Teenage entrepreneurs of eastern suburbs Sydney share their businesses
Teens these days. Lazy, addicted to social media, never looking up from their phones, right? Wrong. Meet the eastern suburbs’ teens absolutely smashing it with their own businesses.
Wentworth Courier
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You’ll find as many entrepreneurs as you do surfers in the eastern suburbs and our ambitious teens are not going to miss out on the action.
We spoke to some the brightest young business minds from high schools across the east and there is no doubt you are looking at the industry leaders of tomorrow.
BLADES OF GLORY
Axel Stapleton, 11, and Fox Stapleton, 14
When Axel and Fox Stapleton looked down their quiet Tamarama street they didn’t see unkempt nature strips – they saw opportunity.
With most houses only having either a small yard or just a nature strip to mow, neighbours faced the choice between buying a mower and sacrificing the space to store it or outsourcing to lawn maintenance companies at considerable expense.
“We charge $15 a lawn but sometimes people give us a tip and then we get $20,” Axel said.
With Axel on the whipper snipper, a birthday present from his parents, and Fox on mowing and weeding duties, the street has never looked so good.
The brothers started out with a borrowed manual push mower and then when the money started coming in, they invested in their pride and joy – a shiny new petrol powered Victa.
In the past year the Waverley College students have steadily built up a regular client base but they have big expansion plans for Blades of Glory.
“Starting our own business makes me feel very old – it’s a nice feeling,” said Axel.
“I feel very important but at the same time it doesn’t feel too much different from doing regular chores.”
Big brother Fox has already begun strategizing the expansion of the business.
“Right now we only mow the lawns on our street but one day we want to mow all around Tamarama and maybe even the next suburb or even further,” he said.
“In winter we don’t get much business because the lawns don’t grow as fast. But now that summer is coming and the lockdown will end soon I think we will have a lot more business.”
While the entrepreneurial pair have prudently reinvested into their business, they have also squirrelled away a nest egg into savings.
Axel is dreaming of the day in five years time when he gets his car licence.
“I already know what I’m going to buy with all the money. My first car – it’s going to be a Suzuki Jimny,” said Axel.
“If you want to start your own business, what you need to do is come up with an idea and pursue it.
“It may be tiring but in the end it is worth it.”
Follow the boys on Instagram @bladesofglorylawns
THRIFTR APP
Suki Waddel, 14, and Olivia Zammit, 15
Never again will you turn to fast fashion when you could have saved money – not to mention the planet – by buying good quality second hand.
This dynamic duo have created an app which helps you not only locate your local second hand clothing stores but discover what garments they have on offer.
What started as a school project at St Clare’s College Waverley turned in to a passion with Suki spending three solid months writing the code behind the app while Olivia worked on the business case.
These impressive young women have entered Thriftr in the prestigious Techgirls competition and are chasing sponsorship and mentors to help them get it ready for a projected 2022 launch in the app store.
Suki, of North Bondi, said she was proud of her prototype but hoped to gain the ear of an industry expert to help her flush out the bugs before launch.
“I run the environment club at my school and I’m really passionate about that,” Suki said.
“We were doing research and discovered that fast fashion contributes eight per cent towards the world’s carbon emissions.
“I do enjoy coding and developing so it was a really attractive idea for me to follow through and work on.”
Meanwhile Olivia of Waverley has been crunching the numbers and determining their target audience.
“Initially we are targeting ages 13 to 25. Suki and I both love thrifting, it’s a really great hobby of ours, and we thought many teenagers and young adults around our generation and age would like to do it too,” Olivia said.
“So we based our app aesthetic about what teens would find trendy.
“Thrifting is an amazing way to recycle clothes. If our generation starts buying second hand instead of new we can make an impact.
“A lot of the bigger stores have all the same clothes and it’s so exciting to have your own style and aesthetic to your wardrobe.”
TOUCHDOWN SQUAD
Benji Klotz, 17
When mad keen 49ers fan Benji Klotz, 17, started sharing his NFL musings on Reddit he soon found himself a keen audience.
The American football fan, who has previously lived in Dallas, Miami and San Francisco before moving to Sydney, specialises in the Fantasy Football League and is also known for his analysis of the draft and witty opinion pieces.
“It focuses on three main areas pertaining to American football: fantasy sports/tipping – where I create models to predict individual player performances and overall match outcomes; the NFL draft – evaluating college football players about to enter the NFL; and articles – opinion pieces where I present a personal opinion or take on something I find interesting,” Benji told the Wentworth Courier.
