Profiles

Walk through any CBD at lunchtime and you’ll pass hundreds of men in expensive – and often ill-fitting – suits.

The naysayers label blogs the graffiti of the Internet – a way to indulge in discussions about our pet passions or hobbies.

Marcus Lim always had an interest in technology, but it wasn’t until he moved out and had to renovate his new apartment that he came up with a way to turn that interest into a business.

After years spent helping other businesses grow, Aaron Zamykal wanted to start a venture where he could see his own product on a shelf.

The Sydney restaurant scene is a blood sport. A restaurant opening and closing its doors within a couple of months barely raises an eyebrow. It’s remarkable then, to stumble across an entrepreneur who has not only survived, but seriously thrived.

If making a handmade, high quality, highly perishable product, on an island south of Tasmania – with your marketplace being the whole of Australia – sounds like a challenge, well you’d be right.

What happens when steadfast values like trust and loyalty collide with business? You get one of Australia’s most enduring family-run businesses.

After watching his parents nearly lose their business in the recession Australia ‘had to have’ in the early 90s, Brett Birkill learned the keys to running a business.

Diamonds are not purchase many enter into lightly, so when Gus Hashem announced that he wanted to start an online business selling engagement rings, many said it wouldn’t and couldn’t work.

When Renata Cooper started her company with nothing more than a humble Facebook page, she never dreamed at the ripple effects she was creating, quite literally. Forming Circles is an ethical and social investment company creating ‘ripples’ in the community through the power of giving.

Long hours spent in the garage and living on two minute noodles for months on end: the start-up lifestyle has become a cliché, but the reality of running a start-up rarely follows a script.

Many university students can barely focus on getting through their next assignment, let alone start their own business.

The digital revolution has left many a time-poor small business owner struggling to adapt to new technology.

It’s Christmas Day, 2010. Emily Doig is lying on a beach in Vietnam, cursing the ill-fitting swimsuit she had bought especially for her well-deserved holiday. Cue the business idea.

It’s easy to get bogged down when things don’t go your way in business, but Sam Cawthorn is urging organisations to focus on the positives and bounce forward rather than back.

Jeff Anning had been running a structural landscaping business for many years before a chance encounter in a carpark changed his life.

For this entrepreneur, a deviation into the corporate world was the basis of a successful business, and also a successful life transformation.

Pauline Nguyen grew up watching her parents work too hard at running their own business.

Humphrey and McDonald are 22 and 21 years old respectively, and after starting a digital marketing business together in their (early!) teens – barely out of high school two years ago, the pair were ready for their next business venture.

While some entrepreneurs set the bar at conquering just one country, others won’t stop until they’ve won over a continent.