Meet Wollongong's youngest entrepreneurs who run their own businesses from the Zig Zag Hub.
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Spencer Garde, 8, Amayah Christensen, 7, and Lexie Garde, 10, participate in a young entrepreneurs program and share a co-working space one day a week after school.
Zig Zag Hub's Carmen Rudd said the program encourages them to think of ideas and problems that need to be solved and come up with ideas and business models.
"They also stand up at a pitch-fest and present their ideas to an audience so they can build public speaking skills and get feedback," she said.
Spencer's business is called Recycling Kid. He distributes milk crates to people and businesses willing to take them so he can collect bottles and cans for recycling as well as bread tags that can be used to make wheelchairs. His motivation for starting this business is he wants to save enough money to buy a Porsche.
Spencer has crates in Wollongong, Shellharbour, Sydney and Canberra, As a sideline business he sells reusable bees wax wraps for wrapping food that feature his own decorative design.
"I've been running my business most of this year," he said.
Amayah has a range of Sassy May personalised shirts that come in all sizes with iron on-initials people can custom order.
"I have other designs as well. I have two butterflies available right now," she said.
Amayah recently filled a family order where the father, mother and child all had the same initials. So filling the order involved using the same initials on shirts in three different sizes.
"I am saving up for a computer and then an iPod."
Lexie is using her sewing skills to make a range of Little Miss Stitch products such as tooth fairy kits, scrunchies, hankies, tote bags, dog scarfs and face masks. She has made scrunchies and uniforms for Miss Zoe's School of Dance and Dance World and some face masks for LJ Hooker.
She said her grandmother and great grandmothers taught her to sew. "I've made my own clothes before. I really enjoy it and I want to be like Coco Chanel".
Lexie said standing up and pitching her ideas and product to a room full of business people and answering their questions was a little more out of her comfort zone. But she said it gets easier each time and it was great to hear their feedback and advice.
Parents administer a Facebook page for each business so potential customers can see the products and fill out an order from and get sent an invoice. Each business has its own bank account and debit card.
Facilitator Marie Russo runs sessions after school for children in different age groups during the week.
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