How Young Queensland entrepreneurs turned side hustles into empires

Young Queensland entrepreneurs are turning pocket money side hustles into bona fide empires, raking in huge profits. It includes a 22-year-old who made $100k in six weeks.

Young Queensland entrepreneurs are turning pocket money side hustles into bona fide empires raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Innovative, problem-solving businesses are gaining significant traction in Queensland, with school and university students at the helm.

What began as ways to make a bit of pocket money on the side of their studies have exploded into successful business ventures, setting some of these young entrepreneurs up for life before the age of 25.

Ahead, we share the stories of Angus Healy, 18, Bailey Page, 22, and Ned Heaton’s, 15, of how they turned their side hustles into thriving businesses as well as their advice for kids who may have an interest in pursuing their own ideas.

Bailey Page, Zip Zap Chargers

On a night out on the town in 2020, Bailey Page, 22, who grew up on the Sunshine Coast in Coolum Beach, found himself in the middle of calling an Uber home when his phone ran out of battery.

Stuck and forced to walk home, he scoured the internet the next day for a small, cableless charger he could take out with him, without needing to carry around a bulky, portable charger with a cord.

Surprised he couldn’t find one in the market, this sparked his interest.

He felt he could come up with a relevant product that a lot of people would use.

Zip Zap Charger's founder Bailey Page. Picture: Supplied

At just 20-years-old, Mr Page set out to create his product.

By working alongside a manufacturer for nine months he found on the e-commerce website Alibaba, he poured all his savings which was around $40,000 into developing the first cableless portable charger in not just the Australian market but globally.

With 200 Zip Zap Chargers sent to his front door, he decided in August 2021 to launch to friends and family which sold out within two weeks.

In September 2021, Mr Page discovered he had been chosen for a slot on the morning show Sunrise to promote his product.

After his two-minute appearance, he sold more than 1500 units across Australia on that day alone, and within six weeks of being in the market, had turned over six figures making more than $100,000.

Mr Page said the response from that coverage was “insane”.

“So my goal for sort of the whole year was to sell that 2000 unit order and I did,” Mr Page said.

Zip Zap Chargers. Picture: @zipzap_au

On top of starting a business at just 20 years old, Mr Page was in the midst of completing his Bachelor of Property Economics and Urban Development Construction at Queensland University of Technology.

Mr Page said it was a “certain headache” balancing his last year of university with running his business.

“My third year essentially, I just had to focus on getting uni complete while I did my studies. It was just a lot of late nights and weekend work to really cover up on what I couldn‘t do through the week when I was at uni,” Mr Page said.

However, despite being a young entrepreneur, Mr Page said he pushed on, proving his drive and belief in the business with the performance results of Zip Zap Chargers.

“There‘s sort of, you know, a negative stigma about starting when you’re young,” Mr Page said.

“I found that a lot of people, especially business associates I work with, encouraged me [and have said] at my age, it‘s fantastic. You’re having a go at such a young age and they go out of their way to help me a lot.”

Mr Page’s advice for young budding entrepreneurs is to back yourself and at 20 years old, you don’t have much to lose.

“I thought to myself, you know what, if I failed, I at least had a go,” Mr Page said.

“I always encourage young people just to have a go. You have to put a plan on paper. It‘s always good to get outside eyes looking in and giving you feedback.

“You can never fail with starting and the biggest hurdle is actually just starting.”

To date, Zip Zap Chargers has sold around 6500 units and is preparing to expand into the global market.

Angus Healy, Happy Paws by Angus

In year seven at Marist College in Ashgrove, Angus Healy, now 18, was washing cars for some extra money when one of his clients asked if he could walk his dogs before and after school.

Mr Healy thought, why not.

From there, the same client asked if he could look after his dogs for a period of time which Mr Healy once again said, why not.

Initially through word of mouth, Mr Healy’s dog caring services rapidly took off.

After building a social media presence and formally starting Happy Paws by Angus, Mr Healy said he was regularly stopped on the streets, acquiring new clients frequently.

Angus Healy (18) runs his own dog walking business called Happy Paws by Angus. It has been running since Angus was in Year 7 at school.

Mr Healy said Happy Paws by Angus became a well known business in his local community, especially in Ashgrove, Paddington, Bardon, Newmarket and their surrounds.

“I think because I had the drive to go, I don‘t want to work at Maccas, I want to start something else and something that I actually love. I think having a passion … that’s why I have succeeded in it so far,” Mr Healy said.

Happy Paws by Angus today provides membership options such as a monthly membership valid for four weeks for $570 and a Gold Yearly membership for $5999 which includes regular dog walking and dog sitting, valid for 12 months.

