Published on 19 September 2022

Onkaparinga’s kidpreneurs dream big

Every great business idea starts with a lightbulb moment. For 10-year-old Seaford Meadows entrepreneur, Alexa, it was hearing about another kid who was making four dollars a pop for bringing in their neighbours’ bins.

“It got me thinking about how I could start up a business and earn some money,” Alexa says.

Brainstorming with mum, Toni, whose previous business had involved using an electronic cutting machine (called a ‘Cricut’), Alexa decided she wanted to help brighten people’s bins by selling decorative and durable stickers suitable for outside conditions.

“I washed down our bins and put stickers I’d made on them and took some photos of it,” Alexa says.

When she posted the images to her new business Facebook page in June, That’s My Bin was officially born, and with it came a flurry of sales and enquiries.

Fast-forward to late August, and That’s My Bin has sold bold and colourful bin stickers—featuring house numbers, animals, plants and a range of other images—across South Australia, but also in Queensland, Western Australian and the Australian Capital Territory.

Alexa’s older sister, Mikayla (12), has become an integral part of the business, with the pair sharing creative, marketing and production duties. They’ve even employed younger sister, Indy (six) to help with cutting the stickers and putting stamps on the envelopes.

Toni and husband Tim say they’re incredibly proud of their daughters, particularly with Alexa and Mikayla’s decision to donate 20 per cent of their sales to charity, which has seen them raise more than $2000 to be split between the Hutt St Centre and Variety – the Children’s Charity.

They plan on rotating which charities they’ll donate to quarterly, with Dusty Paws Dog Rescue next on the list.

“We’re so proud of their achievements and dedication,” Toni says.

“The business has created a real-life opportunity, supporting their understanding across many areas including customer service, financial management, ordering stock, marketing and teamwork.

“We’ve always encouraged creativity, particularly through arts and craft, and Alexa and Mikayla picked up skills using my Cricut machine.”

Dad, Tim, said the girls’ decision to donate to charity was encouraged by the support they’ve received to kickstart the business.

“There were some very kind and generous people that donated extra money with their purchases early on, and others who’ve donated off-cuts of vinyl [which is required to make the stickers].

“One customer even helped letterbox drop 300 flyers around the neighbourhood! The girls have always been kind and caring-natured children, so the charity idea was about paying it forward.”

“Mikayla and I know that there are people in the world that need the money more than us,” Alexa adds.

Pocket money and charity aside, Alexa has used some of the profits so far to invest back into the business, reaching her goal to purchase her own Cricut machine and laptop.

The girls’ efforts were helped along recently by the team at City of Onkaparinga’s Onkaparinga Youth Enterprise Hub (OYEH), which discussed the support available for youth-led start-ups including skill development, networking opportunities and recognition including through Onkaparinga Youth’s Youth Recognition Awards.

The OYEH team also provided information on accessing business grants and a free business advisory service through Business Onkaparinga.

The girls have even been offered free business coaching by an Adelaide business academy to help take That’s My Bin to the next level, with establishing a website among the next goals on Alexa’s list.

Alexa says one day she’d like to combine her interests in entrepreneurship with her other passion for engineering. When pressed about the best thing about having your own business, her answer is simple: “Being in charge and making all the decisions!”.

Note: if decorating your bin with stickers, make sure the City of Onkaparinga logo and bin number (usually located on the side of the bin) remain visible.