How Melbourne man’s business Shader makes $50,000 a week

He became an instant millionaire at 26. But then he stumbled upon a lucrative idea, which saw his fortunes skyrocket even more.

A Melbourne man’s idea for a shade device for the beach is turning over $50,000 a week.

Mark Sellar, 35, invented a mini tent to shade your face – and it has become popular with beachgoers right across Australia.

It was when he saw “people on the sand … covering their faces with T-shirts,” that he came up with the idea, he told news.com.au.

“There was no way you could comfortably lay in the sun,” he said.

This sparked an idea for a device to keep the user’s face in the shade in what has since turned into a lucrative e-commerce business for the entrepreneur.

In 2018, he launched Shader, a tent-like face shield made of a reflective material that can be folded down into a pillow and fits into a bag for easy transport.

While the former carpenter made the device himself, it was winnings from a reality TV show that helped provide the initial capital for the business venture.

When he was 26, Mr Sellar appeared on Channel 7 reality show, The Big Adventure – a mix between Survivor and The Amazing Race. And he took home the top prize of $1 million.

“I got quite fortunate, then that allowed me the financial freedom to start developing products without that risk,” he said.

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Mark Sellar on the reality TV show when he was 26.

Mr Sellar with a Shader device on his back.

Mr Sellar used the money to try his hand at a variety of business ideas – with mixed success.

He launched a door stop business two years after his reality TV win which soon took off.

However, another product, an automated CV generator, turned out to be a “fail”.

At first, he thought Shader was a dud idea too.

In 2018, he launched it on a crowd-funding platform and in the first week, business was terrible.

“It started really slow. The first week we barely sold any – we thought this wasn’t working,” he said.

“Then all of a sudden it went absolutely crazy.”

The shade device has grown in popularity.

He got the idea after observing Australians on the beach.

The device had been posted on a small Facebook group where it was reshared and became viral.

But then the pandemic hit.

The initial Shader was constructed out of wood, due to Mr Sellar’s carpentry background.

But with the pandemic, his business needed a massive rethink.

“Covid-19 hit and we almost stopped the business. People weren’t going outside,” he said.

Instead of packing up shop completely, Mr Sellar used Melbourne’s many lockdowns to finetune a second iteration of the Shader.

The device has been around since 2018 but relaunched during the pandemic.

Mr Sellar created a version of the shade that was lightweight, sleek and easy to carry.

This also helped save money for the company, as lighter products meant less freight costs.

As a result, once lockdowns ended and summertime hit, the product exploded, and he’s been earning big bucks ever since.

Mr Sellar and his team of five are now planning to launch into the US market next year.