Casual walks are also available with pack dog walking for $30 a walk and private dog walking between $50 to $60 a walk, depending on how many dogs the client has, supporting him more than most in their early 20 year olds.

Through his social media presence, Mr Healy has had brand deals for the premium dog food company Petyzo as well as dog wear and accessory company Twomoodles.

Happy Paws by Angus posts gorgeous photos on its Instagram. Picture: @happypawsbyangus

Mr Healy said his family, teachers and small circle of mates have been incredibly supportive, especially with balancing school, his business and social life.

“[My family] were so supportive of me. They‘ve always told me to not only focus on my studies but focus on my business because this business will go somewhere and is going somewhere,” Mr Healy said.

“Having that support network really made me want to keep on striving [and] doing better with this business.”

In 2021, Mr Healy was nominated for the Teenpreneur of the Year in the Teens in Business Awards and was successful in being named one of the top five finalists.

While that was a pretty big milestone, especially for his personal growth and the business, Mr Healy said merely doing what he gets to do everyday is “just amazing”.

“I‘m getting to work with so many clients who have helped me along, helped me out so much,” Mr Healy.

Mr Healy’s advice for young people looking to start their own business, he said, was to “just do it” even if you “cop a lot of criticism from it”.

“If I started this business after school, I would be nowhere near as successful as it has been while I was at school,” Mr Healy said.

“Start in school, go do it. There‘s nothing to lose. There’s not many expenses. Honestly, it will set you up potentially for life.”

To date, Mr Healy averages 15 private walks and five pack walks a week, Monday to Friday and has had more than 700 clients since beginning the business.

Ned Heaton, The Turtle Tribe

Not only has Ned Heaton, 15, and his family doubled their business year-on-year for the greater good, they’re successfully moving towards their mission of banning plastic toothbrushes through The Turtle Tribe.

Growing up camping on the beaches of Moreton Island National Park, Mr Heaton would frustratingly watch plastic, including plastic toothbrushes, continuously wash up on the shore.

Knowing it takes more than 500 years for plastic to break down, at just 11-years-old in September 2018, Mr Heaton decided to develop his own biodegradable, bamboo toothbrush.

The Turtle Tribe's founder Ned Heaton. Picture: Supplied

“I was eventually able to get my own factory in China that makes my toothbrushes for me,” Mr Heaton said.

Following help in creating its design from his holistic dentist, Dr John Sotis of Gold Coast Holistic Dental Care, the dental practice also became the first in the country to provide the toothbrush to their clients.

Since then, after media coverage of the work Mr Heaton was doing to protect the environment with his products, he was invited as a guest exhibitor at the Australian National Sustainability Conference in Brisbane in April 2019 to share the work he was doing.

Mr Heaton has won a myriad of awards including Changemaker of the Year in 2019 in the global ‘Be the Change’ Awards for the Social Impact sector in London as well as winning the Most Impactful Teen Business sector of the Teens in Business Awards in 2022.

The Turtle Tribe became so successful, his father and mother, Shane and Cath Heaton, sold their family business to join the company as general manager and operations manager, respectively.

One of The Turtle Tribe’s largest customers is Regis Aged Care which the business supplies with around 30,000 toothbrushes annually.

General manager Shane Heaton, Ned’s father, said the company is on track to making around $200,000 this year in turnover.

“It has been growing quite rapidly. So we have projections, doubling every year. So we did $100,000 this year, [and] probably [will] do $200,000 this year,” Mr Heaton said.

“It's really more about the mission. The income is a byproduct of the mission that just lets us grow the mission.”

Ten per cent of all profits from The Turtle Tribe also go towards the ocean clean-up charity, Ocean Crusaders.

The Turtle Tribe's biodegradable products. Picture: Supplied

Not only does The Turtle Tribe sell bamboo toothbrushes, the business also sells plastic-free toothpaste tablets, corn bioplastic floss, cardboard tube organic lip balm and much more.

Aligned with Mr Heaton’s mission to ban plastic toothbrushes through his work, The Turtle Tribe has pledged to give away one million bamboo toothbrushes to encourage people to make the switch.

Mr Heaton’s advice to young people wanting to start their own business is to simply start, don’t wait for it to be perfect.

“There’s a saying which I really like is if you’ve waited until you‘re ready, you’ve waited too long,” Mr Heaton said.

“Since we started four years ago … bamboo toothbrushes weren‘t available in supermarkets, and now, Colgate and Oral B are both making bamboo toothbrushes, so change is definitely happening.”