Juliet Potter: Autochick drives big online business

Although she is targeting mainly women, to counterbalance the 90 percent of male targeted sites and magazines, Potter says the site does get hits from men, especially those who don’t know a lot about cars and are intimidated by the other offerings.

Another benefit of her site, Potter says, is to educate readers on topics such as global emissions and ethanol and alternative fuels. “Overwhelmingly I find that because women aren’t reading the car section of the newspaper and Wheels magazine, they’re really missing out on pertinent information. And I think our website is the perfect platform to be delivering pertinent information in a really consumable manner.”

Speaking of ethanol fuel, Potter has recently been crowned the female champion for the Queensland Government’s Ethanol +e marketing campaign, to raise awareness of the benefits of ethanol-blended fuels.

As well as building awareness of greener fuels for cars, Potter is a strong advocate for reversing the poor representation for women in the industry, both as consumers and those who work in the industry. She knows it is largely an uphill battle. “But I’ll keep pitching. It’s been eight years but I’ll keep pitching!” she says. “I really feel like I’m pushing shit up a hill. But I guess that’s the difference between an entrepreneur who’s passionate and gets back up and keeps going to someone who’s just doing it for money.”

Three others work alongside Potter in the business, and she has plans to grow. “I want more staff to do the things that I don’t want to do!” But she remains happily tight-lipped about how she’s going to get there. “I’m going to take my own advice and not disclose to you what I’m doing—for the first time ever!” Another lesson learned.

Hard Lessons

• It’s hard to find good staff so when I do, I treat them well.

• Don’t personalise business.

• Learn from mistakes.

• Get staff to do the things you don’t want to do.

• Business is hard without money, so ensure you have good relationships and clever business partners.

• Make friends with the bookkeeper!

• Get a good solicitor on board.