The Morning Show

Teen millionaire Jack Bloomfield says Aussie schools are failing young entrepreneurs

Digital Staff
The Morning Show
Meet the entrepreneur who says our education systems could be doing more to aid business-savvy school kids. Credit: Getty Images

He runs five online businesses, drives a brand new BMW, turns over a million dollars each year, and he's only in Year 12.

17-year-old Jack Bloomfield has become one of Australia's wealthiest and most successful teenage entrepreneurs.

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Mastering the art of juggling schoolwork and directing his own companies, Jack spends his lunch hour running multiple businesses from the classroom.

But despite his success, the serial entrepreneur says our education systems could be doing more to aid business-savvy school kids.

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"I really had a drive to do more than the average person," Bloomfield said.

"From what the future's looking like, I would go to university and get a job - it seemed incredibly normal, but it didn't seem incredible.

"I had always seen successful people ran businesses - so I gave that a shot. And it wasn't easy, I had no idea how to start or what to do, but it's been a journey and a road to piecing it together and making it work."

An entrepreneurial background

"I was raised in a household where my parents ran their own business," Bloomfield said.

"I saw the grind and the hustle, and the effort it takes to start a business first-hand.

"We used to live above a tennis centre - and at seven o'clock at night, when someone wanted to buy a racquet, he'd have to run downstairs, open the shop back up, and then come back and join us for dinner.

"That's something a lot of kids don't get to see - and from a young age, I understood that the next thing that comes after starting a business is hard work."

Not about coding

Jack says we've now beyond the phase of encouraging kids to learn how to code.

"It's not learning to code that's the important part - it's learning how to manage people who know how to code, and how to put a project together," Bloomfield said.

"I don't know how to code - I know how to use a drag-and-drop builder and work a computer as such. Anyone can go ahead and get started."

The issue with schools

"The Australian school system does a great job at educating millions of Australians - that's not the issue," Bloomfield said.

"The issue is that when it comes to starting a business, all of that stuff is never talked about in school. It's all the cookie-cutter, doctor or lawyer options.

"When it comes to doing something unique, you just throw your hands up in the air.

"I've been able to push through it, but unfortunately a lot of kids who could be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates were shot down at a very young age, and haven't had the ability to become an entrepreneur."

Find out more about Jack here.