NZ Entrepreneur Magazine - Issue 4

NEW ZEALAND’S E-MAG FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESS OWNERS

February 2013

10 Questions

Graeme with

Market Validation - Friend or Foe?

Finding The Right Investor

Strategies That Win Customers

Profiles on #nzentrepreneursGerard Campbell and Erin Walshe

Plus heaps more inside!

Carrie

http://bit.ly/RiVXGM

2

Get more predict-a-bill bills with 2degrees.

Your usual from 2degrees.

If your mobile business bill is unpredictable, you could be on the wrong plan. 2degrees could help you control your costs, so you know what to expect in your bill. With a range of great value plans and handy services like Free Calling Groups, long life Mobile Broadband and Shared Data, 2degrees could offer you more predictability and certainty in your mobile business bills.

Get in touch with us today to join 2degrees Business and get the heads up on keeping your overheads down.

Great value Predictability No nasty surprises

0800-FOR (367) 022 predictabill.co.nz [email protected]

TWO0735\TBWA

http://bit.ly/QklHpZ

http://bit.ly/QklHpZ

mailto:[email protected]

Contents

4 From the Editor

6 Market Validation: Friend or Foe?

8 Meeting Matters

10 10 Questions with Graeme Carrie

14 Case Study: Booktrack

15 Entrepreneurial Intelligence with Sandy Geyer

16 Profile: Gerard Campbell

18 Profile: Erin Walshe

20 Strategies that Win Customers

22 Choosing Winners

24 Product Standards

27 Tomorrows Entrepreneurs

28 Parting Shot

Get more predict-a-bill bills with 2degrees.

Your usual from 2degrees.

If your mobile business bill is unpredictable, you could be on the wrong plan. 2degrees could help you control your costs, so you know what to expect in your bill. With a range of great value plans and handy services like Free Calling Groups, long life Mobile Broadband and Shared Data, 2degrees could offer you more predictability and certainty in your mobile business bills.

Get in touch with us today to join 2degrees Business and get the heads up on keeping your overheads down.

Great value Predictability No nasty surprises

0800-FOR (367) 022 predictabill.co.nz [email protected]

TWO0735\TBWA

4

From the Editor

I often find the new year brings with it an eager and enthusiastic

crowd of people looking to start the year on a health kick.

Resolutions and fresh starts are made, leading to busy swimming

pools and gyms across the country. Often by mid February things have

returned to normal as things start to get in the way, people become

busy or they find it too hard or too much effort to continue.

In a similar fashion, how often do we see new businesses come and

go? Caught up in a wave of initial excitement, only to fade away when

things become difficult or the novelty wears off. It’s easy to tell people

about your idea or post on social media sites building some hype. It’s

also never been easier to start a company here in New Zealand.

Taking your ideas to market and creating a sustainable business is a

lot harder. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted and comes

hand in hand with knocks and challenges along the way. There will

be some dark moments and times when you want to throw in the

towel, but if you believe in your ideas and are prepared to pursue

your dreams, nothing should stand in your way, no matter how

hard things get. You must treat any failures and disappointments as

small bumps along your journey. Whether you want a good looking

physique or a good looking business, they both take a lot of time,

hard work and commitment.

Wishing you all a prosperous 2013.

Nick

Email [email protected]

LinkedIn http://nz.linkedin.com/in/nickharleynz

N Z E N T R E P R E N E U R I S P R O U D L Y B R O U G H T T O Y O U B Y :

ABOUT /Short and sharp, New Zealand Entrepreneur is a free e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, industry news and information to forward-thinking Entrepreneurs.

EDITOR / Nick Harley

ART DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson

GROUP EDITOR / Trudi Caffell

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER / Alastair Noble

CONTENT ENQUIRIES /

Phone Richard on (09) 522 7257 or email

[email protected]

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /

Phone Richard on (09) 522 7257 or email

[email protected]

ADDRESS / NZ Entrepreneur, C/- Espire Media, PO Box 99758,

Newmarket, Auckland 1151, NZ

WEBSITE / nzentrepreneur.co.nz

ISSN 2253-5683

NZ Entrepreneur is a GREEN MAG created and distributed without the use of paper so it’s environmentally friendly. Please think before you print. Thank you!

AJ Park is about iP • intellectual property • igniting passion • ideas pervading • innovation protected • integrated processes • intelligent people • increasing potential

0800 257 275 I www.ajpark.com I New Zealand + Australia

If taking your idea, invention or business offshore is in your strategy — then the right IP advice will increase your chances of success.

Making it overseas takes more than a good idea and the will to succeed. At AJ Park we not only have a clear understanding of intellectual property laws in New Zealand, but know what your rights and obligations are when the rules change for another country.

Over the last century, we have worked with clients to recognise great ideas and the best ways to protect and commercialise them globally. Our team of commercialisation specialists and IP litigators can help you understand the laws of your destination country, develop global commercial agreements and cover patent or trade mark protection, giving you and your business the best chance of making it overseas.

For the right IP advice to help turn your Kiwi business into a global asset, call us now.

iP is about increasing potential

AJP

1036

0_I

A



http://bit.ly/mG0JzR

mailto:[email protected]

http://nz.linkedin.com/in/nickharleynz

http://on.fb.me/TWBmKV

http://bit.ly/Q3vyTe

http://linkd.in/PZBb3e

http://bit.ly/RDrWpH

http://bit.ly/NbsrXv

http://bit.ly/OkRhBg

http://bit.ly/Q3u23k

5


iP is about ideas protected

Great ideas shape our world if they are harnessed, protected and nurtured in the right way.

