Ian Hurst has spent many years in the payroll management and human resources field, having started his career with aspirations of becoming an accountant, completing a Commerce degree at Stellenbosch University. He was only three days into his first job, however, when he realised that accounting wasn't for him, and in 1981 he accepted a position on the diamond mines in Kimberley. Due to his background in accounting, Ian was asked to look after the wages department as part of his portfolio, work which was in those days done manually. Three years later Ian found himself working at Van Leer Packaging as a training manager, followed by a four year stint at Mobil (now Engen), and in 1989 he joined Bergers stores. Ian says of this period: "It was a difficult six years, as I had to start the HR department in a family owned company that did not believe in the niceties of

Ian was not, however, happy with the change, and did not agree with the autocratic management of the company: "I was not prepared to sacrifice my values to be part of the "in" group. I believe in balance, and all work and no play did not excite me." In addition to this, there was talk of the head office relocating to Johannesburg, which was not part of Ian's future plans.

It was during this period, having spent many frustrating hours trying to find a reliable, competent payroll outsource company without success, that Ian saw the need for a company that would take full responsibility for payroll: "At that stage there were plenty who would plonk a terminal on your desk leaving you to do the input and verification yourself. I was looking for a company that would take responsibility and do all the work, encompassing pension, medical aid and human resource work as well." Ian believed that payrolls would become more and more complicated due to more stringent laws and government policing, making payroll a specialised and highly skilled area of business. He partnered up with ex-Bergers MD Joe Wolfson, who now heads POSSE Investments, who shared his vision, and so Paymaster was born.

The going wasn't easy at first, the biggest problem being to convince clients that Paymaster could deliver in a very sensitive area. In order to overcome this problem, parallel salary and wage systems were set up to convince clients of the feasibility. Growth was at first slow, with a monthly turnover of only R40 in the beginning. Things looked more promising, however after eight months, when Paymaster signed a large company who was able to cover all Paymaster's business expenses. The client was unfortunately sold shortly thereafter, and turnover dropped by half: "We survived by focussing on costs and concentrating on marketing to smaller companies (30 - 80 employees) to diversify our customer base, a market we still focus on today".

Through much perseverance and hard work, Ian eventually brought Paymaster to where it is today, with five payroll administrators working for 114 clients and running over 160 payrolls monthly, transferring over R16 million a month through their trust account to pay over 5500 employees. Paymaster have also teamed with Bizland in order to bring Paymaster into the technology age: "Because of our association with Bizland, clients now have access to their information via the Bizland website, where individual employees can change their own biographical data online."

Ian offers the following advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: diversify your customer base to avoid putting all your eggs one basket; work at finding trustworthy and loyal staff, as they are worth more than anything else in your business; and remember the balance - keeping your support structure (spouse, family) in tact is more important than the extra turnover. Ian also stressed the importance of keeping customers happy, as this will only serve to have a positive effect on your business. As a final point Ian adds: "Business is my passion and it gives me great pleasure to see companies being able to focus on the core issues and grow from strength to strength, because Paymaster is dealing with the staffing issues."

A family man at heart, Ian enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, as well as all things outdoors, such as hiking, cycling, camping and recently sailing, and is also an avid reader of biographies.

Ian is positive about the future of Paymaster, and will shortly be introducing a Time and Attendance model to the offering in partnership with Bizland. He is also looking into adding medical aid and pension brokerage services to the offering. Ian's aims is to pay 10 000 employees by the end of 2004, doubling the business every two years - true proof of a man passionate about his business.

Ian can be contacted on 082 898 5006 or click here to email. Visit Paymaster's website at www.paymaster.co.za.