Home Smart 100 2014 The Willing Listener (NSW) — 2014 SMART 100

The Willing Listener (NSW) — 2014 SMART 100

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This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.

1. THE BEGINNING

This innovation came to life when…

I was attending a one-day website construction course. All others there had a business that they where starting up; I was there just for fun. I was then asked what my business was and through people there on the day I realised that I had a great desire to listen to people and allow them to tell their stories, and to reflect back to them their own stories. I then discovered that people opened up and I realised they had feelings of fear, inadequacy, suicide and areas of sadness. This changed their lives and mine. The Willing Listener was born.

2. WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

The purpose of this innovation is to give individuals outlets to express thoughts and concerns about life within a supportive environment. Suicide takes on average seven lives per day in Australia, which has reached a 10-year peak. The Willing Listener is designed to give people another option for support.

It does this by…

From a respite point of view, people in facilities (e.g. aged care or hospital) can be visited in case of families being unable to. The website’s occupants will have the chance to connect with each other and share life experiences through email, or one-on-one consultations with myself either via online (people often express themselves easier over the internet) or organising appointments.

3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

It connects people to others, as people are losing site of areas in life that need personal contact…someone to listen to their stories to reflect back to them their own stories so that they can review their lives, with support. Communication within homes now can be an email, a text e.g non-verbal…bring back listening, feeling, seeing face-to-face.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

Making new choices, seeing things differently, feeling needed knowing that someone is listening.

4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

Within families that communicated, or family outings that took people to community areas where all families where included (e.g. uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters). Those in need of being heard had many people to choose from but as people have become more isolated through technology they have become alone. The Willing Listener is aimed at being accessible through their technology.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

Charity areas may be available, but some people feel that if they need these areas they are failures as some see that as a last resort for being heard.

5. TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

The Willing Listener is for all, as suicide does not discriminate in age. The service is also for all, those with and without family, such as those in business who live overseas from their ageing family and need someone to share a kind ear and give company to their family (e.g. while in hospital, residential care)…also to all ages that may need to share and don’t have family or feel that they can not confide in family as The Willing Listener myself who is unbiased and people need a witness in their lives as a reassurance.

It is available for sale through…

The Internet, phone, Skype or in-person depending on where I am at the time the service is needed. Eventually I would like to have employees who can then provide the service readily face-to-face.

Our marketing strategy is…

Website, business cards and through human word of mouth.

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FINE PRINT
This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.