Non-linear growth allows businesses to use existing resources to generate revenue in new ways. An inspiring example of this is Avalanche Technology Group, which not only resells computer software but also allows you to send a mate a slab of beer! Owner Peter Cameron shares his views on the benefits of embracing innovation.
Most businesses start with linear growth – gathering customers, increasing staff and improving systems to service needs. However, non-linear growth allows companies to use existing resources to generate revenue in new ways. Consequently, non-linear growth is often seen in large enterprises (such as Google) and in industries like IT, where the linear model starts delivering lower returns as technology, competition and better systems make a product or service less profitable.
However, non-linear growth is not a strategy reserved for big business. “I’ve always thought that small and medium business has a huge advantage over larger entities when it comes to innovation,” says Peter Cameron, owner of Avalanche Technology Group. “Smaller businesses are able to create, deploy and test quickly and can be very agile in their market testing and launch plans.
“We’ve seen a whole lot more focus on the lean methodologies in the past couple of years, where businesses are putting out a minimal product to test the market and assess whether there are real opportunities.
“If the opportunities are limited, they are able to be quick to change the focus and ‘pivot’ to a new solution. Larger businesses are like ocean liners: it’s almost impossible to be agile. This provides huge opportunities for the small players, as we’ve seen, for example, by the success and growth of many of the rapidly growing online retailers.”
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Change as the norm
When it comes to non-linear growth, Cameron’s Avalanche
Technology Group leads by example.
Started back in 1999 as a tech-focused marketing and business-development consultancy, the business transitioned from Avalanche Marketing to Avalanche Media to Avalanche Technology Group. In its first growth phase, the business became an AVG anti-virus and Carbonite Online PC Backup software distributor, building a reseller network and offering technical support and direct sales.
“Between 1999 and 2011, Avalanche grew to a staff of over 55 (including both full-time and part-timers),” says Cameron. “We came eighth in BRW‘s 2009 ‘Fast 100 companies’ and had revenues nearing $20 million per annum.”
In 2011, Avalanche branched out, acquiring a small utility website that collated and published information about data breaches called Should I Change My Password?
“With the rapid take-up of cloud computing, we were seeing and hearing of many data breaches,” says Cameron. “Often, this data was being made freely available on the internet. We came across Should I Change My Password?, which had been developed by a couple of young guys in Sydney. We saw that this at least provided some protection for cloud-based data and saw the synergy with our other security business.”
Avalanche refined the technology to allow for proactive monitoring and notification in the event of a data breach. The database now has more than 50 million compromised email addresses.
From data breaches to beer
While Should I Change My Password? extended the business’s existing technology offering, in 2012 the team launched something entirely different: Send a Slab. “We have a group of highly skilled web and marketing professionals who all like beer,” explains Cameron. “While working on a concept for a broader business, someone suggested that the great Aussie way of saying thanks is giving your mate a slab of beer. We threw around some concepts and thought that we should provide a simple automated way for anyone to do this, and Send a Slab was born.”
While the site has generated great interest, Cameron says it’s only selling a few slabs a day. “It’s a great little project but not one that will make us rich.” However, the core technology that the Avalanche team developed for it can be used for other transaction-based sites, and Cameron expects to launch a range of different web presences and apps over the next few years.
Importantly, the project was fun and an opportunity to allow the team to flex its creative muscle. “One of our other key values is to provide a great place to work and create opportunities for our team members,” says Cameron.
Non-linear growth: home or away?
As one of the top three countries in terms of economic freedom (behind Hong Kong and Singapore), Australia is a comparatively easy location to do business, according to the Australian Trade Commission’s Benchmark Report 2012. This should make it easier to innovate and trial new business ideas.
“We have a very urban, western market, with consumers who are really prepared to try new things and have a go,” says Cameron. “We’re a microcosm of the US and UK markets, which means that if we can find success here, given the right strategies this can often be replicated in other western markets.
“We have the chance, right now, to build global businesses if we think beyond our shores.”
Useful tools and resources
Avalanche Technology Group is a group of technology companies offering a range of products and services, from computer backup to beer.
Find out if your password has been breached with Avalanche’s website Should I Change My Password?.
Avalanche’s latest e-commerce business venture – Send a Slab – allows you to select and send a slab of beer to a friend.
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