Good Trade Mark Practice, a.k.a., The “Golden Rules” of IP Protection

The following list was written by Gareth Dixon of Shelston IP. Shelston IP is iPitch’s Legal and Intellectual Property Partner.

To protect your creative endeavours and maximise their commercial value, a few simple rules must be observed (Please Note: This list is not exhaustive and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice).

DO – Check name availability

Before investing expense, time and emotional energy into a name, check that no-one else is already using it.  Undertake searches for identical or similar trade marks, domain names and business and company names.  Also do an Internet search.  Searching for similar trade marks is difficult.  Consult your Trade Mark Attorney for assistance.

DO – Choose a distinctive name

Distinctive names and logos make the best trade marks because it is easier for people to associate them with you.  The best trade marks consist of made up words or logos or existing words which have no necessary connection with the particular good or service.

DO – Acquire ownership of your trade mark

If a consultant creates or designs your trade mark, ensure you obtain from the creator/designer a written assignment of all intellectual property rights in the trade mark.  Failure to do so may mean you don’t own the trade mark.  Keep the assignment document in a safe place.

DO – Register your trade marks

Trade mark registration is the best way to protect your investment in a trade mark.  Only registered trade marks can be protected by an infringement action.  Registration also shows people that you are serious about your trade mark.  Register your trade mark in key overseas markets too if relevant.  A Trade Mark Attorney can help you register.

DO – Maintain and enforce brand guidelines

Brand guidelines help ensure consistent use by setting out the form in which the trade mark is to appear including matters such as font, colour, position and prominence.

DO – Differentiate your mark from surrounding text

When using your trade mark, always use different font size, style or colour from the surrounding text to indicate clearly that it  is a trade mark.  This will also tend to highlight your trade mark and enhance brand value.

DO – Use ® or ™

If you have a registered trade mark, always insert the ® symbol after your trade mark.  You can only use this symbol once the trade mark is actually registered, not during the application phase.  If your trade mark is not registered, use the ™ symbol to indicate that it is your trade mark.

DO – Put your trade mark on packaging

In addition to using your trade mark in advertising, it is important to ensure that your trade mark appears prominently on the product or packaging.  This will again reinforce your title to and reputation in the trade mark and establish use of the trade mark.

DO – Register your trade mark with Customs

If your product is susceptible to counterfeiting, your business can be helped by putting a Customs Notice in place.  This Notice allows Customs to seize any counterfeit product entering the country that bears your registered trade mark.

DO – Maintain a folder of trade mark use

Keeping a comprehensive folder of samples of how you have used the trade mark over time can avoid time consuming and tedious searching if it becomes necessary to defend the trade mark.  Samples should include brochures, packaging, advertising, website use, letterheads, invoices etc.

DO – Update your registration on brand refresh

Trade mark registration only protects the trade mark in the form in which it is registered.  If you do a brand redesign or refresh and change the form of the trade mark, it is very important to file a new trade mark application to protect the revised mark.  Otherwise, your existing registration may be vulnerable to removal for non-use and you will not be able to sue for trade mark infringement of the revised trade mark.

DON’T – Choose a non-distinctive name

Non-distinctive names are difficult to register and are hard to protect because it is difficult to show sufficient reputation in the name.  Problematic trade marks include surnames, geographic references, terms which describe the good or service, superlative terms (excellent, fantastic) and generic terms.  While it is tempting to choose a descriptive term, this can severely limit registrability and the ability to add brand value.

DON’T – Choose a name that is already taken

By undertaking searches, this problem can generally be avoided.  Avoid clever misspellings or imitations of well-known or famous brands. If you choose a name that is too similar to an existing trade mark or brand (whether registered or not), you run the risk of an action for trade mark infringement or misappropriation of reputation.  Also, there will be confusion in the market and it will be difficult to achieve brand distinctiveness.

DON’T – Use the trade mark as a verb or a noun

Some well-known trade marks have failed because they lost their association with the original trade mark owner and became generic eg aspirin, escalator.  Always use your trade mark as an adjective (HOOVER vacuum cleaner) and never as a noun (Buy our hoovers) or a verb (Hoover your carpet).  Using the word “Brand” after your trade mark can reinforce that it is a trade mark eg BANDAID brand plastic strips.

DON’T – Use the trade mark inconsistently

Your trade mark identifies the goods or services that you offer.  You take great care in ensuring the quality of your goods or services and it is important to follow the same rules with your trade mark.  To maximize reputation and protectability, always use the trade mark in the same form.  Otherwise, people may become confused about what the trade mark is and the reputation in the trade mark will be diluted.

DON’T – Use ® for unregistered trade marks

It is a criminal offence to use the ® symbol next to your trade mark where you do not have the trade mark registered in the particular country.  This is an issue even if you do have the trade mark registered in another country.  For trade marks which are not registered in the particular country, use the ™ symbol.

