By: KeyCrew Media
When Anthony Burr came home with an idea for a steel safety cap, his wife had just found out she was pregnant with their first child. He pitched the idea anyway, and years later that conversation has grown into Safety Pickets, Inc., a company now distributed through Bunnings Warehouse across Australia and preparing for a US market entry.
Burr, a concreter by trade, had grown frustrated with the plastic caps used to cover the sharp tops of steel star pickets on jobsites. They broke constantly and left posts exposed. After running out of them again on a rainy Saturday shift, he decided to build a steel alternative himself.
Telling His Wife, And His Father-in-Law
Burr said he was hesitant at first to bring the idea home given the timing, but he laid it out step by step rather than pushing too hard too fast.
“She’s one of those people; I suppose that’s why we got married, is she’s one of those people that she believes in me,” Burr said. “So if I think something’s a good idea and can explain it and articulate it, then she’s my biggest supporter.”
The next family member to get involved was his father-in-law, who saw an early prototype at a family dinner. He messaged Burr the following day to say he could not stop thinking about the idea and wanted to invest and help build the business. With 35 years of sales experience, he became a partner and helped fund the company’s first production run.
“It’s worked out really well and wasn’t something I was expecting at all,” Burr said. “It sort of just happened, and it’s worked out for the best.”
Funding A Patent While Starting A Family
Financing the business came with real personal stakes. Burr and his wife funded the patent process, which now covers Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the United States, during the same months she was pregnant with their daughter.
“You always do have that thought in your mind that we’re spending our little family’s money on this dream,” Burr said. “That was probably the hardest part.”
The product itself has changed substantially since that first version, moving from a bulky cap that had to be welded onto each post to a lightweight design that simply presses into place. That shift removed extra labor costs for crews and made the product easier to adopt at scale, helping it land the company’s first distribution deal directly with Bunnings Warehouse, the largest hardware and trade retailer in Australia. The company’s approach to reducing landfill waste from single-use plastic caps is outlined on its sustainability page.
A Business Built Around Shared Wins
Burr said the guiding principle behind the company’s partnerships, including the one with Bunnings, has been entering conversations focused on mutual benefit rather than what the company can extract from a deal alone. That mindset is shaping how the family business approaches its next step: finding a distribution partner in the United States as it prepares to enter the American market.
For Burr, the business remains a family project in the most literal sense: funded by his household, built with his father-in-law, and driven by a desire to create opportunity for his children.
Safety Pickets, Inc. was founded by Anthony Burr to solve a problem he saw firsthand on jobsites: plastic caps breaking and exposing sharp steel pickets. The company’s patented, reusable steel cap is distributed through Bunnings Warehouse in Australia and is now expanding into the US market. Learn more at safetypickets.com.
Disclaimer: This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
