Biznik - Business Networking That Doesn’t Suck

Biznik now has members in 46 countries. But so far, all of our events have been in the United States. Thanks to Ross Hill, that’s about to change. The 19-year-old entrepreneur and university student from Australia will host Cashflow 101, the first international Biznik event on Wednesday, Dec. 6. I’ve mentioned Ross before in this post, but this occasion merits a full interview!

Q: Tell me a bit about yourself - you’re in university, yes?

I’m studying Entrepreneurship of all things! And yes there is a degree for that. It’s similar to a Bachelor of Business but with a major in Entrepreneurship. We study regular business areas such as marketing and finance but they are focussed on startups so we spend more time on things like low cost marketing techniques and raising capital. We also get to meet a range of entrepreneurs in the ‘Entrepreneurial and New Ventures’ class and hear their stories of both success and failure which is really insightful.

Q: You’re also running a business while you’re in school. Tell me about Thrive.

I’ve been playing with the web since I was 12 but started thinking more commercially in 2003. After doing a couple of sites word got out and I ended up getting a few leads through “networks” - a lot of people think that it is some big, scary term but my networks in those days were friends, people that my parents knew, and contacts of school teachers. In July 2006 I thought it was time to get a bit more serious and replace the “Ross Hill” business cards with something more solid, so I registered Thrive Web Marketing.

I think website design is a great way to get into business because of the low barriers to entry. Like a lot of freelancers and consultants, all I needed to get started was a mobile phone, a couple of business cards and my trusty Powerbook. It does cause a problem though, in that there are so many other website designers out there - search for web designer on Biznik and there are 233 results!

Running a business while in school is fantastic. It really suits my university course because I can apply what is learnt directly, and hand in the Thrive marketing and financial plans as assignments! You get feedback on your assignment, which is good academically, but it can also be applied practically in the business. Since all of the lecturers have a lot of experience this can be really helpful. In our third year of study every student actually has to start their own business anyway, so I guess I’ll be starting my second by then. Another advantage to having a business while studying is that I have had a lot of class mates hire me! My classmates and I were talking about the cost of our degree but some of us will probably end up breaking even by the end of it.

Q: I find it’s pretty rare to meet entrepreneurs who are under 30. Why do you think that is?

In a post on my blog called School Versus Real Life I quoted Chris Yeh saying “School isn’t like real life. In fact, it’s about as far from real life as can be imagined. The lessons that let you be successful in school (follow the rules, work hard, know the right answers) are completely the opposite of those that help you become a successful entrepreneur (change the rules, work smart, know the right questions).”

At the end of 2005 I completed 13 years of learning how to go out and get a job.
It isn’t ironic that most people go out and get a job, or study more at TAFE or university before finding work.

I think young people find it hard to get support to start a new business. Public perception is that it is too risky and that 90% of businesses fail within a year. That said, I think that there are actually a lot of young entrepreneurs around, or at least people with aspirations of starting their own business in the future. My university course has 70 excited young entrepreneurs, and with groups like VentureTribe they can get together with like-minded young people who will support them while they get started. The latest site in the Thrive Portfolio, Free Business Tips got some press recently and within a few days most of the members on the forum were young people. We just need places that we can go to find some positive energy and have someone asking us “why not?” instead of telling us why not!

Testing an idea is easy, and that is what makes the successful stand out from those who just mention their million-dollar-idea over a beer at a barbecue. With the internet you can test whether there is a market for your ideas without spending much at all. But you can just as easily do it in the real world as well. I came across the story of Innocent Juice and love it. They’d made juice at home and thought it could be a good business, so they bought a bunch of fruit and set up a stand at a music festival. They had a big sign that said “Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?” and had two garbage bins underneath - one saying ‘YES’ and the other saying ‘NO’. At the end of the day the YES bin was full so they resigned the next day and got started building their new business which now commands $120,000,000 worth of the market.

I think people just need to realise how easy it is to get started. If you have an idea you are sitting on right now, ask yourself what is the simplest way that you can test to see if there are people who would buy your product or service? If there are then you already have your first sale!

Q: What gets you excited about entrepreneurship?

I’m sure you know the feeling - you walk into a networking event and there is this buzz in the room. Everybody is so excited about what they are doing and hearing about what everyone else is doing. That positive vibe and helpful attitude is addictive. People with jobs do “work”, entrepreneurs love what they do and find ways to get paid to do it. How could you choose to do anything else?

Q: How’d you learn about Biznik and why did you choose Biznik to host your event?

I stumbled across Biznik through a link on somebody’s blog and I liked what I saw so I signed up for an account and stuck around. The manifesto just shines and when I saw that you use Flickr and that there is a podcast I knew I had to look deeper. I don’t think I have seen a networking group with such a well-rounded online presence. Most of you are still in Seattle, though, so I had to put Geelong on the map! When I joined there were only 5 people in the whole of Australia but I have recruited a few more locals since then.

I had a game of Cashflow with a few guys a couple of weeks ago and it was really good fun so I thought I better pick a date for the next game. There were a couple of other Cashflow events listed but Biznik was clearly under-represented down under so I submitted the idea as an event. Now I can just send people to the Biznik link Geelong Cashflow 101 Night and they can RSVP there so it is a really simple process. It will be good to see what features are built into Biznik 2.0 - which sounds really exciting so far.

Ross’s website and blog is Thrive Web Marketing.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 at 7:25 am and is filed under Interviews. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.