At AJ Park, we take the time to understand your idea, invention or business and where you want to take it. So you get sound iP advice for a better shot at commercial success.

With over 120 years experience helping innovative Kiwis protect and grow their ideas, we are confident we can find you the right path for your intellectual property, from patents and trade marks to e-commerce and offshore contracts.

For clear, concise and jargon-free iP advice about turning your ideas into commercial assets, talk to our team.









AJP

1036

0_I

A








AJP

1036

0_I

A








AJP

1036

0_I

A








AJP

1036

0_I

A



6

E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I PHad a great idea? Cool! But think carefully before investing

your life savings trying to turn it into a business.


7

Market ValidationFriend or Foe?Market validation is annoying. Why are you wasting valuable time interviewing people about your proposed business?

Time that could be spent building your product’s killer features and starting to make some serious money? Right?

By Nick Harley

It’s a dilemma a lot of start-ups face. Market validation and

research can be seen as a thorn in the side of many businesses.

Why? Because the majority of this work needs to be done before

and during the initial building of the product - the most exciting time.

Let’s face it, after you have that eureka moment, you start to

contemplate the possibilities of what your product could look like,

how people use it, the money you could make and what colour the

walls of your penthouse office might be painted. The last thing you

really want to be doing is boring market validation.

I fell into this trap with my first business. I didn’t do any market

validation. I built the product first and then dealt with marketing

it, blindly expecting people to use it the way I envisioned and to

want the same things I ‘thought’ they would want. I didn’t ask a

single person what they wanted to see until it was already in the

marketplace. Back then, I don’t think I even knew what market

validation was, how important it is, and why it needs to be done.

This was just one of my many mistakes and lessons learned the

hard way. I built the product for me, but forgot the fact that I am

not the customer.

When you first start developing your idea you get a rush of excitement.

It is seen time and time again with young companies. There is a wave

of activity, hype and ‘coming soon’ enthusiasm. At this point you must

put on the brakes and think about things. If you build this product,

will anyone pay you for it? If not, why bother building it?

Interview people on the street, talk to your friends and family, talk

to business colleagues, carry out online surveys, write blog posts,

do online research and make sure you know everything there is to

know about the trends of your market and who your competitors

are. Collate the information and review it.

Build a prototype, a demo or create some screenshots to

demonstrate how the product will look and feel. You’ll get better

feedback when people can physically see your ideas. Build an MVP

(Minimum Viable Product) and go out, talk to people. You can do

all of this for very little money. If the market isn’t there, listen to it.

Once you have a clear vision and you know there is a

demand, and more importantly, people will pay you for it,

then go ahead and build!

On the flip side, there can be such a thing as ‘too much’

market validation. Business advisory organisations will

always require you to do more and more validating (it’s

part of their job). You can create business plans which

seem to change every week and financial projections

with numbers that are plucked out of thin air, but you’re

never going to really know things with any certainty

until you’re out there in the marketplace.

You’ll always be trying to find out what the mystical

level of market validation is. You can validate your idea

and it’s market until your face turns blue, but there

comes a time when you just have to decide there are

enough indicators to suggest you’ll do ok and get out

there. Build your product, go out and sell it. Get people

touching and feeling your first demo/beta and ask for

feedback on its features, then you’ll be able to refine

your product even further.

And remember, market validation doesn’t stop after

the product is launched. Why develop and support a

new feature that nobody wants or needs? You should

constantly ask your customers for feedback and develop

features that are going to add value.

Before you spend substantial time and money building

your product take some time to complete your market

validation, you’ll be glad you did, but don’t get stuck

in endless market research and never get around to

building it at all.

The trick is find the right balance between the two.

There is no perfect amount. Start doing it and you’ll

know when you’ve done enough and when you’re ready

to start building.

Nick Harley is the editor of NZ Entrepreneur

8

G R O W T H / M A N A G E M E N T / L E A D E R S H I P

Meeting Matters

TIPS FOR PRODUCTIVE MEETINGSBy Stephen Lynch

Stephen Lynch is Chief Operating Officer of business

execution and growth specialists, Results.com

I read a survey recently, where participants were asked “What

frustrates you most about meetings at work?” The top reported frustrations about meetings were:

No clear purpose or objective for the meeting.•

Meeting doesn’t start on time, stay on track, or finish on time.•

Repeating information for late arrivals.•

Too long.•

Not organized. No agenda.•

No specific action items or tasks assigned.•

Allowing attendees to ramble.•

Weak presenter (unprepared, not inspiring or motivating)•

Some writers say that there should be fewer meetings. What nonsense! The number of meetings is not the issue – the problem is that most companies do not know how to create and run great meetings.

Meetings are crucial to drive effective business execution. Whether it is a weekly team meeting, a project meeting, or your weekly 1 on 1 meetings with your direct reports - it is vital that leaders learn how to run effective meetings.

As a leader, your aim is for everyone in your team to finish each quarter with a sense of satisfaction and achievement. You want everyone being able to say “We hit our targets, and we nailed our project milestones” - rather than having a whole lot of projects still up in the air, with your people still grinding away day after day and never feeling the thrill of victory. You want the team to be able to pop the cork and celebrate their achievements at the end of every quarter, not feel like failures.

Everyone has a huge “to do” list of things they could be doing – but what is the “1 thing”? What is the 1 tangible bite sized action they can complete this week that will move each project forward? If they can just get that “1 thing” done – that is the secret to strategic execution. Anything else they may accomplish during the week is a bonus – but everyone must know what their 1 thing is relating to each project. In many cases this also means being able to say “No” to anything else that comes up, and protecting your people from distractions.

