Small Business: Teenpreneurs - Sam Yelchich, RAD Roadsigns

Photo / iStock

This week, Small Business editor Caitlin Sykes talks to Teenpreneurs.

Seventeen-year-old Sam Yelchich is CEO of RAD Roadsigns, a business formed by six year 13 Waiuku College students this year as part of the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme.

The business, which upcycles decommissioned road signs into clocks, was named the scheme's company of the year in the South Auckland region and also received the HSBC Award for Excellence in Sales and Marketing at the YES National Competition last week.

How did the idea for RAD Roadsigns come about?

A YES group last year had made chairs out of old road signs and I thought that was a cool idea. So we just played around with the upcycling idea, and then I thought of making clocks out of them because they're the perfect shape. Our suppliers for the decommissioned signs are Transfield Services and Fulton Hogan, and we get the clock motors and hands from Clockworks in Hamilton. Some of the members of our team have family members who are engineers, so we spend our time after school and in the evenings in their workshops making the clocks ourselves. We wanted to give people a bit of Aotearoa by upcycling conventionally non-recyclable goods.

How have you sold the clocks?

Sales and interest have far exceeded our expectations and we've met all our goals for the business. We initially launched our product with a market stall at a big festival in Waiuku on Mother's Day called Steel 'n' Wheels, which attracted 20,000 people. We sold all bar one of our first run of clocks on that day. We've also got a website, and we sell the clocks on Trade Me and through local cafes.

Where does your entrepreneurial spark come from?

I've always believed you should do the job you love and you'll never work again - I see too many people just doing the daily grind, stuck in jobs they don't enjoy. It's only been in the last few years that I've really found my passion in business. It was just by chance that the engineering programme I was going into at school didn't work out and I thought business might be an interesting subject to take. That decision has been one of the defining moments in my life so far.

Sam Yelchich, CEO of RAD Roadsigns.

I've also been hugely influenced by some family friends who are amazing, self-starting, successful businesspeople. They've taken a chance and are doing really exciting things with ventures like Rapids Jet, or running safari companies, resorts in Fiji, or skydiving operations in Namibia. They're risk-takers and seeing what they've achieved really drives me. They've made me realise the sky's the limit.

What are the challenges of being a teenage entrepreneur?

Stepping up from being a kid to a businessman has been a challenge. There's no one really around me at school who has the same passion for business who I can bounce ideas off, so sometimes I've felt like I'm going it alone. I have met other inspiring and driven young entrepreneurs when I've been away on YES events, but they're not in my area.

Another challenge is around expectations. If you set the bar high at the start then people have high expectations of you and it can be a big challenge to exceed those.

How about the benefits of being in business so young?

You have the opportunity to learn from mentors and their life experiences. Also there's nothing holding you back - no kids and no mortgage. You can take risks and you don't have to worry if you fail because you'll be able to get back up again and brush off the dust.

What's next on your journey in business?

In the immediate future I'm extremely fortunate to have been accepted into the Venture Up programme - an entrepreneurship accelerator for young leaders - which I'll be going to in Wellington for six weeks from January. I've heard amazing things about it and can't wait to feed off the energy of other budding entrepreneurs and the mentors they're offering to fuel us.

Then mid-year I start my diploma in adventure tourism at Queenstown Resort College thanks to winning their scholarship. Ultimately I want to have my own business in this sort of field; I don't know exactly what it will be yet but I will be the next AJ Hackett.