When Zoe decided to quit her well-paid advertising career and start an online business with no experience in the field, many people told her she was making a mistake.
Well, that business made $6.84 million in the past financial year.
The business is 10-years-old, and began growing slowly, but hard work and determination has led Byron Bay Gifts to becoming the thriving company it is now.
Zoe Gordon has shared how her and her husband Anthony Cox's turned a fun idea into huge success with 9news.com.au.
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How it started
Zoe was working in corporate advertising in Brisbane in 2012 when at age 35, she decided it was no longer for her.
"I was getting paid quite well but I was under a lot of pressure and that was making life a bit unenjoyable," she said.
"I was really looking at sort of the next phase in my life. I knew I wanted to start a business. I just didn't know what that business would be."
It was then that she took a trip away with a friend and fell in love with the products at the Byron Bay markets.
"I thought, 'wow, these products are just amazing. I'm going to start a business selling them'."
Zoe said she had no idea about the products and did not even check out her future competitors before her passion led her to registering her business name and setting up a website.
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Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
Zoe's advice to anyone starting a business is to simply just start.
"I've noticed that a lot of people a lot of people will come up with ideas and they don't act on them.
"You can talk about it or theorise about how it's going to work. But really, you have just got to start, whether that be buy a domain name or set up a website. Get that ball rolling
Her next piece of advice is that the key to success is persistence and hard work.
"You need that first year or two to get your offering right and to start getting traction on Google."
She has recently set up a second online business around wellness for people with depression and anxiety and is ready to ride the wave from the beginning again.