39. 360 Finance – StartupSmart

Founder: Matt Burgess

Revenue: $528,979

Started: 2007

Head Office: Queensland

Employees: 4

Industry: Finance

Website: www.360finance.com.au

 

Start ups in crowded markets have the challenge of competing against some bigger, more capitalised rivals – and that includes online businesses.

 

Matt Burgess, founder of vehicle finance brokerage service 360 Finance, says one of the biggest challenges when starting his business was simply being found. He quickly learned search engine optimisation is crucial for any growing business and immediately started learning.

 

“Car finance is an extremely competitive industry and there are some very big competitors who dominate the online market,” he says.

 

“Without the massive budgets of these competitors we have had to slowly and gradually invest profits into search engine optimisation.”

Outsourcing those requirements have been challenging, Burgess says. But the outcome is that now “we have learnt what it takes”.

 

360 differs from the usual car financing model. Usually, businesses rely on referrals from car dealers, but Burgess says this doesn’t always lead to the best result. Instead, he says 360 focuses on a more personable approach.

 

“To do this we needed to own the relationship with the customer and to assist them through the sales process when buying a new vehicle, to ensure the best outcome for the customer.”

 

“We achieve this by having an online business which attracts customers who are researching their next car finance package online.”