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AUSTRALIAN billionaire Manny Stul, the CEO of Moose Toys a struggling company he bought in 2000, inspired agents and brokers at Connect 2018 with his story from a refugee camp to one of the world’s top entrepreneurs with $1B in turnover each year.
Mr Stul, who rarely speaks publicly, won the overall Ernst & Young Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2016.
“Manny is the personification that if we challenge our self to offer more value, we succeed,” said Brian White, chairman of the Ray White Group.
“Manny has an extraordinary story and to see what he has achieved on the world wide stage is incredible. I hope Connect 2018 represents the feeling of never stop because if you think you have made it, if you think you are there, you are actually already on the way back.”
Moose Toys’ Shopkins collectibles, inspired by grocery and department store items, with names like Milk Bud and Kris P. Lettuce, are some of their best known and he made a fortune founding and selling a giftwares company.
“I came from nothing and went through huge adversity but obviously my goods looks helped,” Mr Stul chuckled during an interview on stage with Brian White.
“But the numbers we are now generating is beyond comprehension,” he said of his collectable toys aimed at 4 to 11 years olds.
“Our strengths are in the boys games area and we create trends and look for areas that no one else of playing in and we try and disrupt the game."
Mr Stul said the Melbourne-based toymaker was very well entrenched now with the large American retailers WalMart, Target and Amazon.
“Our reputation is based on ethics and innovation. We adhere to what we say and never try to pull one of anyone. Credibility is important,” Mr Stul said.
“Money is a derivative to how you live your life, and if you lead an ethical straight up life and treat people the way you want to be treated your reputation will soar and a lot of good things will happen in your dealings.
“Culture is imperative and you cannot drive a good business without culture but one of the reasons why we have such a strong relationship with the American retailers is our ethics.
“I grew up in are refugee camp in Germany but ended up in Perth. I dropped out of high school, and bummed around Europe. I didn’t know what I was doing when I got started but I didn’t make the same mistakes twice.
“Really high calibre people are not motivated by money, they are motivated by job satisfaction and respect.
“Money is a byproduct and you need to do other things to motivate people.”
He warned all the brokers and agents to “innovate yourself and try and disrupt yourself” because for sure things were not going to be the same in five years as they are today.
“And if you have young kids, teach them coding!”
