From backyard business to millions in sales: Nine-year-old Josh Murray's egg empire
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You know what they say – fortune favours the bold!
This was certainly the case for young Josh Murray, whose simple plan to make some pocket money quickly turned into a multimillion-dollar business venture.
Josh began by selling farm-fresh eggs to his neighbours. Credit: News.com.au.
Josh and his family moved to Gisborne (located north of Melbourne) more than 10 years ago, where they bought a property that had been used as a pine plantation. After cutting down all the pine trees, they were left with a big empty space to ponder over while deciding their next move.
The family had always dreamed of owning a farm, but at the time, they were unsure of what they wanted to produce and grow on the land.
The former owner had left behind 40 hens, which Josh, who was 9 years old at the time, took an interest in by collecting their eggs.
His mum Tamsyn said that if he did all the work taking care of the chickens and collecting their eggs, then he could keep all the money he made from selling them. “He looked after the chickens. He had to feed them and clean out the coop - the hens were his responsibility," she said.
Josh's business venture was a huge hit, and soon his eggs were available in small supermarkets. Credit: News.com.au.
After all that work taking care of the hens and collecting their eggs, it didn’t take long for Josh to start raking in some serious dough!
He started selling some of the eggs to their neighbours, but they only had three neighbours at the time, so there wasn't much money to make. But as word spread about the young lad’s business venture, he quickly realized he had more customers than he could handle.
So, he looked further into town and started approaching local shopkeepers and markets. Eventually, his products caught the eye of Australia’s two largest grocery chains – Coles and Woolworths – and his family decided this was an opportunity worth pursuing on a larger scale.
Josh's Rainbow Eggs was the name given to the new free-range chicken egg enterprise that the Murray family invested all of their time and resources into.
Josh made about $15,000 from the business before his parents took it to the next level and hired their first worker in 2012 to help collect eggs from a whopping 1500 chickens.
The following year, they had 2000 hens on their farm. The flock ballooned to 10,000 hens by 2015, at which point eight people were employed full-time just to collect the eggs.
The egg business was named after Josh and his 'rainbow' eggs. Credit: News.com.au.
But how exactly did Josh do it? We may not know much about businesses, but we're pretty sure getting supermarket giants like Coles and Woolworths interested isn’t a walk in the park…
Turns out that all you need is some chutzpah and an email address because that's precisely what happened!
In 2015, Josh wrote a passionate email directly to Coles expressing interest in supplying them with his farm-fresh eggs. Soon after, both he and his mum were invited down to Melbourne for a meeting where they subsequently secured deals with one of Australia's leading supermarkets!
But it didn't stop there! Josh also wanted to get Woolies in on the team, so he approached the head office of the company and soon after, Josh's rainbow eggs were also available on Woolies shelves!
Not bad for someone who was still only 15 at the time…
With big-name supermarkets now on board, sales went through the roof, allowing them to move operations onto a larger property which was more ideal for their chickens to roam free.
Josh now helps the business by making deliveries. Credit: News.com.au.
Now, seven years later, business is better than it's ever been.
Josh, who is currently 21 years old, is majoring in marketing in his business studies degree at uni. With his driver's licence in hand, he also contributes to the poultry farm by making deliveries.
So what do you think of this story, members? Egg-lover or not, you have to admit that this story is a testimony to young Josh's hard work, perseverance, and of course, excellent business skills. What are your thoughts? Egg-citing or not? Share them with us in the comments below!
This was certainly the case for young Josh Murray, whose simple plan to make some pocket money quickly turned into a multimillion-dollar business venture.
Josh began by selling farm-fresh eggs to his neighbours. Credit: News.com.au.
Josh and his family moved to Gisborne (located north of Melbourne) more than 10 years ago, where they bought a property that had been used as a pine plantation. After cutting down all the pine trees, they were left with a big empty space to ponder over while deciding their next move.
The family had always dreamed of owning a farm, but at the time, they were unsure of what they wanted to produce and grow on the land.
The former owner had left behind 40 hens, which Josh, who was 9 years old at the time, took an interest in by collecting their eggs.
His mum Tamsyn said that if he did all the work taking care of the chickens and collecting their eggs, then he could keep all the money he made from selling them. “He looked after the chickens. He had to feed them and clean out the coop - the hens were his responsibility," she said.
Josh's business venture was a huge hit, and soon his eggs were available in small supermarkets. Credit: News.com.au.
After all that work taking care of the hens and collecting their eggs, it didn’t take long for Josh to start raking in some serious dough!
He started selling some of the eggs to their neighbours, but they only had three neighbours at the time, so there wasn't much money to make. But as word spread about the young lad’s business venture, he quickly realized he had more customers than he could handle.
So, he looked further into town and started approaching local shopkeepers and markets. Eventually, his products caught the eye of Australia’s two largest grocery chains – Coles and Woolworths – and his family decided this was an opportunity worth pursuing on a larger scale.
Josh's Rainbow Eggs was the name given to the new free-range chicken egg enterprise that the Murray family invested all of their time and resources into.
Josh made about $15,000 from the business before his parents took it to the next level and hired their first worker in 2012 to help collect eggs from a whopping 1500 chickens.
The following year, they had 2000 hens on their farm. The flock ballooned to 10,000 hens by 2015, at which point eight people were employed full-time just to collect the eggs.
The egg business was named after Josh and his 'rainbow' eggs. Credit: News.com.au.
But how exactly did Josh do it? We may not know much about businesses, but we're pretty sure getting supermarket giants like Coles and Woolworths interested isn’t a walk in the park…
Turns out that all you need is some chutzpah and an email address because that's precisely what happened!
In 2015, Josh wrote a passionate email directly to Coles expressing interest in supplying them with his farm-fresh eggs. Soon after, both he and his mum were invited down to Melbourne for a meeting where they subsequently secured deals with one of Australia's leading supermarkets!
But it didn't stop there! Josh also wanted to get Woolies in on the team, so he approached the head office of the company and soon after, Josh's rainbow eggs were also available on Woolies shelves!
Not bad for someone who was still only 15 at the time…
With big-name supermarkets now on board, sales went through the roof, allowing them to move operations onto a larger property which was more ideal for their chickens to roam free.
Josh now helps the business by making deliveries. Credit: News.com.au.
Now, seven years later, business is better than it's ever been.
Josh, who is currently 21 years old, is majoring in marketing in his business studies degree at uni. With his driver's licence in hand, he also contributes to the poultry farm by making deliveries.
So what do you think of this story, members? Egg-lover or not, you have to admit that this story is a testimony to young Josh's hard work, perseverance, and of course, excellent business skills. What are your thoughts? Egg-citing or not? Share them with us in the comments below!
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