Smart50 rank: Nu-Tank
Revenue: $3,960,000
Growth: 256.02%
Founders: Kaylee Boccalatte, 25, Stephen Trail, 23, Wesley Boccalatte, 28
Head Office: Queensland
Employees: 10
Industry: Manufacturing
Website: www.nu-tank.com.au
The floods that swept through Queensland at the start of the year have made life tough for many of the state’s business. But when your community is covered in water, the last thing people are going to be thinking about buying is a water tank.
For Rockhampton-based tank manufacturers Nu-Tank, that’s created some interesting challenges.
“You don’t need a water tank when your back porch is covered in water,” laughs co-founder Kaylee Boccalatte.
“The main issue was that we couldn’t deliver and people couldn’t take deliveries. It slowed everything down for awhile.”
Kaylee Boccalatte, aged 25, husband, Wesley Boccalatte, aged 28 and brother Stephen Trail, aged 23, started the business in 2008. The trio are second-generation manufacturers and had spotted a gap in the Central Queensland market for clean, reliable and strong water tanks and poly products and jumped.
Three years later, business is booming despite the floods and fragile consumer confidence. Revenue in 2010-11 was $3.96 million and average annual growth over the past three years has been just over 256%.
Boccalatte says the last few years have been tough and management has needed to pay close attention.
“We watch the figures in all areas, from leads generated, leads converted, production and delivery to ensure that the company maintains at the least breakeven point.”
As with many regional businesses, good old-fashioned newspaper advertisements and word-of-mouth are the keys to keeping the leads coming in the last few months.
What keeps Boccalatte up at night is simple: red tape. She says the increasing requirements and responsibilities of running a company are a huge drain on time and resources.
“It seems companies are liable for almost anything and everything. The increasing amount of paperwork to get through each day means you spend longer working in the business before you get to working on the company.”
The carbon tax looms as a particular hurdle for the business.
“Our machines run off both gas and electricity. Raw material prices are going to dramatically increase, delivery charges will increase and overall the cost of the products is going to have to increase in an economically challenged market.”
