Localised
With an increasing number of remote workers and home-based businesses operating in rural and regional areas, it is not surprising how little we know about who is operating in our own back yard. In true fashion a regional entrepreneur set out to solve this problem in 2016 and I’ve been fortunate to follow the journey of Localised, an online social network for local business, over the past four years.
It was over coffee that I first met with Theo Williams in 2017. Theo explained that he and a friend, James Baird, became startup founders. After a year of working on the problem of local business discovery, Theo had the task of marketing a new digital platform and tool to the local government sector.
I was fascinated to learn that neither James nor Theo had any technical expertise in designing software; they engaged a Gippsland based development agency for that task. What the pair did have was the vision and passion to drive the idea of connecting local business forward.
Initially investors were sought to get the company started and the Geelong Angel Investors Network enabled Localised to get off the ground. ‘I came in with sweat equity,’ Theo admits. ‘We both paid ourselves crap wages for a year as we worked to get the business going.’
‘It seemed like we were forever in the experimental stage,’ he recalls. ‘We had to have an agile mindset as we were constantly and deliberately building in feedback loops to learn from customers.’
At the same time Geelong was really taking off as it began to reinvent itself from a manufacturing centre to one of start-ups and entrepreneurs. Localised found lots of support and inspiration through fellow start-up organisations like Runway.
A second version of the digital platform was launched in early 2017 and it has continued to be incrementally improved. Theo’s task was to market the product to councils as a low-cost digital tool to assist local businesses to connect.
As the promotional literature explains: Localised is an online place-based network for local business. Helping businesses find local providers of products and services, share business advice and news with each other, and to connect to business events and local clients.
‘Local is subjective,’ explains Theo. ‘It could be a small town in the USA or the Wimmera. Localised is a social network for businesses similar to LinkedIn for professional people.’ The most similar platform he could find was Town Square in the USA, but nothing directly connected people in business.
‘We had to make a lot of noise which included cold calling, and getting brand exposure through sponsorship at industry events attended by economic development professionals.’
Enterprise Geelong jumped on board early as a platform partner as did a number of other rural based councils. From late 2019, metropolitan councils started showing interest and quickly Localised customer base expanded Australia wide. An annual data license is purchased by councils which provides local business data in the local community. Quarterly reports provide updates and the platform itself is designed to help businesses promote themselves to a local market.
A big selling point for Localised has been the growth in home-based businesses that often have zero visibility in a community.
‘It’s hard to measure the impact of business to business activity,’ admits Theo. ‘But we do have lots of anecdotal evidence. In the gig economy, counting Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs is an archaic way of measuring economic development.’
Once councils are signed up, social media, direct mail and flyers included with rates notices are essential in getting businesses to become aware of the Localised platform.
An early lesson for Theo was that a digital platform was not enough. ‘Business people also want to meet face to face so we developed commercially-focused, yet fun, business networking events as well.’ This also serves as an ideal marketing opportunity for those businesses who are yet to build digital literacy.
James Baird, (left) in a rare catch up in person with Localised team members at an industry event in Geelong.
Another interesting aspect about Localised is that a remote worker model works well for the company itself. All three key staff members are spread geographically across regional Victoria.
‘Google Hangouts and phone is how we work. Short, sharp catchups every morning. We work in and around kinder drop offs,’ says Theo. While use of technology is part of their every-day work, he admits that there are some challenges within the local government sector with staff sometimes struggling to video conference and electing to bring in their own personal laptops to communicate with the Localised team.
Theo and I touched base again in mid 2019 and he is pleased to report on Localised’s growth. Our latest conversation is in January 2020 and he has exciting news, not least that he has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and that James is working on a new start-up venture.
‘We had two a totally different products targeting different markets, so we decided to split the business. This way James can focus on developing the new intellectual property and I can focus totally on Localised,’ Theo explains. ‘We still work closely and support each other where we can.’
Having advanced significantly from securing their very first sign-up, the Localised platform is now operating across 38 councils and has in excess of 6,000 business members. There are 547 councils Australia wide and Theo is aiming to partner with at least 200.
Given all the development over the past four years, you could be tempted to say that Localised has hit that ‘sweet spot’ in terms of meeting client needs but Theo is far from complacent. ‘Technology drives change but also has to react to change,’ he cautions.
Can’t wait for our next coffee catchup!
KERRY ANDERSON: Founder of the Operation Next Gen program and author of ‘Entrepreneurship: It’s Everybody’s Business,’ Kerry works with small businesses and rural communities to help them embrace new opportunities. In 2018 she was named as one of Australia’s Top 50 Regional Agents of Change. READ MORE