Business execution is not about working hard, or being busy. It is about everyone taking the right action - each and every week – and nailing that 1 thing.

Leaders must follow up at every meeting and hold each of their people firmly accountable for commitments that were made, “Did you complete what you said you were going to do last week to move your project forward?”

Fortunately, business execution software makes the leader’s job easier. You can create specific meeting agendas, and then use the software to drive the meeting and keep things on track. You can track everyone’s progress, and assign new tasks. It makes the job of holding people accountable so much easier. Running effective meetings is one

of the key skills that business leaders must master.


http://bit.ly/VNs8kv

http://bit.ly/PGZAYj

http://bit.ly/PGZAYj

1 0

I N T E R V I E W

A lot of focus is put on tech focused startups these days, but great businesses are started every day when people act upon

an opportunity. Prior to handing over the reins to friend and co-founder Rob Darby, we talked with Graeme Carrie of The

Free Range Egg Poultry Co, or ‘FRENZ’ about his journey, taking a simple idea to a place on supermarket shelves.

When did you start FRENZ and how did you get the idea that

the world needed eggs all the way from New Zealand in the

first place?

In the late 1980’s I ran a business which made and sold wetsuits to the

USA and the the US Navy, and I so I travelled regularly to the US. One

day I noticed that the eggs in New Zealand looked and tasted better than

what I was eating in the US and when I returned to the States I gave my

friends some eggs laid by my son’s small flock of hens who roamed our

backyard. I quickly recognised that the taste difference was due to what

the chickens ate and their freedom to move around. So 1988 was when I

teamed up with Rob and started The Free Range Egg Poultry Co.

10 Questions

Graeme Carrie

with


1 1

What other businesses had you started or built prior to

starting FRENZ and is it true that it building businesses gets

easier each time?

After completing a Science degree my interest in the international

market began with installing computer systems with Formica

International here in NZ and in Australia and South Africa. I then went

on to manage a very successful wetsuit manufacturing business in

Auckland while completing a Business Management degree.

In 1987 I started Export Systems Ltd to assist other exporters involved

in or wanting to export to the USA and worked as a consultant to on a

wide range of products from several industries. I still run that company.

You had exporting experience which would have helped, but

what else do you believe enabled you to make a success of it?

All my formal and hands on business learning was essential but

entrepreneur does not have an “i “ in it . Creating the idea and

identifying the opportunity is individual, but making it work needs

other people. Getting people to work with you on the vision is the

the most important part in the next step - and in my experience

the most difficult. Frenz is also a success because of the friends and

family that helped along the way, most unpaid at the start! My family

allowed me the time for the total commitment required to launch

and run a business. My wife Claire created the artwork and design

and we all pitched in and worked the long hours necessary at the

beginning. Later, our son Glen provided the creative drive to run the

complex marketing side.

I was particularly fortunate to work with some very good entrepreneurs

prior to starting Frenz, viz Ron Barfoote, Alf Dickenson, Ken Gilbert,

Peter Rudkin and Richard Osborne. We were even more fortunate in

later years to have these very competent people come back and work in

Frenz. I think the quote “make the trend your friend” worked for us .

We started a product that people wanted and couldn’t get. Timing is an

essential part of the mix.

Back when we started, the term “free range” didn’t really exist so

my marketing and export background enabled me to recognise the

business potential in differentiating the eggs as “free range”.

Rob was already a successful egg and poultry farmer so the credentials

were there from the outset in terms of us being able to make the

business a winner.

Of equal importance is that we’ve ensured the FRENZ brand also has a

great deal of integrity equity. We were first to market free range eggs in

New Zealand, instigating consumer awareness of animal welfare issues

in the egg industry. As that awareness has grown over the past decade,

we have stayed ahead by refusing to compromise our standards. We use

no antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, growth stimulants and have never

practiced debeaking, a common process in poultry farming, even on

free range farms. So we have always taken the position that if you buy a

FRENZ free range egg, you get genuine free range eggs, because not all

free range eggs these days are genuine.

10 Questions

Generally speaking anyone that really believes in their vision and is prepared to really give it their best shot has a reasonable chance to be an entrepreneur.

“

FRENZ co-founder Rob Darby


1 2

What were some of the challenges you had to overcome when

you were getting established?

No one had exported eggs from New Zealand before, so we were forced

to fill out dairy exporting paperwork. Unsurprisingly, US authorities

refused to believe that cows had laid our eggs. To overcome this, we

had a lot of support from the MAF, NZTE and Air New Zealand

A list of 21 requirements was issued and immediately fulfilled over one

busy weekend including blood tests on a full third of the free range

flock. We had to sneak into the laying barn in the middle of the night.

Next, our first two shipments - about 400 six-packs of eggs - had to

be given away; following a comedy of errors involving the US FDA’s

labelling requirements and an over-eager truck driver!

Supply and distribution quickly became a challenge once we got going

- free range eggs take a lot of work to farm properly and developing

sustainable markets is a continuing problem. Developing international

markets is expensive. Frenz has been fortunate to work with NZTE on

this but establishing the market was just the start, building the market

is an even bigger challenge.

Our agricultural sector has been largely responsible for New

Zealand’s international success and wealth to date, but it’s

becoming harder to compete in this arena. Where do you

think our best competitive advantage lies is if we are to carve

out a niche for ourselves in the years ahead?

Organics, free range, sustainability and natural foods are areas

that are critical to the future of the food industry in NZ. I really

passionately believe New Zealand has a great future in the world’s

food basket if we stick with these particular areas, where we’re

different and better than the rest of them. Having looked around the

world a couple of times I can see that New Zealand has a huge future

in those markets, particularly in the US and China.


