Smart 100 2010

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Hungry Giant (SMART 100)

I was working in a bulky goods retail store in 2005. I noticed the huge amount of white polystyrene foam that was going into the bin - and ultimately ending up in landfills. I thought, ‘There must be a better way to recycle’... so I started looking, only to find drop-off locations which not only charged, but you also had to drop it off to them! I looked elsewhere, to no avail. That was when I realized that the cost of disposal was because it weighed nothing, and took up lots of space. That’s how the HG machine was born.

Paycycle – Small Business Online Payroll (SMART 100)

Stuart was managing Contract1, a Contractor Management company. He was extremely experienced in payroll and all the software solutions available at the time, and found himself continually frustrated at the lack of attention to detail and the appalling user interfaces. If there was a way to make the job of a payroll person more difficult, they would have found it. About the same time, Xero entered Australia and declared that they wouldn’t be offering a payroll solution with their product. That was the epiphany moment. Stuart had lunch with John (his former boss at AusAID), and Paycycle was born.

Octyl (SMART 100)

We saw the need for Business to be able to access simple, clear web strategy consulting + planning, and thence order 'best of breed' related site/s and systems, for a low cost (less than half that of traditional processes), get it fast, and then access ongoing support and an ever expanding library of member's only 'how-to' content on Web Marketing (and anything that touches it), along with the usual 'how to use the system' type stuff and direct support. This is the advanced (revised) version of something I've been working on (albeit slowly) for 3.5 years.

Colour Accounting (SMART 100)

The two founders realised that they weren’t alone with their struggle to learn accounting, particularly so in the business world where financial illiteracy is rife. In Melbourne, in 1992, Mark and Peter started to design a new sort of financial literacy workshop for businesses. Further development ensued in South Africa and we went global in 2000 with a two-day financial literacy workshop. We continued to refine our unique learning system and today this same workshop takes about 5 hours. We have other products with e-versions underway and will launch the Colour Accounting learning system as a product this year.

modpod™ (SMART 100)

The innovation came to life when Modra Hayes was approached by a number of fly in/fly out miners to solve the quality of accommodation problem that existed in remote locations around Australia. Traditional mining accommodation was considered to be uncomfortable, dirty, and not aesthetically pleasing or attractive to live in. The modpod™'s use of composite fibre technology was specifically designed to redress the deficiencies of traditional mining dongas. Modra Hayes has also designed and is constructing a modpod™ Mass Production Facility (MPF) capable of producing one modpod™ or more per eight-hour shift.

modpod™ (SMART 100)

The innovation came to life when Modra Hayes was approached by a number of fly in/fly out miners to solve the quality of accommodation problem that existed in remote locations around Australia. Traditional mining accommodation was considered to be uncomfortable, dirty, and not aesthetically pleasing or attractive to live in. The modpod™'s use of composite fibre technology was specifically designed to redress the deficiencies of traditional mining dongas. Modra Hayes has also designed and is constructing a modpod™ Mass Production Facility (MPF) capable of producing one modpod™ or more per eight-hour shift.

myAnswers (SMART 100)

We discovered that the keywords we were using to deliver self-created (text) content could be treated as 'managed interaction objects'. Or in simple terms, keywords could be embellished with logic to allow a mobile user to perform fairly complex but identifiable tasks and functions, by effectively proxying a user of existing system interfaces. From this point it quickly developed where keywords come together to create an 'answerSpace'. The keywords provide structure to the browsing, enquiry and resulting information for users of mobile devices, to access common or high demand elements of an organisation's web and business systems.

Massive Rain (SMART 100)

I was watching TV and the subject was a Singaporean ship had become stacked on the beach at Caloundra Qld. To refloat the vessel two Chinook helicopters were used to take containers off the ship, some with a weight of over 7,000 kgs and out of the blue the following crossed my mind: "If a 7,000 kgs-plus container can be easily lifted by a Chinook, a water tank can be easily lifted as well...If the biggest fire chopper can lift only 6,000 litres or kilograms...Bingo! I got a new idea and long research begins."

Cardlimbo (SMART 100)

This innovation initially came to life when my business partner and I recognised that Australians had almost no flexibility when it came to the use of gift card vouchers. We soon discovered that the market was worth about $1b and that 1 in 3 cards were never redeemed, representing an incredible waste. We wanted to provide a service that gave people the option to use gift cards as they wanted to. A market study demonstrated that similar services existed in North America but not yet in Australia.

MySecureOffice (SMART 100)

I realised that most small business owners underestimate the importance of having a 'Business Continuity' strategy in place, in particular not having someone helping them to actively manage one.

cone-head™ (SMART 100)

This innovation initially came to life when, in 1992, I picked up my daughter's helmet. I pressed my thumb into the foam liner of the helmet and I realised I couldn’t leave an impression in the foam. The foam liner was as hard as a brick. This incident reminded me of what I had learned as a researcher of helmets during the 1980s, that the foam liners in helmets were too hard and stiff and didn’t effectively absorb an impact force. It was in 1993 I thought of embedding low-density cones within the thickness of the hard foam liner.

AutoCarLog (SMART 100)

AutoCarLog was created as a result of a challenge, a challenge to build a successful technology startup in just seven days and for less than $500. It was born from the need to modernise paperback vehicle mileage logbooks with a convenient, fast, environmentally friendly and tech based approach.
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