An Australian teenager has decided to skip university to concentrate on his building his business which he started from a school project four years ago.
Student entrepreneur Scott Millar of Brisbane was only 14 when he started working on a business school assignment that soon led to the birth of his tech company BOP Industries in mid 2015.
The CEO told Daily Mail Australia that he and his friends had successfully come up with an idea of a custom-made hash-tag keychains, which was produced entirely in Australia that later became a hit after selling it at local markets.
BOP Industries STEM workshops at the World Science Festival with Scott Millar on the right
Mr Millar (right) and his father Glenn at their first market selling the hash-tag keychains
He and his friends won a $100 prize money from their teachers after presenting the idea to the school.
But Mr Millar soon emerged as the sole owner of the product after buying over the rights from his school- Sheldon College and six of his teammates.
‘The product was a hit, we soon sold it to businesses who would buy them in bulks to put them in the goodie bags and give them out at conferences,’ he said.
Mr Millar said he has sold about 5,000 keychains since ranging from $1.50 to $6 per piece.
Then one night, while on browsing through Facebook, Mr Millar came across a post which showed people how to make hologram technology from used CDs.
‘I didn’t sleep the whole night after watching that video and managed to make a hologram using an old CD,’ he said.
The original Hash-tag keychains which was initially sold at local markets and now sold online
That experiment soon gave him the idea to develop his own holographic projection product which can be used for a range of purposes such as bedtime stories to product presentation with a rental price of between $30 to $2,000 each.
Besides that, Mr Millar company’s also offered a range of technology workshops which teaches people about artificial intelligence, augmented reality and hologram production.
‘We have 15 facilitators running the workshop throughout Australia.
Hologram display for personal use which can be bought online and price between $15-$40
‘We conduct these workshops to anyone from kids to grandmothers in their 80s,’ he said.
He said teachers at his school were very supportive of his business and allowed him to take time off to attend to work commitments.
He was also thankful that his father Glenn loaned him a seed capital of $6,000 to start his business in the early days which he has since paid back in full.
At present, his start-up runs about three of four workshops a month that brings in thousands of dollars in revenue towards the company’s bottom line.
However, Mr Millar was coy about divulging details on how much his company is currently worth.
The teenager also added that he would be concentrating on his building his business upon graduating from school in November.
‘I would be skipping university and focusing on my business,’ he said.
Going forward, he said, he would expanding the reach of his workshops to Asian countries such as Singapore.
The BOP Industries stand alone hologram unit which is often used at corporate events