From start-ups to established, growing businesses, be inspired by the success stories of 15 businesspeople in Australia under the age of 40.
1. Malan Dimopoulos, 22
Native Oz Cuisine Pty Ltd
Melbourne-based Native Oz Cuisine is the only indigenous-owned company producing food products using indigenous ingredients, combined with innovative recipes and packaging. Specialising in manufacturing Australian meals and sauces—including Kangaroo Lasagne and Melbournian Pasta Sauce– all its products are free from anything artificial.
Set up in 2006, the company received support from the Koori Business Network and the Victorian government and finance through BankWest.
Dimopoulos, 22, director of Native Oz Cuisine, is a proud Aboriginal woman whose heritage is Gunditjmara and Wemba Wemba and who has identified the high demand for foods incorporating flavoursome indigenous Australian ingredients.
One of Native Oz Cuisine’s biggest achievements so far has been getting its products into the Safeway/Woolworths supermarkets nationally.
2. Natasha Wells, 33
Blu Moose
Victoria-based Wells launched Blu Moose in 2006 after discovering feather and down doona boots through her Swedish sister-in-law. She did her own research and discovered the product was unique to Australia. Not only that but it filled a gaping hole in the market for stylish at-home footwear. Through her background in marketing and advertising, Wells knew the importance of branding and with the help of a local art director, went about developing the Blu Moose brand.
She secured a factory in China to produce the boots and, with a strong PR campaign, sale started flooding in. she now has a contract with David Jones and the product is also sold online and through independent retailers.
“I took a chance, even though I was scared of failure,” she says. “I quit my job, booked a ticket to China and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Passion, hard work and identifying a great product can turn a great brand into an even greater business. I did what many people dream of doing but don’t have the courage to do. I would love to inspire other young people to follow their dream of running their own business”
3. Mac Forbes, 33
Mac Forbes Wines
Mac Forbes is a Yarra Valley-based boutique winery that makes small volume wines based on old-fashioned values with a nod to the European winemaking style. Established in 2004, the winery distributes its wines to specialist stores and high-end restaurants across Australia and internationally.
Forbes, 33, was born and raised in Victoria’s Yarra Valley as its modern winemaking history was commencing with Mount Mary and Yeringberg reinvigorating its reputation.
Since the first vintage in 2005 for Mac Forbes Wines, Forbes has gradually explored and focused his direction. Today he focuses mainly on Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernets from the Yarra Valley as well as German-inspired Rieslings from the Strathbogie Ranges.
He was recently named a finalist in the 2008 Telstra Victorian Business Awards in the micro-business category. The winery was given five stars by leading wine writer James Halliday in his 2008 companion and its wines have been recommended by Gordon Ramsay’s Hospital Road restaurant in London.
4. Margarita and Louie Synathis, 27 and 33
Sydney Ute Hire
Sydney Ute Hire is a motor vehicle rental company leasing utes, vans and trailers through Sydney service stations. It has more than 30 vehicles available though Sydney’s northern Beaches, inner west and the Sutherland Shire. Its main clientele are labourers, courier companies and the general public.
The business has three points of difference from its competitors: 24-hour service, rental as short as two hours available and the fact it doesn’t rely on tourism-based trade.
After many years working for rental companies, Louie saw a gap in the market and he and his wife decided to launch their venture in 2005 with a logo designed by Margarita. They started the business in 2006 with help from Commonwealth Bank Local Business Banking.
“We’re proud that so many people contact us because they recognise our logo or have been recommended by a friend,” says Louie. He and his wife are now enjoying a very prosperous business just two years on and, with the success of her logo for Sydney Ute Hire, Margarita has been able to start her own graphic design business, Lasting Logos (www.lastinglogos.com.au).
5. Bec Brideson, 37
Venus Advertising
Brideson worked for some of the country’s leading ad agencies, including Richard Branson’s launch of Virgin Blue, before launching Venus four years ago at the age of 32. It has grown from strength to strength, doubling turnover in her second year and tripling it in the third, expanding her team from just one to 20.
Suggesting that many Australian companies were missing out on good opportunities through lack of commitment to the right kind of communication with women, she set up her full service agency to with specialist skills in marketing to women. Her clients now include Dotti fashion, Contours women’s gyms, Roses Only and Bortoli Wines.
