Summary: Mike O’Hagan – Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 & 2007. Started MiniMovers with just $200 and a Ute. Annual turnover now exceeds $30million employing 400+ staff. After being raised on a Dairy Farm in New Zealand, at the age of 18 Mike arrived in Australia with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and a pack on his back. Over the next 8 years he worked for 35 different employers. In his words “I’m a product of the many really bad, and the few good, employers I worked for”. This background helped to influence Mike to “do it differently” in business. His business career started with buying and selling goods as a second-hand dealer. Four years later the entrepreneur in Mike surfaced when he launched a short distance furniture removal business. This evolved into MiniMovers. MiniMovers has evolved into an innovative market leader, growing from an initial investment of $200 and a Ute, to an annual turnover exceeding $30 million with over 400 employees. Now 22 years old, MiniMovers currently moves over 1200 homes and offices a week in Southeast Queensland, Melbourne and Sydney. Through various government sponsored assistance/mentoring programs Mike has helped many hundreds of businesses. As a result Mike has developed some very alternative views of the success factors that drive people and businesses. Mike sees his strengths in his basic commonsense approach – “out of the box” thinking, leadership, systems, marketing, people management skills, workplace culture, innovative products, and creative customer service strategies.
