Cec Busby

“When Buddha was diagnosed with hip and elbow dysplasia, I was devastated.” Adam Guest was a police officer working in the Tactical Operations Unit, when his dog’s diagnosis changed his life forever. At the time, Guest’s career revolved around discipline, preparation, and decision-making under pressure. He wasn’t looking for a business idea, or toying with entrepreneurship, and he certainly wasn’t planning to build a pet food company. However, he was worried about his dog.

If you’re a small business owner, reconciliation can feel like one of those things that you know matters but aren’t quite sure how to get started. Is it an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of a meeting? A social media post during National Reconciliation Week? A commitment to hire more Indigenous staff?

When Selwyn Lazar started noticing frustrated pet owners walking into a Godfreys store on Melbourne’s Chapel Street, he probably didn’t expect it would lead to a multi-million-dollar family business. At the time, Lazar had returned to retail with plans to eventually secure a Godfreys franchise and build an online business alongside it. Instead, he uncovered a problem: pet parents desperate for products that actually worked. “People weren’t just looking for a vacuum cleaner,” Lazar says.