Genius 27-year-old turns pile of old cardboard into over 100m business

Tom and his business partner Josh - who have build a small empire out of cardboard (Image: MirrorPix)

A son who felt 'burnt out' by his nine to five job has revealed how he accidentally turned his father's business into a million online empire in just four years.

Tom Schott was working as a web developer when he decided to quit at 23 to take a career break.

He joined his father's removals business, where he started rebuilding the brand's website while juggling several other jobs for extra money.

That's when he stumbled upon an opportunity to make thousands - by selling the old cardboard lying idle in his warehouse.

Bringing in the help of business partner Josh, two years on he now runs Schott Packaging Ltd - which sells hundreds of thousands of boxes each year to companies and house-movers online.

His colleagues - a team of five - now work from a 10,500sqft office warehouse, and this year, its forecast to bring in over Sh100 million.

"I was four years into my job and was starting to feel burnt out by the repetitive nature of it. I wanted a change in my daily routine," Tom says.

"I started working for my dad in 2015 with the intention of taking a year or so off from web development. I wanted to refresh myself and thought I could help him rebuild the firm’s website and then return to my career.

"The company was a small, family-run removals business with around 12 employees.

"Alongside removals, my dad also had a storage business, and I noticed that a lot of the space in the warehouse was being taken up by leftover moving boxes. It made sense to clear it but I wasn’t sure where else to sell them so listed them online.

"I then discovered that there's huge demand for it on eBay.

"At first, we started with listings for packs of 10, 15 or 20 with prices ranging from Sh1900 to Sh3105 - I had no idea that Schott Packaging would take off on the back of it."

Tom said the orders quickly became consistent - and before he knew it he was recruiting to ensure he had enough stock and staff to manage the number of orders coming in.

"We started with orders from house movers and the odd bulk order from small businesses, but from there things started to snowball with customers placing larger orders.

"We then invested in expanding our product offering and started selling different kinds of packaging, which has led to us getting busier and busier, even providing packaging to other businesses."

Now approaching its third birthday, Tom says he has high hopes for his business.

"In our first year we made around Sh25,849,000, in our second year we made around Sh77,682,000, and so far this year we’re on course to make more than Sh100million – that’s a fivefold increase on 2016, which we’re really pleased with.

"Despite all the doom and gloom at the moment, we’re really optimistic about our future.

"We’re confident that by continuing to grow our product offering, as well as taking on some additional staff, we’ll be able to expand our reach into other markets, regardless of the wider economic situation."

But he's ready to face any obstacles along the way. Tom said his biggest challenge to date has been managing the company's growth.

"When you’re suddenly inundated with orders – which is what happened when we first started selling on eBay – you need to make sure you can fulfil the demand efficiently, delivering on time and keeping customers happy.

"We had to tweak the layout of our warehouse to make things as efficient as possible."

"When I started I didn’t think selling packaging would become a business, I was just trying to clear space by selling boxes on eBay. I would advise anyone that wants to develop a business to take your time and dedicate the effort to building and growing sustainably."

Despite Brexit, eBay says small businesses are surging online over their ability to adapt and change.

The marketplace, which invests in small ideas through its Retail Revival programme, said 64 businesses have seen revenues grow by 41 percent in the past three months - equivalent to over Sh100 million in sales.

“While there is some uncertainty that comes with Brexit, I’m excited about our prospects for the year ahead and I’m confident that we can weather the storm and mitigate any short-term hiccups," Tom said.

"Every month we’re looking to grow our product range and we’re also looking to bring on more staff, as well as expand our warehouse space to cope with increasing demand.”  

Rob Hattrell, at eBay UK, added: "The fact that so many small to medium sized businesses are optimistic about the future, despite tough trading conditions, is testament to the skills of agile and innovative UK entrepreneurs.

"Clearly there are economic risks in 2019, with Brexit and consumer confidence chief among the concerns, but we see that small retailers have the flexibility to adapt and thrive.

"The businesses we are working with in Wolverhampton grew revenues by 41 percent in the first three months of our Retail Revival partnership, showing how offline and online retail can work together."