It was during a part-time job unpacking shipping containers that two Queensland university students founded a business that went on to win a 2015 Lord Mayor's Business Awards.
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Scott Young was 22 and working with his brother Trent unpacking shipping containers when they realised there was a niche market working directly with the retailers whose stock was being unpacked.
Previously, the work was outsourced by standard labour hire, but the two civil engineering students saw the chance to create a more personalised approach.
"We brought in a different model that we based on working with the customer to take full management of those containers, we were in control of efficiency and safety," Mr Young said.
"We were doing some work for a labour business while we were at university and we were playing football at the same time, we saw an opportunity to find work for young guys coming into footy club, they were chasing employment as well.
"We also had the opportunity with one of our sponsors who was importing furniture at the time.
"We went out and helped unpack furniture and got asked to do it again."
The two brothers took a year off from their careers to build Young Guns Container Crew, a business that 12 years on employs 400 team members across Australia.
Mr Young and his brother realised early on they wanted to give back to their employees and found they were passionate about seeing their team develop and so created a pathway program to upskill employees to give them better opportunities in the supply chain/logistics industry.
"Coming from remote communities ourselves, the opportunities aren't quite as available in remote as they are in cities," Mr Young said.
"Our business was becoming an opportunity for a lot of young people to start a career and as we evolved with time we realised that by investing in our people we were becoming a highly productive business.
"When someone comes into our business they can see there is a career path, and when we invest into them and what they have learnt they can retain for themselves over the career pathway.
"We have become a stepping stone for those wishing to pursue a career in the industry."
The family business has programs with schools, rugby league clubs and Indigenous groups and in 2015 Young Guns Containers Crew won the Supply Nation Certified Supplier of the Year award for strengthening supplier diversity.
Mr Young also won the 2015 Young Business Person of the Year, one of the 11 categories from the annual Lord Mayor's Business Awards.
Mr Young said the award provided credibility for the business.
"Trevor and I were pretty young and we have now built a business that is substantial in itself against other business," he said.
The 2016 Lord Mayor's Business Awards is in its 11th year and is open for nominations until July 22.
There are 11 award categories in total:
Australia TradeCoast Award for Small Business Growth
Brisbane Times Award for Business Innovation
ISPT Award for Digital Strategy
Clayton Utz Award for Corporate Citizenship
ANZ Made in Brisbane Award for High-growth Business StartUp
Energex Award for Sustainability in Business
HSBC Award for Doing Business in Asia
Port of Brisbane Award for New Investment
And two awards open to individuals:
Singapore Airlines Young Business Person of the Year Award
Channel 7 Business Person of the Year Award
One outstanding category winner (chosen from a business award winner):
Optus Business Platinum Award
Finalists will be announced early September with winners expected to be announced on Friday October 28.
To nominate or find out about other past winners, visit the Lord Mayor's Business Awards website.
