Advertiser content: When Hobart's Tony Williams decided to sell the contents of a shipping container he had brought in from China on Gumtree, he didn't realise it would be the start of a new business venture.
Mr Williams thought he might use the steel panels and rural equipment on his own property after they arrived on Tasmanian shores. However, he soon realised they were of little use to him.
"We initially were supplying other manufacturers with bits and pieces for their production - mainly panels and gates," he said.
"I realised I didn't actually have any fences up, so I thought well I've got all this stuff sitting here, I'll put it on Gumtree and see how it goes.
"It sold very, very quickly, so I went back to my partners and said 'I think there's a better way of doing this'."
And Brazzen Rural Supplies was born.
Mr Williams operates the business in partnership with Cameron Mitchell and Anthony Jarrett.
The trio have been supplying Australia and the US markets for more than 10 years, and manufacturing for 15 years.
Sellers are given a dealership area and have that exclusive region to sell Brazzen Rural Products.
"Working together with Anthony and Cam, we've increased the product range dramatically over the last few years, to the point where we've got a very good quality offering at a good price that's being sought after now by farmers all over Australia," Mr Williams said.
"We've got more than 30 dealers throughout the country and 10 dealers in the US, with some interest in Europe as well.
"We encourage our dealers to have stock on the ground and be in a position where people can walk in and pick up what they need and leave, be it a couple of panels or a whole stock yard."
Brazzen Rural Products sells a range of rural equipment, including stock yards, cattle crushes, ramps, grids, scales and horse floats.
"We manufacture them in China in our own facility, so we can control the manufacturing from start to finish," Mr Williams said.
"We have a full range of cattle and sheep handling equipment, and have tended to stick more to the semi-permanent type of yards, but we have systems in place where people can definitely make them more permanent, and we continue to grow that all the time."
The business partners make a habit of going out and talking to their customers on farm, to find out what it is they need and what they can improve.
"We then take that information back and put it together in a product that's going to sell," Mr Williams said.
In the past 12 months they have introduced many new products to their range.
"We have employed an Australian designer who has made a very nice grain feeder with some unique features," Mr Williams said.
"We've got portable horse shelters that we've introduced into our line, we've reinvigorated our cattle crush line and believe we have a much better offering out there now, we're continuing to work on that."
Working together with Anthony and Cam, we've increased the product range dramatically over the past few years.
- Tony Williams
Mr Williams said their products possess unique differences to others on the market.
"We offer hot dipped gal posts which nobody else does, because we believe there should be a quality standard, not just a price point," he said.
"We try and manufacture to a quality rather than just a price, because when you go down the price line you have to keep taking something out to remain competitive - someone will always be able to make something cheaper somewhere."
Mr Williams said they refuse to market a product they can't be proud of.
"People come and have a look at our products and see they're well put together," he said. "By no means are we in the top end of the market, you've got a lot of other people occupying that area, but we're in a very good quality space, at an affordable price."
- Visit www.brazzen.com.au for a complete list of products and dealer locations across Australia. Products are also available at AIRR stores.