DON’T – Allow unrestricted use of your trade mark

If you license or franchise your trade mark or others sell your goods, it is important to control how they use your trade mark.  This can be done by including written restrictions and controls in the contract. Control is particularly important if you don’t directly operate in the jurisdiction and rely on their use to avoid having your trade mark removed for non-use.

DON’T – Allow others to infringe your trade mark

Your trade mark is a valuable asset.  Like other assets, it should be protected to maximize its value.  Actively survey the market for misuse of your mark and take action if you see others trying to trade off your reputation.  Of course, obtain advice from a trade mark attorney before making any infringement claims as you may be liable for costs or damages if you make unjustified threats of trade mark infringement.  (For example, there is no infringement unless your trade mark is registered.)

DON’T – Register a mark that you don’t use

Registration takes time and money.  If a trade mark is not used for a certain period, someone else can apply to have it removed.  This happens most often when you seek to enforce your trade mark and prevent the party seeking removal from using it.  By using your trade mark in the form registered and maintaining evidence of use, you should be able to enforce your mark.

DON’T – Use your mark overseas without research

Some trade marks that work well or sound good in English (or in your local language) may have a very different meaning or implication overseas.  Before you put significant time or money into building your brand, check that the name will work well in key overseas markets.  A rebranding just for overseas use can add substantial cost, particularly if advertising materials and packaging have to be reworked.

Note: You can download the PDF version of the information here.

Confused?

Don’t be.  Shelston IP offers a free initial consultation for any IPitch start-up looking to secure and exploit their IP.  Our firm is a market leader in this highly specialised field.  We commit to understanding our clients’ businesses – and focus on providing responsive, commercially relevant IP services and advice that is carefully tailored to our clients’ individual business strategies.  We measure our success by the success of our clients in building tangible value and competitive advantage through the effective creation, management, commercialisation and enforcement of their IP assets.

If you are a business looking for Intellectual Property assistance, contact Shelston IP, iPitch’s Legal and Intellectual Property partner who specialises working with startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Corplite founder and recent acquirer of Aweelectrical Bradley McHugh is the newest resident of the Green Lane Digital space.

Ipitch chatted to Brad about his background, the challenges of running two businesses at the age of 21 and his plans for the future.

Q: What is your professional background?

When I was fifteen I left school and started an electrical apprenticeship. During that time I studied various things on my own: business models, ways that people started businesses and grew them, people management, emerging markets in terms of energy efficiency and lucrative markets. I also spoke to people in the industry, people who were successful in business and were where I wanted to be. That was my main focus during the apprenticeship and while I was learning the ropes of the industry.

Q. Why did you pursue this path?

I originally got into a trade because that was the best business model I could think of at the time. I wanted to leave school so I could get a head start on my apprenticeship and get into a business as early as I could.

Q. What were your first business building steps?

Using my own money I got a van towards the end of the apprenticeship for my own jobs, which helped build a clientele base. A client would have a friend that needed something done. My first contract in terms of property management came through a friend of a friend who was on the owners corporation of a building. It has all pretty much grown from there.

Q: How did Corplite come about?

Corplite is what I want to specialise in - a business to business type of electrical work. I saw a market opportunity in terms of electrical contractors not tailoring their services to property managers. A lot of property managers didn’t understand what the tradespeople were doing so there was a grey area in terms of relaying information back and forth. Corplite specialises in services that have all the paperwork in order. All our jobs are booked in a system which keeps all the property managers up to date, every step of the way.

Q: Why did you decide to acquire a second business?

I was finding a lot of (residential) clients from the back of my corporate brand and this didn’t align with what the brand was- a business to business electrical company. But as a growing company you don’t want to turn away all that residential work so we put it into the residential arm to ensure that the brand is well aligned with what we’re doing. I then looked into buying another electrical company and Aweelectrical was a well run business in the northern beaches which had a lot of exposure in the areas that we wanted to target. Now, it is our residential company which looks after all the business to consumer market.

Q.How do you coordinate both businesses at the same time?

It’s a lot more efficient to run the business to business company in terms of administration. I may deal with three managers in a day, which may take up an hour but result in ten jobs. On the residential side of things I could deal with three clients and only receive three jobs so it’s not as productive. It really depends on what ’s going on at the time but more of my day is tied up with the residential side of things.

Q.What are the challenges of running two businesses?

Time management. Being the only staff member in the office faces me with a lot of issues, such as not being able to growing the business in terms of the actual sales.

Q. What is the greatest reward of running your own business?

For me it’s about creating something. It’s not really about the dollars and cents, it’s about having something that’s yours and that you’ve created from ground zero. It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve created something that will hopefully last in the future. That’s the biggest driver behind what I do.

Q. What are your plans for the business?

Our goal for the next 12 months is doubling in terms of workers, revenues, margins and all the financials attached to that.

Q. Why did you choose Green Lane Digital as your HQ?

This year is a big year for us in terms of growing our presence in the eastern suburbs. Green Lane Digital is halfway between the eastern suburbs and the northern beaches so it’s a good hub for us to be able to service our existing clients and service our newer clients in the east as well.

