Brown is among a growing number of young people betting on themselves. "I was fresh out of school, I was starting my uni degree, I literally had nothing to lose," she said. "It's not like I have a house, and a mortgage, and a family and kids. So it's easier to just throw yourself in there 24/7." In the early days of the business, Brown relied heavily on social media to drive sales for the business. Instagram has been a key part of the business' success with more than 10,700 followers. "Social media has helped so much because starting the business I had literally no budget," she said.

"We really encouraged girls to share their photos every time they rented a really good dress … and grow the brand organically through that." Her business has now been running for more than four years, with a monthly revenue of $35,000 to $36,000. In busy months, Your Closet rents out more than 2000 dresses. Brown received an $80,000 investment from Naomi Simson and Janine Allis, courtesy of an appearance on TV show Shark Tank, handing over a 30 per cent stake in her company in the process. The investment has allowed her to expand her company and move it out of her family's home and into a warehouse. Despite her young age, Brown's story is becoming increasingly familiar, as millennials who have grown up with technology and been empowered by cheap marketing through social media, continue to bet on themselves and start their own businesses. Millennials, who will make up 75 per cent of the world's workforce by 2025, are increasingly breaking away from traditional employment and instead looking to work for themselves. A Bentley University survey found that 66 per cent of respondents want to start their own business.

Paul Nielsen, Chairman of the Council of Small Business Australia said that the increase in millennials starting their own business has been driven by a decrease in job opportunities in more traditional areas. Mr Nielsen said that the number of students studying law at university has outgrown the number of jobs available by a third. "So what's the other third going to do? Many of those will go out and start their own business," he said. "Many of them develop their interest in business when they're in university, and many of them now are coming out and saying 'I don't want a job, I want to go work for myself' and they go out and have a crack." Mr Nielsen also said the rise of technology, and the digital age, has helped young people to run successful businesses.

"The new technology has had a big bearing on that," he said. "I think many of them have got the skills, they're a lot ahead of where their parents were at a similar age." The role of technology has seen millennials start their first business almost eight years before their parents' generation, according to a 2016 survey by wealth management company BNP Paribas. These figures come on the back of a rise in youth unemployment, with 12.28 per cent of young people unemployed, making youth unemployment a key election issue for both the Liberal and Labor parties. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that although an extra 17,900 jobs were created in May, this growth was in part-time work, whilst full time employment remained steady. ABS figures show that more that 726,500 Australians are unemployed. Once the number of underemployed Australians (those looking for more work) is accounted for, the figure jumps to more than 1.8 million individuals seeking work.

With just 172,900 jobs advertised in February 2016, this amounts to as many as 10 individuals competing for a single job. Owen Bennett, president of the Australian Unemployed Workers' Union, said that young people were increasingly being pushed towards starting their own business because they have no better options to secure full-time work. "They are taking these jobs where all the risk is on the individual; it's a sign of desperation because they can't rely on a steady income from traditional forms of employment," he said. Mr Bennett says that despite the government and opposition's plans to create more employment for young Australians, neither was doing enough to address the underlying employment issue. "Why isn't the government creating secure jobs?" he said. "We're in the middle of a massive employment crisis."

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