Russell Barwick’s career grew out of a passion for sport. As a broadcaster on subscription television in Australia, he was always working or socialising at sporting events.
“Deep down I was loving my job, working in sport and on TV, I had a great career but I knew it was coming to an end. Younger kids were coming through. I was getting older," says Barwick.
"I am being a bit dramatic but I knew I had to have a backup plan."
That's when he encountered a problem during a horse racing meeting – a flat battery.
The next day, expecting the same issue, he packed a phone charger.
Sure enough, when the unit ran flat, he headed for the wall plug. While there, he was swamped by people wanting to borrow his charger.
Russell is upfront in acknowledging he didn't unlock a breakthrough solution - portable charging stations already existed – he was just determined to make them more popular, and available in more sporting venues.
"I didn't invent it. Another guy invented it. I just basically had a better way to distribute it than he did,” elaborates the EzyCharge head.
Russell Barwick, founder of EzyCharge. Source: SBS
Deploying his considerable list of industry contacts helped get the word out.
Getting access to stock his product – then a charging station in casinos, coffee shops, airports and sporting venues helped build scale.
For the host venue, it remains a small price to pay to improve their customer’s overall experience - a value-add.
The cost of the multi-unit charging stations are sponsored by the venue, or wrapped in advertising and provided free of charge.
Although EzyCharge has also pivoted to a user-pays model with secured charging lockers in some venues.
"It is a five-dollar charge, you lock your phone away. It is secure, it is safe. You come back in 60 minutes and your phone is fully charged. It is the price of a Coke. In this day and age I think people will swap a Coke for a fully charged phone," says Barwick.
EzyCharge is also surging in the event space - catering to the conference market, branding up portable chargers with the host’s logo keeping the attendee's phones charged at the conference and beyond.
Some venues house a paid charging station that allows them to charge their phone in a secure locker for 60 minutes. Source: SBS
Barwick says, "We probably do 1000 event days a year in expos. We've done them in Hawaii, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Fiji and all over Australia. We are basically a company that says yes to everyone and worries about the issues later."
Despite the fact that technology is changing so quickly, EzyCharge’s frontman sees no danger of dwindling demand.
“Three years ago, you were using your phone about an hour a day. You are now using it for about seven hours a day," he says.
"You don't carry a laptop anymore, you don't carry a camera anymore. Your phone is now a 24/7 object and unless the batteries can go 24/7, there is always going to be a need to recharge them."
Watch this story at the top of the page, or catch the full episode on SBS On Demand.
