Archive for September, 2009
Credit card bingo got Haul going – Video Post with Scott Kilmartin
Posted by: | CommentsScott Kilmartin calls himself the Ringmaster at his unique and inspiring business, Haul, that makes its living reusing and repurposing society’s rubbish. Tyre inner tubes, old license plates, billboard vinyl – materials that would otherwise end up in landfill are the ingredients that go into Haul’s alchemical mix and after Scott has waved his wand, come out the other side as super groovy mac sleeves, notebook covers, street satchels and the like. Scott talks here to Fiona about the early days of Haul and how credit card bingo got his business underway.
Entrepreneur, Scott Kilmartin will be joining Fiona Boyd regularly for inside stories and tips on the growth and challenges of the Haul business.
The customer experience is in the relationship Pt 2 transcription
Posted by: | CommentsThere are times when internet content businesses hit their instant success moment, and that may have been after a significant long haul slog. That’s the time to make sure you have the right professionals on your team. Phil Grant of Nexia ASR explains to Fiona Boyd, how he tries to help clients whose businesses are running up and who need to get the financial side of things organised quickly. This is the transcription of the video post.
Fiona: I guess you know I see it from that point of view, oh, suddenly we have to hire the right advisors. Yes, the money’s there, but how long is it going to keep flowing, all those questions that you know a business that bursts out of the blue, you know, faces. Do you come across those?
Fiona: Of course you’d embrace them, wouldn’t you?
Phil: Look, you do, and again, it’s more about, you know, you look at the people you’re dealing with and you think, are they people of integrity and et cetera, and if you really believe in their business, you know, absolutely, you try and support them, you get excited about it and passionate about what they’re doing and so you try and support them in the process. But, you know, again, you know, the fit has to be right. If you’re not getting on, I think it’ll come out and the experience for both parties won’t be good. It’s an important point to make that as an advisor, you want to have a good experience also. You want to enjoy actually delivering the service to them, so customer experience is critical. From being the advisor, if you don’t enjoy it and have a good experience, I don’t think the person on the other side’s going to have a good experience also. Read More→
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Posted by: | CommentsLife is pretty interesting at the moment, which is why Fiona’s been carrying the load generating posts for this site over the last few weeks. The main reason is I’m currently spending two weeks a month in San Francisco consulting to an Australian internet business based in San Mateo, about 30 minutes south of the main San Fran city area. I flew back into Melbourne on Friday after the most recent trip, and as the jetlag cobwebs started to clear, I’ve been musing over some of the things that caught my attention in the US.
One of my pet beefs is customer service in Australia. Some seven years ago I wrote an article for our Arts Hub web site, and today I’ve decided to rework that post. What I immediately find interesting is how my views have changed so little after all this time.
In Australia there is a terrible tendency to equate service with servitude. Perhaps it’s too much ‘Upstairs Downstairs’, or a natural extension of the jingoistic creation of the larrikin Australian lacking respect for authority and his colonial superiors. Whatever the cause, there is no question that Australians have a lot to learn about providing truly effective customer service. Read More→
From the other side, how to charge a start-up
Posted by: | CommentsEA from Brisbane sent in this guest post as a response to an earlier piece on Niche Content Millionaire. If funds for your startup, invention or early growth business have dried up, maybe it’s time to look at another avenue – government grants. EA explains the difficulties of working out a fee agreement when advising start-ups and inventors on which government grants could apply to them.
This is a response to the earlier post Stop over-focussing on the money. In the article reference is made to the trials and tribulations of Col Redmond trying to get some professional advice for an invention of his that he’s been working on for five years and has a final prototype about to go to production.
As a consultant I am often approached by entrepreneurs looking to get some government funding. Often they have exhausted all their own finances and the finances from family, friends and fools – what is known in the funding industry as the three Fs. Contact is usually by way of referral from somebody that I previously have been able to help and is normally on the basis of a free initial consultation. After this initial meeting I can usually see whether I will be able to be able to be of any assistance. Read More→
Unlearning the old to create the new – videopost
Posted by: | CommentsThis week, Fiona talks to Steve Sammartino from Rentoid about the first two years of this business and how he had to unlearn much of his acquired marketing knowledge and learn how to do things really differently.
Steve Sammartino from Rentoid will join us again in a fortnight to shed some light on his other passion, Start Up Blog.
The law of opposites and the start of Rentoid transcription
Posted by: | CommentsLast week Fiona spoke with Steve Sammartino of Rentoid and Startupblog about the law of opposites and how he got Rentoid underway. This is the transcription of that video interview.
Fiona: Today I’d like to introduce you to someone who runs a really cool business, and has also started up a blog at the time he started up the business so that he could tell everybody about the real experience of that. His name’s Steve Sammartino, welcome Steve…
Steve: Thank you.
Fiona: The business name is Rentoid.com and the thing about Rentoid that’s so cool is that it’s the place that you can, the stuff that you don’t want to get rid of, you don’t want to buy, you’re not ready to let go of, you can actually rent it out, make some money, and someone else can use it, um, look, I just think it’s the most brilliant concept for a long time, Steve, well done! Read More→
Video post – The Customer Experience is in the Relationship Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsIn part two of this video post – financial advisor Phil Grant, Partner at boutique accounting firm, Nexia ASR, talks to Fiona about finding the right customer fit and how points of difference can help you to work out the unique experience you want to deliver to your customers.
Fiona will talk with Phil Grant from Nexia ASR about financial issues related to startups and online players again next month.
The customer experience is in the relationship – transcription Pt 1
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a transcription of the video post – part one – ‘The customer experience is in the relationship‘ where Fiona talks to Phil Grant, partner at Nexia ASR about why customer service is done and dusted and how clients are now looking for a superior customer experience.
Fiona: Phil Grant is the financial advisor for David and myself and all of our companies and all of the ventures that we undertake and Phil is a partner at the mid-size boutique advisory firm, full service advisory firm, in Melbourne, Nexia ASR, and Phil joins me today, how are you Phil?
Phil: I’m really good thank you, excellent, thank you very much.
Fiona: Phil, we, sort of had a bit of an off-camera chat after our last session talking about customer service and how the world seems to have degraded back to a really low level of customer service again, and you were saying to me that some of the businesses you’re dealing with, because you deal with some quite large businesses, you’re able to notice trends, are moving away from service and now talking about the customer experience. Maybe you could shed some light on that? Read More→
The seekers – what are you looking for?
Posted by: | CommentsIs it just me, or are you also finding yourself since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, asking all sorts of questions about why things are done a certain way, why they can’t be done differently and whether there’s more for you out there?
David and I became what I call, seekers some time ago, back in 1996 in fact, when in June of that year he left his full-time, financially comfortable but time-gobbling senior role running a major performing arts facility. In December of 1996, I found myself pregnant with our first child and looking forward to continuing rising at 4am to get to the studios to put my breakfast radio program to air, not one bit. It didn’t help that I had all day sickness and only got through my shifts by putting on “American Pie” so I could scarper to the bathroom for a good heave. That’s the 8min 28sec version by Don McLean I’m talking about, not the Madonna one. Read More→
Video interview – The law of opposites and the start of Rentoid
Posted by: | CommentsSteve Sammartino is an entrepreneur and the CEO of a two year old online classifieds startup – www.rentoid.com. In this video interview he talks to Fiona about why he was more than ready to move on from corporate employment and do his own thing. Rentoid – the place you can rent anything Steve explains, was thought up, in a most surprising way.
Rentoid boss, Steve Sammartino talks again to Fiona about the nuts and bolts of his startup again in a fortnight. Keep an eye out for it!
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