Sitting on Unused Demand
A business can have a proven product, happy customers and strong referrals while still missing people actively searching for what it sells. That is the opportunity Max Crakanthorp sees in Google Ads.
Book a Call
In episode 31 of Queensland Business Stories, the Brisbane-born founder of Kraken Digital joins Chris Tipper to discuss starting with simple campaigns, building an agency from a free first client and learning where an owner's time is most useful.
Watch the conversation
Prefer audio? Listen to Queensland Business Stories on Spotify.
Build reliable systems behind your growth
Growth depends on more than finding the next customer. Your team also needs technology it can rely on. For managed IT and cybersecurity support, Book a Call with Connected Platforms, call 07 3062 6932 or contact us.
Book a CallA science degree, an online sale and a different direction
Max did not set out to build an advertising agency. He studied biomedical science and considered the conventional careers that followed it. Medicine and pharmaceutical sales offered possible paths, but neither matched the freedom and business ownership he wanted.
His early ecommerce experiments included colour-changing board shorts and assorted gadgets. They did not make much money, but the first online sale left an impression. He began learning about advertising and recognised something familiar in Google Ads: data, experimentation and the scientific method.
The change was less about throwing away his education than finding another use for it. His story is a reminder that skills can transfer across industries, even when the job titles look unrelated.
The first client was a Woolworths colleague
After three months travelling in Europe, Max returned to Australia with a couple of hundred dollars and no job. He continued interviewing for pharmaceutical sales roles as a backup while trying to make the business work.
His first account was a former Woolworths colleague's landscaping business. Max offered to run the ads for free to gain experience. Small audits and account-setup jobs through Upwork and Fiverr followed. They were not a reliable income, but they gave him evidence that he could deliver work people valued.
He dates that first free client to around September or October 2023. In January 2024, a US client became his first regular monthly retainer. Seeing one account replace what he had earned at Woolworths changed his sense of what the business could become.
Max says the financial pressure helped him act, but explicitly does not recommend putting yourself in that position deliberately. The useful lesson is the progression from practice to small paid work to a repeatable service.
Find the demand that already exists
Kraken Digital works with ecommerce and service businesses across Australia and overseas. At the time of recording, Max describes a team of around ten and clients typically generating more than a million dollars in annual revenue, with exceptions where the offer and fit are right.
Many clients already have evidence that customers want what they sell. Meta advertising, referrals or word of mouth may be working, but Google is missing or underperforming. Max's approach is to identify where those customers are searching and help the business present a relevant, compelling option.
For a service business, that might mean appearing when someone searches for a specific local job. For ecommerce, it might mean a search or shopping ad for a product the customer already wants. The opportunity is not a promise that every offer will work; it starts with understanding demand and testing the economics.
Start with the boring campaigns
Max's recommendation for a new account is deliberately simple. For ecommerce, he describes starting with search and shopping. For a service business, he gives the example of two search campaigns.
The first goals are to test whether the platform can produce a profitable return and collect useful conversion data. He cautions against immediately spreading a small account across display, YouTube and more complex campaign structures before the basics have been validated.
That sequence gives an owner a clearer question to answer: is the advertising producing outcomes that justify its cost? Max uses example returns to explain the idea, not to promise a particular result. Attribution, margins and the quality of the offer still matter.
Brand awareness comes with a different measurement problem
Google's advertising reach extends beyond search and shopping. Max also discusses YouTube and display placements, including the ads people see on news websites. An owner's personal dislike of a format is not, by itself, evidence that customers ignore it.
He sees a role for broader brand awareness once direct-response campaigns provide a reliable foundation. But he also acknowledges that proving the additional impact can be difficult, particularly for smaller advertisers.
The conversation explores watching overall sales alongside changes in advertising spend. That is Max's practical approach to evaluating broader activity, not a claim that every sales movement can be attributed to one campaign. His main caution is to avoid chasing complexity before there is a sound base to expand.
From running every account to building a team
At around five or six clients, Max faced a familiar founder problem: delivering the work left little time to win the next account. His first hire, JJ, came through Upwork in the US and later became the agency's head of performance.
Max began by handing over one account, then added responsibility as the working relationship developed. He describes building a distributed team across Australia, the US and the UK, with lessons along the way about fit, expectations and difficult people decisions.
Today, he focuses more on acquisition, content, relationships and strategy for larger accounts. He still enjoys Google Ads and keeps a pulse on client work, but tries not to step into every task. The transition is not about losing touch with delivery; it is about creating room to run the business.
Adopt AI without turning it into a distraction
Max sees value in adopting new technology while remaining selective about where it deserves attention. He describes business owners spending days building AI agents that save little time, an example of activity that can look productive without improving the work.
His test is practical: does the tool make a meaningful difference? That sits alongside his broader approach to uncertainty. He cannot control every market movement or policy change, so he puts his attention into client results, team experience and the next decision within his control.
Connect with Max
Learn more about Kraken Digital at kraken-digital.com. In the conversation, Max names Instagram as his first-choice contact channel and also welcomes contact through his website, YouTube and X.
Keep the business behind the marketing running well
Reliable IT and cybersecurity help your people stay focused as the business grows. Book a Call with Connected Platforms, call 07 3062 6932 or contact us to discuss the systems your team needs.
Have a Queensland business story to share? Explore the series and apply to be a guest.
Book a Call