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Here are 6 lessons from the first year in a start-up’s life for Popupshopup [VIDEO]

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Popupshopup was founded by Perth locals Ronan Bray, 27, and Daniel Rainone, 25, in 2013 who launched their business in 2016. Popupshopup operates two sides to their business; Popupshopup Outlets and Popupshopup Spaces.

Popupshopup Outlets is a completely new take on portable and adaptable retail and commercial space. The founders worked tirelessly on a unique architectural design in order to create a transportable, glowing Outlet that can be moved wherever it is required.

Their early users have included a tour company and gondola operators in Perth’s new Elizabeth Quay Development. They have since developed other portable Outlets for use by bars, cafés, restaurants and showrooms in which they are in discussions with various interested buyers for.

Popupshopup Spaces, the company’s other successful venture, provides a solution for the high vacancy rates for retail and commercial spaces in highly populated areas (upwards of 20% in some Australian capital cities).

Popupshopup Spaces is an online listing and booking portal providing such vacant space for use by short-term tenants. They work with real estate companies, property managers, owners and developers to list their spaces and connect these with their huge database of interested tenants across Australia to solve the $5.4 billion problem.

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Popupshopup is popping!

This has seen the likes of international companies such as Godding and Godding test the Australian market with plans now to expand nationally, CQUniversity to run a student centre and the City of Perth to launch their TRANSART initiative which saw the exchange of Nike shoes for the public which were then donated to charity.

In their first year of operations they have seen some impressive results with close to $100,000 in revenue, enough enquiries to fill space for more than 20 years with rental value of over $775,000. The website has enjoyed over 65,000 unique views and is now ranked number one on Google for pop up shops in Australia.

We spent some time speaking with the founders, directors and close friends who offered six pieces of advice for fellow entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Think big but manage early expectations

“Your vision for your company is one of the most important things you will have. Without a vision and dream for where you want to take your company you are unable to plan effectively and will likely lose motivation. We identified a number of initiatives we wanted to introduce into the industry and to offer our customers. We soon realised that whilst these were all achievable they were holding us back from getting to market.”

Test before you invest

“Keeping a log of new ideas and initiatives is vital to not only improving your offering but also to encourage a forward thinking company. It is however important to prioritise these and the best way to do that is to understand what matters most to your customers.

“We keep a weekly log as part of our meetings and have a section dedicated to new ideas and initiatives. Early on we were prioritising these through our internal process of evaluating benefits, value and profit potential. We have since changed this approach to validate it through our customer base and then proceed with those items matching what our market is telling us”.

Up skill and fast

“Starting a business requires skills from a range of people but having a range of people involved generally means forgoing your share in the company or having to pay for this work. With my (Bray) background in marketing and graphic design and Daniel’s experience in the building, property and construction industry we had the key capabilities required to get our business running.

“There are of course areas we weren’t at all familiar with so we put a plan in place to address this and found the best solutions to be through courses, networking and bartering our services with others. This has allowed us to grow much faster than had we not had these skills or experience.”

Plan, plan, plan

“The old saying goes ‘fail to plan and plan to fail’ and we couldn’t agree more. We have been extremely diligent in our management and ensure we catch up at least once a week to review our action list and plan. Without this we would be lost and wouldn’t have achieved anywhere near as much as we have. Such is our planning that we both know exactly what we have to do this week and six months from now. Set goals and develop plans to achieve them.”

Identify, test and get feedback from your market

“Knowing your market is key to your business success and without it you may as well be throwing money down the drain. Identifying your markets and segmenting them is crucial.

“With the technology and services available today even through social media you are far better positioned to build a customer profile so you can understand how best to reach your customers. One year after launching we are still refining our target market but this has ensured we connect with them in a far more focused and effective approach.”

Look for cost savings

“Starting a business is expensive and maintaining it just as much so. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our business but sometimes in the early phases gaining efficiencies isn’t worth it for the investment. For example, we look at online CRM and sales management systems to replace our spreadsheets but found that gaining this automation cost us more than we could afford and so we reverted back to the basics. Automation for us is best used only when required, not desired, and when it guarantees time and cost savings. Make sure you have a considered budget from day one, and research what you are spending your initial capital on”

See how Popupshopup’s first year went