Tag: smart 100 2011

We conducted some analysis of the rewards credit card market for our website and discovered that the vast majority of rewards credit cards fail to deliver real value for Australian consumers. We were gobsmacked to learn that some cards even put consumers in the red, charging more in fees than they deliver value in a year. It was time someone made it easy for the average person to compare rewards cards and rewards types, and to expose the sneaky marketing tactics banks and financial institutions have long used to promote ‘rewards’ cards.

David Scholes, a noted Real Estate auctioneer, and myself [Brian Edmonds] decided it was time to take one of the world's oldest professions and introduce it to the digital age. We wanted to use the opportunity to create a better way of buying and selling property, one that is transparent and less stressful than the normal auction process.

Shop, Stock and Bill is an integrated online 'in the cloud' system that manages and tracks products and payment, from retail or wholesale client orders via a shopping cart (or e-catalogue) through a stock inventory control system, tracing components, enabling warehouse management and location, freight, and finally interfaces with the client's existing accounts system to deliver customised reporting.

After six years of success as Ecowash Mobile, we conducted market research into the consumer perception of the brand. We found that consumers were more interested in our technology. As a result of this research, we re-positioned our service and re-branded based on the unique and exclusive liquid nanotechology via which we provide our service. Whilst still having the same environmental credentials, the new Nanotek brand better conveys not only the technology but the unmatched quality of the service.

I saw an opportunity to meld my passions of music and business. I knew that music created a connection between people, and could therefore be a foundation for an innovation in team building that would bring the energy back into companies and teams. Our approach is to understand the culture and drivers of a business and its people and then work out how that culture translates into a musical composition. The composition allows people to connect their energy with their company through music. It provides a physiological and psychological link and it’s fun.

"There was a point where I was looking to buy an engagement ring, and even though I felt confident, I could never have been sure about my decision. I would have preferred to know that she was 100% happy. I was caught between asking my partner at the time what she wanted, and wanting to surprise her. For a man to try and choose what a girl wants, it is rarely a good idea.”

I stumbled upon some published research work being undertaken by an overseas research establishment. Their research was not related directly to my invention but had direct application to what I saw as being directly applicable to my area of interest.

Since the GFC, western investors -- large and small -- have heightened concerns about where their money is invested, and want to know that it's creating real value in the world. Lending as a Barefoot Angel delivers an unbeatable double-digit return, social impact and environmental benefit via a clearly tangible product and result, with short exit periods of 6-12 months.

Melbourne web development company Propagate decided that sharing their vast online communication expertise was simply the right thing to do; the byproduct of this is the Simply Suite. It provides users with access to a simple online communication system that combines SMS/MSM, survey and email campaign management, all from the one dashboard.

When I came home from London and found it was so costly to move my furniture, I thought there must be a better way. And then I bought a few items from regional Australia and eBay and realised it was more expensive to ship these items then paying for them! I just wanted to create a way to support regional businesses but also create a win-win situation for transport providers.

Over $23 billion is given out annually in grants funding in Australia by government, philanthropy, corporates and NGOs, and there is no standardised solution, application process or management and acquittal process. $23 billion and not one standard operating system. Started from the ground up after a series of "Grants Rage" sessions by grant applicants on the tragic state of technology, systems, process and learnings exchange, SmartyGrants was born.

I was trying to find helpful and useful toys for my nieces and nephew who had too many plastic toys. I was tired of watching the kids devote only a few minutes to an expensive Transformers toy. I wanted to give them products that were also eco-friendly and guilt-free (i.e. less contribution to landfill).

This innovation initially came to life when it was realised that the popularity and hype surrounding mobile apps was not going to be the answer to an organisation's need to service the entire range of future challenges it will face around 'mobility'. Organisations will need a much more strategic approach (and the tools that support such an approach) to deliver useful mobile tools to a range of different users -- staff, customers and business partners.

Two french horn players set out to make it possible for musicians to (a) broadcast a live concert from small venues and sell a 'ticket' to viewers and (b) allow music students to participate in master classes with teachers around the world. They realised that video streaming was both expensive and complicated -- and decided to change that!

My friend and I became new mums and quickly discovered the horrible customer service in baby stores in Sydney. We found how hard it was to find great baby gear and, moreover, nobody was making it easy to give feedback to improve products and services. As time-pressed mums, with consulting backgrounds from McKinsey & Company, we decided to apply our brains to solve this problem, fast. And, when we developed a mobile site for feedback we realised that it is not just baby stores but every single retailer and service providers that could benefit from customer intelligence. And so... CustomerUnderground was born!

Recognised as a world leader by the ATS program and featured in A Faster Future by Brad Howarth, BigTinCan and BuzzMe Beats have attracted world leading artists like Jessica Simpson, and leading music management guru, and former VP Sony Music Jerry Blair to join the team. BigTinCan believes that the future of music on the smartphone can be compelling, yet simple and easy to use. With a fundamental patent pending on the use of mixed alerting on smartphones, BigTinCan is well placed to globally grow our market.

There was a call from the male population for better personal care, but there was no one advertising the fact that they would do the male Brazilian wax. Enter Ouch Waxing Studio. We openly advertise that if you have hair there we will wax it with no embarrassment.

A large global corporation, Westfield Group – the world's largest retail shopping centre owner – approached us to develop a global reporting system for their safety management. We worked with the client to develop a reporting system integrated with integrum Risk & Compliance system to automatically roll up safety data and reports from each site in four countries, to region, country and to head office.

This innovation came to life when my business partner and I were looking into trends overseas and noticed the massive daily deal boom. We knew that there were a few sites already up and running. We thought, instead of setting up a daily deal site and working against some big fish, we wanted to build a partnership with them to help them grow and build some exposure for them.

The IntelligenceBank service has been developed over the last two years to make corporate information easy to find, share, manage and use, all in one central place, and without the need for IT support or infrastructure. It gives an innovative and flexible IT tool back to the people that use it operationally through a very easy-to-use and intuitive interface. The Admin section is so easy to use that your grandma could manage it.