A major deal has fallen through, the bank manager is ringing, and the inbox keeps piling up and up. On one of those days, Sarah Trotman walks out to the beach and asks herself, “Would I rather be doing something else?”

Trotman’s answer has never changed: it’s always, she says, a ‘no’. Running her own business is her life’s commitment.

“It was really tough those first few years. But if someone offered me $200,000 to be the Microsoft SME manager, would I take it? And the answer is always no. Absolutely no. Never once did I ever falter in terms of my commitment. Never once. But almost daily I would think, ‘this is such a drag, this is hard work, this is costing three times more’, you know? Entrepreneurs make it look a bit easy, don’t they. The truth of the matter is, it’s not. It’s damn hard.”

Passion and tenacity dragged her from a childhood in Silverstream to a remarkable success as an entrepreneur. She started her business career at her father’s debt collection and cost management company, quickly rising from receptionist to second-in-charge. At the age of 26, when her father was seriously injured in a jetboating accident, she became CEO. Being thrust into this role gave Trotman her first taste of the uncertainty frequently felt by small business owners. She moved on to become chief executive of Business in the Community, the organisation behind Business Mentors New Zealand, a free mentoring programme for businesses with fewer than 25 full-time employees. It was soon apparent to her how pervasive a sense of crisis was among business owners.

But this did not dissuade her from launching her own company in 2005. Bizzone Small Business Expo hosted its first event in Auckland that year. Two years later, the expo came to Wellington. Now it is on its way across the Tasman. Starting up a new business is not easy, Trotman says. She mortgaged her house to launch Bizzone – she knows it takes a lot of courage.

“A huge amount of nerve, a huge amount of cash, and a lot of patience. It was tough – everyday was. I think it will be for every new business owner.”

But the difficulty has always been in the short-term, which is fraught with disappointments, she says. What she manages to achieve in the long-run continues to surprise her. She credits this long-term success to not losing sight of her goals during tough times.

“I had such clarity around where I wanted to be,” she says.

Steadfastness has paid off for Trotman, who has steered Bizzone into the NZ Deloitte Fast50 growth index as of last year.

“Once we had achieved great success with the Auckland expo, I sort of felt a wee bit unstoppable, so the exhilaration overtakes the fear. The fear is there for the first year or two. You know, every business owner would relate to those moments of terror where they don’t wake up at two in the morning – they haven’t yet got to sleep by two in the morning.”

It is important to realise there are many other business owners out there struggling, just as you are, and many others who have been through it already and are willing to help, Trotman says. She recalls talking to a business owner a few years ago, during her time at Business Mentors New Zealand.

“He said, ‘oh I need a mentor’ and felt very embarrassed about it. I said to him, ‘well, you don’t think you’re the only one of these 300-odd thousand business owners out there that doesn’t know everything there is to know about running a small business, do you?’ And he said, ‘are there others?’ And I think that spoke about that isolation that business owners often feel.”

And just because she has got past the initial struggles does not mean Trotman, or Bizzone, is sitting pretty. Every year the company has rolled out a new venture, expanding the Bizzone brand into magazines, business support awards and, most recently, an online version of the expo, accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Bizzone in Wellington has been held at the TSB Bank Arena for the last three years, and the venue is bursting at the seams, Trotman says. Bizzone could almost fill the arena twice over, she says.

“I believe they’re taking Shed 6 away in 2011, so that’s going to prove a real problem for our exhibitors. At the moment, sure, we turn people away, but they’re people that tried to sign up a month or two beforehand so they can expect that. But we’re going to be really squeezed in from 2011. The venue’s just too small – remember, we have over 200 exhibitors in Auckland and most of them want to come south with us.”

About 120 exhibitors participated in the Wellington version of the expo. Always looking ahead to build something new is vital for an entrepreneur, Trotman says. But this means she can never sit back and simply enjoy the comfortable life. “My house will always be mortgaged,” she says, laughing with enthusiasm and pride. While Trotman admits she “lives and breathes Bizzone”, she is also a devoted mother-of-two. She is always on the lookout for time to spend with her family.

“You know, I’ve got two young kids at home. I haven’t got time to be flapping about in the evenings talking ‘til the cows come home over a glass of wine.”

She is franchising the expo in Australia to save having to spend time flying out to Australia organising and running it herself, and she makes sure to schedule at least 24 hours of time off every week to spend at home in Raglan. “My land in Raglan is a wonderful escape; it refuels me. It’s the place I’m most creative.”

The skills required to be a successful entrepreneur can all be learned as long as you have the focus, Trotman says. She was not the smartest girl at school, leaving formal education after her School Certificate.

“I was never the sharpest knife in the drawer. But I’ve got quite a thick skin. And I’m very determined. Determined, committed, passionate – all those sorts of things.”

Even networking – a task that can often seem to require a certain gregarious personality – did not come naturally to Trotman. “I’m more of an introvert than an extrovert, absolutely,” she says. But by learning to keep conversations to the point she has earned a reputation as being a “voracious networker”.

“It’s five minutes, here’s my card, what can I do for you, what can you do for me, let’s talk – and I’m off talking to the next person. I think it’s something that you can learn, and it’s something that you can get very good at.”

As for toughness, well, Trotman was a soldier, literally. She trained with the Territorials as a young woman. It was a demanding, character-building experience, she says.

“The most challenging was the night-training exercise – cracked head, ribs, chin – the works. But the army is a great place to learn about leadership, discipline and one’s limits.”

Comparing notes with other business owners and asking for support can help keep up the confidence, Trotman says. Even in the current economic climate, the entrepreneurs she talks to at her expos have plenty of optimism.

“They’re often in a very exhilarated space or environment, so – you know what? – I haven’t spoken to a business owner in the last month or so that has said, ‘jeepers, Sarah, we are really struggling’. I know they’re out there, but they aren’t the sorts of business owners that tend to take time out, take the helicopter view of their business, and go to something like a business expo. The thing about the expo is it deals to this isolation. So I often don’t see – I don’t often talk to – business owners that are feeling very isolated. They are actually in the expo environment, in effect being supported by the other seven-odd thousand business owners that are coming through the door.

“They’ve had this weight lifted off their shoulders.”

Trotman says the core of Bizzone is a database of 30,000 small businesses that have come through the expo. Her vision is helping these businesses get through tense times. And this is clearly a thrill for Trotman. It is almost as if running her own business is not enough: she wants to breathe the exhilaration felt by the thousands of others jumping off with their ideas for new businesses.

“I just love what I do. I absolutely understand how business owners think. Not because I’m particularly smart. Just because I’ve been one. We’ve all been there where we’ve needed somebody to go to – I’ve been there. Don’t worry, hang in there.”

Sarah Trotman says a simple routine helps maintain her focus. “Every day I sit down and go, what are the three most important things in this business, and what are the three most important things I’ve got to do today?” She says this is advice she would give to any business owner – and could make the difference between persevering through difficulties to success and letting yourself fail.

“Just everyday ask yourself, what are those things? Where do I want my business to be in two to three to five years?”

“Just keep that focus.”