Webit is an established business, rather than a startup, but it has undergone a radical change of direction. Originally an event management firm, it now develops software for that industry.
The core product it produces is Webit Central, which provides fundamental event management functionality, and also includes a registration Web site builder, an online seminar system, and e-learning to assist new clients (and new employees of established customers) get up to speed. Webit has received four grants -- including an Austrade marketing development grant the company discovered while running an event for Austrade.
Webit CEO Felix La Spina says there is a lot of options available to startups now in terms of support from governments and other bodies. He says there are probably five or six others grants it could land at present, but the same story runs with time inefficiencies: "you've got to go out and get the business."
Business Solutions International helped Webit secure grants and investors, while Australian Distributed Incubators provided some funding on the basis of a presentation.
Felix La Spina, Webit
La Spina advocates a "cornerstone customer" strategy for international expansion: a substantial customer in a new market can provide enough business to justify a new office, which can then bring in more clients. This has worked in the US and Singapore, and Webit will soon expand into the UK. The alternative is to sink lots of money into a new office, and risk seeing little or no return. This is the voice of experience: Webit once spent AU$60,000 on an overseas office that generated just AU$5000 revenue.
"Try to get your business going in this country," he advises. The next step it to look for an international customer that could provide business in other countries.
"AusIndustry is probably the best place to start," La Spina says. "They're excellent if you're going to export."
And in terms of providing small businesses with support, La Spina points to the Australian Government -- "[It] is one of the best we've seen."
Also recommended is the "follow-the-sun" model -- this allows businesses to handle technical support, sales enquiries, and so on around the clock.
But Webit learnt the hard way of the importance of intellectual property (IP) protection when a former employee of Webit tried to appropriate the company's IP. "Our lawyers are very wealthy thanks to us," La Spina says.
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