1 3

New Zealand produces high quality safe food and most importantly

has a worldwide reputation as a reliable food brand to use as a

competitive advantage. We need to do a lot of work on that in

product and market development. I believe we (NZ) can do. it. We are

innovative, more so than most other countries, but we need to up the

ante and move from talking to walking!

Do you believe anyone can learn to be a successful

entrepreneur?

Creating and/or identifying the opportunity is the hard part to learn.

Also the stubborn persistence to keep at it when things are not going

right. Most of the rest is learnable and follows business principles

standard to commercial enterprise. Product and market development

is where the “entrepreneurial flair” helps. Generally speaking anyone

that really believes in their vision and is prepared to really give it

their best shot has a reasonable chance to be an entrepreneur.

What are the three most important skills you would advise

new entrepreneurs to develop?

M a r k e t i n g - This was important when we started in 1989 •

and is even more so now that there is an oversupply of product

in most markets worldwide. Get your target market defined

as closely as possible. This involves knowing who you are

selling to both consumers and customers. Frenz did at least

a year’s research with customers and consumers locally and

internationally (with NZTE) before we started.

F i n a n c i a l C o n t r o l - Before long the entrepreneur will •

need money and the ability to control it. Find a sympathetic

bank and sound accountants. We were lucky with Ron and Ken

providing that guidance.

P e o p l e S k i l l s - Progress always comes back to getting •

things done by delegating to competent people.

Were there times you doubted yourself in building your

business? If so what advice would you give to those who have

periods of doubt about whether or not they’ll make it?

Doubt is a constant companion when dealing with new products and

new markets. Frenz always believed free range eggs were the best

product for the consumer and the animals welfare, eventually markets

would accept the concept. We also believed we had to export to grow

the company later on. We had to continually remind ourselves of that.

Keeping these two objectives in focus and continually keeping the end

result in mind helps to beat the doubts.

Building a business can be the one of the most stressful

things can undertake - what do you do to cope with stress?

Managing the business well is the best way to beat stress. Not risking

more than you can afford to lose and sharing the load - a mentor

helps. I was lucky to have some good ones.

Relaxation is a must and being as fit mentally and physically as

possible gave me the ability to absorb the day to day demands.

What would your advice be to any NZers reading this, who

have an idea for a business but are scared about leaving

their jobs to try it?

I did a feasibility study before committing to anything. It took three

months and sorted out many misconceptions giving us confidence to

proceed. This was done whilst we continued with our “day” jobs.

I would advise getting sound advice from as many reliable independent

sources and taking as much time as possible before diving in the deep end.

To find out more about The Free Range Egg Poultry Co, or

‘FRENZ visit their website at http://www.frenzs.co.nz/


http://www.frenzs.co.nz

1 4

A pair of New Zealand brothers has pushed

the boundaries of ebooks with a new mobile

application called Booktrack.

I P / I n n o va t I o n

By Deidre Coleman for AJ Park

Case Study: BooktrackIP IN ACTION

Booktrack is a fully immersive reading

experience that adds new dimensions to

an ebook, through carefully created and

synchronised sound effects and a music soundtrack

that matches individual reading pace. Launched in the US in August

2011, it’s now a popular seller on the Apple App Store.

Co-creator Paul Cameron: “Reading rates around the world are

declining - especially with younger audiences - and it’s mainly due to

the rich multimedia environment reading has to compete with. With

Booktrack, we’re trying to provide another reading option that will

make reading fun again.”

L I G H T A S P A P E R

Booktrack could well be the ultimate weightless export model - it’s

a highly efficient business with global reach, which leverages others’

distribution channels and infrastructure platforms, using IP created in

New Zealand. While the sales and marketing of Booktrack is focused

in the US, the R&D takes place here.

Protecting that unique IP has been a vital step in Booktrack’s path to

success. Three years ago, armed with a prototype and a provisional

patent application, Mark and Paul approached patent attorney

Hadleigh Brown at AJ Park.

“Hadleigh’s been fantastic,” says Cameron. “He really understands

our product from a technical level, so we have good continuity

when we come back with new developments. But he also suggests

different approaches and strategies around our IP. It’s been an

invaluable relationship.”

Any New Zealand company taking an idea to the world has to ensure

their IP is well protected at an international level. Brown has helped

them align their IP-protection strategy with their commercialisation

strategy to get the best result.

“We assessed what they had and initially protected the most important

inventions to secure them an advantage in the market,” he says.

“Successful patenting and commercialisation is a lot about timing.

They were developing their technology and at the same time wanting

to protect their innovations and seek investment. Start-ups don’t have

big budgets for IP so it’s vital to file a patent application when the

technology is advanced enough. It’s all about managing costs, timing

and sequencing.”

Booktrack is protected in several major international markets thanks

to AJ Park’s well-established relationships with overseas associates.

With differing and constantly changing laws in each country, getting

the strategy right is essential.

A R E A L P A G E - T U R N E R

“These guys are exciting clients to work with,” says Brown. “They’ve

grown quickly and found significant credible investors willing to fund

their idea. It’s exciting, as an advisor, to see your client launching

successfully and progressing on from having an initial prototype and

an idea to turning it into something that can be downloaded from the

Apple App store.”

Written by Deirdre Coleman, this case study was featured in #36 of Idealog.

Photo courtesy of Booktrack.


1 5

P E R S o n a L t R a I n E R

Sandy Geyer is an entrepreneur and mentor and teaches the principles of entrepreneurial

intelligence (EnQ), to entrepreneurs in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

You can visit Sandy’s website at www.enqpractice.com

Entrepreneurial Intelligence with Sandy GeyerExPANDING THE TEAMBy Sandy Geyer

I have been tempted many times to start my own business

but I am concerned about the lack of security as an

entrepreneur and wonder if it’s just best to stay employed

so that I can be sure of my ability to provide for my family.

