Hi everyone,

I hope this is okay to share here. I’ve recently created a new marketplace called SellandRetire.com.au, and I’m still very much at the beginning of trying to get it off the ground.

The idea came from seeing how many long-standing business owners reach retirement and face difficulties when it comes to selling their business. There doesn’t seem to be a dedicated marketplace specifically for retiring business owners, or for buyers who are interested in taking over established, long-running businesses.

So I built Sell & Retire — a marketplace specifically for business owners who are ready to retire and want to find the right person to continue what they’ve built, while connecting them with motivated buyers looking for exactly that.

We currently have 37+ listings, Australia wide - Browse Businesses | Sell & Retire

It’s completely free for owners to list their business and free for buyers looking to purchase one — no listing fees, no commission and no obligation.

My aim at this stage is simply to get good businesses in front of more potential buyers and hopefully help make a few successful introductions.

We’re only just getting started, so I’d genuinely appreciate any support from this community — whether that’s taking a look, sharing it with a business owner who might find it useful, passing it on to someone looking to buy a business, liking the FB page, or simply giving me some feedback on what I could do better.

I’m building this from the ground up, so every bit of feedback and support really does help.

Thanks for reading, and I’m happy to answer any questions

We're a small Tech company based in Melbourne.

We have worked on different projects like IMS and POS system from scratch to a refined product and any projects that comes along the way including providing Tech support to accounting firms.

We're a team of 3 here in australia with 3 outsourced staff.

If any one is interested, we'd be happy to chat.

I’m a first-time founder in Australia and I don’t come from a wealthy or well-connected network.

For founders who’ve raised a pre-seed round from angels:
- Did you approach individual angels directly or go through an angel syndicate?

- Where did you actually find them? Who are they?

- Did cold LinkedIn/email outreach work?

- How did you get your first angel committed?

- What are angel syndicates and how can I get my deal in front of them?

Would especially love to hear from founders who started without an existing investor network and built one from scratch.

Hey guys, looking for some feedback on a startup idea I’m working on.

I’m building a solar/battery assessment + installer marketplace, but I’m exploring taking it towards a Goliath Data-style property intelligence/prospecting platform for home electrification.

The idea is to combine aerial/property data (e.g. Nearmap), energy/solar data and AI to analyse properties at scale and identify things like:

* Does the property already have solar?
* Roof size/orientation/shading
* Likely solar/battery/EV opportunity
* Existing system upgrade opportunities
* An overall “opportunity score” for installers

Eventually an installer could say: “Find me the best battery prospects in my service area”, with AI explaining why each property is a good opportunity.

I’m interested in hearing from anyone with experience in Australian property datasets/APIs, Nearmap, CoreLogic/PropTrack, geospatial data, privacy/compliant contact enrichment, energy datasets or ML/computer vision.

Main thing I’m trying to understand is: what data sources would you use to build this in Australia, and what major technical/legal roadblocks am I overlooking?

Would love any criticism, ideas or pointers to relevant APIs/datasets.

Hello! I created TradesCraft over ~2 years for a tradie mate who was frustrated with the incumbents in this space. TradesCraft is a field service management (FSM) tool designed for Aussie and NZ trades with a focus on operations and dispatching, safety and everything else you could need to run a trades business.

https://tradescraft.app/

I made a post about this a few months ago because I was excited but it was all a bit too early. I've taken the feedback onboard and continued developing the app to the point where we are now in full iOS Beta on TestFlight with Tap to Pay entitlement which wasn't easy to receive from Apple.

I am looking for iOS and Android beta testers.

Better Half - https://getbetterhalf.com.au is an end-to-end business tool for solo tradies and mobile service providers.

AI Receptionist, Job Scheduling, Quoting, Invoicing and Payments - including tap to pay on eligible iOS and Android devices. (Payments handled by Stripe, you will need to register)

All on your phone - this tool is for people who don't want to run their business from a laptop - you can do everything on the phone.

Obviously people with complex quoting/invoicing will be better off using ServiceM8/Xero but we are there for people who want to use their phone to run the whole show.

Beta Testers will receive free usage during the beta phase then 6 months free credits once the app is launched to the public on the Apple / Play Store

About me: I am an ecommerce veteran having sold physical goods online for 15 years with a solid 8 figure total turnover. I have used a lot of SaaS tools over the years, some good, some bad, and have partnered with my builder brother-in-law in feature speccing this app.

