He left school with $6. Eighteen months later he has a six-figure business

Benji Smith left school at 17 with $6 in his bank and a camera he had just bought.

Eighteen months later, he says he’s made six figures and has enough for a house deposit.

The Tauranga entrepreneur says he is now preparing to buy his first home, with money he made through Elevate Content, his real estate marketing business.

“When my pre-approval came back accepted, and we could put an offer on the table, that was kind of a ‘s***, this is actually getting serious now’.

“Just turned 19 and put an offer on the table. A lot of people don’t buy a house till they’re 30, or ever.”

Smith started photography at school, taking photos of the rugby team, school balls, and friends.

He saw an opportunity in real estate, as agents needed fresh content for every property listing, and turned his hobby into a business.

Smith began cold-calling agents around Tauranga after his Year 12 exams and offering free content shoots.

He had no clients when he left school, but the work experience built relationships and a portfolio.

“My goal was that I just wanted to specialise in this one thing, and I wanted to do it better than anyone else.”

He soon shifted from photography to video, and Elevate Content now produces video and social media content for real estate agents and businesses.

At 19, Benji Smith is preparing to buy his first house off the back of his business.

Smith said he had worked with several of Tauranga’s major real estate brands and agents.

The business has since expanded into social media work across the North Island and has begun building AI (artificial intelligence) systems for clients. Smith saw this as the biggest growth opportunity.

This year he moved the business out of his bedroom and into an office, and began building a young team.

He has one paid staff member, an 18-year-old editor, and has taken on two other teenagers, one for work experience and another as a contractor.

Smith wanted to build a team of young people chasing their own ventures rather than conventional careers.

On his last day of school, he spent about $2000 on a camera, lens, and camera stabiliser.

“I think I left school with a screenshot of $6 in my bank account.”

Smith said he never wanted a salary or a boss, and didn’t want to go to university without a clear career path.

“I don’t want to go there and sit down and be taught by someone who hasn’t run a business how to run a business.”

Smith wants more young people to see options beyond university. Photo / Photography with Holly Kate

He believed young people needed more visible alternatives to university and traditional employment.

Smith said he sometimes worked up to 100 hours a week during the business’ early months and went about a year and a half without seeing friends regularly.

“I didn’t really do anything apart from this. This was my life.”

These days, his role has shifted towards managing staff, meeting clients and pursuing new opportunities.

The hard work has brought its own rewards, including a small plane he recently chartered for himself and his friends.

Now Smith wants to help others find their own path.

“Jump out of school, try it, because it’s changed my life ... not in like a cocky way, but I think I’m who I wish I had [been] at that point in time.”

Harcourts real estate agent Kylee Anderson said his work stood out for its fresh approach and attention to detail.

She approached Smith after seeing videos he produced for other agents and was impressed by the quality.

“He’s definitely going ahead in leaps and bounds, which is so exciting. Obviously, as a young guy, he’s got a very bright future ahead of him.”

Anderson said Smith had produced videos for several of her properties, including a high-end Nautilus apartment that sold successfully.

Tauranga Boys’ College head of future pathways Tom Collin taught Smith in his last year and said his entrepreneurial drive was clear while he was at school.

“In Benji’s case, almost something he was born to do.”

Smith was in Collin’s Gateway class designed to prepare students for life beyond school through job-search skills, financial literacy and workplace readiness.

Collin said interest in alternative pathways was growing, with almost a third of the school’s senior students now choosing Gateway.

Smith would sometimes take business calls during Collin’s class or leave to meet potential clients.

He hoped more students would pursue entrepreneurial pathways, but warned it took a particular drive to make it work.

“Benji, I would say, to be fair, is a special case.

“You don’t get that many young people that just have the wherewithal to go out and hustle in the same way that he did.”

Priority One chief executive Dave Courtney.

Priority One chief executive Dave Courtney said young people were becoming more open to creating their own career pathways.

He said technology, social media and AI had made it easier for young entrepreneurs to launch businesses and test ideas.

Programmes such as Priority One’s Instep help connect students with local businesses and entrepreneurial opportunities.

He said entrepreneurship was not necessarily replacing traditional career paths, but young people were increasingly combining study, employment, side projects, and business ventures.

“Perhaps the bigger shift is that entrepreneurial thinking is becoming valuable regardless of whether someone starts a business.

“Skills such as creativity, adaptability, innovation, digital literacy and problem-solving are increasingly important across every industry and profession.”

Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post.