Building a fortune with a trade
How do you build yourself a fortune? Make a start in the trades. This year's exclusive BRW Young Rich list has just been released and it seems starting out as a tradie is a very successful means of making the cut. That's right. Many of Australia's richest and most successful entrepreneurs have a background working with tools.
SOURCES OF THE BRW YOUNG RICH FORTUNES - Industry breakdown
Industry
Number
Retail
20
Technology
20
Property
12
Services (finance)
12
Entertainment
10
Sport
7
Media
5
Telecommunications
5
Services
4
Manufacturing
2
Resource
2
Transport
1
Among those in the BRW Young Rich and BRW Rich Top 200 are former carpenters, builders, electricians, and plumbers. Coming in at number 41 and worth a cool $41 million is property developer Mark Etherington, who still proudly calls himself a carpenter.
Etherington finished his carpentry apprenticeship in 1990 and worked across various small jobs, before he was hired by the operators of Rydges hotel in Melbourne to do some maintenance. That was the break he needed.
Today, is empire is built on two hotels operated by the Rydges hotel chain, he runs a building and maintenance company, ECS Group, and owns a portfolio of properties and a food services business.
Etherington told BRW magazine that his business model relies on his ability as a carpenter, and is always mindful of one of the most fundamental rules on a work site: tradies work best when they are part of a team.
"On the job site, everyone is equal and it's a team environment. I try to do the same with my business. There is no pecking order, just different job descriptions," he said.
Other tradies to make the Top 200 include Melbourne property developer Shane Wilkinson and carpenter Chris Anderson.
Brisbane-based Anderson is now in command of a $60 million construction empire with his partner Virginia, and is testament to the importance of hard work and determination as the secret to success.
The Andersons put some of their wealth back into the community, mainly through the charity organisation Hero Australia that has built an orphanage, community centre and market garden in a Kenyan village. In fact, the value of doing a trade is instilled in children at the orphange, with Anderson keen for his own children to work in a trades-based field.
"I'd like to see my boys do a trade and get a bit of an eye-opener on the world," he said.
To be eligible for the BRW Young Rich list, people must be under 40 and must have acquired their wealth without inheritance. In 2007, the minimum net wealth required to make the list was a staggering $18 million.