Simple idea that sparked a global business

Have you ever tried to build a website? It can be tiresome and challenging if you’re not tech-savvy and you don’t have great support. At least that’s what four guys from the mighty Waikato thought back in 2008, so they set about making the process simple. 

Rocketspark launched in 2009 with a part-time wedding hairdresser as their first client. Now the Cambridge-based company has gone global with multimillion dollar clients such as Bupa UK. 

Of course, they still have their roots firmly planted in the Waikato with more than 600 Cambridge and Waikato businesses using their services, including Good George. 

Brothers Grant and Jeremy Johnson, with good mates Lee Reichardt and Richard King, were the four men behind the original idea that launched the now worldwide company with thousands of clients in 20 countries. 

Grant explained, “I was chatting with my brother about this idea of making a website, and he was building websites and working with his friends on creating a website builder. We got chatting and tested a whole lot of website builders that already existed and there was actually a lot, even back in 2008. 

“So, he was designing websites and two of his friends [Lee and Richard] were coding them up, each one would be bespoke. Then we thought, well, actually if we made a website builder then most of the development would be done and we could just focus on the design.” 

Grant said the website builders they tested they found quite hard to use, even for particularly tech-savvy people. 

“The end result looked homemade, not professional and you couldn’t get good support. You had to go into a forum and work out for yourself how to solve that problem.” 

He said people could spend hours trying to do things that seemed like they should be simple. 

“So, we thought, if we could make it super simple to use, make the end result look good, and people could get great support, that’s the business.” 

The team launched Rocketspark in 2009 and Grant said it was almost embarrassing looking back at what they launched with now. 

“It was very basic, but people loved the simplicity. We still have our very first client today, so it was needed. That simplicity is of upmost importance to us.” 

Grant said they designed a few unique websites in the beginning for some top chefs in New Zealand, but over time Rocketspark has evolved so that when someone went to them wanting a website designed they put them in touch with a website designer who was based near them so they could choose who they worked with, or it could be DIY and they build their own website.

Rocketspark has grown a lot since then. Grant said a few years after getting off the ground they started getting calls from graphic designers. 

“I mean non-technical designers who do business cards, brochures and the likes of. Their clients would come to them and say, ‘can you design me a website?’. And they would get fed up because the builders that were available were either too hard or didn’t look professional. They ended up asking us if they could re-sell Rocketspark and use it for their clients.” 

So, the team set about creating a partner portal, Rocketspark Studio, where they could log in to a single place, start a trial, build a site for their clients and then once the client was up and running if the re-seller was also doing the on-going maintenance, they could log in to all of their clients’ sites and update them. 

The fantastic four are all Waikato University graduates in a mixture of management, design and electronic commerce. Now their Waikato based employees – a team of 13 – are all made up of Waikato University or Wintec graduates. 

“People talk about access to talent and shortage, but we’ve actually found that there’s people that want to stay, they like the Waikato, it’s home for them. To provide an opportunity to work for a company that’s international, and developing software and we’re growing, we’re about to move into a bigger office just to fit everyone in. 

“Our office is based in Cambridge, but we also have a team member based in Wanaka and one in Durban, South Africa.” 

Grant said 40 per cent of Rocketspark’s income was made off-shore.


“Our main markets are New Zealand, Australia and the UK. But we have clients all over.”

Rocketspark also does a lot of not-for-profit work. 

“If people have come to us and we really like what they’re doing, like a kids’ charity, we just sponsor it. We get a kick out of it. We also have a great discount for not-for-profit organisations.” 

At the moment, they have Callaghan Innovation funding for a growth grant and a student experience grant so they hire Wintec and Waikato University students as interns. 

Rocketspark won the add-on innovation award at the UK Xero awards in 2015. 

“It kind of sounds basic and boring, but for a small business owner what happens, once they start growing, it’s the backend systems and processes that start to bog them down when they’re selling a lot of stuff, so by helping them keep their books tidy, through making the invoices in Xero is really useful. What they liked was that we were connecting lots of things within this ecosystem together,” Grant explained. 

Rocketspark is also a finalist for the best customer service award in the upcoming 2018 Waipa Networks Business Awards. The winners will be announced on August 31. 

“A cool thing about growing an international business is, if we can succeed at home with people actually liking us, it creates an ethos on how you look after people, so the way you look after people on the other side of the world has to meet that same standard as at home. 

“We’ve learnt a lot from running a business from Waikato and taking it into the world, our ethos to work hard at home has carried through and it looks stunning overseas,” Grant said. 

For more check out their website here.