Winner Best Growth Business 2010
Next time you sit on a massage chair in a shopping centre or hospital to rest a while, take a moment to look at the name of the business that has supplied the chair... and if it's a Relaxation Station, know that it is there thanks to the assistance of NEIS!
Ben and Kylee Spencer had several years of experience in the work force, and then found themselves unemployed. They had a strong desire to work for themselves and had an idea in which they believed. So too did the Swinburne NEIS program, and Kylee and Ben were accepted into Swinburne's training.
"We could see that there was a nice in the market and were confident that there was no one offering this type of service," said Kylee. "The NEIS training was integral in identifying our target market, and from the comprehensive training we received, a detailed marketing plan was prepared - which included feedback from our trainers."
"It gave us a roadmap to navigate our business in the right direction, and I firmly believe that without the right strategy we wouldn't have achieved success as quickly as we did."
"NEIS Mentoring was our primary support whilst growing our business," said Ben. "It was our only opportunity to ask for feedback from someone who was genuinely interested in our business and qualified to offer the right advice."
"Within the first year we experienced accelerated growth of over 1000% above our business forecast, and we were not prepared for it. Our mentor was able to offer examples of other business processes and systems to give us the confidence to continue forward."
The business started with four massage chairs in Melbourne and then they began supplying companies and shopping centres in their local area. After three months demand allowed them to purchase a container of massage chairs and expand into other states. Within 12 months they operated in every capital city and many regional cities, and employed 12 people around Australia. They have a huge number of clients and receive on average ten new enquiries per week.
The business has exceeded all expectations with an average monthly turnover in excess of $45,000 per month - a huge increase on their first sale...a $2 massage less than two years ago!