The swear jar driving an SME to Asian success

“It's not for four letter words," Horsley-Wyatt says of Blonde Robot's prominent “swear jar".

"If anyone says anything that can’t be directly translated into conversation they have to put a dollar in there."
Chris Horsley-Wyatt, Founder & CEO, Blonde Robot

“It's for the use of over-the-top corporate jibber-jabber. And if anyone says anything that can't be directly translated into conversation, like using a metaphor to describe a situation, they have to put a dollar in there."

This refreshing philosophy translates well into Blonde Robot's professional relationships. “It applies to anyone who does business with us, anyone who steps foot in the door," Horsley-Wyatt says.

Blonde Robot imports and distributes products for content creation professionals that are not only of premium quality but are also“just cool," Horsley-Wyatt says.

BEERS AND A HANDSHAKE

The company began in a living room over a few beers and a handshake. It has since expanded to markets in several countries, including Asia, with products from the world's most innovative manufacturers.

“We started with a single product and no resellers," Horsley-Wyatt says. “We now have over 20 different brands that we distribute, across three channels – professional video, photographic and consumer electronics."

“We were lucky enough to start distributing GoPro (high-definition cameras) when they were a small company, and since then we have always looked for products that we would love to play with ourselves."

Success stories like Blonde Robots' are one way of motivating small businesses to consider the opportunities abroad, according an ANZ's Opportunity Asia survey of over a thousand businesses.

To be launched later in October, the survey found while 83 per cent of small businesses interviewed acknowledged Asian expansion would make sustainable growth more achievable, only 20 per cent were active.

Business accelerator or market familiarisation programs are increasingly popular ways SMEs approach new frontiers and Blonde Robot was one of 10 businesses who participated in ANZ's Business Growth program, focussing on staffing and cultural changes.

“We had a pretty good idea of who we wanted to be," Horsley-Wyatt says. “But we didn't have determined values or a mission statement. So the program helped us to work through that. And as a result we've made staffing changes over the past six months that have really helped the business grow."

Blonde Robot also developed a defined growth strategy and a focus on other opportunities in Asia.

“Since then we've really grown our Hong Kong business and now we are looking at driving 300 per cent growth throughout Asia next financial year"

Staffing has also proved to be a challenge. When contemplating what he might do differently at the start-up phase, Horsley-Wyatt thinks back to his recruiting process.

“I would definitely take a more formal and strategic approach," he says. “We would have had a more clearly defined structure for most elements of the business."

Creating a company with a culture based around the human element was what Horsley-Wyatt had in mind from the beginning.

“We didn't want to become a stale corporate company," he explains. “We provide lunch every day and we've got a nice relaxing downstairs bar area, with beer on tap. We want people to feel relaxed when they're at the office, our customers and vendors included."

Just don't spout corporate jargon.

Kirsty Quested is editor at The Small Business Company

PS: It's worth noting that a little of what Chris would term “corporate jibber-jabber" snuck into this interview. He was promptly called on it and he owed the swear jar a dollar. The photo is proof he paid up.