Today we are introducing you to Des, a small business owner who runs Yungee, a program that brings high school age students to his country to teach them about history and culture.
Des hosts the students on his country for a few nights, taking them on walks, cooking, eating and having a yarn with them as part of his Yungee program. He hopes that his small business will be a way for his children and grandchildren to keep their culture alive and continue to share it with students from around the country.
“I have learnt a lot from Jenny, my Many Rivers business coach. She has given me confidence. She has taught me a lot about my business and how to keep our customers happy.”
Read about Des’ business journey so far.
Meet Des
We started our business earlier this year. Yungee is the language name for the area and so we thought it would an appropriate name for our business.
We take students to our country and show them our way of living and the history of the country. They spend a few nights with us on our land and they ask a lot of questions. We take them for a walk to show them different parts of our country and at night we sit down and have a yarn and eat. We show them how we cook our tucker. On the last night we have a dance, and they all join in with us. We can host up to 27 students and 5-6 staff. It is mostly high school students.
Before opening this business, I was working in Cape York Health and before that I worked for the Royal Flying Doctors Services.
I saw the Many Rivers car and I spoke to some of the people here in the community and they told me that Many Rivers helps people set up businesses. I reached out and got in contact with Jenny, who is my business coach. She immediately came to my community, told me what she could help me do, how she could support me to set up my business and the other people she could introduce me to. For example, she introduced me to Red Earth which is an organisation that brings students out of the cities to visit the remote communities in the Northern Territory and Cape York. This is how I find schools to work with.
There are hardly any jobs out this way and I wanted to do it for my grandchildren and create employment for them.
Working with Many Rivers
She helped me set my business up and helped me learn how to do the books. This was such a great help! She comes out to my country, and she set up a Facebook for my business. Then she passed it on to my grandson because he knows how to use the account. Jenny also helped me set up a bank account.
I have learnt a lot from Jenny, she has given me confidence as a small business owner. She has taught me a lot about my business and how to keep our customers happy. She is always on hand when you need her.
She empowers us and gives us confidence in ourselves. We had never been in business before. We ran cattle but that was about it. She is a mover and a shaker and when you are feeling down, she always knows what to say to boost our confidence and get us motivated.
Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge was taking the step to run a business like this and setting it up professionally. Jenny is really helpful and she is always on hand when you need her.
Biggest Success
The biggest success has been seeing that we are going in leaps and bounds with this business project. Seeing it work is just the biggest success. We have students back-to-back at the moment.
Biggest Change Since Becoming A Small Business Owner
The biggest change is the challenges that come with being a business owner and keeping it afloat. We enjoy meeting with other people such as family, Red Earth and Jenny who all give us feedback so that we can adjust our business to be the best it can be.
Future Goals for Yungee
Out of this, I hope that some of our grandchildren will be able to take the business further and host more students. The most important part for our children and our grandchildren is to keep the culture alive and I hope that this business is a way for them to do that.
Thank You Des
Thanks Des for sharing your business journey. Your story will inspire people who are looking to take their next step towards creating their own business. If you would like to stay updated with Des and his journey as a small business owner, follow Yungee on Facebook.
Do you have a passion or small business idea? Do you have a business you would like to expand? Would you like some business coaching support?
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