Introducing Lee Hardham, an Ex-Advertising Sales Manager who saw that the future of shopping was changing and planned to jump ahead of the game five years ago. After bootstrapping $30k from friends and family and since then raising over $2.25M in capital his team have developed an app that integrates digital experiences, like online shopping, into the physical shopping space, like retail stores. Curious to know more? Read on!
Congratulations on the fast approaching launch of Brauz in October! Can you tell us about how you plan on changing the game in online shopping?
LH: Thank you very much, it’s an exciting time for our whole team, there’s been a lot of hard work and dedication in bringing Brauz to life and it’s an exciting time for us all.
Brauz solves all the problems online retail can’t. To put it simply, people just want to find products, buy them and enjoy their new purchases. Unfortunately, online shopping is the most widely used platform to shop but it’s nowhere near perfect. We’ve been surveying the market and found 76% of people have had some sort of issue when shopping online…. The wrong product, late deliveries, wrong sizes, the list goes on. We feel like we’re disrupting online shopping by making shopping with physical stores the most convenient and rewarding way to shop.
Where and when can our readers download the Brauz app?
LH: The Brauz app goes live on android and iOS on October 1st, users will be able to start curating their feeds with images and pictures of items they like, and as we expand the number of products available for users to browse, users will be able to find what they’re looking for at nearby stores wherever they go.
What’s next for you?
LH: We have big plans for further evolving the physical retail experience, without saying too much we’ll be bringing personalisation in-store and maybe even add a little augmented reality.
Day in the life Lee Hardham from Brauz
"Let me preface first by saying no 2 days are ever the same in the startup game."
6.30am: Wake up, eat my Youfoodz breakfast – My girlfriend has got me onto Youfoodz to help balance my attitude (apparently eating McDonalds everyday isn’t good for you).
Shower (this is where Brauz was born), put on my jeans and chosen white tee (daily uniform).
7.30am: Pickup my co-founder Rajesh Yeluri and head into Brauz HQ, choose which hip-hop playlist will take us through the day. Little bit of team planning as well.
8.30am: Get into Brauz HQ and go through emails (try answering all urgent emails in morning), prioritise the day.
9.30am – 12.30pm: Strategy, partnership, stakeholder, whatever meetings throughout the day whilst having regular catchups with the team. Everyone has their own office space but we all tend to work collaboratively and hang in the boardroom.
12.30pm: Lunch at my favorite place – Small Axe, Brunswick. I recommend the breakfast pasta, it’s amaze!!! (but if my gf asks, I had the Youfoodz, ok?)
1.30 - 5.30: See 9.30-12.30…. It’s never ending, and I wouldn’t want it to!
Note: Frequent times during the week – Identify major obstacle, our team runs with the philosophy – no Band-Aid fixes, we solve problems. Any obstacle we come across is quickly met and efficiently managed. Our team believes we can achieve the impossible and regularly do.
5.30 – 6.30: cruise home (continue hip-hop playlist)
6.30 – 7.30: Answer emails for the day and finalise/organise tasks for the following day.
7:30 - 8pm: Youfoodz for dinner (it really is pretty good and it’s convenient)
8:00 - 10pm: Netflix and chat with my girlfriend about all my other ridiculous ideas and philosophies on life.
Brauz will go live in Adelaide in October and plans to be available Australia-wide shortly after.
