Tag: smart 100 2011

My professional background as an accountant collided with small business ownership when I bought a surf shop. I knew I needed to get my tax completed just like any small business owner, so I took my “folder” to my tax accountant. He was gobsmacked by how organised my tax information was. I was also developing my own clientele as an accountant, and clients’ tax accountants commented on how easy it was to complete their tax returns as all the information was at hand, so I researched producing a commercial version of the system I was using for myself and clients.

Founder Dale Carr noticed how many website owners were complaining about declining revenues they were seeing from online adverts placed on their web pages (especially with Google Adsense). Digging deeper, Carr identified a trend called ad-blindness where web visitors were now so used to the look and feel of online adverts that they were totally ignoring them. Carr set about working on an advertising solution where the display method would be more engaging meaning higher click-throughs, better web-owner revenues and higher quality leads for advertisers.

I realised that there were women all over Australia who wanted me to host our events which we were then hosting in restaurants, in their regions. However, after doing Sydney one month and then Melbourne the next I became burnt out. I realised I needed to come up with another concept so that I could expand our events in a way that could be easily replicated -- but realising it had to be very different from how we were currently hosting them.

It came to life when we discovered how hard it is to keep a house tidy enough to be presentable at its best for a Home Open when we were selling it. We also noticed that many of the photos did not give a good impression of our home, its layout or feel. Home Open TV is a user-enabled site that allows anyone to list their own home free ... with video and a unique video email solution.

I used dynamometers as an apprentice, to test diesel engines. I wanted wind-powered heating as part of a desalination unit – to make fresh water from the sea.

After starting Pole Dancing classes and travelling to Sydney each week, the need for my own Pole took hold, but my landlord at the time did not share this same enthusiasm for installing a pole. This predicament forced me to design and have made a freestanding pole that did no damage to the precious roof.

I discovered how difficult it was to reach my powerpoint to turn off wasted standby power. The purpose of this innovation is to enable everyone to save wasted standby power or simply to gain switching access to one's powerpoints. And to provide a visual reminder for those of use who are forgetful.

I had friends who travelled often for business and would find themselves suddenly in a city with nothing to do and no one to do it with. As you often purchase event tickets months out from events, it is difficult for the business traveller or last-minute purchaser. Also, it can be very lonely to attend events on your own. I decided to build a site where people could meet and connect with others, without the "online dating" stigma attached. And it would provide an opportunity for people to offload or buy last-minute tickets without having to deal with scalpers.

I invented a device to block drains and then automatically to draw water from drains. It was called the everydrop water harvester and appeared on the New Inventors and won the episode people's choice award. I then found it was difficult getting a pump that could draw water from below it and continue to hold prime. Such pumps that could do it like diaphragm pumps were more expensive, less efficient and not usually for the domestic market. Further, even these pumps were prone to shorter life when left to run dry for too long. Hence I developed this new product.

I was trying to improve my surfing and kept on falling off my skateboard. I studied the biomechanical movements and pivot points of the human body and designed a prototype swingboard which was effective and safe to use. Once we ironed out some of the issues with the prototype we invited a sports physiologist along to make sure we were not going to injure a user. The physiologist was amazed at the freedom of movement and fitness benefits for general users in the fitness market for Core Strength Training, Balance Training and Rehabilitation.

Clinton Larson and Emma Lo Russo, ex-Macquarie Bank colleagues, came together to explore the impact that the social web and changing technology were having on traditional businesses, especially those looking to compete globally. After testing the opportunity, they launched DIGIVIZER in July 2010 -- a solution that finds the digital footprint of people organisations know (their customers) or people they should know (prospects) on the social web.

A potential client, the British Ministry of Defence, was having problems with the extreme weather conditions in Afghanistan affecting their pump systems and regulatory changes meant that they could not leave their sewage at the site of their camps. We have had 25 years of experience using vacuum technology for sewage networks in Australia and so managed to come up with a way to containerise the system and handle the conditions.

We realised that simply providing content to a market online was not enough. We discovered that we also needed to help our customers organise, access and use the content in the easiest way possible. The purpose of this innovation is to provide nurses and allied health staff around central and rural Australia with a comprehensive online platform for them to complete and manage their Continued Professional Development (CPD) activities.

I had the idea that a community-based approach to energy measurement and control could better help people to save energy and money, to share and learn. And so, the Smart Energy Groups project was born.

A major mobile operator in the UK approached our channel partner to see if they could help determine if smartphone applications (iPhone, Android, etc.) were causing congestion and outages in the mobile network. We quickly modified our mobile web analytics platform to analyse mobile application traffic and develop a series of new reports that provide unprecedented insight into smartphone application usage and associated network impacts.

We wanted to create something that connected to the average Australian. The financial planning industry ignores people who have simple goals and not large amounts of money -- we wanted to help and connect with people from all walks of life.

I was a time-starved mother of a newborn baby and a toddler. I was spending nearly an hour a day washing and sterilizing baby bottles. I began researching for an appliance that could meet my needs and found nothing. So, I started sketching some designs and developing the functions of my 'Dream' appliance.

The purpose of this innovation is to efficiently and effectively raise capital for early-stage businesses needing growth capital. This is done by increasing the competence of those seeking capital and matching them to those with capital to invest.

I realised that mums attending my networking events were leaving inspired but still didn't have the technical know-how to move forward. However, they also had limited funds to access business support and advice. Brainstorm in a Teacup solved both these problems. Bringing together six biz mums (and myself), the session utilised the skills and experiences of women who were formerly in marketing, sales, IT and more to advise, connect and feedback to one another, all for the price of a coffee and a magazine.

I proposed taking practice firms into a 3D platform. Previously, students formed companies that existed only on paper and traded with no economic restrictions. In a virtual world, the teacher can monitor the interactions and transactions between businesses and change the cost of inputs to recreate reflections of a real environment.