What do you think?

I think that the feeling of security as an employee is an illusion.

Even those who are obviously brilliant at what they do, and valued

very highly by their organization, are never completely secure. All

employees are vulnerable to outside influences such as buyouts,

restructures, economic influences and even emotionally based

influences such as nepotism.

I have felt more secure as an entrepreneur since the day I started my

first business in half my garage with no more than the next two months

of costs in reserve and an idea. My husband asked me to go back to a

corporate position if we hadn’t made a profit in 6 months.

It took us 6 years to do anything more than cover the bills but our

growth became exponential and the returns have far exceeded his

wildest expectations ever since. One of the most important steps

to becoming an entrepreneurial thinker is learning to accept full

responsibility for your outcomes and understand that you will

look after yourself and your loved ones with more dedication than

anyone else will.

Being in business is about making money by providing necessary

services and learning to adapt as the market shifts, as it will. If you are

clear on what you want and have a good idea of how you are going to

do it, I say go for it. You have more motivation to succeed than any job

could give you.

In each issue Sandy will be answering commonly asked questions from new entrepreneurs. If you have a question

for Sandy to do with entrepreneurship, building successful businesses or the challenges and difficulties faced by

entrepreneurs, email the editor at [email protected]


www.enqpractice.com

1 6

T A K I N G T H E P L U N G E

Profile:Each month, we talk to an up and coming New Zealand entrepreneur who has set about turning their idea into a real

business.Rowing is said to be the greatest team sport in the world as it involves working together as a unit to meet a

common goal. Corporate Rowing delivers programmes using expert led discussions and rowing, to train winning teams.

Gerard Campbell

Briefly tell us about your business. How did you first come

up with the idea?

There is so much people can learn from the sport of rowing and a lot

of fun to be had in developing a rowing team of eight. I view rowing

as the ultimate team sport and it is now New Zealand’s number one

Olympic sport. Corporate Rowing is a shared experience which quickly

develops trust, breaks down communication barriers and brings

people together.

I got the seed of the idea when I filled in to help out a Sovereign

Insurance eight when I was at high school. Two years after that, Marin

Construction founder, Craig Blaikie gave me an opportunity. In 2009

he asked if I could organise a race for him. Admittedly, an eighteen

year old organising eight burly construction workers was a bit of a

shambles, but I learned heaps! That opportunity gave me the initial

motivation and money I needed to pursue the idea.

What is the big goal for your business?

To use our metrics to create business teams which enjoy solving the big

problems and generate tremendous value for their organisations. The end

result will be a model which allows Corporate Rowing to licence its services

to rowing clubs and generate income for the rowing community, whilst

offering tremendous value to businesses and a sustainable business model.

What inspired you to take the plunge?

Growing up I watched almost every Steve Jobs and Warren Buffet

video on YouTube. Their money and their temperament (principled,

cool, free and compelling) always inspired me. As the business has

developed I have learned to offer value to clients to influence positive

change. Seeing the freedom a product or service can generate for me

and the benefits for people/a market is so inspirational. I guess you

could say comparative advantage is what inspires me now.

Profile by Nick Harley


What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of

building your business so far?

Building business relationships has been a challenge. I do not like

the idea of ‘selling’ - it seems manipulative to me. It has caused

me to become robotic so many times in business relationships. I

am understanding more and more that story telling will compel

people and will strengthen my relationships and help me sell my

services without ‘selling.’ I enjoy listening to people and hearing

about experiences they have had in business and discussing my

experiences. Business relationships are a funny thing. A shared

experience like rowing takes people away from work and trust is

developed as the base for a sound relationship. Most of the clients

I have had on the course keep in touch with me and I have loved

having them there. I think they loved being out on the water and this

mutual support develops trust and brings us a lot of repeat business.

Quickly and effectively building strong relationships has by far, and

still is, one of my largest challenges!

What keeps you going when you feel like giving up?

I never feel like giving up. I get down sometimes, but love what I do

and what I will do in the future. What picks me up is knuckling down

and then seeing some results. I love progress and I am not afraid to

work hard to get it.

What advice would you give to any people reading this who

are thinking of starting a business?

Go for it. If you fail and fail and fail that doesn’t matter, as long as

you learn and understand you will always always eventually succeed.

Doing is the best way to learn! Look up “Ray Crock” and read a little

about that old milkshake salesman or the Kiwi story “Every Bastard

Says No.” If inspiration like that doesn’t get you out of bed in the

morning it will at least give you a few things to reflect on.

For more information check out Gerard’s business, visit

Corporate Rowing at http://corporaterowing.co.nz

Are you a New Zealand entrepreneur that has recently

“taken the plunge?” Would like to tell our readers your

own story? Get in touch with Nick at

[email protected]

1 7


http://corporaterowing.co.nz

1 8

Profile:

Pricemaker has developed a reverse auction platform for buying new, higher-priced items from traditional bricks and

mortar retailers, turning the traditional shopping experience on it’s head.

Erin Walshe

Briefly tell us about your business. How did you first come

up with the idea?

I pretty much got sick of trawling around stores looking for the best

deal every time I was buying a big-ticket item. You know the drill,

you’re after a new TV and you may also want some television cables, a

wall mount or cabinet, or maybe even a Blu-ray player. The massively

automated online world was hopeless for that kind of request.

Hopeless for the consumer and hopeless for the retailer.

