Australia’s Biggest Startup Conference Comes to Melbourne
As a Melburnian I love it when we pinch great events from other cities around Australia. I’m particularly excited by the prospect of Melbourne taking over the biggest Aussie startup conference, SydStart. Of course, the name will need to change to “StartCon” to cleanse it from any reference to Sydney.
The Financial Review published that the Victorian Government will be investing $1 million and additional marketing over the next five years.
The Melbourne start-up scene is certainly gathering momentum and this is a big win for the city. It’s great to see tech-startups already doing well in our city and I’m hoping we will see entrepreneurs from many industries expand over the coming years.
Of course, as a web designer and developer I’m most excited by the online space and how it can help startups. One of the best things about the Internet is how it enables people to explore their entrepreneurial ideas without the need for a massive budget. There are many successful business people out there that owe their wealth to cost-effective, lean startup principles.
In fact, there are several extremely prominent technology giants that began life as humble garage startups. Both Apple and Google are among those who owe their success to the fact that they were able to use a small, low-cost space to get their business up and running. I’m looking forward to seeing similar business successes coming out of Melbourne.
There is no denying that setting up an online business model requires just a fraction of the costs of a traditional bricks-and-motor business. Web design and development teams are widely available and you can create professional, fully functional websites for a low cost if you select the right team with the right mindset. It’s often best to launch your website as soon as possible and as simple as possible. The idea it to get up and running fast, build momentum, and further develop and enhance your website as you go, gathering feedback by real world customers you can use to enhance your business. For a very basic online presence, you could be online in just a few days.
Starting “Lean” was made popular by the book by Eric Ries, “The Lean Startup” and I see this philosophy growing in Melbourne. It’s a way of developing new businesses with a minimal investment so you can get started and gather feedback as you build momentum. More and more people are turning to this method as an effective tool to minimise startup expenses.
With Lean Startups you must make the most of the little you have including the space you operate your business from. This could be a spare bedroom, dining room, or your garage. A large number of new, up and coming businesses owe their growing success to starting lean. When you are a start-up, cash-flow is important to watch. You need to make the most of what you have and turn a quick profit with any marketing in order to grow. Do whatever it takes to save money. You could store small amounts of stock for free in your garage or you could work on your laptop in low-cost co-working spaces or shared offices.
We love working with startups and entrepreneurs and look forward to what the StartCon conference does for the city of Melbourne.
