The Story Behind the Lessons
Meet Colin Burr—Navy Veteran, Global Entrepreneur,
and Your Guide to Street-Smart Business
I've failed, pivoted, and built companies around the world.
Now I'm sharing ev
erything I know—in plain English.
From Sea to Summit: 60 Years of Business Lessons You Can't Learn in a Classroom
The Boy Who Chose the Hard Path
At 16, I became the youngest seaman boy in the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Most kids my age were figuring out what to wear to school dances. I was learning how to operate radio equipment on a frigate heading to Korea. We spent a year at sea, and I found myself off the coast of Vietnam, supporting ground troops with naval gunfire. The stakes were life and death. The decisions were instant. And the lesson was permanent: discipline and teamwork aren't optional—they're survival.
I didn't know it then, but those years at sea gave me something no business school ever could: the ability to stay calm under pressure, trust my crew, and execute when it mattered.
The Itch for Freedom
When I returned to New Zealand and completed my service, I got married and did something that surprised even me—I opened a surf shop. We sold surfboards, manufactured jewellery with a couple of tradesman jewellers, and created our own stock of leather bags and sandals.
For the first time in my life, “I was working for myself.”
I loved the freedom to make decisions. I loved the creative work—making things others wanted and needed. I began to learn the real benefit of serving others.
But I also learned my first brutal business lesson: “revenue isn't the same as cash flow.” There just wasn't enough money to support us all, so we parted ways. No hard feelings. We gave it a shot.
Next came a pig farm. My partner and I built a 500-sow operation with a direct line of free whey from a nearby cheese factory.
Our costs were minimal, and I even designed a system to increase breeding output.
It was hard, grinding work—restructuring an old farm, optimising operations, chasing efficiency.
Then the free food stopped. Without it, the farm couldn't afford to buy feed. I walked away.
“The lesson? Hard work doesn't always lead to cash flow.”
Two Miles Down, Eyes on the Prize
I needed cash. Real cash. So I took a job on a tunnel boring machine, building an underground passage through a local mountain range.
I worked two miles underground, five miles in. It was hot, wet, and relentless. But it was also exciting.
I was part of a union crew of tradesmen, and I learned what can be achieved with a positive attitude and a solid team.
More importantly, “I learned the value of cash flow” I was well paid, and my wife Linda and I saved every dollar we could. Linda came from a family of property people, and we wanted to be just as successful.
So we went without. We kept our eyes on the prize. And we bought our first home.
The Gold Rush That Changed Everything
In the early 1980s, an American company came to our old gold mining town to explore reopening the mine.
They needed to diamond-drill first to see what they had. I had underground experience, so I rolled up looking for work the first week they arrived.
In the early 1980s, an American company came to our old gold mining town to explore reopening the mine.
They needed to diamond-drill first to see what they had. I had underground experience, so I rolled up looking for work the first week they arrived.
I was the first person they hired.
A diamond drill contractor from the USA was brought in, and I supported a professional driller who had the technical skills but little business experience.
Together, we scaled the operation to four rigs. When the driller had to leave for Papua New Guinea, I was handed the keys to manage the entire drilling company.
Suddenly, I was managing crews, hiring labor, planning operations, doing the books manually (this was before the internet), and dealing with banks, accountants, and clients.
For the first time, I had an abundance of cash flow—and I learned how to manage it.
I saved enough to build a workshop, buy equipment to service the rigs, and manufacture our own consumables.
We started selling those products to our Papua New Guinea operation. That led to drilling companies in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Australia, and Indonesia, and to exploration in South
America, including Chile.
I was dealing with international law, large mining companies, and cross-border accounting. I didn't have an MBA—I had something better: “a relentless hunger to learn.” I employed a retired tax consultant who became my mentor.
I took him on overseas trips to meet lawyers and business advisors. I learned the tricks of international business. We set up operations in Vanuatu to maximize profits.
For 18 years, I built and ran a global drilling empire.
The Teacher Emerges
After nearly two decades, I needed a new challenge. I went to Hawaii and spent two weeks at a business school with Robert Kiyosaki. It was the key to my next chapter.
I met Peter Ho, FCCA, ACIS The founder of Nimai and Associates Peter is a Chinese-Malaysian accountant living in New Zealand. Together, we created a course called Accounting is EZY, using accelerated learning methods we'd learned in Hawaii.
We became pioneers in introducing fun, visual learning systems to business and accounting.
We took it global—New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China, and the Middle East. We worked with the corporate world, including Mobil, Ericsson, IBM, and BP, and ran countless public courses.
Here's what I discovered: jargon kills learning.
The moment someone hits business or accounting jargon, their mind shuts down. So Peter and I created courses using simple memory pictures and plain language. We made the complex simple. And people got it.
What It Really Takes
People ask me: What does it take to build something lasting?
Here's the truth:
First, you need a problem—and you need to have the solution.
Next, you package it so your target market can see it as a solution within their price and timeframe.
Support that with an honest level of trust and a system to deliver it in a fun, simple way with minimal jargon.
That's it. No secrets. No hacks. Just clarity, service, and follow-through.
Why I'm Still in the Game at 76
My wife Linda was my partner through all of it—the Navy days, the surf shop, the pig farm, the tunnel, the drilling empire, the teaching. She was a wonderful mother to our two daughters. Sadly, I lost her to cancer two years ago. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to do what I've done.
Now I live in Surfers Paradise, and my daughters are in Adelaide and Perth. I'm 76 years old, and I'm still here—still teaching, still building, still sharing.
Why?
Because I want to leave my life experience to those who need it.
I want my daughters to understand what Dad was doing all these years.
And I want to stay as active as I can, for as long as I can, adding value where I can.
Now, I'm bringing all of that experience to the internet.
Everything I've learned over six decades—the cash flow lessons, the international business strategies, the accounting secrets—is now available as video courses. Simple. No jargon. Written at a grade 5 language level so anyone can understand it.
Because if a 16-year-old kid from New Zealand could go from a Navy frigate to running a global empire,
You can learn what you need to build something real, too.
I've spent six decades learning what works and what doesn't. I've worked two miles underground and across five continents. I've failed, pivoted, learned, and built again.
And now, I'm here to help you cut through the noise, ditch the jargon, and build something real.
You don't need to guess anymore.
The courses are ready. The lessons are simple. Your business breakthrough is waiting.
See you inside,
Colin Burr
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