Mum’s clever solution to annoying camping problem made $5,000 in just 3 days

A trip can be ruined when no one can find their belongings, so this clever woman found a way to stop any drama.

Josephine Agostino

November 2022

The little ones love packing their items in their CamPaq bag. Image: Supplied

On a “nightmare” road trip to Uluru in her camper trailer, Therese was at her wit’s end. 

“There was no clothes storage so everything was in duffle bags and six weeks of that gave me the sh*ts,” the 61-year-old from Brisbane tells Kidspot of that trip in 2016 with husband, Andrew. 

“That’s when I thought there had to be a better way to organise our belongings and find things at night. I searched for clear bags but I couldn’t find any.”  sent the internet into a spin after...re

It wasn’t until early 2021, when Therese’s contract work as a government employee had dried up due to COVID, that the grandmother-of-one began to think seriously about solving her packing problem and making it a business. 

The bags are great for anytime you're on the go with little ones. Images: Supplied

No more searching for things

In just 10 months, the mumpreneur had achieved her goal and created CamPaq, a line of heavy duty clear bags with storage dividers made from PVC, 

“I could have cried, I was so excited,” Therese says of the moment she saw the finished product for the first time. 

“It was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve done this! Even if I never sell any, this is what I’ve done all by myself’.” 

When she launched CamPaq at a caravan show in October, 2021, Therese made her very first sale, which she remembers excitedly just like it was yesterday.

“It was so wonderful, I said to my husband, ‘We can pack up and go now, my job is done’,” she laughs. 

“It was such a great feeling to have someone buy my product, which I put all my blood, sweat, tears and money into, and that I designed.”  

CamPaq is your answer to all camping and beach problems. Images: Supplied

An investment and a risk

Making her business idea a reality hasn’t come cheap, with Therese needing to dip into her super for the $50,000 investment. 

“I truly believed in it,” she says. 

“I had looked around and there was nothing else like it on the market.” 

Having already sold just over 2,000 bags - which range in price from $49 to $79 - Therese is happy to have just “broken even” in just her first 12 months of operation. 

“I don’t expect to make a profit yet,” she says. 

“I don’t have my head in the clouds about how a new business works.” 

At one camping show, however, Therese was blown away when she made a whopping $5,000 in just three days. 

“To come this far at this time of my life, I never saw this happening,” she smiles. 

The idea took off instantly

Now the business, which began from her spare room, is now being run completely on the road since she and Andrew sold their home and their belongings to travel around Australia and take their unique product to camping shows. 

“My husband does all the driving and I’m always on the phone working,” she smiles. 

“When I have a bad day at a show, he’s so supportive. I couldn’t do it without him.” 

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Safe to say, Therese’s invention has come in handier than she ever expected.

“My daughters and granddaughter use it all the time, and we have four large bags under our bed in the caravan for clothes, shoes and linens,” she says

“We wouldn’t go anywhere without them.”