Dermot ONeill pauses when he is asked about the inspiration for the idea of owning a Mini-Tankers franchise.

"I was working for Shell at the time," he begins, a smile running away on his face, "I came across a Mini-Tanker logo and wondered what it was about. So I made some inquiries, and struck up a relationship with the CEO of the company. The rest is history."

Indeed. Since their office opened almost a year ago, ONeill and his partner, Norm Sanderson, have been not only filling the tanks of multi-wheeled trucks and heavy equipment with diesel, but have also been fulfilling childhood dreams of owning their own business.

"We spent almost four years working on developing the idea," explains ONeill, adding that the Mini-Tanker corporate office was somewhat cool to the idea of establishing a Yellowknife franchise.

"We spent hours on the phone selling the Northern marketplace. The CEO eventually came up and saw how dependent we were on diesel. He realized there was room for an independent franchise, so we got the franchise."

Mini-Tanker franchisees specialize in filling the tanks of heavy equipment with diesel prior to the start of the work day. By making sure the tanks are full, ONeill and Sandersan save their clients thousands of dollars in the course of a year.

"When youre filling up a car, for example, youre paying retail," explains ONeill.

"To a company that operates heavy equipment, youre hiring someone to take the equipment to the fuel depot to get it filled up. So youre not only looking at the price of gas, but also the cost of the gas to get the vehicle to the depot, the hourly wage of the employee and the wear and tear on the vehicle. So, your $0.89 a litre has all of a sudden become $1.75 a litre. We provide the same service for much less."

Its a simple concept that has sold very well elsewhere since the company first arrived in Canada 6 years ago from Australia. While most North American franchises are situated in large centers, such as Edmonton or Calgary, Yellowknife is perhaps the first small-market venture for this corporation. So far, everything has worked out for the two entrepreneurs. So well, they are now contemplating expanding their services.

"Were looking at the home heating market right now," says Sanderson, a Cree from Northern Saskatchewan.

Both entrepreneurs feel that while the service might be right for the region, the business could not thrive without the attention they devote to fostering relationships with their clients. But thats not the only secret to their success. Another aspect of business that gives them a huge sense of satisfaction is, they love what they do.

"If we could tell other people how to be successful, we would simply tell them to focus on what they enjoy doing," notes Sanderson.

"Dont focus on making a lot of money, because money isnt everything."

For ONeill and Sanderson, making money is simply a bonus to knowing they keep the tanks full, and their dreams running.