Pricemaker is a platform that connects consumers to retailers. It lets

the consumer describe what they want to buy. It then gives the retailer

the opportunity to respond with their best deal to entice the consumer,

and get the sale.

What is the big goal for your business?

We want Pricemaker to be a global business.

There are many countries that we want to export the platform to.

There are many different categories that we want to add. Pricemaker

will appear differently in each country, as the verticals will resonate

differently with different groups of consumers.

What inspired you to take the plunge?

We had been working on Pricemaker as a hobby over the last few

years. None of us had the time, or the cash, to make it a full-time

commitment.

T A K I N G T H E P L U N G E

Profile by Nick Harley


Erin Walshe

Then out of nowhere the planets started to align. In March this year

I was made redundant from the banking industry so a good friend

offered me some part time work. As luck would have it we had also

recently raised some capital and been wondering whom we should

hire to get Pricemaker up and running. I quickly put my hand up and

committed to getting stuck in. Having a part-time gig meant that I was

not going to be a drain on our limited funds and we could therefore

spend more on what was most important at that stage, our developers.

Have I missed banking? Not once!

What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of

building your business so far?

I am a non-technical founder of a tech company. So that can be pretty

challenging at times as I am not involved in the writing of our code or

the building of our infrastructure. Coming to grips with what the tech

gurus are talking about can be tricky at times.

But the benefit of that is that gives others ownership over that part of

the business. They are empowered to make the calls and find the best

way to do things. To date they have done an outstanding job.

I am free to spend all of my energy on the commercial side of the

business, which is where I am most comfortable.

What keeps you going when you feel like giving up?

To be honest I never feel like giving up. Having spent 15 years as a Fx

Trader I have built up disciplines around when it is time to quit, or

stop out of a losing position. So until I get to that point I don’t even

entertain the thought. Also, I am enjoying myself far too much to feel

like quitting. I now actually want to go to work each morning!

What advice would you give to any people reading this who

are thinking of starting a business?

I used to think that the Nike slogan of “Just do it” was the best advice.

But that is only half of what I would say to someone now. Timing is

just as important. I could not just quit my job to do this whenever I

may have wanted to. I have a mortgage and three kids to think about.

So my advice to people now is: when the time is right for

you, then, just do it.

For more information check out Prickemaker at http://

pricemaker.co.nz

1 9


http://pricemaker.co.nz

2 0

S a L E S / M a R K E t I n G

Back in the late 90s, working as a marketing consultant, I would always hear the managing director of a risk

insurance brokerage I was assisting tell his team “activity equals success”. Without a doubt he was right. The sales

you make today are generated from the marketing activities you have done in the past. What differs industry by

industry is the lead time required for that activity to create a sale. Stop the activity and in a corresponding time in the

future, sales will fall.

Strategies That Win Customers WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANKBy Debbie Mayo-Smith

This is not yet another article espousing the imperative of

continuing your marketing efforts in difficult economic

times. Rather, it details six strategies to enhance and

refocus your marketing to generate greater success from less cost in

time, dollars and effort. I can vouch for all six because I personally

do them every day.

Q U A N T I F Y . M O N E Y T A L K S . F L U F F W A L K S

Put a dollar value on how the potential customer will benefit.

Measure their rate of return.

This exercise is easier than you might think. Will your product/

service save them time? Put a value on it by estimating how much

time it will save a year, multiplied by the value of that person’s time


2 1

Debbie Mayo-Smith is an International Motivational Business Speaker, trainer and bestselling

author. She is in-demand at conferences and in-house training for her easy practical how-to

ways to improve sales, time management and customer service. Visit her website for 500+ free

articles and quick tip newsletter at www.successis.co.nz

(their wage per hour, or salary). Can you reduce stress? Does that

lead to happier employees which helps reduce turnover? You can

quantify the recruitment costs saved along with the productivity.

Does it help them make more sales or increase turnover? Take the

average value of one sale (you can even factor in the lifetime value of

that one new client) multiplied by the number of new ones expected.

You can get the base information any number of ways: research

on the internet, their competitors, annual reports, talk to HR

professionals about salary levels, colleagues in that industry, allies

within that company.

T O P D O W N

It makes infinitely more sense to employ a top-down rather than

bottom-up approach. Is your marketing directed to individuals or

single businesses? Instead, focus on getting to many prospects at

once by finding where they congregate - associations, clubs, groups.

This tactic does double duty by making you appear to be endorsed

by the group in question.

D O Y O U R H O M E W O R K

How much time do you take researching a prospect before your

initial contact?

After several presentations this September at the biennial

Asia Pacific Ronald McDonald House Charities conference, an

The sales you make today are generated from the marketing acti vities you have done in the past .

“ Australian house manager made this comment:

“Debbie, the most important point I’m taking home

from you isn’t one you mentioned, it’s what you

vividly demonstrated throughout this conference.

It suddenly hit me that I wasn’t doing any research

before going to talk to prospective business

partners or donors. I just front up to the meeting,

talk about us and ask for donations or support.

It is now clear to me that we can be much more

successful by understanding them more. Putting

their shoes on. Empathising how we can be of help

to them also.”

T H E M . N O T Y O U

Almost every piece of marketing material, proposal

or sales presentation that I see has the wrong I/you

ratio. Your prospects care solely about themselves. Yet

most marketing material focuses on how wonderful we are.

How great we do. Send this chest-thumping gorilla marketing

philosophy packing. Replace it with a customer-focused “what’s in

it for them” strategy. How will it make them more successful? How

will it make them happier? How will it make them more money?

COMMUNICATE. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

People do business with people, not companies. How many

communications do you receive from businesses after you’ve paid the

invoice or bought the goods? By maintaining a regular communication

strategy you will stay top of mind and gain more referrals.