Q. What is your advice for budding entrepreneurs?

Your business has to be something you’re passionate about. There is no point getting into business just because you want to be rich. It’s not really something that’s feasible and you’re never going to be good or successful at it if that’s your main motivator. It has to be something you enjoy.

Signing off

While having an early focus on business building can give you a head start, gaining the knowledge needed to start a successful business is crucial. So define what you want to build and learn how to build it. Your passion is your own and no university will have all the answers. They can only come from you.

Written by Irina Belsky

Cloud computing is still a confusing concept for many people, yet it is the future of Information Technology.

Ipitch spoke to Sheng Yeo, the CEO of OrionVM about cloud and how it is changing the way businesses approach their IT.

What is Cloud Computing?

Defining cloud is difficult because it can encompass a broad or a narrow range of services. Generally speaking cloud computing allows IT assets to be delivered as a service over a network. In other words, rather than purchasing physical servers or software, businesses can sign up to a cloud service and pay on demand or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

“The best analogy for cloud computing is a mobile phone or a phone system,” describes Sheng, “you pay for for the number of calls or resources that you use.” For businesses this means that rather than buying what they need for an office or a data centre they can buy the same resources online.

Cloud computing has different layers and the type of service offered varies.

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): When cloud computing is delivered as IaaS, businesses are able to outsource both hardware and software to the cloud provider that hosts these resources.  As a result the client can choose and adjust how much capacity their business requires, paying for a service that’s right for their needs.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS  are services that provide software which can be used to facilitate the running and management of business applications.  As with all cloud, you pay for what you use, which means the choice of applications to be built and hosted on the software platform depends on your business needs.
3. Software as a Service (SaaS): SaaS allows you to access business applications through the cloud (online). Examples include Google Docs and Gmail.

OrionVM provides cloud as a IaaS service. “We buy large amounts of hardware and add automation to this hardware to allow companies to get service when they need it, on demand. Everything is done virtually and it’s all automated so you don’t need to plug in any equipment. It just gets done in the background and given to you online” explains Sheng.

Benefits of Cloud

Amongst the many benefits of cloud computing, several competitive advantages stand out.

1. Lower capital cost and cost of ownership: Instead of purchasing their IT infrastructure outright, organisations can pay for cloud infrastructure incrementally, which saves them money in the long term. Cloud services are also highly automated, and expenses are further cut by not needing IT personnel to maintain the software.

2. Efficiency: With cloud, staff are able to work wirelessly. “Rather than tying your staff to the office you can let them access resources anywhere via the internet.” Sheng points out.

3. Flexibility: Cloud allows businesses to adjust what they pay depending on their business situation. With cloud businesses are able to scale up during seasonal peaks and periods of high demand and scale down again when the extra cloud services are no longer required.

“Today you only have 5 employees and you need 5 accounting CRMs, which may cost you around $40. If you scale up to 20 employees, it’s going to cost you the same amount or slightly less depending on your package.”

Choosing Between An Australian And An Overseas Cloud Provider

Sheng says that there is a benefit to using an Australian provider for cloud computing services.

“In terms of accessing your information quicker it is better to have an Australian cloud provider because once you put everything onto the web, response times for every button you click are important.” When using a foreign service provider the internet speed may be slower, affecting the performance time.

Privacy and support are also factors to be considered.  “One of the biggest things with using foreign hosted applications as well is that support is quite hard because of the time zone differences.”

Advice On Finding A Service Provider

“Know your provider because you’re trusting them with your business. Always look online to see if anyone’s written anything about the provider you’re considering. I recommend that you call up to see whether or not the team is helpful. I find that if you call people up and they don’t answer the phone through the sales process then they probably won’t pick up to do the support either.”

OrionVM Background

OrionVM provides infrastructure as a platform (IaaS) service for businesses allowing them to run high performance web applications or databases in the Cloud.

The humble beginnings of the company can be traced back to a dorm room at UTS, where Sheng developed the infrastructure for the company together with Joseph Glanville and Alex Sharp. “We started the company because another project we were working on needed a highly scalable infrastructure platform. Cloud solutions were used to provide it and we decided to develop one ourselves” says Yeo.

In the last two years OrionVM has received funding from serial entrepreneur Stephen Baxter and computing pioneer Gordon Bell, growning from three staff members to eleven and expanding its market share.

The next step? “We’re hoping to have a US facility by the end of this year.”

Signing Off

While cloud computing may be a difficult concept to grasp, it is certainly worth considering, especially for businesses that value cost efficiency and scalability. You can find more tips on how to choose the right cloud service provider here.

]]> http://www.ipitch.com.au/public/cloud-computing-explained/feed/ http://www.ipitch.com.au/public/the-golden-rules-of-ip-protection/ http://www.ipitch.com.au/public/the-golden-rules-of-ip-protection/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:10:19 +0000 Guest Author http://www.ipitch.com.au/public/?p=2839

Good Patent Practice, a.k.a., The “Golden Rules” of IP Protection

The following list was written by Gareth Dixon of Shelston IP. Shelston IP is iPitch’s Legal and Intellectual Property Partner.

