Business Accelerators: The KISS principle

It’s time to talk about the vision thing.

Every business owner always has a bunch of ideas in the back pocket. It might be a product extension, a new niche market, a joint venture with a different business or plans to invest in software or technology.

That’s the fun part of running a business. The anticipation of what is around the corner. But for a sole operator, that can also be a trap (truthfully, it’s a trap that affects everybody). True business success lies in throwing out the good ideas and focusing on the great. The trick is being able to step back, review the sums and concentrate on what will drive the most value.

In this week’s Business Accelerators, Stuart Lindsay at Pitcher Partners looks at our first case study, Discover Murray River. It’s a website that relies on advertising subscription revenue from regional businesses.

Discover Murray River’s Shane Strudwick has a great business model, one that many website owners would envy. Over five years he has built up his site to become the most comprehensive site for tourism listings up and down the Murray. Shane has cornered a fragmented market and, as a result, has the top ranking in Google and gets millions of hits per year. (You can see Shane explain his journey here).

But earning money online is no easy feat and Shane needs to build up revenue – his business is reliant on hitting the phones and driving new subscriptions.

Shane has come a long way in realising his vision for creating a hub for Murray River tourism. Watch the video above to see how he can turn his clearly popular website into a revenue powerhouse.

And tune in next week when Alan Kohler interviews one of the Murray’s most famous exports – chef, entrepreneur and Murray River advocate Stefano De Pieri.