A small business born out of the ashes of the global financial crisis has soared to spectacular heights in just six years to scoop a major prize at the 2014 Telstra South Australian Business Awards.
Announced winner of the Telstra Micro Business Award at its gala event in Adelaide on Friday night, Virtual Ad Agency Founder and Managing Director John Curnow said the victory marked a remarkable achievement for his business, which saw him take the bold step to start up amid the debris of a recession widely regarded as the worst since the Great Depression.
“We’re naturally thrilled with our success at the Telstra Business Awards as it vindicates our founding philosophy and the adoption of a virtual business model,” Mr Curnow said.
“We knew back then that if we could create an innovative business model that could more easily adapt to keep overheads low and creativity, results and accountability high – and got it right in the aftermath of the GFC – we could survive just about anything.
“That’s the way it has turned out and we know the valuable lessons we learnt will be there to see us through when – rather than if – the next turbulent chapter arises.”
Mr Curnow added that the Telstra Micro Business Award was the perfect way to crown off a financial year that saw an average growth of over 100% per year across the last three years and had VAA enter the In-Business Fast Movers list – which recognises SA’s most innovative, smart and fastest growing small-to-medium enterprises – in seventh spot.
The VAA’s business model centres on a small nucleus of marketing executives and a large pool of creative freelancers hand-picked to match specific project briefs, all of which is designed to structure the ad agency to fit each brief, rather than force the brief fit the ad agency. This helps to deliver fresh people, fresh thinking, fresh ideas and better outcomes, without the overheads associated with the traditional bricks and mortar advertising agency.
Furthermore, VAA’s nimbleness allows the company to react quickly to market needs when business is on the rise and reduce business costs with similar alacrity if there’s a downturn in activity.
The coveted Telstra South Australia Business Awards program celebrates the state’s entrepreneurs and innovators and offers a unique chance for small to medium businesses to be recognised for their hard work, commitment and success. Winners go on to represent the state at the Telstra national awards later in the year.
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