Techie leads BCCI change

The Busselton Chamber of Commerce and Industry has a fresh face in tech entrepreneur Michael Smart.

Mr Smart, pictured, was born in Perth but spent 12 years in Germany and America developing product design company AJ&Smart before returning to WA to settle in Dunsborough a year ago.

The award-winning strategy and innovation studio specialised in Design Sprints to help partners with product design, product strategy and rapid innovation. During his time in Germany, Mr Smart partnered with Google designers to work for brands such as Adidas and eBay.

News of his success in Germany has spread quickly through the Busselton business fraternity and Mr Smart was last week named BCCI chief executive.

“I think I’m going to bring a lot of the tools and techniques that I developed in Silicon Valley where we try to unblock business owners,” he said

“Sometimes we get stuck behind this inability to act because of all the overload of ideas we want to work on.

“A lot of these techniques are simple and will change the mindset of businesses to help owners break projects down, try new ideas and validate their progress.”

Smart now turns his attention to allowing “Mum and Pop” businesses quit their part-time jobs to focus on achieving a loyal customer base, whether in Busselton’s CBD or through targeted marketing online.

“I’m trying to provide a compass for businesses down here to increase their chances of being successful,” Mr Smart said.

“I’m a customer experience designer by trade and I have been quite critical of the business model where companies become their clients’ monkey and we started to challenge that by prioritising our own business.”

The Busselton Chamber of Commerce is at 38 Peel Terrace and Mr Smart said he wanted businesses to feel comfortable reaching out for ideas and begin the “Busso Hustle.”