Stain Busters commenced in July 1990 in a very basic manner by Paddy Sweeney. It had humble beginnings, starting with one small machine and a rusty old 2×2 metre box trailer. Having been in roles where he had worn a suit for the previous twenty plus years, this venture pushed Paddy into a life he previously would never have considered. One day Paddy was lugging his carpet cleaning machine through the streets of Surfers Paradise. He had been unable to get a park for his Celica and rusty old trailer close to where he needed to be. He had transportation from the trailer to the place of work down to a fine art of one trip. He had hoses, wands, chemicals, a mop bucket and other items all wrapped around himself and the machine and was weaving his way through the busy streets, when he ran into an old friend who was horrified at what he saw. He previously knew Paddy as a well-dressed successful Commercial Real Estate business person. Couple that with the fact that Paddy had lost about ten kilos, and his shorts and shirts were now several sizes too big. The business was pumping from day one and he had not had time for a haircut. He wasn’t presenting a good look. The well-meaning friend said looking worried and shaking his head, “Oh dear Paddy – what’s happened to you, we need to get together and have a conversation”. Paddy just smiled and agreed and said he was late for a job and had to go. He wasn’t concerned with what his friend was seeing that day. All he could see was the ‘Ten Vans carpet cleaning empire’ he was intent on creating in the ensuing future. It took a while before the ten vans became a reality and then go on to become many more.