The next wave: Entrepreneur quick to spot a gap

By KATHRYN SCHERER

If you are over 40 and wondering what the future looks like, the face of Michael Whittaker will probably haunt you.

In less than four years, the 29-year-old entrepreneur has built from scratch a business that epitomises what the next wave of business brains is all about.

Mr Whittaker was taking a break from various business ventures, including owning several pubs and importing and exporting throughout Southeast Asia, when he and three friends - Sarah Morley, Hamish Franklin and Campbell Greer - had a bright idea.

They spotted a gap in the market for a top-notch database marketing company.

"There was a big gap in the New Zealand marketplace for a quality list provider," Mr Whittaker recalls. "The market was poorly serviced by a number of larger companies that had no passion for what they were actually doing."

Using his own money - he won't say how much - he and his mates established Atlantis Marketing.

Less than four years on, what is now known as the Atlantis Group claims to be a leader in the field of database management, specialising in collecting and manipulating information about buyers' shopping habits and personal quirks.

To attract its first clients, the company offered a 500 per cent guarantee on its data - for every single piece of data it got wrong, it gave a refund for five.

The offer was good enough to interest several blue-chip companies, such as Clear Communications, Baycorp and Tower.

"No one in the market even attempted to match it," said Mr Whittaker. "I wouldn't say it was plain sailing, but that was the point where we moved forward from."

In its first year, the company grew from four staff to 30. Now it employs 140 people in New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

"We soon realised that data was a commodity and any commodity-based product you should be able to shift offshore."

One arm of the company, Atlantis Marketing, now handles a full suite of data management services, including data mining, data capture, a lettershop service and a call centre.

The other, Visible Results, manages customer loyalty programmes such as the Mobil Max programme, which has won several marketing awards.

The two arms share a common infrastructure, and all regional activities, including human resources, are controlled from a single office in central Auckland.

All the company's databases can handle Chinese and Japanese characters and are also based in Auckland.

Mr Whittaker believes that not replicating its infrastructure has been one of the company's keys to success. Hiring a human resources manager early in its development was also a vital step.

"That's been a huge success for us. From a human resources point of view, we have very good acquisition programmes and very good retention programmes.

"That's made a big difference, to the point where all of our human resources are centrally managed for the region here."

Mr Whittaker, who has a bachelor of business studies from Massey University, also attributes the company's rapid growth to the fact that it never turns down an opportunity.

"If a client wants to try something, we never say no. We're always prepared to rewrite our rules and rewrite what our competitors have done."

While he keeps in close touch with the company's overseas offices - he visits every office at least once a fortnight - Mr Whittaker is determined to keep the company's headquarters in Auckland.

"New Zealand's technical infrastructure is as good as anywhere. And it's definitely a lifestyle choice for us. New Zealand is an important base because all of our key talent wants to stay here and they have no intention - apart from secondments - to go anywhere else."

While he admits the company is always struggling to find good staff, he does not blame the brain drain, noting that the same problem exists in other countries.

He is also doing his bit to boost local skills, taking on an average of 10 new graduates a year.

But Mr Whittaker said it took a certain kind of person to handle such a constantly changing environment.

He runs a close-knit team with a flat management structure, where everyone's door is always open.

"We've got a saying around here that it's 80 per cent understanding how Atlantis works and 20 per cent product knowledge."

Business is growing in Australia by about 15 to 20 per cent a year, and he expects about half the company's revenue will come from there this year.

The company is also targeting Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan, and expects to sign deals shortly that will take it into South Africa and Dubai. It is also aiming to break into the North American market.

Ultimately, Mr Whittaker would like to see the company become a global player. But he is also keen to see it does not get the speed wobbles.

"We want to expand into Europe and the States, but Asia has to be our focus. Our playground is as west as India and as east as Japan."

The Juice:

Atlantis Group, Auckland.

Founded in: 1996.

Founded by: Michael Whittaker, Sarah Morley, Hamish Franklin and Campbell Greer.

Initial capital: Undisclosed.

Market value: $32 million.

Business: Database management and customer loyalty programmes.

Number of staff: 140.

10-year plan: To become a global player in information management.

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