Smart50 rank: 17
Revenue: $4,129,209
Growth: 92.45%
Founders: Katie May, 42
Based: Victoria
Employees: 24
Industry: Internet
Website: www.kidspot.com.au
Katie May started Kidspot.com.au after failing to locate a jumping castle for her young children. She designed the site purely as a directory, but it now operates as a major source of information for young mothers.
"I could not understand why this was not easier to do online and figured it was frustrating for other working mums... I realised I had the necessary skills to launch something like this due to leading the marketing and product team at SEEK - another online classifieds business. So I wrote the business plan."
But creating the site wasn't as easy as May predicted. After about a year in business, Kidspot hit a road block when she discovered there were limits to the company's growth.
"Unlike jobs - the industry I previously worked in - there is a limit to how many listings a given category needs. Mums don't need to choose from 250 clowns in the birthday party category, unlike when you're changing jobs and want to feel like you've seen everything."
"It was obvious what we needed to do, and we were lucky enough to have the right people on board to execute it brilliantly. We needed to extend the website beyond a directory - offering comprehensive content to the same mums and thus extending our relationship with them - and we needed a market presence in the media agencies that represented the large businesses interested in our audience."
Building a directory for a specific demographic caused the site to attract a community of young mothers who now rely on the site for not only information, but lively discussion about parenting.
The site has taken off, with 92% average growth and $4.1 million revenue during 2008-09.
"It was originally conceived as a safe place for mums to share, give/get advice, laugh, learn, teach, etc. That is certainly happening. However, we now use it regularly to talk to mums. We start conversations... it's an ongoing dialogue with our audience."
The Kidspotsocial.com.au community has helped May branch out into other areas, with the company acquiring Birth.com.au in early February, and she is using the downturn to expand its reach.
"We are planning to come back in a better position. We are investing in expanding our leadership position among Australian mums, (we now have Kidspot and Birth which together reach over 800,000 mums and mums-to-be), as well as leveraging our know-how to help advertisers to reach women more broadly."
 |
 |