But remember point 3 - the communication is for their benefit, not

just yours. The mode of communication should be varied too. Not

just email. When was the last time you picked up the phone and

called existing customers? You’d be surprised how much business

you can generate that way.

T E N A C I T Y

Figuratively speaking, most businesses knock on a door and ask,

“Will you do business with me?” When the answer is, “No, not

now”, they move on to the next prospect. Then the next. And the

next. That time spent is forever wasted.

When you knock, change the question to, “Can we start up a

conversation?” In other words, by using the communication

strategy you set up in point 4, you create tenacity. Persistence. You

nurture prospects along until they are ready to do business with

you or, equally important, they refer people to you.

By combining these six strategies, you can improve your success

while using less money, time and effort.


http://www.successis.co.nz

2 2

C a P I t a L R a I S I n G

Seed capital investment due diligence normally focuses on

the startup. But here’s how the founder can put would-be

investors through their paces.

Choosing Winners

FINDING THE RIGHT INVESTOR

By Andrew Duff

One of the big decisions facing company founders is whether to

bootstrap - that is, fund the company’s growth out of revenues

and their own resources - as opposed to bringing in new

capital from investors. To bootstrap to profitability, you need to scale

quickly and keep refining your offering. But most companies need

early stage capital to be successful.

That’s when founders really need to focus. Much gets said and written

about how angel investors and venture capitalists choose companies to

invest in and how careful they need to be to pick the right companies

with the right people. This also applies to founders. If they are going to

take on investors, they need to make sure they choose them carefully.


2 3

Andrew co-founded Sparkbox in 2001. He is a Director of a number of private start-up companies

including many Sparkbox portfolio entities

The right type of investor can add huge value to a business, far

beyond the cash they bring to the table. The wrong type can be

disastrous. Take, for example, those consultants and would-be CEOs

who claim to be investing, but often end up securing lucrative,

cash sapping positions.

You need to take care because seed investing is very

early stage investment and requires particular

skills and experience. Often a company is little

more than a founder, a product and a sense of

addressable market need. In New Zealand,

few in seed investors have the cash and

skills to move your business through the

angel stage and offshore. Don’t end up

with the wrong investors just for the

cash. It is better to bootstrap than

have the wrong investor on board.

When you seek early stage capital,

make sure you interview your

would-be investors. This is often

overlooked as the focus is on their

due diligence on you, your idea

and their cash.

Do your due diligence on them. I

have allowed investors to invest in

our portfolio companies that I have

later regretted. It can take years to

remove such an investor from the

share register when the company is

using every available dollar for growth.

How many early stage investments has the investor made

this year?

How many early stage investments has the investor made

in total?

Find out the names of the last few investments and

reference check with them.

What is the size of their portfolio and how many of their

investments have they made in international markets?

1234If a potential investor does not quite tick all the boxes, consider

combining them with people who are active and experienced. We need

to encourage more early stage investors to get involved and partnering

can be a way to get started.

Use your contacts and find the right investor with the skills,

networks and funding runway to get your company global.

Investment in early stage companies is, in many respects, the

result of hard lessons learned and experience. Growth companies

have enough challenges, so do your due diligence and get the best

investors on your team.

When you seek funding, make sure you tick these boxes:


2 4

G E t t I n G I t D o n E

The history of invention is littered with many forgotten facts,

but perhaps chief among them is the undeniable truth that

Leonardo da Vinci had never heard of product standards.

Brilliant, yes, many of his inventions undoubtedly were, but safe?

Let’s put it this way, if anyone did make and test da Vinci’s flying

machines they certainly didn’t live to talk about it.

Creating a bold new product to meet a gap in the market - or even

importing one - is exciting stuff. But you have to keep your feet on

the ground (no pun intended).

If you don’t keep New Zealand’s standards regulations in mind when

developing your product or checking out an import opportunity,

you’ll end up doing a good impression of a Renaissance-era test pilot

yourself (i.e. flying without a parachute).

Standards in New Zealand are governed by three pieces of

legislation, that all work in tandem, plus product safety standards.

They are:

● the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA)

● the Fair Trading Act (FTA), and

● the Weights and Measures Act (WMA).

Often, the most important of these for new or imported products is

the CGA, which outlines the set of consumer guarantees products

and services must meet.

By Adrian Nacey

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Have a prototype up your sleeve or an importing

opportunity on your mind? If so, there are various

standards you should know about to enable your

product to be sold in New Zealand. Business.govt.nz

e-Business advisor Adrian Nacey explains.

Product Standards?

There are many guarantees, with some applying to products and

others to services, but they all include things you’d expect when you

buy products and services from others.

The guarantees include, for example, that a product is fit for purpose.

Say you develop a price-busting household broom, but when you

take it market you find the economic lightweight material you use for

the handle means it breaks under normal use. In this situation, you’d

be in breach of the CGA.

Overall, it’s really common sense stuff. Where businesses often get it

wrong is under what kind of products and services the CGA applies to.

There are caveats, but the main thing to remember is that if the

product or service is designed for business use or as part of a

manufacturing process it’s not covered by the Act.

This isn’t to say, however, that if you’re selling consumer goods to a

business the Act automatically doesn’t apply. If you don’t have their

written agreement to you opting out, you’ll be in breach of the Fair

Trading Act and could be fined up to $200,000 in court.


http://business.govt.nz

2 52 5

But, crucially, what the CGA states (under a product being ‘fit for

purpose’) is that you - as the manufacturer or importer of a product -

are responsible for it being safe to use.