With a growing appetite for his work, the Cranbrook School student decided to take the plunge and launch his own sports journalism website Touchdown Squad.
While much of the content is free, he also has premium articles behind a paywall and the charitable young man donates 20 per cent of all his profits to the Watarrka Foundation which supports Aboriginal communities.
“I started my sports journalism website Touchdown Squad last year during lockdown as a passion project of sorts,” Benji said.
“I’ve been an avid follower of American football since I lived there when I was younger and have been writing about it as a hobby on various platforms like Reddit since 2017.
“It seemed like I had a unique perspective that readers valued, but I also realised the difficulty in progressing further without a stand-alone business. So in 2020 I decided to start my own website as a way to further explore this interest and potentially make some money as well.”
Benji said the beauty of this sort of business is he can pick and choose his hours.
“The NFL/college football season runs from September to January so during those months it requires more work, but the rest of the year I sell content packages when I finish them, so the workload is really flexible – like most things it’s very much I get out what I put in,” Benji said.
While Benji doesn’t think sports journalism will be his full time future gig, there’s no doubt it’s giving him valuable experience for his chosen profession.
“I think it’s more of a passion I’ve been able to monetise and plan to continue on the side,” he said.
“I hope to move into the financial services industry after school.”
Benji said he was inspired to donate to a charity partner after his year 10 trip with Cranbrook to Lilla, an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory.
“I got to see some of the Watarrka Foundation’s work, such as the K-6 school they had built for young Indigenous children in remote locations,” Benji explained.
“The entire trip was an eye-opening experience and when I started Touchdown Squad I knew I wanted to support it in some way.”
Check it out at www.touchdownsquad.com
CANDLES BY EARTH
Scarlett Gibson-Williams, 16
When SCEGGS student Scarlett Gibson-Williams started brainstorming thoughtful and Covid safe gifts for her teachers during lockdown nothing else held a candle to this one.
“My family has always had a love for candles but buying candles for all my teachers was a) going to be expensive, and b) didn’t feel as special as a homemade gift,” Scarlett said.
“This led me to spending hours researching how to make candles at home, what wax was more economic and sustainable, what ratio of essential oils to wax was needed, the boiling point of soy wax, and so much more.”
After all that research, Scarlett realised she had created a product which had appeal to the broader community.
“Candles by Earth was created to supply the wider community with eco-friendly candles that are more cost effective,” she said.
“To do this, I use recycled or second-hand glass jars and ceramics, and all our candles are made with natural soy wax with non-chemical essential oils, and wicks that are made from more sustainable materials.”
While Scarlett enjoys the extra pocket money that comes from her business, she also dedicates the profits from some of the candles to charity.
“This time round, my school is fundraising for remote communities in Cape York and working with Red Earth,” Scarlett said.
“Therefore, I am dedicating this batch of candles to help with our fundraising. I care about the health of the community and the environment, so now I have a way to do both.”
Visit Candle by Earth HERE or follow them on Instagram @candles_by_earth
THE UGLY DUMPLING
Electra Noble, 16
When your mum has an incredible idea and great dumpling recipe what’s a young entrepreneur to do except capitalise on it?
Back when SCEGGS Darlinghurst student Electra Noble was 14 and too young to get a conventional job she decided to create her own hustle.
“I own a small-scale dumpling business where I make and sell homemade fresh dumplings called The Ugly Dumpling,” Electra said.
“There are four main types of dumplings I sell, including: pork, chicken, vegetarian/vegan, and prawn and pork.
“The dumplings cost $1 each (prawn and pork are $1.50 each), which is a bargain compared to other authentic dumpling vendors.
“The customers would purchase the raw dumplings and cook them themselves according to the instructions I provided for them.”
Word soon spread and soon Electra built up a database of customers who she alerted via text message whenever she had a batch on the way.
The orders came flooding in and Electra worked hard to master the dumpling making on her own.
“In the beginning, I only had the pork dumplings, but the other types developed in the following months,” she said.
“Every Friday, I cycled down to Chinatown after school and collected the fresh ingredients for the dumplings, came back home and made the mixtures.
“Saturdays were reserved for schoolwork in the mornings and business in the afternoons.”
The Ugly Dumpling is on hiatus at the moment but Electra thinks she may pick it up again in the future.
“I think my sister would like to relaunch, but only time will tell. Since we’re both still students, it’s difficult to provide a definite answer, but we will still continue to make dumplings for our household,” Electra said
“It was a great experience, so I’d love to try it out again with something different.”
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