Jason Wagner

Age: 38
Business Est: 2003
Number of staff: 8
Growth: 13.5%
Turnover: $1.7m

COMPETING with the big multinational companies can be daunting for any young business owner, but Jason Wagner has built his success on the challenge.

The founder of development consultancy firm Wagner Developments says young entrepreneurs need to relish their self-belief to compete, especially in a well-established industry.
“Don’t be scared. You’ve got to have confidence in yourself and what you’re doing,” he says.

Despite the decrease in the property market over the past 12 months, the Varsity Lakes company has increased revenue by 36 per cent to $1.7 million in the last financial year.

Major contracts include the Coomera and Holmview Divine Homes estates, the latter contract worth $150,000.

“We’ve felt the financial downturn a bit. Some jobs have fallen off the radar and have come back whilst others have gone to competing consultancies,” says Wagner.

“There are many large overseas-owned companies on the Gold Coast which can afford to offer really low rates just to get the work. As a smaller, locally owned company we can offer a more personalised approach and allocate a project manager or design manager for specific purposes.

“If we are in a position where we have to meet a competitor’s quote we will drop the price, but we have found a bit of a niche in the market by taking a fully integrated approach to the consultancy process.”

Wagner founded the company in 2003 after identifying a need in the market for a different style of development consultancy while working for the Gold Coast City Council.

“At the time the market was just coming to the end of a boom and a large amount of development opportunity was around. The major challenge initially was finding the key staff - the best people to get the job done for you,” he says.

With sales still coming in strong from the big developers, Jason Wagner is certainly one to watch.