Juliet Potter: Autochick drives big online business

The investors were no lightweights, and she has some pretty impressive backing, with Martin Hoffman, former ninemsn CEO, and Rob Antulov, former director of strategy for Fairfax Digital, in her corner. “I feel I really have support for the first time.”

Like all business owners, there have been plenty of lessons for Potter to learn along the way, and some have been hard to bounce back from. She’s encountered some pretty tough characters in the male-dominated industry, such as the big name car executive who told her she got to where she was in the industry thanks to her hair colour and bust size. Rather than be put off, the pint-size businesswoman was spurred on to achieve more. “I have never felt so discriminated against in my life, I have never felt so belittled and I just walked out of that meeting with the biggest fire in my belly because I thought: stuff you, you watch how much difference one person can make.”

Aside from the sexist executives she was pitching to, she’s also encountered plenty of “sharks” ready to cash in on her fast success, so when her business partnership went south she was more careful about teaming up with the right partners, and feels she has definitely found them in Hoffman and Antulov. She also advises SMEs to get a good solicitor on the books. And while she admits this may seem like an unnecessary expense, she can vouch for the ‘what might have beens’ had she employed the right counsel in the beginning.

She’s also more protective of her intellectual property, especially after a former staff member left to start a rival business. “I didn’t see it coming. I have great faith in people.” And these days she has learnt not to personalise problems and hiccups related to business. All these experiences have made her a tougher businesswoman.

Online Platform

These days, Potter still doesn’t consider herself an auto expert but recognises how much her knowledge of the industry has grown, and how much she continues to learn. She is a passionate advocate of the internet as a platform for delivering pertinent information quickly and effectively. “Unless it’s built incorrectly, the website is the easy part. Get it built properly from the start, and get it built so that it allows you to grow. I couldn’t have done what I’ve done in another forum. The internet has allowed me to get to where I am and keep growing. And it means I can compete with the multinational car companies or large websites. And it empowers women on so many levels.”

Potter says that her key point of difference is her keen understanding of the market, as a woman, and she keeps in touch with what visitors to her site are really interested in. “Someone gave me some good advice and that is to not look at what the competition is doing. And I agree with that. It can really throw you off your game.

“I think keeping in touch with the women as I do every day, and being a woman that isn’t necessarily a car enthusiast, is really beneficial.”

And she promises that all content will “tell it like it is”, painting the good, the bad and the ugly side of the car industry, creating an offering that was tailored to women’s lifestyles. “I didn’t get into this because I’m passionate about cars. I’m just your average woman that needs to know what petrol to put in my car, and what is ethanol, and how to put my baby seat in my car. It’s about lifestyle, it’s not about buying the car. And I guess that’s what the building industry did with DIY and that’s what the automotive industry needs to do for women, concentrate on the lifestyle aspects of the car, not the car itself. That’s the key. I think we’re reaching tipping point just now.”

She makes money though advertising on her site, as well as plans to facilitate car- buying for members. Potter’s goal is to get it to the point where women are coming to the site to buy a car. Now boasting some 5,000 members, and growing, Potter is keen to grow into the largest lifestyle site in the automotive industry. The free membership is open to all ages, and she is reaching a wide audience, members aged between 17 and 67 years.