Winner of the inaugural Excellence in Micro Business at the 2019 Sydney City Regional Business Awards, Murmur also took out top honours as Regional Business of the Year.
Sponsored by the City of Sydney, the regional business awards were announced at a Sydney Town Hall gala event on Wednesday 31 July.
Dave reveals how he and wife Marija launched their international business with a laptop and a decent cup of coffee.
When did your business journey begin?
It all started in 2013 when we’d been in London for a few years. I was working in marketing at Sky and Marija was in marketing at Selfridges when we helped a friend with his business, PropSki.
His advertising wasn't working and I suggested some changes. A month later, the event sold out – and it put us on the path to where we are now.
What brought you and the business home to Sydney?
We were born and bred in Sydney. We made some life-long friends in London, but ultimately it was wanting to get married and have a family that brought us back.
We launched the business in March 2016 with a laptop in the bedroom of my family home in Dural and at the nearby café, Wolfe & Co. It has great wifi and a decent cup of coffee!
I got 2 clients in the first 2 weeks. I gradually honed my craft, picked up more clients and built a team around me. To date, we've worked with over 70 clients, including international clients, devising marketing strategies, managing digital media, and creating advertising campaigns.
This is the first year the NSW Business Chamber awards has a category for micro businesses. Do you think it’s important to recognise small-scale operations?
Absolutely – small scale operations are incredibly nimble, attentive to clients, and require everyone to wear a number of hats. Staff will often do tasks and projects that lie well outside their job description, so it's an incredible place to learn your craft.
As a micro business you have to be great at what you do – jut being 'good' won't cut it and clients won't accept it.
Do you think smaller enterprises can especially benefit from award recognition?
Being recognised builds your credibility. It says you're on the right track and doing exceptional work.
The award helps build morale in the business, improve company culture and gives justification to the staff. Being able to say that you've been recognised as a winner helps build a lot of PR and will really improve new business pitches.
The Sydney City Regional Business Award winners will progress as finalists to the NSW Business Chamber State Business Awards on Friday 22 November.
If your business is in the City of Sydney local area, contact us to find out more about how we support local businesses.
Visit Business Australia (formerly NSW Business Chamber) for more information.
Published 1 August 2019, updated 29 February 2024
