In his first year of high school, Tony Geagea ran an informal schoolyard IT business. Fifteen years later he runs four successful technology businesses, with 240 people employed throughout the Ethan Group. Now his businesses cover everything from IT products distribution, training and services, and enjoys a partnership with the giant US technology outsourcer CSC.
Chris Kettle got his start as an entrepreneur back in his high school days in Britain, importing episodes of Neighbours and selling them to addicted mums. He is still helping folk find entertainment today. He founded my247.com.au back in 1999 when he saw a need for a reliable entertainment guide that could be used online. Earlier this year he took that company global, adding more than 750,000 listings for restaurants, bars and entertainment venues across Britain and the United States.
Fed up with the high margins that retailers charge for high-definition televisions and other electronics, Kogan began designing his own and importing them from China. Starting with a bunch of pre-sale orders, last year Kogan Technologies reported revenue of $3 million – this year he expects to double that. Sales are through the company website and no-reserve auctions, and he has since invested in another company, Milan Direct, that uses the same model for selling luxury furniture.
Carrots might not seem like the most natural basis for a skin and hair-care range, but Ido Leffler has been building a successful business off the back of their cleansing and detoxifying properties. Leffler and business partner Lance Kalish discovered the products in Israel in 2007, and were so impressed they bought the company. Today, Yes To Carrots is stocked in over 10,000 retail outlets in 15 countries, including pharmacies, Priceline, Target, and Big W stores around Australia.
It was in 2004 that friends Lowe and Hammond decided to combine their skills in the legal industry and hand-making shoes to create the men’s footwear brand Marsu Homme. Each shoe is made from high-quality kangaroo leather and is hand-finished in Italy to create shoes that are both stylish and hard-wearing. Two successful showings at Australian Fashion Week have led to recent deals with Australian department stores, and interest is also coming in from the US.
Since 2002, Troy Grogan has built a series of businesses around workplace health, safety and productivity, servicing clients such as Xstrata Coal, RailCorp, EnergyAustralia and Rio Tinto. His latest venture, Lifestyle Medicine, will feature a health and wellbeing website designed to help doctors treat lifestyle illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease, while providing information to sufferers.
Australians’ quest to lead healthier, more environmentally-friendly lifestyles is creating opportunities for entrepreneurs in a range of fields. For Onur Kece and Mark De Luca that opportunity is in pomegranate juice, with a product that claims more anti-oxidants than green tea, red wine or berries. The product is also certified as Australia’s first carbon-neutral juice product.
At the age of 19, Andrew Mackinnon found himself in London handing out coupons to get by. It was a tough living, but gave him the impetus to start his own business when he returned to Melbourne in 2000. Humble beginnings have evolved into The Taboo Group, a multi-skilled marketing business whose ethos is that current advertising methods have lost their bite. Clients include the National Australia Bank, iRiver MP3 players and Foster’s, for which The Taboo Group is designing a new beer variety.
Christine Matta and husband Richard Matta have been on the fast track to success when it comes to growing their chain of pharmacies and Perfume Empire stores. The company is now in the process of expanding into New Zealand and the USA, in addition to its growth across Australia, and was reported by BRW as turning over combined revenue of more than $80 million at 40% annual growth.
Alan Meyerson joined the telesales company Danoz Direct in 2004 as a production assistant. He showed so much promise that by 2006 he had been appointed chief executive. Meyerson has overcome a number of business challenges to build the Danoz Direct brand, reducing the range it sells and personally testing every product. Last year the company reported sales of $27 million, and Meyerson has been rewarded with a minority shareholding in Danoz Direct’s parent company, Thane International.
Smart Company is a sister publication to The Mandarin, catering to Australia’s entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners and business managers.
