certification, which brought in a substantial amount of business. The same happened with Michael; he is well-known in the industry, and many clients wanted to continue working with him. This has significantly contributed to our business growth.

Is running your own business what you thought it would be? Has anything surprised you or challenged you in ways you did not expect?

Running our own business has been both challenging and rewarding, and I learn something new every month. One of the biggest surprises was the time required for administration and getting our processes up and running. That's why I really appreciate Visual Approvals for handling much of the back-end work, such as packaging documents and maintaining a database that anyone can access to see our progress.

Accounting has also been a significant challenge. Coming from a non-commerce, non-accounting, and non-business background, it took a lot to learn these aspects. Fortunately, we've found a good accountant who is happy to explain everything to us, but there's still a lot to manage, from bookkeeping to payroll. Learning payroll was particularly challenging. My goal is to eventually hire someone who specialises in these areas, but I want to fully understand how everything works from a business management perspective before handing it over.

What has been most surprising is that we're ahead of where we expected to be. I didn't anticipate reaching this level of growth for another couple of years, so being in this position now is positive but unexpected.

What are your plans to grow your business over the next 12 to 24 months?

We’d like to hire another cadet by the end of this year, and I hope that they will become more confident and competent in managing their own work. This will allow me to focus on final reviews rather than overseeing each step of the process.

We also aim to branch out to work on bigger projects, such as four-story commercial buildings. Over the next two years, my goal is to build a dedicated team that focuses exclusively on these larger-scale projects. Currently, we are handling one or two of these projects, but we lack the bandwidth to take on more and service them properly. Expanding our capacity in this area will be a key focus for our growth strategy.

What do you love about the industry you work in?

I really love what I do. To me, the building code is like a puzzle. When you go back to the first principle, you can see how everything fits together. You understand why certain requirements exist, the intent behind the legislation, and the purpose of each clause. Seeing it all come together, being able to physically see and touch the results, and knowing you were part of that process is extremely rewarding.

Another aspect I enjoy is the mix of dealing with clients and resolving problems. A major component of the work involves problem-solving, which isn't always easy, but finding solutions is very satisfying.

Could you give us an example of a problem that needs resolving?

At Incert, we also have a consulting arm, which generates about 30% of our revenue, making it an important part of the business. For example, a client might come to me as they have hit a roadblock with a Certifier and are unable to solve a technical problem, such as ensuring wheelchair access into a building. This is where our consulting services come in. I can propose a Performance Solution that meets the requirements of 'A, B, C, and D,' satisfying both the certifier and the client. Solving these kinds of problems and seeing everyone walk away happy is very rewarding.

In your opinion, what are the primary challenges facing building certification in NSW over the next 12 to 24 months?

The biggest issue is that our industry is aging, with many certifiers set to retire in the next few years. Unfortunately, there aren't enough new university graduates entering the field to replace those leaving. It has been challenging to attract people to join the industry. For instance, it took us quite a while to find a cadet interested in learning what we do. This situation is expected to worsen over the next five years. With a shortage of talent and resources, certifiers will face increased pressure to complete their work, leading to higher stress levels.

Currently, our cadet is in his second year and attends university one day a week, with other classes being online, allowing him to work four days a week. However, building certification involves a steep learning curve. It takes months before someone fully understands why we do what we do and what we are actually issuing. Grasping the legislative powers, understanding compliance, and learning the intricacies of the job take time and are quite difficult to teach.

Another significant challenge is the declining quality of certifiers in NSW. Achieving accreditation in NSW is very difficult, leading many certifiers to get accredited in other states and then transition back into the NSW system. Statistics show that only 30% of certifiers in NSW obtain their accreditation through the NSW system. The vast majority of them get certified in SA or WA and then re-enter the NSW system. Consequently, many NSW unrestricted certifiers have numerous conditions attached to their accreditation. In my experience as a consultant, I’ve noticed that certifiers who transition from other states often lack an understanding of the nuances of the NSW system, leading to concerning gaps in their knowledge.

Isn’t this indicative of a broader issue where certification should be standardised across Australia rather than each state setting its own legislative requirements? The NCC and the Building Code are nationwide; shouldn't certification follow suit?

Yes, this concern has been raised with our accreditation body, Fair Trading, and the Minister is aware of the issue. However, whether they decide to take action to address this problem or to improve the quality of certifiers in NSW remains to be seen.

I'm particularly concerned that when a certifier makes a mistake, the regulators may not conduct a thorough investigation to understand why it happened. Fair Trading tends to revoke a certifier's registration without sufficient due diligence. Certifiers aren't given the opportunity to explain what happened or present other work to support their claims. This leads to a very harsh cancellation of their license and livelihood for a period of time without a fair chance to defend themselves.

On a lighter note and leaving work aside, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I don't have a lot of spare time as I have a young son who pretty much dictates my life as a whole. We recently moved into a new home, and my wife loves to cook, so we enjoy hosting gatherings for family and friends. Mostly, I spend my time with the family, walking the dog, and, when I can, attending the gym.

How did you hear about Visual Approvals, and why did you choose VA as your building certification and business management system?

I first heard about Visual Approvals at the AAC Conference about two years ago. Additionally, I have a couple of certifier friends who use VA and recommended it. Michael had experience with another system previously and wasn't a fan, so we decided to go with VA.

One of the aspects we appreciate about VA is the high level of customisation it offers, which can be both good and bad. Because we are very meticulous, we spend a lot of time making the templates look exactly how we want them to. Other systems often have very fixed templates that don't offer this flexibility. 

We also find the VA Inspector App to be very effective. Although we still need to build out everything, it’s clear that it is a powerful tool. In the fitout field, since we are always looking at similar things, we can get quite detailed with our templates and checklists. When we go onsite with the VA Inspector, we just go through the checklist, which ensures we don't miss anything. All of the photos are there, and the reports are generated very easily, which is a big plus for us.

Has Visual Approvals helped in the growth of your business in its first year?

Yes, definitely. In my previous two companies, we relied heavily on manual, word-based processes where everything had to be typed up individually, and there was no efficient record tracking. With Visual Approvals, the fact that it's a database makes it very easy to track everything. The built-in documents have saved us a significant amount of time, and this efficiency has been instrumental in helping us grow our business.

Do you have any other comments about the software, the staff, or Visual Approvals as a company?

I need to give kudos to the staff. Gayle is super-efficient. Despite being very busy, she always manages to address any problems I send her way quickly and effectively. Jason is amazing as well; he takes a lot of initiative and is always willing to help us with new features. He consistently tries to accommodate our needs, and even if a feature isn't currently available, he pushes for its inclusion.

Would you recommend VA to other start-up certification businesses?

Yes, I would recommend Visual Approvals to other start-ups. I would advise anyone looking to start their own company to build out your processes with VA before starting work with your clients because VA helps you establish and streamline those processes. Essentially, it functions as a business management system that includes all your clients and jobs and handles all the invoicing. It is a powerful tool that I didn't fully appreciate until I needed to start invoicing clients for their jobs.

We use the Xero integration, which saves us a lot of time and eliminates the need for an additional bookkeeper. Once it's set up, it is quite intuitive and just works seamlessly.

VA’s efficient software and supportive staff make it an excellent choice for businesses looking to streamline their processes and grow.