An entrepreneur is someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision-maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced. An entrepreneur also supplies risk capital as a risk-taker, and monitors and controls the business activities. The entrepreneur is usually a sole proprietor, a partner, or the one who owns the majority of shares in an incorporated venture. You’ll likely find that most entrepreneurs may enter trading via fractional shares or something similar, just so they could test the water. Once they found their feet per se, they will have started to battle it out with the big guns in more valuable stocks.
Australia has some of the best entrepreneurs in the world. Here’s a list of 4 people who I think you should check out:
1. Vicky Teoh
Vicky and her husband David are 2 of the most mysterious business figures in Australia. Even with a company that continues to grow in size, they make it a point to guard their privacy. They emigrated from Malaysia in the 1980’s. They founded TPG Telecom in 1986. This company provides broadband services and has a current value of $4.4 billion on the ASE.
2. Andrew Charlton
Andrew Charlton is the author of Ozonomics and Fair Trade for All (with Joseph Stiglitz) and two Quarterly Essays, ‘Man-Made World’ and ‘Dragon’s Tail’. From 2008 to 2010 he was senior economic adviser to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He is co-founder of the strategic advisory business AlphaBeta.
3. Dick Smith
As the founder/owner of Dick Smith Electronics, Dick is known for his unorthodox methods of media advertising. The company was founded in 1968 by Dick Smith and owned by him and his wife until they sold to Woolworth’s Unlimited in 1982. His interests are mountaineering, aviation and various adventure stunts. The “Australian Geographic” magazine is 1 of his most laudable achievements. Although the company closed in 2016, Dick Smith Electronics had a good run for awhile.
4. John Singleton
John started a career in advertising back in 1958 as a mail boy for the J. Walter Thompson’s Sydney office. His company John Singleton Advertising was publicly listed and moved onto being the Singleton Group Ltd in 1996. In 2002, it became STW Communications Group Ltd. In 2016, STW and WPP merged to become WPP AUNZ. WPP AUNZ is a group of 80 marketing communications services companies that collaborate to create world-class customer experiences and drive growth for clients.
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While there are many other Australian entrepreneurs I could mention, these 4 stuck out as being the most interesting to me. I hope this post has helped you learn a little more about each individual mentioned.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received monetary compensation in exchange for writing this article.