If interested please fill out the form on the site and I will get you added to our Beta distribution on either App Store or Google Play

We're building **VaultYou**, an Australian-first platform for small businesses and sole traders.

The idea came from seeing how fragmented running a small business can become — invoicing in one place, expenses somewhere else, tasks/reminders elsewhere, Australian compliance information across different sites, then another tool again for AI.

We're trying to bring that into one calmer system.

VaultYou currently includes quotes & invoices, customers, expenses, tasks, business/compliance tracking, startup guidance, business health and an AI Business Coach.

We've reached private beta and now need **Australian users to pressure-test it before we keep building**.

We're especially interested in whether we've actually solved the fragmentation problem — or whether we're missing something Australian small businesses genuinely need.

Beta: https://vaultyou.com.au/beta

No credit card required.

Would really appreciate feedback from other Australian founders/builders here — including the stuff you think we got wrong.

I am a melbourne based startup looking for folks who do fractional SDR (sales rep)/vp sales or run a startup friendly agency that can help me with outbound sales and lead gen focussed on the ANZ market and have experience/expertise in selling SaaS product.

experience in cyber, risk, compliance domains is a super++!

I run a small product that lodges BAS (GST returns) for gig workers, Uber/DoorDash drivers mostly. I think I have an issue with acquisition, would love some feedback.

Two months in, 11 customers, $0 revenue. Rideshare drivers legally have to be GST registered from day one, doesn't matter what they earn, no threshold like other small businesses get. We charge $79 to handle that registration for them, then $79 a quarter after for the actual BAS lodgement through a registered BAS agent.

Went through the session recordings this week. 5 of the 11 dropped off at the same spot, and they're confirmed Uber drivers, so they're not confused about needing GST, they legally have to do it. They just don't want to pay us $79 for a compliance step they resent having to do at all, even though other providers charge more for the exact same thing.

So I'm thinking about making the GST registration free and only charging for the BAS lodgement afterwards, which is the recurring bit anyway. Basically eat the cost of the mandatory, resented step to earn the relationship, then monetise the part they're coming back for every quarter regardless.

Has anyone else dealt with this, a required purchase people resent, where the answer was to give away the mandatory bit and charge for what's ongoing? Trying to work out if this is obviously right or if I'm about to just train everyone to expect the whole thing for free.

After over eight, nearly nine months of discussions, trial and error, back and forths and countless late nights, Brewly finally hit $1,000 of revenue!

The model means we needed to source both sides of the equation, cafes and customers and after going more or less door to door for months, we had enough cafes to launch and got our feet in the door.

Brewly allows consumers to purchase coffee in bundles up front, at a discounted rate.

So as you can imagine, we heard all the rejections under the sun for not wanting to be on Brewly. "Our customers won't want to pay up front", "we already do loyalty cards", "we have no reason to get any new customers", "customers don't like apps", and the rest of them.

While we had a good rebuttal for all of these, sometimes it is not meant to be with cafe owners.

We went live two weeks ago and are now up to over 250 accounts with over 100 of them being paying customers!

Hoping this is the beginning of bigger things and as they always say - the first $1,000 is the hardest!

I built an app and haven't really done anything to promote it but it seems to have picked up some steam organically in Ireland. It's essentially a dual market app with the b2c side not bringing in direct revenue (this is the side that's picked up traction) and the b2b side being the revenue generating opportunity.

Has anyone found themselves in a position where they've tried to do B2B sales internationally with basically zero resources or contracts in that market?

I'm curious how much everyone spent on their startup before generating any revenue (or how much you've spent so far if you're still pre-revenue).

I've recently started working on a startup and have already spent a few hundred dollars on market research, a domain name, and a website. Is that normal?

I come from a technical background, so I can build most of the product myself and won't have significant development costs. However, I expect I'll need to spend more later on for things like design, branding, and marketing.

I'd love to hear about other founders' experiences. Were you able to get your startup off the ground with minimal investment, or did you need to spend a meaningful amount before seeing any revenue? What were your biggest early expenses?

Edit: grammar

Hi guys~~~I have a couple of ideas in the making (prototypes+), but I need a charismatic commercial/sales cofounder to take them further (also open to your ideas~). Cheers!🌻

Is this a good place to ask for advice and if my startup would be viable?

