50 Favourite Exporters

VIC

Pup-Pee Solutions

•         Exporting since: 2007

•         Key markets: US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada.

Pup-Pee’s first export sale came just six months after the company launched, with overseas orders for its Pet Loo—a toilet solution for pets—thanks to mass exposure on its website through AOL coverage, and through the business’ launch on the ABC’s New Inventors program.

With some major deals in the works, co-founder Toby Sovran says the company’s exports could go from 20 percent to 99 percent overnight and attributes the fast success to the “application and creation of a product of need”. Finding the right overseas partners to represent the brand correctly is critical to the Pup-Pee business model, with Sovran admitting to turning down regions of export because the representative wasn’t the right fit. “Vision, patience, diligence, and correct execution will take the company and product(s) further. A rushed job could undo everything.”

Carman’s Fine Foods

•         Exporting since: 1994

•         Key markets: Hong Kong, UK.

Buying a business at the age of 18 was no easy feat. But not only did Carolyn Creswell do so, she then turned Carman’s Fine Foods into an export success, which now reaches 17 locations.

Creswell puts great care and thought into both the quality of products and having packaging that represents that quality. And while it’s working so far, she knows there’s more work to be done in the coming year if she wants to increase exports by 15 percent.

Part of becoming a successful exporter is keeping hosts happy, and Creswell remembered this during a business dinner in Hong Kong where she was told the meal was beans with mice meat. The savvy entrepreneur choked it down anyway. Though later, to her relief, she was informed that it was actually mince meat!

Having carved herself a place in the muesli market, Creswell is now setting aside time to develop other healthy products.

Cleanevent

•         Exporting since: 1987

•         Key markets: US, UK, Europe, Middle East, Caribbean.

Cleanevent was founded in 1987. Winning its first overseas service provision for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games—including a management contract to take control of 43 appointed subcontractors—put the company on the export map.

Although Cleanevent no longer falls into the small to medium business category, they certainly were when the first big export gig came up. The company only went to Atlanta in view of positioning itself for the Sydney 2000 games, and were only selling A$5 million annually at that time. Now export sales contribute half of all revenue.

Boundary Bend Limited

•         Exporting since: 2004

•         Key markets: Europe, US.

When founders Rob McGavin and Paul Riordan started investigating export opportunities in 2001/02 their first ports of call were Italy and Spain, homes of the global olive industry. After a frosty reception, the pair held tastings for the top oil buyers, receiving top praise for their oils.

These days, Boundary Bend export to Belgium, Canada, China, Fiji, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, the Maldives, the UK, and the US. In the last financial year, Boundary Bend exported roughly half of its crop, equating to more than 1.2 million litres of premium extra virgin olive oil, and delivering growth of 1,400 percent on the previous year.

A key to success has been strategically targeting selected markets where consumers have a higher income and a desire for premium food products.

Securency International

•         Exporting since: 1996

•         Key markets: Asia-Pacific, Romania, Mexico, Nigeria.

Making money and shipping it offshore sounds like a shady deal unless you do business with Securency, the joint venture between the Reserve Bank of Australia and Innovia Films. Securency is a manufacturing company specialising in polymer substrate technology that reduces the rate of banknote forgery and gives banknotes an extended circulation due to increased durability, five times that of paper notes.

Securency’s first export was to Papua New Guinea. Since then, the company has established a sound reputation in the Asia-Pacific region. Lately, the exporter has taken advantage of high volume opportunities in places like Vietnam, Romania, and Mexico. Their first overseas plant, Securency Mexico, is expected to begin operation in 2009, to add to more than 12 billion polymer banknotes now in circulation around the world. Export accounts for 95 percent of their business.

Remote Vision Solutions

•         Exporting since: 2005

•         Key markets: North America, Europe, China, Japan, Africa, South America.

Remote Vision Solutions (RVS) is a good example of a business starting small to fly high. InspectCam, their SDMS laser measurement system, detects damage to surfaces under 0.025mm, making it particularly useful for monitoring changes in aircraft fuselage skin where miniscule damage can lead to bigger problems.

Similarly, the company’s exports started small with Texan company Southwest Airlines but now fly high with air giant Boeing, where their product is the only equipment approved to undertake aircraft fuselage skin scribe line inspection and measurement. Now export accounts for 85 percent of sales.

Co-founder, Ken McQualter, says that hard work pays off in the industry. “Bringing innovative technology into aerospace, one of the most highly regulated and controlled industries in the world, has required and will continue to require persistence and dedication,” he says.