Richard Turner creates a revolution in South Australian home solar energy supply through his Zen firm from 2004

Richard Turner left Zen Energy in 2019 to become entrepreneur in residence for the University of South Australia (2019-2021) mentoring hundreds of early-stage and scaling businesses.

Richard Turner was South Australia’s entrepreneur of the year twice – 1996 and 2010 – for different companies, Regency Food Services and ZEN Energy, that revolutionised two industries in the state.

Regency Food Services, Turner’s first company, was founded with his brother Greg in 1987. They literally reinvented that industry by running 24-hour warehousing and distribution network to the food market. They switched from having traditional warehouse hours of 6am to 3pm to introducing three telemarketing shifts. This aligned them with the restaurant industry hours and they were able to talk to chefs about their food orders at 10 o’clock at night when they finished their shifts.  Regency Food Services were were last to take orders and the first to deliver at four o’clock the next morning. The company grew rapidly and the Turners sold it in 1999. 

Turner had founded the Entrepreneurs' Organisation in South Australia in 1998, supporting what he saw as “a great ecosystem or a subculture of entrepreneurialism developing in South Australia”.

Turner’s next revolution came from his home backyard when he explored how to connect solar energy for his children’s cubby house to power its light and television. He discovered there were all kinds of solar panels, inverters, components and other parts that had to be bought separately and pieced together like a puzzle.

With climate change looming, Turner saw that an integrated and affordable solution would soon be needed. After extensive research, negotiating and identifying world-class components, Turner started ZEN Technologies (Power and Energy) Pty Ltd in 2004 to develop innovative and sustainable energy technologies. ZEN created its first range of home solar systems that were affordable, easy to install and integrated for optimum performance.

The Zen Home Energy System, a fully branded, fully integrated system, was launched in 2006. By 2010-11, Zen was the fastest-growing company in South Australia; from 2012, the fourth fastest-growing company in Australia. In 2017, Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance – through its energy division, SIMEC Energy – bought a majority stake in Zen.  

Remaining a shareholder but not suited to layers of corporate management, Turner stepped away from Zen two years later. He was able to indulge in his passion as entrepreneur in residence for the University of South Australia (2019-2021) mentoring hundreds of early-stage and scaling businesses. Turner
put a lifetime of learnings in starting and scaling successful businesses into his book The Essential Entrepreneur, released by Wiley Publishing in 2022.