18. LUXBMX

Revenue: $2.37 million
Growth: 160.92%
Founders: Mitchell Wood (30), Evan Jaques (37)
Head Office: Brisbane
Employees: 6
Industry: Retail and consumer products
Website: luxbmx.com

LUXBMX supplies BMX bike parts and accessories, striving to be progressive with its products and customer service, while staying true to its counter-culture roots.

Founded by Mitchell Wood and Evan Jaques in 2010, the business saw an 160% growth in revenue in the last financial year, reaching $2.37 million and securing the 18th spot in this year’s Smart50.

Interestingly, the business only employs BMX riders, Wood says, “and every single one of our staff lives and breathes BMX”.

The BMX business may be booming, but it hasn’t all been smooth riding. In the early days, the company was helped along by some of the founders’ friends, who owned another business.

“We fell into a bit of a trap of trying to emulate the way that they ran things,” Wood says.

This wasn’t working for LUXBMX’s customer base, or for the founders. It wasn’t until they started playing to their own strengths that the business started to flourish and Wood and Jaques started to feel more comfortable in their roles.

“We learnt not to take on responsibility just because it’s what we think a business owner should do. We try and do what we enjoy and let staff do the same,” Wood says.

Wood also recalls making a “massive investment” in an e-commerce platform that was too advanced, and too complex, for what they needed it for.

“We spent a fortune on getting it developed and it was terrible,” he says.

The team was repeatedly getting work done on the system, paying a developer each time. Eventually, after some research into alternatives, they pulled the plug on a six-month-old website, opting instead for something they could manage themselves.

“We’ve learnt so much since then, and putting the ball back in our court was the best thing we’ve done,” Wood says.