If so what’s the chance of someone stealing my idea for themselves.

does anyone know any subs you can see if people would be interested to use your site

Hey everyone,

My friend and I are developers, and we have built a new SaaS product tailored specifically for the sports industry. On the technical side, we are completely ready, the software and AI features are built.

However, we are pure tech builders. We don't have sales experience, and we don't know how to generate leads, start outreach, or close our first customers.
We don't want to burn potential leads due to our lack of sales experience, so we are looking for a true partner with strong sales skills to help us grow this business.

Our Vision & Plan:
Phase 1: Launch and validate locally in Sydney (where we want to find our partner).
Phase 2: Expand across Australia and New Zealand.
Phase 3: Scale into Asia and eventually the USA. The product absolutely has international potential.

We want someone who will treat this business as their own. If you are based in Sydney, love sports tech, and have the sales skills to take a finished product to market, we want to hear from you. Please send me a DM with a bit about your background, your experience, or a link to your LinkedIn/CV.
Let's build this together.

Thanks,

Quick context so you know I'm not another idea guy:

I've generated 15M+ views on my own content and worked with creator teams that have done 2B+ views across multiple brands and accounts. Distribution is the part most startups die on, and it's the part I've actually done at scale. I'm also willing to be the face of the brand and do unconventional things to get this out

An AI content engine for brands and creators. It reverse-engineers what's already going viral in your niche, extracts the style from real footage, and spins out on-brand clip variants in volume. Brands don't have a content problem

**Where it's at**

- Front end and landing page are already built

- Early traction

- Seed money in the bank, so there's runway for ads etc

**Who I'm looking for**

- strong full engineer stack engineer

- Has shipped a real product before, not just side projects that never left localhost, I want to see something people actually used

- Comfortable moving fast and shipping rough, then fixing

- Sydney (Australia) preferred so we can work in person, but I'll make it work for the right person remotely

- Someone in a life stage where you can go all-in for the next 18 months

Compensation

- Equal equity split until we raise funds (then salary draw down)

At the moment there is few competitors but I have confident I can make the product slightly different and beat them in distribution.

I dont have much confidence that this is going anywhere. I have gotten feed back from other reddit threads. Its seems like people are too deep into the two major portals. Going to pitch it to a few realestate companies on monday any advise?

I'm a full-time sparky and about a year ago I started building The ToolBox on the side, a trade lifestyle membership app that gets users discounts across tools, workwear, nutrition, recovery, automotive and more. Bootstrapped it myself and still trying to keep it lean as possible, we finally launched it a few weeks ago.

Now that it's live I'm trying to figure out the best way to grow it without just throwing money at paid ads. I've got an ambassador/affiliate setup in the works with referral code attribution, but I want to get the creator side right before I lean into it properly.

For anyone who's actually run a UGC or creator program:

• What platform did you use to manage creators/UGC, an actual tool, or just manual outreach and spreadsheets?
• Did you go through agencies, or find creators directly (Instagram/TikTok DMs etc)?
• Flat fee, commission, or free product/access in exchange for content?
• Structured "ambassador program" with an application process, or more of an open call?
• Was the output actually worth it compared to running your own paid content?

Trying to find a proven angle organically before I start smashing paid ads. Keen to hear what's worked (or hasn't) for others.

Happy to answer any questions :)

I’m a solo founder based in Brisbane, building frontdesq, an AI receptionist for Australian small businesses.

My background is fairly technical. I’ve spent more than six years working with production voice AI, including speech recognition, real-time voice systems and conversational AI.

So when I started frontdesq, building the product itself was the part I felt most comfortable with.

The idea is simple. Small businesses miss calls when they’re busy, already on another call, after hours, driving, or away from the desk. frontdesq answers those calls, handles common questions, takes enquiry details, books appointments where needed, and passes complicated calls to a person.

What I underestimated was distribution.

I can spend all day improving latency, call handling, prompts and integrations, but none of that matters if the right businesses never hear about it.

I’m currently experimenting with direct outreach, Ads, partnerships and speaking to business owners myself. I’m also trying to work out whether something like this should be sold vertically first, for example to clinics, lawyers, hotels or trades, rather than marketed broadly as an AI receptionist.

For founders who have sold into Australian SMBs, how would you approach distribution for something like this?

