George sees business through a new lens

Bachelor of Business student George Nield. PICTURE: Cavan Flynn

Sunglasses and high-pressure driveway cleaning seem an unlikely combination for business success.

But for Gold Coast student George Nield, they’re the first steps in an entrepreneurial journey with a heartfelt end goal – to give back to his mum.

Mr Nield, currently in his final year of a Bachelor of Business at Bond University, launched My Alpha Shades in November last year, importing sunglasses and selling them online.

After previously struggling to find a pair of sunglasses he liked, Mr Nield decided to go one step further, and set up his own company.

“I thought I’d start with sunglasses because if worst comes to worst, I have heaps of sunglasses to wear.

“We are targeting demographics of mid-teenagers to mid-20s. Obviously that range you’re not full-time workers, you’re not bringing in the big bucks just yet, you’re a university student, you’re at high school, but you still have that love for quality sunnies, fashionable, unique, trendy, retro-looking.”  

Looking to the future, My Alpha Shades plans to partner with retail outlets to sell its products. Mr Nield has already contacted Gold Coast mega-mall Pacific Fair, and is interested in having My Alpha Shades stocked by retail stores targeting fashion-conscious teenagers.

Alongside this, he’s also turned his attention to a second business venture, high-pressure driveway cleaning company Gurney Gods, which he has launched with his brother James.

“In the future, I want it to grow similar to Jim’s Mowing, he knew the problem and knew the demand, but as an entrepreneur he didn’t want to do the actual mowing, so he started the business – that’s what I want to do.”

Mr Nield, who also captains the Bond University Colts 1 rugby team, has been working with Bond’s Transformer entrepreneurship program, and said he was benefitting from being able to apply what he was learning to a real-life scenario.

“What’s good about being at Bond and having the business is, everything I’m learning I’m putting straight into the real world and that business.

“Bond has allowed me to form connections with business mentors that have done it all before, but also students with similar aspirations to mine. “

While ambitious for success, Mr Nield said more important than profits was giving back to those who had supported him.

“The end goal is being able to provide for the people that worked so hard for me growing up.

“My mum is the kindest, most selfless, hard-working person in the world. She’s always put my brother and I before herself. Although I want to be successful, in the back of my mind and driving me is being able to give back to her and financially look after her.”