To protect your creative endeavours and maximise their commercial value, a few simple rules must be observed (Please Note: This list is not exhaustive and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice).

DO - Maintain secrecy before filing

The “golden rule” is that you must file a patent or design application to secure the rights, before any public disclosure or commercial use. Any prior discussions must take place under conditions of confidentiality, which should be confirmed in writing, ideally in a non-disclosure agreement.

DO - Conduct preliminary searching

This can provide initial confidence that an idea is new and a clearer understanding of how it differs from the closest “prior art”. This will help your patent attorney and save you money. US patents can be searched at patft.uspto.gov and specifications downloaded from www.pat2pdf.org - both at no cost.

DO - Seek professional advice

Be sure to consult a patent attorney. Filing your own patent or design application is like performing your own surgery - possible, but not recommended! There are numerous traps and pitfalls along the way to successful IP protection - and many fatal defects cannot be rectified retrospectively, when they eventually come to light.

DO - Have a business plan

Once a patent or design application has been filed, the next steps come around surprisingly quickly. They can also be costly, especially if you wish to extend the IP into other countries. A sound business plan is important, to ensure that the IP is well protected, adequately funded and structured to support your commercial objectives.

DON’T - Disclose before filing

This is a restatement of the “golden rule” above. Potentially valuable IP rights are often lost through public disclosure or use before a patent or design application has been safely filed. There are some limited exceptions and “grace period” provisions, but they are not available worldwide and should only be relied on as a last resort.

DON’T - File too early

It can also be a mistake to file an application prematurely, for example based on a speculative concept with no tangible means of practical implementation. The value of an early priority date must be balanced against the need for an effective priority date, which may dictate further product development before filing.

DON’T - Rely on verbal confidentiality undertakings

Verbal confidentiality undertakings can be notoriously difficult to prove. At a minimum, such agreements should be documented. By far the safest approach, however, is to rely on a professionally prepared patent or design application. This will be unaffected by subsequent disclosures and independent of contractual relationships.

DON’T - Publish improvements

Product improvements may not be covered by earlier applications. It is therefore critically important for any improvements or developments to be discussed with your patent attorney before they are published, to ascertain whether an amendment to the original application or a supplementary application may be required.

Confused?

Don’t be.  Shelston IP offers a free initial consultation for any IPitch start-up looking to secure and exploit their IP.  Our firm is a market leader in this highly specialised field.  We commit to understanding our clients’ businesses - and focus on providing responsive, commercially relevant IP services and advice that is carefully tailored to our clients’ individual business strategies.  We measure our success by the success of our clients in building tangible value and competitive advantage through the effective creation, management, commercialisation and enforcement of their IP assets.

You can download this information here.

If you are a business looking for Intellectual Property assistance, contact Shelston IP, iPitch’s Legal and Intellectual Property partner who specialises working with startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Written by Irina Belsky

For some, becoming an entrepreneur is like learning a new language. It’s foreign territory and help is a must.

This is where The Frank Team roll up their sleeves and get to work, providing entrepreneurs with advice and practical skills to help them along the way. The entrepreneur focused education and training company began as a startup ten years ago and like any startup it was born from a need.

“While we were at university someone gave us a brief to do an event and when we started we realised that we had no skills to put an event together,” says Natasha Munasinghe, director of The Frank Team, “That was a bit of a light bulb moment when we realised that when it came to practical skills and life skills, there really wasn’t much training.”

The desire to help others avoid the same pitfalls motivated Natasha and co-founder Jessica Schebesta to continue growing The Frank Team. It is now a fully fledged company with partnerships in the government, public and private sectors.

Natasha spoke to us about her involvement with The Frank Team and about the opportunities offered by the organisation.

Co-Founder Background

While Natasha graduated with a law degree, she realised early on that practicing law wasn’t something she actively wanted to pursue. ”So I tried everything from stakeholder engagement, to marketing, to fundraising. They were all really good jobs but I guess they just weren’t hitting the spot.”

The solution? “In the middle of the GFC I quit my job, put on a backpack and traveled around India, Dubai and Sri Lanka for a couple of months. I guess I just wanted to see what the world was like and have a bit of time to figure out what my next steps were.”

As of 2010 her next step was to take over ownership of The Frank Team from Schebesta who had been running the business. “I’ve always thought of the Frank Team as having the potential to do much more than we were already doing” Natasha explains.

The Frank Team

The potential of The Frank Team lies in its innovative approach to education. A combination of online video tutorials, events and practical skill workshops signals a shift from the traditional classroom method of learning. “We focus on three areas: entrepreneurship, graduate training and staff training for companies” explains Natasha.

1. Entrepreneurship

As well as teaching business and personal skills through online courses and face to face workshops The Frank Team is also involved in entrepreneur community building initiatives such as the Global Entrepreneurship Week and The Young Entrepreneurs Meetup.