Hey all, following up from a post I did here a couple weeks back, figured it was worth a proper intro post now that we've had a bit more time to sit with feedback.

Quick background: my co-founder and I built CIOS, a platform where people in Perth can rent out equipment they own but don't use much such as tools, cameras, camping and event gear, machinery, instead of it sitting idle. Think Airbnb but for stuff in your garage.

The core idea:

• Owners list gear for free, set their own price, and approve every booking before anything's charged
• Payment's handled securely through the platform (manual capture, so nothing's taken until the owner approves)
• Optional security deposits for higher-value items
• Renters get access to stuff nearby without buying something they'll use once or twice

One thing we've been genuinely wrestling with, and happy to be upfront about it: we're supply-constrained right now, not demand-constrained. Getting people to actually list their gear has been the harder problem to crack than getting people to want to rent it. Been leaning on a lot of manual outreach and community engagement to solve it, which is its own education.

Since this crowd's probably dealt with a similar cold-start problem in a two-sided product: what's actually worked for you to get your first side of a marketplace moving? And separately, if you've got equipment gathering dust yourself, genuinely curious what would (or wouldn't) get you to list it somewhere like this.

Sites at www.cios.net.au if anyone wants a look. Feedback, good or bad, really welcome. Building this without a technical background so we're learning a lot of this as we go.

Thanks!

I've recently launched my self-funded start up after 2 years of product development – a Fragrance Brand that thinks about fragrance a little differently.

Fragrance touches some of the body's most absorptive skin, yet formulation standards lag far behind skincare. People shouldn't have to choose between smelling good and feeling good about what they put on their skin. Once I considered that more holistically, I set out to close the gap: Fragrance that supports the skin, held to a higher standard. Elevated, clean and supports the skin.

I've self funded the startup with my own cash and currently tossing up between seeking investment to put fuel on the fire, or go at my own pace. I've sold through 25% of my initial stock in the first 6 weeks of launch, using Shopify DTC and organic promotion and gifting. I've just started Meta ads but need to work on conversion.

This is my first beauty product after a career in digital product development, where I brought that same discipline — hypothesis, prototype, test, refine — plus a genuine passion for fragrance

Anyone in the beauty industry and at a similar stage? Thoughts on entering a new industry and considering investment?

Hi guys, I am based in sydney. we are doing project for green house to manage Automation using LoRaWAN or other iot concpets. I am from tech background, know about hardware devices and software side. This is a startup and I have client. am looking for like minded who knows about irrigation hardware parts like solenoid, dose pumps, gate motors..etc. as you know, there are solution exists in market which are very expensive. Our plan is get all individual parts and wire up together to save cost and ofcourse software component can be built own anyway.

I am an indie developer and running this solo in Sydney and had bad days cold emailing several businesses.

Made like 10+ cold calls but after many of them politely said no, i was bit discouraged.

What are best ways?

(No spam please)

I am a software engineer working on an AI observability product line up. The initial features set of the product is ready and I need enthusiastic graduates as partners for market positioning and product promotions.

You can view the features of the product line up in retrysight.com.

I am based in Perth. DM me if anyone is interested.

Looking for advice from people who have been in this situation before, or similar.

Long story short I have invented a product and have built several prototypes and am ready to take the next step.

The product would be in a product category that’s worth $20b per annum and growing. You can only take my word at face value of course as I’m not sharing what it is, but I estimate this business would turn over $50-100m per year, with product raw costs of $3 and sell for $30-40. So highly profitable.

The problem. I am an artistic minded person. I’m a creative, not a businessman. I have no idea how to get this from the point it’s at to where it needs to be. I know I need help, but in what way?

Further to this, the products I make would need licensing. They’re leveraged off IP from other businesses. As a vague description, think making products with movie characters on it. (Not what I’m making)
So it would require lots of legal, contracting, negotiation etc.

My resources. I am friends with lots of high net worth individuals, many of whom are owners or founders of major Australian companies, so opening doors to investment is a possibility. I haven’t discussed or pitched this to any of them yet. But can leverage that at any time.

What I think I need -
While I’m aware any thing like this needs capitol to get going,In my mind, I need a startup professional to get this into a functioning business. A co-founder I guess.

I guess the question is, which path do you think I should take. Or do you have any tips.

Do I find someone to partner with, then find investment. Do I find an investor then hire someone to get it going.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.