IB Woman
Issue No. 42 - August/September 2008
Outdoor dream to life
by Penelope Herbert
Being an innovator in any industry is often fraught with challenges and self-doubt. So when Amanda Bridge’s husband, Michael, decided to start an outdoor kitchen company with just a ute and an idea, Amanda was pleased she had a solid career elsewhere.
And working in marketing and product development for iconic South Australian brands, Cooper’s and Hills Industries, Amanda had a good grasp of how to assist in the development of Outdoor Kitchen Solutions.
“If you typed ‘outdoor kitchens’ into Google back in 2002 there was very little around and nothing in Australia,” says Amanda, now Marketing Manager for the business.
“So we built a prototype and rented space at the Home Ideas Centre. We leveraged lots of leads but were not hitting the target market we envisaged.
“So we displayed at the first Festival of Garden Living at Veale Gardens in 2003 and won a silver award. That event attracted many more enquiries from our target market and by 2004 we had enough orders to open a small showroom.”
In May 2005, the Outdoor Kitchen Solutions showroom opened two days before Michael and Amanda got married. Afterwards they went on their honeymoon, but cut short their holiday because the business was taking off.
“It was both exciting and daunting,” says Amanda, “and in September 2005 I left Hills Industries to work full-time in the business.”
She admits to being “petrified” but says she felt they were pioneering an industry.
“We were finding out by trial and error with prototypes what would work and what wouldn’t, the weathering qualities of different products and developing relationships with strategic suppliers,” she recalls.
“We make a point of sourcing products such as splashbacks, benches and BBQs from local suppliers but source most of our appliances from interstate.”
Amanda says outdoor kitchens are different from indoor kitchens primarily because of the weathering, in...