“I guess the main aim is to raise the profile and awareness of entrepreneurship in Australia and to create entrepreneurship as a viable career path for people, not just something people try for a few years then give up and go to work.”

As part of their mission to support entrepreneurship in Australia The Frank Team will also be running The 2012 Sydney City Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program with the support of the Department of Trade & Investment.

2. Graduate Training

The Frank Team also collaborates with universities to enable graduates to get high quality jobs through skills delivery and mentoring. ”There are a lot of universities now reaching out to the community and wanting to do things differently because the whole field of education is really changing very quickly so universities need to know how to change their business models because if they don’t, they risk losing a lot of students.”

3. Staff Training

Natasha says that one of the reasons companies reach out for training services is to motivate and stimulate their staff, who desire to be more challenged. “We work with companies to get their staff productive, to get them engaged, to teach them about the latest technology trends or social trends.”

Challenges

Growth and people management are on top of the list when it comes to running The Frank Team. “We are really expanding what we do and working with different client bases and really getting the system together to accommodate that has been tough.” And when it comes to staff  ”you have to pick the people who are super committed, really proactive and don’t need to be micromanaged…when you find them you hold on to them because they are gold.”

Founder Advice

Find the right team: While a lot of entrepreneur hopefuls focus on finding the time and money to start their own venture, Natasha says that “the first thing you should do is get a good team together, give it a go and then you can start looking for the cash and the investors.”

Be realistic and take calculated risks: Planning ahead plays a crucial role and can set you up for success instead of failure. “Make sure you aren’t just jumping in without knowing what’s going to happen. Plan (financially) for at least for six months or a year ahead and then decide.”

Get support: Doing it on your own is always tough, so get help. “It’s very daunting when you have an idea and no understanding of how to make it happen. When you have a bit of a pathway and a support system that you create, it makes that journey a lot easier.”

Signing off

While there are many online learning platforms out there, The Frank Team stands out with its entrepreneurial focus and the powerful collaborations it has formed with universities, departments, associations and companies.

“We really want people to know that entrepreneurship is something that can enable people to live very fulfilled lives,” concludes Natasha.

Written by Irina Belsky

While no man is an island, entrepreneurs often find themselves working alone. Separated by a deviant way of thinking, non-standard working hours and a stubborn refusal to integrate into the mainstream, they need an alternative to the corporate workspace.

This is where co-working spaces come in. They provide entrepreneurs, freelancers, sole traders and other free agents with a collaborative work environment where they can dictate their own rules and benefit from the knowledge of other people.

Investon is the new addition to Sydney’s co-working scene. Founded by Paul Page and Steve Grant from 724.com.au, the self serviced office will open its doors this Friday.

IPitch spoke to Paul Page about Investon and the role it intends to play in facilitating business development.

Reasons for creating Investon

According to Page, a major goal of the office is to build a thriving hub where people can exchange skills and ideas, instead of passively sharing a physical working space. “We want to help entrepreneurial people to collaborate, work together and to share ideas” he explains.

In addition to creating Investon the founders also run 724.com.au - a cloud computing services company. They plan to use the same technology to allow entrepreneurs working at Investon to harness the power of cloud computing for their businesses. “We want to insure that the office has seamless cloud computing so that they can operate whether it’s in the office or at home or overseas.”

Facilities and Packages

Investon is located smack in the center of the CBD (70 Pitt Street, level 9) where it takes up the entire floor. While location is one of the selling points of Investon, the founders emphasize that the space contains all the necessary business services including “conference rooms, boardrooms, photocopy, fax and VOIP telephone service facilities” amongst others.

“There are three options when getting a space,” explains Page, “you can have a hot desk where you simply come in on the day, you can have a dedicated work station in an open environment or you can have your own office with however many employees you want.”

As far as costs go:

• A hot desk will cost you $150/week, a dedicated workstation will cost $210/week while a dedicated office will set you back $450/week.

• An additional $70/week will provide you with a business services kit, which includes VOIP telephone services, unlimited internet, telephone calls and photocopying.

• Services such as board room rental, telephone reception services as well as printing and photocopying outside of the business kit package will incur extra costs.

• An example of an Investon package: a dedicated work station plus business services kit plus light reception services will cost a total of $290/week.

Ideal Investon tenants

What does Page envision the tenants of Investon to be? In his words the chosen people will come “from diverse areas - IT, social media, human resources, people who are involved in public speaking. One overriding objective is to have people who work well together collaboratively.”

Page mentions that while there will be a focus on technology, Investon will want to attract a range of people from other disciplines who can contribute their various skill sets to build a collaborative atmosphere in the office.

Applying for tenancy with Investon

Applying to be a tenant is “principally a meet and greet” affair. Interested individuals can make an appointment to come in and see the premises as early as this week. Page says that it’s important for tenants to be comfortable with the location, the environment and the pricing, so viewing the space is vital. “If it’s a good fit we go ahead. If for whatever reason it is not, then we refer them to other places that are maybe more suitable.”

