Oz Lighting

www.ozlighting.com.au

1. Tell us about your business

OzLighting.com.au is an Australian owned and operated Online Lighting Store based in Waterloo, Sydney. We started our online store with the aim of assisting our visitors to easily find the most appropriate lighting for their needs. We provide a safe and secure online space to buy lighting for the home and we conveniently deliver to our customers Australia-wide.

2. When and why did you start your business?

I started the business in 2009 with the aim of simplifying the process of buying lighting online. I also want to save people time and allow them to find and buy beautiful lighting for their homes without having to spend their precious free-time driving all over the city looking for that special piece. My suggestion is - reclaim your weekends, log on and light up with ozlighting.com.au

3. On a personal level, what have you achieved with your business?

Although I have spent most of my professional career in IT Consulting, I have always had a burning entrepreneurial itch that needed to be “scratched”. I wanted to learn and experience what was required to start a business from scratch and I have always been attracted to the online space because of the creativity and opportunities that are available when marketing online. This is an area of business that is exploding in Australia and I am enjoying being a part of it.

4. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in growing your business?

Our biggest challenge has been convincing manufacturers that we not going damage their brands by selling their products online at ridiculous prices. This is one of the major barriers to growth in the online space. All it takes is one merchant to drop their prices and this resets the market price for those products across the board. Although this is good in the short term for the consumer (because they get to buy products cheaper), the fact is, it is unsustainable in the long term. The fact is, online retailers have overheads just like bricks and mortar retailers – we hire staff, pay rent, insurance, marketing etc etc. I have had to work hard to build trust with my suppliers to the point where they understand that I am actively promoting their brands online and actually enhancing the power and value of their brands by targeting and finding customers who prefer to do their research and purchasing online.

5. What activities have been successful in promoting your business?

Utilising all the online marketing channels that are available today. We invest time and resources into a sound SEO strategy, PPC Campaigns, Affiliate marketing and targeted print campaigns. The most successful activities have been in partnering with other complimentary websites in affiliate relationships

6. What activities were less successful for marketing your business?

We have found offline marketing to be less effective than online. Also, PPC advertising provides us with a pretty low ROI, but it’s still an ROI and it will definitely remain part of our online marketing strategy

7. Name your favourite thing about your business

We LOVE getting positive feedback from our customers. Sometimes they send us pictures of their renovations, which is always really rewarding. You get to feel like you’ve played a part in helping someone create their home.

8. Who or what other businesses or business people inspire you?

Amazon.com – Innovators! Zappos.com - Their outlook on retail and customer service is inspiring. Seth Godin - Marketing Guru Tim Ferriss – Author of “The 4-Hour Work Week”

9. What are your plans for the future of your business?

We plan to build Australia’s most trusted online lighting store

10. Share your best business tip with our readers.

Always try different ideas to market your business but remember to measure ROI on every marketing activity you undertake so that you know which ones to stick with and which ones to let go of

Visit us at: www.ozlighting.com.au