Jethro Batts was working for one of Australia’s largest campervan companies when he ventured out on his own to create a website for vanners to find a place to park without being fined – be it in a campervan park, national park, free park, hostel or a private property.
He got the wheels in motion but it wasn’t until meeting his co-founder Kate Reynolds, a budding entrepreneur and travel enthusiast, that gears really started changing at the start-up.
Batts and Reynolds started Park My Van in February 2013.
What exactly does Park My Van do?
“We explain ourselves as ‘the Webjet for campervans’,” Batts told Anthill.
Park My Van currently compares over 20 different campervan hire companies to enable customers get the best campervan deal possible.
“This is a mammoth feat alone, and with many thanks to our partners over at Camps Australia Wide, we now have over 5,000 listings where a van can stay,” Batts remarked.
It is worth noting that the campervanning industry is worth close to $9 billion in Australia alone, where 84 per cent of international backpackers campervan whilst here.
Coupled with an aging Baby Boomer population adding to the grey-nomad phenomenon, no wonder it has been touted as one of Australia’s fastest growing sectors.
Despite officially launching just early this June, the start-up is determined to be the go-to site for campervanners, glampers and campers in Australia before the end of this year.
How does Park My Van plan to pull this off?
A start-up leading an industry within a period of less than a year is obviously no mean feat so we were curious to learn more about how they plan to achieve their goal.
“A road trip is only as good as the people on it and we have chosen our team really well. It has taken a lot of people a lot of time to get the company where it is now,” Batts said.
He revealed to Anthill that since the inception of Park My Van, they have developed a small effective team’, received tech support from Rich Atkinson and Simon Litchfield and attracted valuable industry investors in Cathryn and Philip Fennell.
They also have a business advisor in Tim Ryan and a marketing guru in David Krynauw.
“A key part of our strategy is that the team’s time is focused on the three M’s: marketing, monitoring and metrics to accelerate our growth day by day. We are quietly confident we can pull this feat off if we start continuing the traction we’ve been on the last few weeks.”
