Smart50 rank: 28
Revenue: $1,800,130
Growth: 59.55%
Founders: Justus Wilde, 26
Based: New South Wales
Employees: 20
Industry: Information technology
Website: www.amblique.com
Justus Wilde, founder of digital strategy company Amblique, established the company in 2006 after working in the IT sector for 11 years. Amblique offers a range of services, including web design, eCommerce solutions and search engine marketing and optimisation.
In just three years, revenue has reached $1.8 million, with an average annual growth over the past three years of 59.55%.
But like many of the companies on the Smart50, the pains of fast growth have provided his biggest challenges.
"We had some difficulties with a massive project about a year ago," Wilde explains.
"It was the largest project we had done and it covered many areas we had limited experience in. The project was under-quoted and costs blew out by about 40%, which meant we had a number of resources working full-time on a project that was wasn't bringing any money in for six months."
His says his team put in some extra hours to get the job finished and keep the customer satisfied, but the lesson was well learned - the bigger a company gets, the more important processes and support structures become.
"Running a small dynamic team was relatively simple, running a larger team effectively and profitably is much more challenging," Wilde says.
As more companies realise the importance of web marketing, the amount of money allocated to digital strategy companies is increasing. Of course, this has fuelled more competition and Wilde admits the sector is getting crowded and ultra competitive, with many traditional agencies also trying to build a digital arm to fit in with their integrated model.
Wilde says it's crucial to stake out your territory.
"I believe developing a niche is important and we have really taken on eCommerce as an area that we want to own."
Wilde has two big goals. The long-term ambition is to eventually sell the business or merge with a larger agency. The short-term goal is a little simpler.
"I want to get the business to a level where I can leave for a three month holiday!"
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