How I made $20m at 22 years old
THERE’S a saying that being famous on Instagram is like being rich in Monopoly – but these Gold Coast dynamos have proven the money in social media is real.
Young Gold Coast entrepreneurs Nik Mirkovic, 22, and Alex Tomic, 24, founded teeth whitening brand HiSmile from the Gold Coast in 2014 and now have a combined wealth of $46 million.
Barely three years and countless dazzling grins later, the business is a juggernaut with current revenue of $20 million, which they expect to have doubled by January.
It started with just $20,000 and a plan to harness the dollars attached to millions of eyes glued to phones across the world. They saw a gap in teeth, or exciting cosmetic products for them, and decided to go for it.
A breakthrough came when reality star Kylie Jenner posted a photo of herself using the round device on her own insta-famous smile to more than 95 million followers.
The pair are tight-lipped on what it cost them to have Jenner pose with the HiSmile, but Mr Mirkovic said finding the right people to sell your product was critical.
“Our marketing strategy began on Instagram through visuals and an influencer strategy as part of this,” he said.
“The business now has a combined reach of more than 1.5m across Facebook and Instagram and this continues to grow.”
The duo are the youngest to debut on this year’s Young Rich List, published by Fairfax Media, and join fellow Gold Coaster Emily Skye Anderson, 32, who has amassed $32 million from her fitness business.
The Emily Skye brand sells fitness programs via apps and video tutorials, gaining much of her business through her 10 million Facebook followers and 2.1 million on Instagram.
This year she registered the Emily Skye trademark, launched a make-up line and also has sponsorship deals with Reebok and Lucozade.
Earlier this year Ms Anderson was named number three in the world for the Forbes media new Fitness Influencer category.
In March there was speculation she was to star in her own reality tv show.
There was no sign on the rich list of rival Gold Coast fitness queen Ashy Bines, whose husband is currently suing Ms Anderson over a business deal that went bad.