WINNER OF BEST ONLINE STRATEGY AND BEST YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR
A chance meeting between Jack Fitzgerald and Michael Teasdale when they were at university and both working as lifeguards on the weekends was the impetus behind Ship2Anywhere.
Fitzgerald and Teasdale both studied logistics at university and drew on this background to identify a need in Australia for cheap and simple shipping for individuals and businesses.
The pair saw that the courier industry in Australia was lagging behind other countries’ services in terms of its online offerings and so founded Ship2Anywhere as an online site with an emphasis on usability, price and customer service.
Fitzgerald admits it was tough going at first.
“We both threw in our jobs and the accompanying income when we started Ship2Anywhere,” he says.
“For the first few months we had to work really hard because we hadn’t taken on any investors, and we weren’t able to pay ourselves anything.
“Working so hard without a cent coming in was a big adjustment, and a lot of sacrifices had to be made.”
The long hours have paid off with Ship2Anywhere on track to make $1.3 million this financial year.
For Fred Schebesta, judge of the Best Online Strategy award, Ship2Anywhere’s entry stood out thanks to its innovation and “huge growth potential”.
“It has a simple and brilliant online strategy and it’s amazing no one else has done this,” he says.
Nicole Kersh, judge of the Best Young Entrepreneur award, said 25-year-old Fitzgerald stood out as an entrepreneur with a well thought out proposition and a desire to be socially and ethically aware in his business.
“I love the fact that these guys are thinking big with their business, and not just thinking big but also thinking outside the box.”
