Friday, 29 May 2020
The South Australian Business Chamber’s 2019 Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Eddie Juers, has launched a new business that will help venues re-open their doors to customers.
A pub manager in his day job, instead of pouring beers, the 24-year-old is now dispensing hand sanitiser to help local businesses stay COVID clean.
A participant in the South Australian Business Chamber’s South Australian Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (SAYES) program, Eddie has teamed up with business partner Peter Paleologos to launch a wall-mounted, contactless hand sanitiser dispenser system called Handie.
With both their jobs put on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions, Handie came about because: “businesses have other things to worry about than going to the shops and buying expensive hand sanitiser,” says Eddie.
The new hand santiser system has passed the pub test, literally.
Eddie is the Manager of the Cathedral Hotel in North Adelaide and trialled Handie in it, and other pubs, during the testing stage.
“Peter and I have background in hospitality and we were both really hit hard by Covid so we sat down and thought what are people in our industry going to need to get back on their feet and get going,” he said.
“One of the biggest things we saw was the need for sanitiser in hospitality businesses.”
“Now we’re offering a hand sanitiser service for SMEs particularly in hospitality but we’re also gaining traction in retail stores and we’ve got some barbers signed up as well.”
The South Australian Business Chamber CEO, Martin Haese, praised Eddie for providing a solution to meet the needs of the business community as they prepare to re-open their doors to more customers.
“The South Australian Business Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs Scheme has been positively changing lives for 21 years and now more than ever we need young entrepreneurs like Eddie to take risks and create new opportunities that will help with South Australia’s economic recovery from COVID-19,” he said.
“We congratulate Eddie on his agility to pivot his business model in the face of adversity.
“Eddie has come up with a solution that not only benefits some of our hardest hit businesses in the hospitality sector, but also retail stores and office-based businesses as they prepare to welcome back customers and their staff in the coming weeks.”
The South Australian Business Chamber is now taking applications for the next round of the South Australian Young Entrepreneurs Scheme as well as the over 35 Encore program.
