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IN his first year of business as a 26-year-old, he built 18 homes which delivered a turnover of just under $4 million and in less than six years Brett Boulton's company has multiplied that more than tenfold.
Bold Living, a privately owned residential building company, was founded in 2010 with starting capital of just $500,000 and now it builds 220 homes across south east Queensland which yields a turnover of more than $50 million.
Boulton, now 33, admits he "fell" into the industry a little bit by accident after working as a labourer for his father's building firm while he was studying for a business-marketing degree.
"I started labouring for Dad to make a bit of money while studying and after a short time we all realised I was quite good at speaking to clients and eventually I was in the business with him full time," Boulton says.
"He was an old school builder-type though who was hands on and we didn't see eye to eye on a few things, I mean I was in my 20s and he was in his late 50s and looking to wind down a bit and maybe head towards retirement.
"My goal was always to own my own business and I thought getting into building was the way to go."
Boulton is one of the nominees in our Young Entrepreneur Brisbane 2017 Awards, and in a short space of time he's built Bold Living from a business that hires just seven people to one that employs 45 full time staff and 200 part-timers and contractors.
He says his biggest challenge has been getting the right people to work with his business.
"Getting hold of the right people in this industry is always difficult and a lot of the people you want are already employed," Boulton says.
"We're always looking at ways to make it attractive to work here so we can get those good people."
Boulton also says the building industry in general has other challenges including regulatory administration issues, which can be time consuming, along with high upfront costs which can often take six months to even years to recoup.
Despite those hurdles, Boulton says Bold Living will continue to grow at around the 10 to 15 per cent mark per annum with a focussed strategy of expanding its building footprint further into southeast Queensland along with a marketing strategy to capitalise on the popularity of a reality TV renovation show.
"We are continuing to stretch our reach across south east Queensland and are now building from the Sunshine Coast to the Tweed and west out to Plainland.
"We have recently welcomed the winners of the 2016 hit TV show 'The Block', Will and Karlie, as our brand ambassadors and have launched a new marketing campaign incorporating the couple."
If you'd like to nominate yourself for our Young Entrepreneur Awards, or you'd like to put forward someone you know or work with, click here to nominate for the awards in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
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