As part of their Business Studies course, Year 11 Molong Central School students, Katelan Philpott, Mercedes Oste and Henrietta Pottie participated in the $20 Boss program developed by The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) and started, their own business called ‘Moo Poo’ selling both 13kg bags of cow and horse manure (fertilizer) whilst donating 50 per cent of their profits to the Buy a Bale campaign.

These girls have exceeded expectations and are now finalists for the 2019 Unleashed Awards held at Melbourne Town Hall, on November 14.

“To be a National finalist and to be flown to Melbourne to attend the awards is beyond our wildest expectations,” said Katelan Philpott. “We are extremely proud and excited, when we developed our business idea and started selling our product to the local community, it was with the aim of beautifying our local town and helping drought affected farmers”

The product is used in gardens and compost bins to improve soil fertility as animal manure can retain large amounts of moisture in the soil.  This is critical as drought and water restrictions has made it difficult for residents in the Central West to maintain their gardens. 

Business Studies Teacher at Molong Central School, Mrs Chisholm, “The community and school really got behind the girls’ business initiative, and it’s wonderful to see these young people developing a hands-on understanding of the practicalities of operating a business, while doing so with a social conscience.”

Moo Poo is competing in the Local Legend Award category which is open to social initiatives, social enterprises and businesses with a social purpose, that are led by young legends aged 12-25 from rural or regional areas with a prize of $1000. 

The $20 Boss program is the largest entrepreneurship program in Australia with 50,000 students from 700 schools across Australia having participated in the program since 2015.

Goodluck girls! We can’t wait to see where you take your business venture next!

To purchase ‘Moopoo’ you can contact the girls on moopoogals@gmail.com or follow the girls on Facebook at ‘Moo Poo’ for some entertaining and important content.