Donna Benton started the Entertainer in 2001 after identifying a market need for both providing consumers with dining incentives and enabling restaurants to reach new customers. The Entertainer filled this gap by providing buy one get one free offers to the best restaurants, cafes, nightspots and attractions. Donna worked alone to build the business from the ground up – managing all of the corporate legalities to set the business up, recruited all of the merchants the first year, oversaw the printing and production and did most of the sales herself, literally door to door.
Word of mouth from delighted customers drove strong book sales and Donna – a native of Melbourne, Australia – grew the business into different countries using the same model, while also expanding her product line to include spas, beauty and hotel accommodation. In 2013, the Entertainer launched its award-winning smartphone App, which allows consumers to redeem their buy one get one free offers directly from their phones.