The $75,000 URL propelling Green.com.au to $40 million annual revenue
How much is a web address worth? For brothers Jonathan and David Green, the $75,000 spent buying Green.com.au for their green energy company is paying off.
Launching their business with $20,000 in personal savings, Sydney brothers David and Jonathan Green have deployed hustle, YouTube and a relentless focus on people to turn their green energy company Green.com.au into one of the nation’s fastest-growing in just four years – on track to turn over $40 million this financial year.
Pre-COVID-19 the Green brothers were working in sales and managerial roles in the energy and finance industries.
Jonathan, now 27, worked in sales roles for Mojo Power and Natural Solar, as well as the national sales manager for renewable energy finance at RateSetter (now Plenti).
David, now 35, worked as a manager at Carloans.com.au and car brokerage Georgie.com.au.
The Lightbulb Moment
“I always knew I wanted to start my own business,” David Green told SmartCompany.
“But I knew I needed to do it with someone. The lightbulb moment was the realisation that my brother was the person I wanted to do it with.”
“I knew there were bigger and brighter things possible,” says Jonathan Green of his experiences working in the energy sector.
“I went to a trade show, and the lines for solar and battery businesses were huge. I spent some time in a finance company as a sales manager.”
“The insight? The majority of people working in solar are simply chasing rebates or in it for themselves. David kept on saying, ‘we can do something better’.”
“We knew there was an opportunity to launch and grow a better business.”
The brothers took a leap of faith in 2020, leaving the corporate world to challenge the booming renewable energy market in a turbulent COVID-19 environment.
They rented out a small office space in North Sydney and founded green energy company Teho, which installed residential solar panels and batteries.
Generating leads on YouTube
“From day one we did everything they could to generate customer enquiries, doing a lot of work on YouTube videos to gain momentum,” explains David Green.
“We saw it as a great opportunity to build a base of information about solar and batteries, to build a useful channel of educational content.”
“The first ones were true Barry Crockers, it really was amateur hour at the beginning. But gradually the quality and views improved. And then the landline started ringing. This woman asked for Jonathan. And we were away!”
The embryonic business differentiated itself from bigger competitors by building meaningful, trusting relationships with its suppliers.
Revenue jumped from $637,000 in FY2022 to $7.7 million in FY2023 – a growth rate of more than 1000%.
Last year, after a year of negotiations with the owner of Green.com.au they rebranded the business, paying $75,000 for the URL. In FY2024, Green.com.au reached $12.5 million in turnover.
This financial year, the business is forecasted to earn $40 million.
Investing in people, and ‘Doug’
“The key thing we have done is invest in people,” says David Green.
“We wanted to invest in sellers as well as installers. We wanted to invest in technology so we could support our customers better. We built our own CRM – which we call ‘Doug’ to provide outstanding customer service and improve our processes.”
“We invested in our brand. Outside of the big guys, all the companies’ names are anonymous. That’s by design, they want to sell and then move on. We want to do the exact opposite. A battery is the beginning of a relationship.”
The Green brothers have always been entrepreneurial. “I was out the front of the house trying to sell pickled onions and ham sandwiches at three years old,” says David Green.
“I inherited $1000 aged ten and asked my Dad whether I should work in mining or energy.”
And the future? Getting an even bigger return on their $75,000 website domain name investment.
“I want us to be the biggest renewable energy company in Australia,” says David Green.
“It’s such a powerful name. We want to take on the big guys, focus on not getting distracted. We call it ‘shiny object syndrome’ we just need to focus on keeping growing. In five years I’d suggest we’ll be in a very different position.”
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