"Because I was from NZ I couldn't get any government assistance, but still had $60,000 a year in fees. So when my dad rang and told us he had leukaemia everything went downhill," Zane said.
The two boys decided to find a way to pay the fees to let Zane finish university, and it was then that their business Maison de Sabré was born.
But what started as a side hustle to pay university fees soon blew out into something much more.
In the first year of operating, Maison clocked $1.7 million in revenue, and after two years of operation, the company hit $10 million in revenue.
But it all started with a humble phone case.
"We had the idea of producing a high quality phone case, something that people use and have visible daily, but it took us a year to get to launch," Zane said.
From the initial idea, the boys undertook market research, product development and more until finally in July 2018 they launched the business.
It eventually transitioned to a full-time venture for the boys in December 2018 because its growth demanded it.
"We were operating in two different countries using Google documents and Skype, and every other week I would fly to the Gold Coast because I still had patients to see during the week," Omar said.
While the transition from dentistry to luxury goods may seem like a big step, the boys always wanted to have their own business.
"We always knew we wanted to create our own business, and for at least a decade we've been looking at it," said Zane.
"Our dad's illness really pushed us to do it earlier than we anticipated, but the risk paid off."
And it was a big risk as the business was entirely self-funded, forcing Omar to pay initial university fees for Zane and put aside capital for the business.
"We paid off one semester and all remaining capital went into the business. We really wanted it and needed it to work," Omar said.
"We took a calculated risk but we had done market research to make sure people would like what we wanted to produce and what were the trends and then we nosedived into it."
Now the business ships to more than 131 countries.
"We went from a team of three to 25 and our growth year on year is up 500 per cent, so the next 12 months will be astronomical," Zane said.
"There are new products to launch in the pipeline, and we are excited to see how much growth we can achieve over the next 12 months."
The brothers remain passionate about their business and product and say that is crucial to the success of any start-up.
"You have to be passionate because if you're not you will have no drive. To be good at business you need to have a clear strategy and be able to execute and passion helps that," Zane said.
"Passion will keep you driven. There is no better reason to start something than having passion for something that is new," Omar said.
