BRANDON’S STORY
Brandon is one of Perth’s budding entrepreneurs through his small business called” Brandon’s Shredding Boxes” that is growing bigger every week. Brandon’s enterprise is going from strength to strength, starting with one client and now sitting at just over 120 clients.
Brandon used 2017 as his Gap year, taking all sorts of classes and activities to help narrow down what he wanted to do with the next phase of his life. When Brandon was at primary school, he was often assigned the task of shredding excess paper in the classroom and found he enjoyed doing it.
With what they had learnt, Brandon and his parents, Simone and Rob, looked around for post-school options. They wanted to find the right fit for them as a family and by chance their Disability Services Local Coordinator recommended Interchange.
In addition to making an income from shredding confidential papers from small businesses and local residents, Brandon now turns some into paper-mache to create saleable items such as decorative figurines and bowls, fire logs, kitty litter, and creating his popular seed pods which he sells at the local markets. He is always experimenting with new ideas on how he can recycle his by-product into new opportunities.
But the businessman isn’t always business, Brandon also uses the shredded paper for good, by donating the surplus paper to community gardens for worm food, compost or mulch and gives some to his local pet shop for animal bedding.
Because of his business, Brandon has found his place in the community and provides a service across WA businesses from Osborne Park to Rockingham.
Brandon hopes to expand into commercial premises to create self-sufficiency and give back to the community who so openly support him. He also dreams of using the space for social activities. Interchange supports Brandon and his family in every way they can.
Rather than join a sheltered workshop with other people with disability, Brandon and his family have chosen to establish their own microbusiness which sees him actively engaging in his community. Brandon and his family shares the Interchange belief that Everyone Belongs by turning his interests and strengths into an opportunity for him to generate an income, grow his independence and establish community connections. He does that through meeting and visiting his customers, where he collects his shredding boxes, to members of the public who buy his products from his stall or Facebook page.
You can learn more about Brandon or support him by visiting his Facebook page, “Brandon’s Shredding Boxes.”
BRANDON’S MUM
In 2017, Brandon’s Mum Simone made the choice to connect with Interchange. She wanted a service provider who would treat her son like an individual and give him the one on one interaction he needed.
”He’s blossomed and he’s more independent…and the best part is he loves what he does”.
Simone says she’s been grateful for the support the Interchange team has shown Brandon.
“We wanted someone who would be a full service provider as we decided not to do self-management, Interchange has been great for this”.
The business is at the point now where we’re having to look at employing someone! Brandon’s goal is that one day he will have a big enough business that he can call “Brandon’s Shredding Bunker”.
We don’t doubt that anything Brandon sets his mind to, he will achieve.