Tag: victoria

After 25 years in hospitality businesses and at the age of 45 I knew I had one last chance of making it big. Sat down with 18-year-old son (doing business at Uni) and said, this is the big picture of a successful business and lifestyle. It can take you all your life following everyone's path or let's start at the top first. Lifestyle, money, minimal staff, outsource worries, outsource expertise, go national (more money), biggest ROI with least investment. The business dream. 6 months R&D globally distinguishing up-and-coming industries. A fully accountable national advertising platform on digital network.

Emily found herself limping home barefoot after a rather fancy wedding and had found herself in this rather unladylike position a few times in the past, and decided to take action giving ladies the opportunity to get home with (most) of their dignity intact for under $20. The Tipsy Toes concept was researched and product developed between January and June 2009; it was then the business name was registered after some serious "sole searching" for the right name...

Paul, Southern Innovation’s founder, was researching new technologies for the detection of antipersonnel landmines. Landmines, which lie active for decades after a conflict, are one of the most insidious artifacts of conflict, severely restricting communities getting back on their feet. Paul was investigating technology which could detect the explosive in the landmines; however, the detectors were so inefficient that detecting a single landmine could take 20 minutes. Paul and his PhD supervisor Prof. Rob Evans came up with a data-processing algorithm which would provide a twentyfold improvement in the efficiency of radiation detectors.

Our business concept came to life when we had both permanently swapped our weekends for 20+ hours working as lifeguards. During this time we discovered that we had both studied Logistics, were passionate about business, technology and innovation, and hated the idea of working for someone else. We realised that we had complimentary skills. I have the tech/web knowledge; Michael has experience in the logistics industry, providing him with insider knowledge and many contacts. We knew that by working together we were in a unique position to innovate in an industry that wasn’t keeping pace with new technology.

The founding technical directors came together in 2006 as individual contractors to contribute specific intellectual property to some unique product development. In 2007 the group identified a safe, environmentally friendly opportunity: an energy efficient, direct replacement for halogen downlights. The science behind Indice Ecotech had started to evolve at that time and it was recognised that it could make a meaningful contribution to saving lives, property and the environment. This valuable research has produced a rich suite of additional lighting products that will replace old inefficient and costly products in fields that naturally lend themselves to Indice Ecotech’s control technology.

Melbourne physiotherapist Luke Goodwin wanted to continue to make a difference in the area of falls prevention in the community, aged care and hospital environments. Following on from his internationally successful GripSox product, the REDuce Falls Sox are special ‘red’-coloured GripSox that allow staff members in hospitals and aged care facilities to easily identify a patient who has been assessed as a high falls risk, and therefore is someone requiring extra supervision to help reduce the chance of a fall. The socks therefore provide both a non-slip effect as well as a very important visual identification.

I accepted a consulting assignment to help an ASX 100 organisation improve the way its staff sourced and selected external service providers. I was astounded at the difficulty and inefficiency staff faced in simply trying to work out which Service Providers in the market had the ideas, experience, capability and availability they needed. It went beyond business managers being frustrated at wasting time. The organization was at significant commercial risk from poor process and selection. Ironically, service providers were still struggling to find good clients. It didn’t make sense. When I realized this was common across industries, the penny dropped.

Business coaching is delivered 1-on-1 at a cost of $2000/month. Results vary and the industry is overrun by advisors that have little understanding of financials and no systems to track financial results. Many SMEs need help but cannot afford this type of coaching. IP represents a paradigm shift in the way that business coaching is provided - online, anytime and leveraged. It all comes down to the numbers and the numbers don’t lie. IP pinpoints pain and teaches owners how to improve their bottom line and cash flow. SMEs access the best coaching available at a fraction of the cost.

We saw businesses struggling to advertise themselves, unsure of where to start and lacking in time, money and media experience. We created a trusted marketplace matching available media space, both rate card bookings and ‘last minute’ deals, with those businesses wanting to purchase advertising. All types of media are available, including: TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines and Digital (online). We developed the Last Chance Ads marketplace to be: fast, easy to use, open 24/7, media company independent and offering businesses the opportunity to search, find and purchase - all in the one place via the web or mobile.

Lauren noticed many SME enquiries did not convert to sales in her traditional list-broking business due to the high cost and large volume of data required for minimum order standards. Automating the supply process through mailinglists.com.au eliminated associated labour expenses and brought the minimum order value down from $1,500 to $29.95, thus creating a new business model opening the market to SMEs to finally access mailing lists in an affordable, timely and self-directed manner.

...cofounders Marita Cheng and Mark Parncutt heard about the Melbourne University Entrepreneur’s Challenge. While only in their first three months of university, they vowed to come up with an idea and enter. A few weeks later, Mark was hanging out with his friend, when she suddenly jumped up and exclaimed, ‘Drats! I forgot to take my antibiotics!’ Mark thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if she received a text message reminder on her mobile reminding her to take her medication?’ An idea for the challenge was born, and Marita and Mark took out first place in the Undergraduates Division of MUEC.

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.

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.

While the views of critics and advocates are are still divided there is one factor that can't be denied. Since December 10th 1989, when the first TAC commercial went to air, the Victorian road toll has fallen from 776 to 303

The 2010 Australian Innovation Festival celebrates its ninth anniversary by again focusing on the 4Cs of Innovation -- Creativity, Connections, Collaboration and Commercialisation. This year’s Festival theme “Building Sustainable Businesses” highlights the importance of innovation during this period of regeneration from last year’s global economic uncertainty.

As Victorians head off for the Labour Day long weekend, this video -- shot by a tourist in Khulna, Bangladesh in 2008 -- is a good reminder that the concept of hard work is relative. You might feel like you've moved heaven and earth with the sweat of your brow this week, but it's unlikely you'd call transporting 22 bricks on your head just another day at the office.

Sad news this week that INNOVIC, the support organisation for innovative Victorian startups, will be restructured due to lack of government funding.

The six best entrepreneurs from the Southern Region (Victoria and Tasmania) were named at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Melbourne last Thursday night.

The path from start-up to success story can be a challenging journey. These two Victorian innovators are taking the path less travelled, turning good...

Google has just added recent imagery to its interactive map of Victoria, which contains updates on the status and locations of bushfires based on...