In most product categories the CGA is the last word, with expected

standards set by the Act’s consumer guarantees, industry and

component-specific best practice standards (which you can find

online with Standards New Zealand), and market factors, such as the

expectations of retailers.

However, there are also mandatory product safety standards in six

categories. If your product is a baby walker, children’s nightwear,

a child’s toy, a household cot, a cigarette lighter or a pedal cycle

go online to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website to find the

standards you need to follow.

If you import a product in one of these categories which doesn’t meet

these standards, it simply won’t be allowed through customs.

The best course of action is to seek legal advice from a lawyer with

experience in your sector and, if you’re importing a product, to check

first on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website whether its banned

in New Zealand by an Unsafe Goods Notice.

Importing, selling or even advertising such goods is an offence

under… you guessed it, the Fair Trading Act.

The Fair Trading Act keeps coming up for a reason. It’s all about

ensuring fair competition between rival businesses and ensuring

consumers aren’t misled.

Even if you don’t intend to mislead a consumer, if your actions result

in a consumer being misled you could be investigated under the Act

by the Commerce Commission, and be separately taken to court by

the individual consumer in question.

The Act covers deceptive or misleading activities carried out when

promoting goods and services, plus others carried out regardless of

whether the parties involved are ‘in trade’ (such as advertising a job

in a misleading way).

And then there’s the Weights and Measures Act. If your product

needs to be weighed or measured, you also have to consider this Act

that outlines the standards and accreditation required to ensure

measuring accuracy.

If you plan to sell firewood by the measure, for example, or use a

weighbridge to set pricing, then you need to make sure you apply

with this Act.

At first glance, product safety standards and the triumvirate of Acts

aligned with them, look like a puzzle worthy of The Da Vinci Code.

But if you take the time to look into how they work together you’re

much more likely to get your business off to a flying start.

Further resources:

Business.govt.nz • – for an overview of the standards

regulations relating to manufacturing and importing.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs • – for more information

on the Consumer Guarantees Act, product safety standards and

the Weights and Measures Act.

The Commerce Commission• – for more information on the

Fair Trading Act.

Adrian Nacey is an e-Business Advisor at Business.govt.nz.

2 5


One simple search and I’m in business!

Get your business off to a great start

ONECheck

Securing a business name is simple with the new ONECheck online tool from Business.govt.nz

Simply enter your proposed name, hit search and you’ll find out immediately if your name is available as a company name, website address and trademark.

It’s quick, easy and one of the most valuable things you can do for your business.

Check it out at www.business.govt.nz/onecheck

http://bit.ly/13hOZgM



http://bit.ly/OkRhBg

2 7

t o M o R R o w S E n t R E P R E n E u R S

We are often asked what the secret to success is for our

Lion Foundation Young Enterprise companies. Over

the years, we have seen successful YES companies come

from a range of schools; public and private; low-decile and high-

decile; urban and rural.

In my opinion, the key factor in determining student success is not the

students’ background or their location or school type. Rather, it is the

enthusiasm, passion and expertise of the teacher that is the catalyst

for student success. For most New Zealand teachers, ‘enterprise’ is a

new concept that they have had little or no training in, and Business

Studies is only an optional subject in the curriculum.

That’s why Young Enterprise Trust exists – to bridge the gap and

provide training and support for teachers across the country. We are a

not-for-profit, not a Government agency as many people assume, and

92% of our funding comes from the private sector.

March is our annual donation appeal and we’d love for you to

help us spread the word. It costs us $150 to train a teacher in our

enterprise programmes and this is one of our focus areas for 2013.

If you can donate or know of others who can, we’d really appreciate

your support. Check us out at http://www.givealittle.co.nz/

org/yetrust.

Young Enterprise

VOLUNTEER:

Terry Shubkin, CEOYOUNG ENTERPRISE TRUST

WE WANT YOU!

The 2013 school year has kicked off again, and we’re delighted to say

that an increasing number of schools will be offering our enterprise

programmes in their classrooms.

For example, we will visit nearly 50 secondary schools this year to

deliver the BP Business Challenge, a three-day programme similar to a

virtual Dragon’s Den. We are also expecting more than 3000 students

to take part in our most popular programme, the Lion Foundation

Young Enterprise Scheme. These students will form 600 companies

this year and bring a new product or service to market.

These programmes cannot survive without the support of local

businesspeople. Each year we are assisted by 1,000 volunteers from

the business community, and we’re on the hunt for more people to

join us. This is an investment of your time, and we want you!

Local business people can volunteer by:

Judging at a BP Business Challenge (3 hours total)•

Judging at a regional or national event for the Lion Foundation •

Young Enterprise Scheme (Options vary but are usually 2-4

hours total)

A mentor/coach for a student company participating in the Lion •

Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (1-2 hours every month for

a year).

We know that students benefit hugely from the chance to connect with

the local business community. For many, it’s their first experience

with the world of business and it can have a huge effect on their study

and career plans.

Help us by giving up just a few hours of your time – volunteer now via

our website.

One simple search and I’m in business!

Get your business off to a great start

ONECheck

Securing a business name is simple with the new ONECheck online tool from Business.govt.nz

Simply enter your proposed name, hit search and you’ll find out immediately if your name is available as a company name, website address and trademark.

It’s quick, easy and one of the most valuable things you can do for your business.

Check it out at www.business.govt.nz/onecheck


http://givealittle.co.nz/org/yetrust

http://bit.ly/UqsDCB

2 8

Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking our potential”

“P a R t I n G S H o t

Winston Churchill

NZ Entrepreneur Magazine - Issue 4

Documents

Transcript of NZ Entrepreneur Magazine - Issue 4