Almost 28 years ago to the day, Lawson Williams started up his own business at the Boaz Island Marine and Shell Service Station on a wage of $200.

Today, along with business partner Derek Simons, he is running a flourishing enterprise complete with a food shop, garage and boat refuelling services.

But it was not all plain sailing as the business went through some hard times, however, they came out the other end smiling.

The pair first went into business together in September 1980 after the service station was put up for sale.

At the time Mr. Williams was still working for removal service company Bermuda Forwarders, where he met Mr. Simons, who had been his apprentice, but it did not take him long to accept his former colleague's offer and decide to form the company together.

"Derek came to me with the idea and I spoke to my wife and she was sceptical about it because we had just started our mortgage and we decided to take a chance," he said.

"The biggest problem was that neither Derek nor myself had much money - I was surviving and he had just got married himself."

They got in contact with the Small Business Association, who told them to set up a business plan to pay off the initial debt and arranged a meeting with the banks to borrow a loan to do that.

"We went to see the first bank and we gave them our plan - we were proposing to pay off the loan by giving ourselves a very small wage and to work seven days a week," said Mr. Williams.

"You don't make a lot of profit on fuel when you are getting 18 cents out of the dollar and you have to sell a lot of fuel to make a real profit.

"The bank told us to return in a week or two's time because they had to put their proposal to their boss and they would let us know what was happening.

"We didn't know what to expect - we thought it would be a serious risk.

"Anyway, the bank declined us in the end - they thought that we were not going to be able to pay off this loan within a five-year period, but the very same day we went to another bank office in the morning and they said they would have an answer that afternoon, so we went back to them and they not only said yes, but they gave us a floating capital to work with to get things up and running properly."

The first few years were tough though, with the pair working the till and the pump all by themselves seven days a week, before things really started to pick up.

"At the time we were the youngest owner operators of a service station in Bermuda," said Mr. Williams.

"We were on the minimum wage of $200 each per week and that was obviously a big difference from taking home $700 a week as a garage foreman with Bermuda Forwarders.

"We worked the till and pumped the gas all by ourselves and we kept the change in our pockets and served whatever cars we could and then put that back in the till and that went on for many years.

"The rent was reasonably low at the time and we were doing reasonably well, so we were able to pay off the five-year loan in three years."

In fact, Shell were so impressed with the good work Mr. Williams and Mr. Simons had been doing that they allowed them to build a garage on the back of the service station. They now carry out everything from oil changes and full services to changing tyres and batteries and even doing 80 to 90 percent of wheel alignments for the Island's taxis.

Since then they have taken on a workforce of 15 full and part-time staff and have expanded the business to include a shop fully stocked with food, as well as running their refuelling service for boats at the marina next door.

"We worked that out and we made a reasonably good profit and things have been reasonably good," Mr. Williams said.

"We were changing axles on trucks on Sundays at one stage."

Mr. Williams has seen a lot of change, not only in his own business, but in the surrounding area during his time at the service station, with the new Watford Bridge being built and a series on condos being erected opposite.

"We were fortunate to come in at a time when things were happening and we have been going with that since," he said.

He admitted there have been some lean times and considering where the service station is located on a thin strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean it has taken a battering from the elements in the past, including the windows being blown in and part of the forecourt being blown away.

"It can be hard at times - the majority of the people that live down this end of the island work for the hotels and when the hotels shut down during the off season there are not a lot of people around buying fuel," he said.

"We have to pay cash for the fuel when it comes in, so it is not a quick turnover on fuel, not at 19 cents in the dollar.

"At the time I thought it was really great and easy, but it is quite difficult because you can't call in sick," he said.

"I have come back with the flu and poison ivy before and a van even fell on me and split my skull, cut my rib cage and broke my leg, but four months later I was competing in the Marion-Bermuda Race."

But the pair's good business relationship and understanding has helped them to get through the harder times.

"We have been through a lot together as business partners and good friends and have probably spent more time with each other than our own wives because we have put so much work into this place," said Mr. Williams.

"But our wives have been quite understanding and both of them have helped out in operating the business and somewhere down the line we would hopefully like one of our children to take over the business to keep it in the family."

And the rest as they say is history.

During that time the service station has been a cornerstone of the community and messrs Williams and Simons have been only to happy to oblige to meet loyal customers' needs and they find every little bit helps.

"This part of the island has always been a low income area, so we try and keep our prices down and help people in the neighbourhood - we have always been a neighbourhood business and everyone of our regular customers know us on first name terms, which is good, said Mr. Williams.

"It has been good seeing people come and go to and from the service station - it is just like one big family here.

"We try to do everything we can for the local community and we have donated funds to the old folks home and if the nursery was having a fundraiser, we try to assist them in any way we can.

"If anyone in the neighbourhood needs sponsorship for some sporting event they are doing, we try to help them to do it."

The business is coming up to its 28th anniversary later this year and they have got big plans for the future of the service stations in the pipeline.

"Now we would like to stay open longer and cater more for the taxi service," said Mr. Williams.

And his advice to any budding young Bermudian entrepreneur out there thinking about starting up their own business is to seize the opportunity.

"Bermuda has a lot of opportunities and if you are not afraid to test the waters you should go right ahead," he said.

"But, above all, you have got to apply yourself and you have got to like whatever it is you are going to do."

Mr. Williams's real passion is sailing and fishing and he plans to take to the high seas once he retires, but, if one of his children ever decide to follow in his footsteps and take over the business, you can be sure he will still be keeping close eye on what has turned into his lifetime's creation and what has proved to be a real labour of love for him.