Brideson is passionate about improving the profile of women in advertising with only 14 out of 112 creative director positions in advertising agencies being held by women in Australia. A self-confessed workaholic, she has received numerous awards nationally and overseas for excellence in creativity.
6. Michelle Hampton and Susan Wood, 28 and 28
Magnum PR
Magnum PR started back in 2005 and has already won the trust of some leading multi-nationals. The pair started off with nothing (including no bank loans) and have since built their company by doubling staff numbers and achieving substantial client and revenue growth.
Hampton and Wood felt that the reputation of PR was being let down by agencies and practitioners using dated methods and overcomplicated, expensive strategies. They saw a gap in the industry for practical and straightforward PR techniques that actually work. Their clients now include Red Bull Air Race, SumoSalad and Colgate.
“If you want people to know about who you are and what you’re up to, then we can make it happen,” says Wood. “We don’t just rehash previous tired old PR plans either; with every client, project or campaign, a fresh and tailored PR program is developed to ensure maximum results and exposure to the right audience.”
7. Yasmin Dale, 31
REC Headhunters
REC Headhunters—a nationwide headhunting and professional services firm–was formed in 2007 by a group of number of highly experienced executives. Dale was entirely responsible as a partner to profile the business from the ground up. It has already generated more than $1million in revenue and gained key blue chip clients.
Four staff are now part of a company just under a year old and Dale has been acknowledged by her peers as a true leader. She says: “If I won the lotto tomorrow I would still do this for nothing. I love what I do.”
The 31 year-old wasn’t satisfied that her last employer was the leader she aspired to be, especially when she was responsible for 80 percent of the sales revenue for someone else’s lifestyle. She was driven by the fact that she could back herself and all it would take would be hard work, determination and to be who she was.
8. Laura Dash, 21
Home Body by Laura Dash
Home Body by Laura Dash is owned by designer Laura Dash. The company designs and wholesales eco-friendly sleep/loungewear & yoga wear to boutiques around Australia, as well as online. The business was born just a year ago, when after much research, Laura discovered a gap in the market for well designed and sophisticated sleep and loungewear. She used some money left to her by her father when he died to turn her dream into a reality.
In just two seasons, Home Body now distributes to more than 60 of the best boutiques nationwide, as well as being considered by major department stores in the US.
Dash embodies what it is to be a young gun. At just 21, she has taken a calculated risk after much research and succeeded. Home Body started from humble beginnings, operating from a home office with an idea. Dash has cultivated the brand and endured all of the ups and downs of a new business
9. Anthony Banek, 34
BlueCentral
Banek has already been an internet millionaire for two years.
In 1997, he developed the country’s first Microsoft Windows- based web hosting company, Webtrader. This was sold to Destra Hosting, Australia’s second largest web hosting company in 2002. Anthony continued to hold a management role in Destra Corporation. Last year, Destra was acquired by Bluefreeway, which was renamed BlueCentral. Anthony was retained as its managing director.
The company now has 8,000 customers and has expanded into the UK and the United States. It is a hosting and mobility solutions provider, delivering domain names, shared web hosting, dedicated hosting, and more. Its clients include SMEs, corporates and government departments worldwide.
This self-made Newcastle boy who values hard work and enterprise, is motivated, inspirational and visionary.
10. Nicholas Crawshay, 34
Private Fleet
While working as a sales consultant for Audi and Porsche, Crawshay spotted a gap in the market. He envisaged a service that would help individuals and small businesses save thousands of dollars on their vehicle purchases and save time going from dealer to dealer for the best price.
In 1999, he started Private Fleet with $10,000 of his own money and $40,000 borrowed from the bank. Two years later he teamed up with partner David Lye, but things really took off in 2003 when they became part of the online landscape with a website and advertising with Google, Yahoo! And MSN. Private Fleet has grown to a full time staff of 50, selling more than 400 new vehicles every month. Its turnover in 2007 was more than $12million.
In starting Private Fleet, Crawshay saw an opportunity to offer car buyers objective advice while saving money and time and the opportunity to bypass car dealers. It is this concept that has provide successful in a highly competitive industry.
11. Will Gray and Adrian Risely, 31 and 36
Hidden Door
Hidden Door delivers ‘inaccessible’ amazing experiences, predominantly to the corporate market, for use as client entertainment and team-building. Ultimately aiding in retaining their two most valuable assets—their clients and their staff.
