IP for Action Sports
The Vision: bring superlites to Australia
Brad Smith had a vision - to bring superlites to Australia. "Superlite is the same as motocross, just using a smaller bike. The easiest way to explain it is it's like BMX on steroids" Brad said.
His mission was to build an affordable product that young people would fall in love with. At the same time he wanted to help families come together doing something they enjoyed.
His journey started at the age of 16 when he imported his first shipment of bikes from China. Disappointingly, the bikes were lower quality than Brad expected so he set out to design the best superlite bike in the world.
At 18, Brad travelled to China to talk to the manufacturers about building a purpose designed bike that would meet his strict quality standards. After years of research and development, Brad came up with what is arguably the best superlite bike available in the world today.
IP Smart since: 2006
Brad knew from the start that his business was going to be a winner so he trade marked the braaap logo early on. "In this information world where everyone has access to so much information at their finger tips, securing protection right from the start was obvious," Brad said.
"The internet makes it really easy for copy cats to take advantage of your hard work. I think it is important to have safe guards in place and your trade mark is an important form of insurance. You may think you can’t afford to but in reality you can’t afford not to," he said.
As well as the braaap trade mark, Brad registered a variety of associated business names and domain names. "Protecting your brand is so important. Once the braaap business takes off, I plan to divide my company into smaller, specific businesses. I always wanted to build an empire, not just a business, so I locked the names in now so we are ready for this growth," Brad said.
Superlite bike: "The braaapster"
A lot of research and development went into the creation of the braaap superlite bike - the braaapster. After a lot of consideration, Brad decided not to register the bike's design. "We decided that as the world is changing and evolving so quickly and the sport is constantly changing, there was no use protecting a bike design that will change. The logos and colours of our brand will never change and if we are the best it won’t matter if someone copies our design, because people will know we are the best," he said.
The Future of braaap
Brad lives and breathes superlites. When he opened his first braaap store in Tasmania, Brad designed it so people could go there to get everything superlites under the one roof. "We wanted a destination store where you could buy bikes and street clothes or just hang out and talk about your latest ride" he said. This unique business model really shook up the local industry and many of Brad's critics said it wouldn't work.
Brad now has two stores in Tasmania and is opening his third in Victoria. "We regard ourselves as the affordable adrenaline sport retailers. Our franchise model uses retail stores to help people get into business for themselves and build their dream lifestyle. IP has been an important part of our franchising model because we want to be protected and give investors and franchisee's confidence in our brand. At the end of the day your brand is everything," he said.
Looking to the future, Brad plans to help 50 people to get into business for themselves through the braaap franchise system. He hopes to launch into the USA soon and eventually, expand the brand around the world.
For more information you can visit the braaap website.
Last Updated: 24/12/2012