Signing off

Investon will be a good choice for growth stage businesses that find centrality an important factor or businesses which have already secured an initial round of funding, allowing them to cover the associated costs.

Concept and seed stage startups may find the costs slightly more difficult to bear, especially if they have little need for extra business or reception services.

If you would like to set up a meeting with the founders or visit Investon please call (02) 9043 5984 or email sales@investon.com.au

Written by Irina Belsky

Wyngle is waging a war on the traditional group buying sites with its new concept of ratio shopping. The startup has devised a way to let shoppers purchase goods for a mere dollar without taking away profits from retailers.

IPitch chatted to Wyngle founder Sebastian Langton about what Wyngle can offer to businesses and shoppers.

The offering

“The easiest way to describe Wyngle is it’s products, goods and services at the same price you’ll find anywhere else in the market but with the unique opportunity to potentially purchase them for a dollar.” says founder Sebastian Langton.

Each product on the Wyngle website has an attached ratio such as ‘1 in 3 for $1′.  This ratio dictates your chances of purchasing the product for one dollar. If the ratio is 1 in 3 you have a 1 in 3 chances of buying your item for $1. If lady luck’s not on your side you simply commit yourself to paying the regular retail price.

“So if you’re going to buy the product it makes sense to buy it from us because where else can you get the change to get it for next to nothing? Just the other day we sold an ipad for a dollar which I believe is probably as cheap as anybody ever paid for an ipad” comments Langton.

Concept

Wyngle emerged from Langton’s desire to introduce innovation to the world of online retail. “I was working for a company called Catch, selling vertical advertising space and the consensus was that 99 % of all e-commerce platforms were axing their price primarily to get one up on their competitors” says Sebastian. After recognising that sales through discounting were depriving businesses of value, he set out to develop an alternative model in 2009.

The next six months were spent creating the initial concept of ratio shopping and trying to reconcile it with Australian gaming laws. This was made especially difficult because of the innovative nature of Wyngle as well as the tightly controlled nature of the government legislations. “Ultimately we’re not a gambling site”, clarifies Langton, “It’s also very difficult to class us as a trade promotions but that’s what NSW has deemed us as.”

Langton bootstrapped Wyngle until early 2011 when the startup secured their first round of seed funding from an investor. At present the Wyngle team has expanded to include an operations director Damian Cantelo, an outsourced development team and even Sebastian’s dad.

Benefit to businesses

Langton is adamant that Wyngle is the way to save retailers from destroying themselves through unsustainable discounting practices. “No business is going to survive selling something that should be worth $100 for $20″ he states adamantly.

Businesses benefit by selling their products at retail price while the loss of $1 sales is offset by a negotiated margin. In Langton’s words “if we were to do a ratio of 1 in 3 it usually means we’ve negotiated a 40 or 50 per cent discount on those products because we’re buying them in bulk”.

This allows Wyngle to advertise the product at market price and to pass this discount to the customer in the form of ratio shopping. As for Wyngle’s profits, the startup plans to make money by clipping the ticket of every full price sale that goes through the site.

Marketing and PR

In addition to employing SEO and SEM strategies and Google analytics Wyngle has also used the services of a PR company to sow initial exposure in mainstream media.

Other publicity such as an interview with Sky News was secured thanks to Wyngle’s existing contacts and relationships, such as the connections formed during the innovation bay investment pitch.

Founder Reflections

Coming from a property management background, Sebastian has had very little knowledge of the startup world and saw bootstrapping as the only option at the time of Wyngle’s inception.

“I struggled on to self fund which probably was a mistake. I wish I’d done a little bit more research or gotten in touch with more organisations to work out the other potential options of developing the idea.”

Despite the lack of any entrepreneurial background and challenges of the process, Langton has persevered with the concept he believes in “wholeheartedly”. He views Wyngle as the way to save retailers while retaining value for shoppers.

“Either we  have to make a stand and  change the way we sell and the way consumers perceive what they’re buying or we’re all going to end in a lot of trouble” he concludes.

Future Goals

Wyngle is planning world domination in the year to come, with a possibility of expanding to the international market. Langton reveals that “we’re doing capital raising at the moment and with this being secured we’ll be looking to go to the US and UK in the next three to six months.”

The startup will also focus on strengthening its brand by getting more media exposure and forming relationships with suppliers. “We can offer them something completely different that doesn’t mean they have to sell out their brand and destroy their market position.”

Written by Irina Belsky

It’s that resolution making time again and everyone can benefit from this seemingly tedious activity, even such unconventional people as entrepreneurs.

So here is a list of tips to make your 2012 even more unconventional, productive and educational.

1. If you’re involved in a tech startup and know nothing about coding - learn. It’s easier than you think. It’s all well and good if you have a technical co-founder but even then, knowing some basics about coding will give you a better understanding of the process. If you know more, you can contribute more and, hey, you might be able to come up with some nifty functionalities based on your new found insights.

