Archive for the ‘Australia’ Category
Monday, August 19th, 2013
Not only is entrepreneurship alive and well in Australia, it is, in fact, thriving, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which ranks Australia second behind only the United States in the world amongst developed nations to those looking to start a new business in general and among women entrepreneurs, also.
Some notable Australian entrepreneurs include:
Nick D’Aloisio – Summly
Summly condenses news articles to make them easier to read on smaller tablets and smartphones.
D’Aloisio created the app at just 15 years of age. Yahoo! purchased it for $30 million.
Matt Barrie – Freelancer
Freelancer is a job board for people seeking freelance work.
Richard Chua – Talent100
Talent100 was created by then-high school student Richard Chua, now 27, to help high school students score well on tests and get into the college of their choice.
You tell the company what score you need to get to be accepted into your desired college, and Talent100 breaks this down into achievable goals. So far, the company has brought in more than 1.5 million dollars.
Amanda Lintott – Career Driven
Career Driven is a recruitment company specializing in the car and automotive sector, including sales. They are hoping to break into motor shows in the years ahead to continue growing their business.
Sarah and Emily Hamilton – Bellabox
Monthly subscriptions to beauty boxes are huge in the United States and are getting big in Australia, too.
Sarah and Emily Hamilton created Bellabox — similar to the U.S.’s Birchbox — back in 2011 and have seen incredible success thus far. They are hoping to turn the company into a worldwide business in the coming years.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Amanda Lintott, Australia, Bellabox, business, Career Driven, Emily Hamilton, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Freelancer, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Matt Barrie, Nick D'Aloisio, Richard Chua, Sarah Hamilton, Summly, Talent100
Posted in Australia, innovation, internet usage, online business, Success story | No Comments »
Friday, August 16th, 2013
Google yesterday announced Australia’s most web-savvy towns with its second eTown Awards, celebrating cities and regions whose small businesses make the best use of the web to connect with customers and grow.
Australia’s winning eTowns by state and territory are:
- Cockburn, WA
- Darwin, NT
- Holdfast Bay, SA
- Launceston, Tasmania
- North Sydney, NSW
- Port Phillip, Vic
- South Canberra, ACT
- Sunshine Coast, Qld
Claire Hatton, Head of Local Business, Google Australia, told Dynamic Business that business operators who successfully integrate digital strategies are simply more competitive.
“We see through our research that small businesses that actually use digital are more successful — they grow revenue and employ more people,” Hatton said. “This web advantage also extends to towns and regions which need no longer rely on a single local resource or industry to prosper. A town’s real assets are now their small businesses owners and employees,” Hatton said.
The link between digital engagement and commercial success has been firmly established, and a recent report by Deloitte Access Economics published in April this year found that Australian small businesses with high digital engagement are twice as likely to be growing revenue, and earn twice as much revenue per employee. They are also four times more likely to be hiring additional staff.
“The location of your shop front or size of your workforce doesn’t matter online. Every business has the opportunity to engage customers and grow,” Hatton said. “Whether you’re a boutique hotel, beautician or surf school, if you’re not online you’re missing out on a direct line to thousands of potential customers.”
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, Australia Capital Territory, business, Cockburn, Darwin, eTown Awards, Holdfast Bay, Launceston, New South Wales, North Sydney, Northern Territory, online, Port Phillip, Queensland, South Australia, South Canberra, Sunshine Coast, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Posted in Australia, business, E-mail & the internet, Google, internet usage, online business, Online Sales, online stores, selling online, technology | No Comments »
Thursday, August 15th, 2013
The Winning Group’s online sales have notched $150 million in annual sales, meaning its combined sales is a record $350 million for the company, Australia’s leading kitchen and laundry appliance specialist.
The 25 per cent jump in sales was propelled by a massive 35 per cent year-on-year growth in the firm’s Appliances Online and Big Brown Box internet offerings, and 17 per cent rise in Winning Appliances’ bricks-and-mortar sales.
“The retail stores were just over $100 million probably five years ago and now it’s $150m. The websites this year reached just over $150m,” group chief executive John Winning told The Courier-Mail.
“The debate between online versus offline is over – Australian retailers must perfect their business formula across all platforms to earn the trust and repeat business from savvy shoppers,” Winning said.
“We think that if the market turns, our growth could increase significantly, even more than 25 per cent. We’ve ridden out a couple of pretty tough years very successfully and now we’re looking forward to the many customers that we have talking positively about their experience with us.”
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, business, online, The Winning Group
Posted in Australia, business, internet usage, online business, Online Sales, online shopping, online stores, selling online | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013
The Australian Tax Office’s (ATO’s)
Small business assist tool provides answers to small business tax and other questions.
