2011 GOLD COAST YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR REVEALED

A Tourism marketer who set up his RewardsCorp business with $50,000 in savings has today been named 2011 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Randall Deer (pictured), has been a quiet achiever since starting up his international marketing company in 2005 – but his business is making plenty of noise with annual revenues of more than $40 million.

Employing 90 staff at his Broadbeach-based company, the 36-year-old has built a corporate empire with offices in Broadbeach, Sydney, New Zealand and South Africa with plans to expand to the US.

He first hatched the concept to handle promotions for big multinationals while working full-time as chief financial officer at BreakFree Holidays.

RewardsCorp landed its first trial campaign for two Retravision stores in Nerang and Runaway Bay – and has since powered from strength to strength.

“We hired temporary staff from Kelly Recruitment Services and invested $20,000 into the first campaign, which led to a state-wide campaign, so I invested a further $200,000 into it. By the time we ran the national campaign, we had enough profit to fund it internally,” reveals Deer.

Other award winners at today’s annual luncheon at RACV Royal Pines Resort were Theodore Vairaktaris of Usher and Son Painting Contractors, who claimed the 2011 Highly Commended Award; and Nerang-based organic skin products producer Narelle Chenery who claimed the Trailblazer Award.

Vairaktaris has spearheaded his painting and construction company in a tough Gold Coast market.

Since establishing in 2003, the commercial painters have used their ethic of ‘project transparency’ to secure major works at the Amira Beachfront Apartments, QT (formerly the Gold Coast International Hotel) and Marina Mirage shopping centre with annual revenues of $13 million.

“We are extremely proactive through the whole programming of the works, from scheduling and finish through to quality and timely completion within budget. We get builders to do things differently, which is the Usher secret of success,” says Vairaktaris.

This year’s Trailblazer Narelle Chenery started her Organic and Natural Enterprise Group (ONEgroup) after developing the Miessence skincare range out of her kitchen in 2003.

ONEgroup now exports to 65 countries around the world via a robust network marketing strategy and has solid growth forecast of 20 per cent in 2012.

Chenery credits word of mouth for her company’s organic growth and social media platforms for spreading the word.

“People fall in love with the products and some even want to make a business out of it by joining,” says Chenery.

Gold Coast Business News congratulates this year’s winner Randall Deer and all finalists for their tremendous contribution to the city’s bustling business landscape.

This year, 30 finalists – including winner, highly commended and the trailblazer – all took creativity and ingenuity to a new level.

The 2011 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards have uncovered and recognised bullish, ambitious and tech-savvy business leaders, who are not afraid to reveal their unique individuality and secrets of success. Read how they paved smart paths to success in a special annual edition of Gold Coast Business News – out now in more than 500 Queensland newsagencies.