2. If you haven’t already done it, just do it. Whether it’s hiring or firing someone, whether its bootstrapping, begging for more funding or re-designing your entire website from scratch because it needs to be done, just do it. Startups are a high risk scene and that means risk is part of the deal so don’t be afraid of it.

3. Learn what you need, where you can and don’t pay for it. Yes, the phrase “minimising costs” is one we are all familiar with and it applies to everything, including getting the right knowledge. If you can’t find the right knowledge/skills/advice online, do a short course at a community college or at TAFE. These are the more cost efficient ways to learn the things you need.

4. Connect to the startup community. There are two types of entrepreneurs - those who work in isolation and operate on a ‘need-to’ basis and those who tap into the broader community, that’s bursting with relevant information. The upside of this latter approach is that knowledge is much more accessible when it is provided to you directly by other people. Once you are linked to the broader entrepreneurial network in your area you can seek out the right knowledge more efficiently. After all, you’ll be connected to like minded people and events aimed at helping startups.

5. Trust yourself. If you know you need help to create your business, admit it. Don’t waste months or years of your life trying to start a business that has no potential or can’t be effectively monetized. Join an incubator program or participate in a startup camp. A startup camp will help you ask the right questions to distinguish between a good and a bad business idea. An incubator program will give you structured advice and a set of steps to follow to develop your business.

6. Don’t enter into an incubator/accelerator program if you know you can do it on your own.  To enter such a program you will need to give up your equity (usually between 6-8%) and if there is no strong justification to do so, why do it?

7. Read startup media. Not only is it filled with useful advice, it’s a great way to stay on top of what is happening both locally and internationally. By reading the latest news and developments you can find out about new government grants, co-working spaces or overseas schemes for startups.

8. Pitching is important. So go to pitching events like the Peter Farrell Cup and Innovation Bay and see what makes a pitch amazing. If you have no time to hop from event to event, youtube TechStars and watch the pitches online. Then bring it all back to your own pitch and think about ways to make it better.

9. Build your brand from day one after figuring out your product market fit. Set up social media channels for your business and learn how to speak to the media. Remember if no one knows about your business you won’t get customers. If no one likes or identifies with your brand, you won’t retain customers.

10. Prioritize your ‘must-dos’ over your ’should-dos’ every day. You may have a thousand tasks to complete when you’re starting a business but they don’t all have to be done in one day. A big part of time management is focus. Choosing to do the things that need to be done immediately and forgetting completely about the things that can wait. Otherwise you’ll eventually go crazy.

11. Exercise and eat well. At the risk of sounding like a hippie I will say that the body and mind are one. So the way you treat one will definitely impact the other. Don’t gorge on junk food when you know you have a document to go through, a phone call to make, a contract to draw up or a meeting to go to. Preferably exercise before doing any of the above. If something has gone wrong and you’re so stressed you’re on the brink of being carted off to a mental ward, take the day off and do a mighty session at the gym. Seriously.

12. Never assume anything. Assumptions lead to miscommunication. And you do not want any miscommunication in the early stages of your business, especially when it comes to dealing with current and perspective customers.

Signing Off

Above all else, do what makes you happy. Think about what worked for you last year and what didn’t and build your new year around that knowledge.

Are there any resolutions you would like to add the list? We’d love to hear what your plans are for improving your entrepreneurial self this year.

Written By Irina Belsky

You’d be surprised how many startups are clueless about talking to the media. Especially when media coverage can lead a startup from obscurity into the light of day. That’s why Media Relations 101 for Startups (MR 101) was a much needed event for the startup community. The focus of the event was to provide entrepreneurs with enough media knowledge to get press coverage of their startup. MR 101, which was organised by Pushstart and hosted by Ninefold, included a panel of industry professionals who spoke about practical ways to get media coverage for startups.

If you are interested in learning more about talking to the media, please read the article below for a complete summary of the content.

Topics

• Contacting the media
• Getting the media to want your story
• Building relationships with representatives of media
• Making your business website media friendly

Speakers

Corrie McLeod: Director of Espresso Communications and a PR professional with experience in the IT industry.

Jeanne-Vida Douglas: BRW journalist and editor with ten years experience reporting in the IT industry.

Mahesh Sharma: Freelance journalist reporting on startups, IT and entrepreneurship.

Content

Reasons for PR

Sales- the more exposure your business has, the more people will know about it. More people equals more customers.

Talent - convincing a highly skilled person to work for an early stage business can be hard. Media exposure can help you build a reputation, so you don’t have to work as hard to find the right person to join your team.

Other business ends - PR doesn’t just work on a B2C level, it can also help you secure partnerships with other businesses by making it easier to approach them. Media exposure is the natural way to build reputation with customers and other businesses.

Key Media Messages

1. Who are you? -why would the journalist want their audience to read about you?
2. What do you do? -why is that of interest to the audience of the publication you’re pitching to?
3. Who do you do this for? - make your offering relevant to the readers of the publication. Who are your users and why would they prefer your service?
4. How are you different? - the selling point. What makes you stand out?

