Experts and entrepreneurs look at Hunter Valley as start-up 'incubator' region
The New South Wales Hunter region has long been synonymous with coal mining and heavy industry.
But with the mining sector facing serious challenges, many people are discussing the future of the region.
The NSW Government has shown enthusiasm for the state becoming the "capital" of Australia's start-up community.
A 2015 study by Startup Muster found that NSW was the primary location of 46.5 per cent of surveyed start-ups in Australia.
So could becoming an "incubator" for these entrepreneurial ventures be what the Hunter region's economy needs in the long term?
Adaptability in a changing world
University of Newcastle's Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching, Professor Liz Burd, said start-ups were newly-formed businesses that grew out of an individual's passion.
She said start-ups differed from traditional businesses.
"I think they're a bit more agile, starting to think in ways that are using modern technologies, digital initiatives," Professor Burd said.
"It's also about starting to think about future opportunities, the way culture, the way life, and the way opportunities are becoming really more vibrant, more agile.
"It's about starting to think small and then building big, rather than perhaps the previous graduate opportunities about joining something that's big; so it's about the power to the individual."
Professor Burd said start-ups had to have the foundations of good business.
"A good idea has to have a good business model to it," she said.
"You only have a good business if you have something that people want; and starting work with communities to start to build that grain of an idea into something that actually works for the people who want to buy it.
"I don't think that people think of [start-ups] as competition, but really as enablers to do things in new and innovative ways.
"I think the employment of the Hunter — and worldwide — is changing, and people are starting to think about flexible opportunities for work-life balance, and starting to think 'if I'm going to do this for the rest of my life, I'm going to do something I really want to do'."
A strong sense of community essential
Professor Burd said the Hunter could be an ideal place to foster start-ups for several reasons.
"It is a place where people want to be and that, I think, is primarily a very good start," she said.
"There are a lot of people who are very inventive; there's lots of passion; and there's a community here that think 'we're going to need to move and be different'.
"It's that combination, together with a set of skill-bases … that are really getting together. I think it is that sense of community, and that sense of collaboration.
"I'm from the UK, and I've never really felt that as strongly as I have felt [it] here in the Hunter region.
"I think [that's] what makes the difference to the Hunter region: the capability to make it happen, to make it happen collaboratively, rather than in competition with one another."
Challenges to overcome
Adam Grant originally studied environmental science in Newcastle, before switching to film studies.
His business experience was limited to speaking with a friend about potential ideas.
But before long, he and a group of friends had an idea for a start-up that would specialise in food delivery.
The co-founders established the start-up in Melbourne, instead of Newcastle, because it would be better suited to the city's geography and population.
"I think whatever the scale of the business — whether it's a start-up or a multinational — it won't be successful unless it has a really solid, insightful idea at its base," Mr Grant said.
"The process involved the skill sets that we already had — things like coding the website, graphic design creating the logo to make it look like a real thing, and just calling on things that we'd read or seen or practised before in the past, and using those to create one single entity.
"So it was definitely not a formal process, and it wasn't a tidy process. It was incredibly messy, and our first few [attempts] at this idea were, by any other definition, total failures. But the idea was pure and true, and we always stuck to a singular idea.
"The big gamble we made was to be totally fine with losing money. It never felt like we were taking risks because we were having fun, we were getting something out of it at the same time, and I think that's key for any venture."
Despite being based in Melbourne, Mr Grant said Newcastle had a lot of potential to grow as a hotspot for start-ups.
"I've always described Newcastle as a really great 'incubator' city; that comes from possibly its second-tier status to Sydney; it creates a greater community cohesion where people are more willing to help you out on whatever project you're trying to create," he said.
"The size of the city and its population mean that there's no expert in this town who isn't a few connections away."
Mr Grant said the Hunter region had to overcome a number of obstacles if it wanted to unlock its full potential as a start-up incubator.
"Start-up culture is inherently risky; the start-up tools, banks etcetera, are not necessarily well-adapted to lend support," he said.
"Newcastle's a great city; there's no reason not to be here."
Start-ups transforming the business landscape
From his entrepreneurial perspective, Mr Grant said start-ups were creating change in the business sector.
"Big business, and also government, is having to be a lot more agile," he said.
"I think a lot of big business, a lot of public institutions, government, are starting to try to wear the hat of a start-up, trying to infuse it in that culture. I think it's not as easy as changing names, or guidelines. You really need to take a risk."
Mr Grant said start-up culture was likely to remain a prominent part of the business world.
"I don't see how you could put it back in the box," he said.
"I think the best piece of advice for anyone who has an idea is just to do it.
"Don't wait for a new computer or piano, or don't wait for the perfect office, don't clean your desk — just start doing it, because once you get a roll on, that momentum will pick up and you might collect people along the way who will help you."