TAS

It took the new owners of Brighton Hardware only eight months to turn the business around from a reputation of being poorly stocked and over priced to an increasingly successful country store. In just three years of business, Brighton’s has established a faithful and growing clientele. Owners Paul Diaz and Leanne Taylor-Diaz contribute their success to stocking products which meet customer demand and providing friendly, personal and professional assistance. The store is located in the fastest growing residential area in Tasmania and continues to increase its stock lines and keep its pricing very competitive. Before Paul and Leanne took over the business customers had given up trying the shop for what they needed. The locals soon realised, however, that under the new management if the store did not have what they wanted, they would get it for them within 24 hours and at a reasonable price.

With new business derived largely from word of mouth, the Maria Island Walk is a four-day guided walk through the pristine Maria Island National Park on Tasmania’s east coast. Their product is pitched at the competitive premium end of the tourism market where operators have budgets and resources many times greater than their own – yet six years on and the Maria Island Walk is recognised as one of the industry’s leading tourism experiences. Owners, Ian and Bronwyn Johnstone face the unique challenges of working on a remote island with very little infrastructure such as cars. This affects everything from scheduling access with sea conditions, communications and staffing, right through to ensuring the fresh lemon tarts and cream are always waiting for their guests on the final night.

Muir has dominated the Australian winch industry for many years, and whilst still experiencing growth in the Australian market, Muir is acutely aware that significant growth will only come from expansion into export. Trading as Muir Windlasses Australia, Muir Engineering is a world-leading manufacturer of marine anchor winches and windlasses, anchoring and docking systems and deck equipment for super and mega yachts, pleasure craft, fast ferries and commercial vessels up to 140 metres in length. Having its head office in Hobart can be a challenge at times, however Muir have countered that by having warehousing and sales in both Queensland and NSW as well as offices in the USA and UK. They also have a very strong distributor network in over 70 countries around the world and most of these have the ability to provide technical support.

Preventable medication error causes more deaths every year in Australia than the road toll. That’s why HealthCare Software (HCS) is becoming an increasingly important part of hospital management in Tasmania and beyond with its practical and highly functional alternatives to traditional paper based communication systems. Medication errors are generally attributed to miscommunication, ineffective staff changeover processes, insufficient directions for patients following discharge and inconsistent treatment between care providers in the hospital and community. The innovative, web-based application developed by HCS overcomes many of these problems by facilitating and promoting communications between hospitals and community health care providers. With a 100 percent focus on reducing the occurrence of adverse drug reactions and medication errors, HCS is fast becoming an increasingly important component of hospital service provision.

Young entrepreneur Brad Smith is using the success of his mini motocross bike company braaap to provide fun and safe motorbike riding environments for his peers. While designing, testing, manufacturing and distributing its own brand of mini motocross bikes through its braaap megastores, braaap also has many joint ventures in place with local police, councils, schools and community and youth groups. Through the braaap not-for-profit club established by the company, braaap has built four tracks to provide a safe, fun and controlled motorcycle riding environment. braaap also uses the time they have with young people in store and at events to further engage and educate them. For 21-year-old Brad, the braaap community is equally as important as the financial success of his business.