The online tool delivers accurate information sourced from a range of websites.
You can find information about:
- registering for an Australian business number
- understanding and registering for GST
- employer obligations
- lodging activity statements and much more.
Small business assist can be accessed from a range of devices and features links to relevant webinars and provides access to blogs and forms.
To read more about this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, Australian Tax Office, business, tax, taxes
Posted in Australia, business, Federal Government, online business | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 13th, 2013
United Kingdom online betting giant William Hill has agreed to purchase Australian online betting firm Tom Waterhouse for at least A$34 million.
The online betting site has agreed to pay A$34 million up front and assume A$6 million in debt for tomwaterhouse.com.
It will pay up to A$70 million more on a sliding scale based on tomwaterhouse.com achieving earnings growth between A$10 million and A$30 million in 2015.
Tomwaterhouse.com was established in 2010 and is one of Australia’s fastest growing online racing and sports betting businesses.
It is a privately held company owned by managing director Tom Waterhouse and others and has around 80 employees based in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin.
“We are pleased to have secured this acquisition,” Ralph Topping, CEO of William Hill. “International expansion is a key part of our growth strategy and making Australia our second home is a priority. Acquiring tomwaterhouse.com gives us a rapidly growing business that appeals to a complementary customer base.”
Australia has the world’s biggest gambling habit per capita.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, betting, Britain, business, Darwin, gambling, Melbourne, New South Wales, Northern Australia, online, online gambling, Sydney, tomwaterhouse.com, United Kingdom, Victoria, William Hill
Posted in Australia, business, Expansion to Australia, online business | No Comments »
Monday, August 12th, 2013
Established in 2013 by Leah Bridge and stationed in Central Coast, New South Wales, Navy Crockett is an online boutique to buy gifts for the hard-to-buy-for man in your life.
Navy Crockett is actually the second business for the busy Bridge. She also has a design studio that she operates. Thankfully she embraces the chaos and variety of running the two very different businesses.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, business, Central Coast, Navy Crockett, New South Wales, online
Posted in Australia, business, online business, Online Sales, online shopping, online stores, selling online, Success story | No Comments »
Friday, August 9th, 2013
Established in 2012 by Melbourne’s Helyna Van Woerkom, I Do in a Day is a 100% online bridal boutique that features a crack team of wedding consultants to help any bride regardless of location.
Van Woerkom says although she knew she couldn’t provide people with more time in a day, she was well aware that she could do the next best thing and help free up some of people’s most precious resource by offering wedding consultations online.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, business, I Do in a Day, Melbourne, Victoria
Posted in Australia, business, innovation, internet usage, online business, Success story | No Comments »
Thursday, August 8th, 2013
After taking note of the dearth of functional unisex clothing for kids being sold in Australia, Katie Brannaghan of Melbourne, Victoria started Hipkin in 2012.
Going back and forth to Europe with her husband, Brannaghan noticed that a lot of the cool, functional brands of children’s clothing weren’t filtering through to her home country and she decided to do something about it. A year later and Hipkin is going strong.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, busines, children's clothing, clothing, fashion, Hipkin, Melbourne, Victoria
Posted in Australia, business, children, online business, Online Sales, online shopping, online stores, selling online, Success story | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 7th, 2013
The internet is a big place, but one site that is making it feel a little homier is Our Little Place, an online book and interior design boutique.
Started by Sarah Rogers on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Our Little Place has been around since 2011 and was born from Rogers’ passion for interiors, fashion, travel and books.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, books, boutique, business, Gold Coast, interior design, Queensland
Posted in Australia, business, online business, Online Sales, online shopping, online stores, selling online, Success story | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
Technology Spectator columnist Tim Reed has called for more innovation from Australian small businesses.
Reed said the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) report on ‘Innovation in Australian Business’ found the proportion of innovation to active small to medium businesses (SMEs) increased by 13% in the year ending 30 June 2012 across four areas of innovation: good or services, operational processes, organisational/managerial processes, and marketing methods.
As small business represents 96% of businesses in Australia, Reed said, what happens in this sector has the potential to drive improvement in the domestic economy.
One way for small businesses to adopt innovation is through the use of online technologies, he said. Most consumers are now searching online first when shopping for a new product or service and yet 2/3 of SMEs don’t have a website, meaning a significant proportion of businesses are missing out on sales and marketing opportunities simply by not having an online presence.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Australia, Australia Bureau of Statistics, business, innovation, online
Posted in Australia, business, E-mail & the internet, innovation, internet usage, online business, technology | No Comments »
