University undergraduates Andrew Heath and Chris Mosely started Blue Tongue from a small flat in Fitzroy North, Victoria in 1995. The company was set up with two distinct arms--one division produced games and consumer software, the other focused on Internet and e-commerce related services such as Web hosting. Five years later, Blue Tongue's Internet business has merged with another company and trades under the name Interactive Worldwide. The games and consumer software development side of the business is now based in North Melbourne, and employs 21 full-time staff. How did these university graduates make it in the real world? By turning to an incubator service.
How did you find out about the Incubator service and how it could help your start-up?
We were probably unique in the way we came to be assisted. In late 1995, I was working for a company called CITRI which was headed up by Peter Gerrand. Peter saw what Chris Mosely and I were doing, and the potential for our development, and so offered us the opportunity to use office space at CITRI. The original payment was the designing and development of his company's homepage.
Shortly after, CITRI was split up, and formed the basis for the beginnings of Melbourne IT. At this point, Peter began to develop the idea of providing business support to other businesses like ours, and the Melbourne IT Incubator service was born. At the time [five years ago], there weren't a lot of incubators around. We continued to develop our business relationship with Melbourne IT, and we introduced a couple of other companies into the Melbourne IT system. One of these companies, Clearview Technologies, was the one with whom Blue Tongue's Internet business eventually merged.
What did Melbourne IT have to offer you and how did it compare to other incubators?
Melbourne IT offered more than just "cheap rent", it was the structure of the incubator agreement that allowed us to grow in the way we did. Melbourne IT was able to provide Internet access, and telephone calls as well as desks and chairs, although we purchased all our own computer equipment. It also provided a supportive environment which didn't try to tell us how to run our business, or stand over us, but rather, it provided information when we needed it through the mentoring system. Peter was always available to discuss business matters as they came up, or if not, the incubator management team was able to help.
Was there a service or help of some kind that your incubator did not provide, but that you would have liked to have been provided with at the time?
Most of the "finding direction" for the business was done purely through the entrepreneurship of the company's founders. The most important thing for a start-up company to have is vision, and then to have that vision supported by drive and resourcefulness.
Newer incubators can make life easier for young start-ups by providing better information, such as where to get funding from, how to tap into government grant schemes, which is the best scheme to support the development of your company, and also very importantly, legal and contract advice to ensure that once you start working with other people, that everything is done properly.
Should every start-up be looking for an incubator?
No, there are many companies that start with a lot of experience and funding behind them, and a good business network. These companies should not require any incubation, but should hit the ground running. Incubators are really best set up to support young entrepreneurs, with three things: good ideas, a drive to succeed, and a solid plan.
Most of these young companies will not know how to put the building blocks of success together properly, but if they are shown the right paths, then there will be many more success stories like Blue Tongue.
So many young university graduates, and even undergraduates, have great ideas--Australia is full of them, and yet so many of these young dreams are stifled by having to start at the bottom of the heap in a large corporation, or consultancy firm. Management too often does not wish to hear about the ideas of the new recruits, but this is changing. An open management structure is best for getting ideas heard and acted on, and accessibility to the decision makers is a key to this success.
What was the single most helpful service provided by your incubator?
Probably the most helpful thing that was done, was that we were left primarily to our own devices to develop the ideas, make the mistakes, and then learn from them in a supportive environment. The ability to network with other businesses in similar areas, and the capability of a larger supporting organisation to assist us with developing new strategic relationships would come a close second.
What did you most dislike about being incubated?
I suppose this would have to be the "stigma" associated with being known as an "incubatee". Many people feel that if a business can't stand on its own two legs from day dot, that it is not a real business. This couldn't be further from the truth.
These young companies are some of the most dynamic and exciting places to work, and they certainly are real businesses. It is true that without assistance, many would not survive, but given a helping hand, they not only survive, they thrive.
What would you have done without the incubator? Do you think that it would have taken you longer to succeed without the help of such a service? Or do you think that some of the things you achieved would not have been possible at all without their help?
If we had not had the support that was offered us, I believe that it would have taken us a lot longer to become established, and we would have missed many of the opportunities that we have been able to grasp. The business support program that we were able to make use of has allowed us to become an internationally known and respected company in our field, and to develop some of the worlds leading technologies in our area. This will do a huge amount for us in our future, and will assist all of Australia in years to come.
hi there, i have to say i enjoyed reading your article.
it's interesting to see how a buisness as successful as bluetongue came about. and im interested to know how does one find an "incubator"?