Gray and Risely started the business a year ago with experiences on offer like firefighting with the NSW Fire Brigade and learning to graffiti with Australian artists. Their biggest achievement so far has been launching sub-brand Hidden Door Express, which includes a number of team-building options that are delivered to your door with, including all equipment and instructions, but without the expense of a company hosting it for you.
The pair have taken a passion for making amazing “imagine if…” moments a reality and turned it into a business that connects companies with their people. As a result, they are determined to continue to innovators of corporate experiences and to be at the forefront of the industry.
12. Pete Williams, 26
Infiniti Telecommunications, Preneur Marketing, MCG Memories, On Hold Advertising and Discount Mobiles
www.itelecom.com.au, www.preneurmarketing.com, www.mcgmemories.com.au, www.onholdadvertising.com.au, www.discountmobiles.com.au
Infiniti Telecommunications, which sells telecommunications products, began in 2003. However it was not until Williams, serial entrepreneur and marketer became involved, that it really began to take off, growing year on year more than 400 percent in the last 12 months alone.
He has developed and progressed many businesses, including Discount Mobiles. Williams has been in business for a long time however, registering his first company, Impact Plus, while he was still at high school.
He is lauded internationally as a marketing expert, has played centre stage to many high profile audiences and written a book, How to Turn your Million Dollar Idea into a Reality.
13. Danin Kahn, 31
Todae
Todae is Australia’s largest provider of Eco products and services.
Kahn got involved with an existing business that was started in 2003 selling biodegradable and organic bodycare, baby and cleaning products online and rebranded it as Todae. He expanded it to provide Australia’s largest range of sustainable products.
Since then, the business has continued to expand into different areas, opening two Sydney retail stores and becoming one of the leading providers of solar power.
The company’s biggest achievement so far was opening its flagship store in Westfield Bondi Junction this year, the first Westfield store in the world to run on solar power.
Kahn is passionate and dedicated and a great example of someone really wrapping a business around their beliefs. Todae was his opportunity to reconcile his entrepreneurial drive with his long-held passion for the environment. In just over two-and-a-half years, Kahn has taken a fledgling online start-up to a business that has more than 20,000 customers worldwide.
Todae is not his first successful business; he opened a web strategy company in his early 20s which he built up and sold a few years later.
14. Scott Kilmartin, 38
haul
haul designs and manufactures urban bags and accessories for the streetwear and corporate market from recycled vinyl advertising billboard, rubber inner-tubes, license plates and bus shelter posters.
Started in a garage in Hobart as a creative hobby in 1999, haul evolved into a brand supplying fashion boutiques, design stores and Apple retailers with laptop sleeves, messenger bags, photo albums, iPhone covers as well as bar/café furniture and fit-outs for the interior design set. Spin-off haul Corporate was started in May, making innovative corporate gifts for companies from their billboards. In five short months, it has produced eco-accessories for BP, SEEK, AGL, Origin Energy, CarSales.com.au, Virgin Mobile & V-Festival.
The company’s biggest achievement so far has been signing a deal with airline Jetstar to recycle all of the company’s billboards for the next two years. They will be turned into laptop bags for underprivileged students and luggage tags for Jetstar customers. haul has also opened its second retail store in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
Kilmartin has shown great drive and persistence in offering green products ahead of the current eco trend and is now riding a wave of enlightened consumer awareness, changing the perception of green products from “tree hugger” to designer.
15. Nicole Eckels, 34
Glasshouse
www.glasshousefragrances.com.au
When New Yorker Eckels arrived in Australia two years ago she set out to purchase a candle for a friend. Unable to find one that actually had a fragrance, she began developing a range of candles. When the gift idea turned into a fruitful business, Glasshouse was officially born. It is now one of Australia’s luxury fragrance companies, with plush products at an affordable price.
When the brand launched in December 2006, Eckels, the creative director, knew she was onto something as her offering was something previously unavailable in Australia. Very quickly Glasshouse began to dominate the Australian gift and fragrance market.
It wasn’t hard to get retail support right away. “As it turned out I wasn’t the only person in search of the perfect candle,” says Eckels. Glasshouse has since expanded into numerous lines such as body bars and hand and body lotion.
Glasshouse grew in status and international markets became interested in importing products. An example of this is Japan where Glasshouse is available at Mitsukoshi and Isetan.
The company’s growth has been rapid: 500 percent with in 18 months. Its latest product, Fragrance Diffusers, have been a huge success.
