Community
13 September, 2024
Vending machines for campers a winner
AN idea to install vending machines catering to the needs of campers has landed a Warrnambool teen with a $10,000 start-up boost.
At 17 years old, Emmanuel College student Isaac Purcell is the youngest ever winner of an Ideas Place Pitch Night.
His business idea for specialised vending machines catering to campers last week landed him $10,000 in seed funding.
Isaac was one of eight south west entrepreneurs who had five minutes to outline their innovative business idea at a Pitch Night in Noorat last Wednesday, September 4.
Isaac said he felt well prepared after completing the Ideas Place Boot Camp – a series of workshops designed to help participants refine their idea and get their message across in an impactful way.
“I was pretty confident going in, but I wasn’t expecting to come first. It was a nice surprise,” he said.
“The boot camp was great. Liz (Ideas Place facilitator Liz Grant) gave me so much good advice.”
Isaac said that even if he didn’t win, the advice and suggestions given to him by Liz would prove invaluable.
“With the advice she gave and the steps she suggested, I’m already 10 steps ahead of where I would have been if I hadn’t joined boot camp,” he said.
The young entrepreneur said that his business idea struck him while on a family holiday in Singapore last year where he saw diverse vending machines for different purposes.
“I thought, why isn’t there any of those in Port Fairy and Warrnambool?” he said.
“I knew that if I kept waiting, I might manage to talk myself out of it.
“So I joined the Ideas Place and called up the caravan parks, arranged the vending machine suppliers and all the products.
“As well as food, the machines have all the essentials such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, portable chargers, batteries and feminine hygiene products.”
Isaac believes most big vending machine businesses do “standard products” across all their machines, whether they are in a caravan park or an airport.
“These vending machines provide products tailored to the needs of each individual caravan park.”
Isaac expects to have his first machine ready to go by the summer.
“The $10,000 will be used to fund and stock the first machine, which will be installed at the Port Fairy Caravan Park,” he said.
“The plan is to start with one machine, collect data from that and then tailor the products even more. In the summer holidays I hope to introduce a second machine.”
Martha Rowe finished in second place at the Pitch Night and was awarded $5000 for her innovative saliva control product, while Rob Herry came in third and won $3000 for his animal therapy farm for people with a disability.
While this is the final Ideas Place Pitch Night in this format as part of the current funding agreement, innovation never sleeps and there is a Young Entrepreneurs Pitch Night at 6pm on Wednesday, September 18 at Brauer College.
A partnership between the Neil Porter Legacy, The Ideas Place, Warrnambool City Council and Demo Dairy Foundation, four young entrepreneurs will pitch for a chance at $1000 while the careers department of the winner’s school will receive $500.
Anyone wishing to attend can book a free ticket at www.humanitix.com and search “Young Entrepreneurs Night”.
The Ideas Place is a program to help south est entrepreneurs and start-ups bring innovative ideas to market.
