47. Pioneer International Logistics

Revenue: Over $2.4 million
Growth: 48.25%
Founders: Martin Lazarevic, 34
Head Office: South Australia
Year Founded: 2009
Employees: 7
Industry: Information technology
Website: Nationalcrimecheck.com.au

When you need a police check, you go to the police station, right? Well not if Martin Lazarevic gets in first.

Lazarevic is the founder of National Crime Check, a South-Australian based private company offering police background checks to a wide array of companies, from healthcare providers to finance organisations and volunteer groups.

Increasingly, global companies are signing up to use the technologically advanced system, including taxi upstart Uber, which uses National Crime Check to run police checks on its drivers.

National Crime Check has grown in leaps and bounds since its founding in 2009 and now turns over more than $2.4 million annually.

Lazarevic plans to take National Crime Check to New Zealand and Canada “very soon” but he told SmartCompany there’s still untapped demand in the Australian market.

“There is a lack of awareness that private organisations like us exist and we can actually provide the service in a timely fashion and are more technically advanced than the police,” he says.

There are also plans to continue to expand the number and type of services offered to National Crime Check clients, says Lazarevic, including a real-time proof of identity check that was launched on September 1.

This is Lazarevic’s second startup, having previously founded and later sold a labour hire business in the community care and aged care sector, and he has some words of wisdom for other budding entrepreneurs.

“Focus on your points of difference and integrate your processes to take advantage of it,” says Lazarevic.

“Try and reduce costs by looking at ensuring you are as efficient as you can be … Read everything about your industry [and] become a subject matter expert.”

“Embrace the unknown. Running a business is hard and you have to live and breathe it.”