Always think about the journalist and their audience when you answer these questions. And always ask yourself, “what would make a good story?” For example personal experiences make good stories. Have your users advocate the business by sharing their positive experiences. If you don’t have any users yet, ask someone you know to be an advocate.

Media Toolkit

Media Release: when writing the media release, write the most newsworthy information first, include quotes from the founders that support your newsworthy angle, keep your sentences short and simple and write in the voice of your target publication.

Boilerplate - a boiler plate is the information about your business. It is usually found at the bottom of the media release and includes the facts that journalists want to know: When the business was founded, the number of customers,  business vision and achievements.

Executive photography - photographs of your team can make your story more appealing to the journalist and more appealing to the reader. Make them good. For extra brownie points be creative. It will capture attention, if nothing else.

Product images - high quality images that show your products in the best light.

Resource gallery - on your website include press releases that mark all worthy milestones such as the first customer, the first investor, the 100th customer, new functionalities, new team members coming on board. Why? A journalist will have more information to work with.

Media Strategy

Build relationships with media bloggers, influencers and journalists- leave comments on their blogs and articles, offer advice, engage with them.

Use twitter to connect with journalists- they often use twitter to find sources for their  stories. If the journalist is not interested when you first pitch your story, keep in touch with them and continue to let them know about your business’s developments in case something comes up later on.

Pitch a story for a specific section of a publication instead of targeting the entire publication. This will show you are familiar with the publication and have thought about the target audience.

Think of whats relevant to the biggest audience - journalists write about things that are relevant to the majority of their target audience.

DO NOT send out press releases to the publications you don’t read.

DO NOT send out press releases to journalists whose articles you haven’t read.

DO NOT send out press releases to journalists you haven’t spoken to.

Executive Profiling

Have ONE spokesperson - a personality becomes linked to the brand, so keep it consistent.

If you are the spokesperson, write down numbers and important details before interviews and remember them so you don’t get misquoted.

Create a blog that gives a human face to your business: record your experiences and share your business’s progress with your readers.

Signing off

Learning about the media is often on the bottom of entrepreneurs’ priority list, which is understandable, given how much they have on their plate. While you don’t have to be a media relations expert, knowing the basics of talking to the media is important. Media coverage can be a great marketing tool which can help your business build its brand and its reputation.

You can find the Prezie presentation of the event here.

Written by Irina Belsky

What can Santa give your tech startup this Christmas? A new accelerator program, obviously.

Pushstart has picked the festive season to launch a three month accelerator program for early stage tech startups.

We chatted to Pushstart co-founder Kim Heras about the program.

Program overview:

Ten successful startups will receive $20 000 funding to propel the development of their business ideas, collaborate with mentors and pitch their ideas to investors during a series of demo days at the end of the program. In return Pushstart will take 8% common equity in each startup.

According to Kim one of the goals of the program is to “take the learning from those successful people and take them back to early stage startups”.

While startups will be building and testing their businesses throughout the entire three month program “the balance of it will shift slightly according to which part of the actual process you’re in.”

During the first month mentors and startups will take each other on test drive to decide who works best together. At the same time each startup will concentrate on building and adjusting their business concept to find the most profitable execution. The second month will involve “pushing on really hard with customer development and technical development”  while the final month will factor in the pitching process.

Pushstart has also thrown in some entertainment value into the mix. In addition to networking with mentors,  entrepreneurs will kick back during weekly informal meals and speeches by guest speakers.

“The idea is for it to be an intensive program but at the same time to provide a variety of interesting events.”

The program will culminate with a series of investor days to allow founder teams to pitch in front of local and international investors.

Mentors:

Startups will have access to executive and investor mentors as well as early stage entrepreneurs who have already experienced a degree of success.

The decision to include early stage entrepreneur mentors came after Pushstart consulted “hundreds” of startups who had expressed “that they got the most value out of the people who were just ahead of them in this startup process.”

As a result of this feedback, the accelerator’s mentor group will consist of both established mentors as well as “people who are on their way to being successful”, for example designcrowd founder Alex Lynch.

Location:

While the location hasn’t been decided yet, Kim is adamant that it has to be central and well suited to startups. “One way or another it will be around the sydney CBD. The question is figuring out the best place for startups to be.”

Investor Days:

The investor days are scheduled to run in June, and while details won’t be known until late Kim has already began speaking with potential investors.

“The point is not to just have a room full of people but a room full of investors” he explains.  “We’ve got plans to have demo days in different locations to get these startups in front of as many investors as possible.”

Post Program:

Although the program finishes after three months, there is nothing that prevents mentors and startups from continuing to collaborate.

“The reality is that we’re seeing mentors helping startups to grow with no financial incentive” Kim concludes, “as a program were committed to helping these startups for as long as possible.”

Signing Off

It’s great to see the startup community in Australia growing to provide entrepreneurs with more opportunities. Like any worthwhile occupation entrepreneurship needs to be supported and encouraged, if we are to benefit from what it can create.