Category Archives: Business Profiles

Creating successful business owners in the Bay

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Creating successful businesses across Hawke’s Bay is behind the change of name for well-known Hawke’s Bay accounting firm enablebusiness to +MORE.

“+MORE’s core purpose is to create successful business owners,” says Sam Ogle, owner and director of +MORE Hawke’s Bay.

Over the past 12 months, Sam’s Hawke’s Bay team have been on a journey and COVID-19 has highlighted how important it is to them to deliver and support their clients in more than just an accounting capacity.

“Providing great accountancy services to our clients remains a big part of what we do, but when it comes to solving cash flow issues, supporting debt restructuring, working through due diligence processes or any areas our clients need our support in, we are here to help and deliver more,” says Sam.

While their name has changed, their people, values and services remain the same.

“We care about our clients and for many we have become an extension of their business; their go-to advisor for all aspects of their business, not just accounting.

“COVID-19 lockdown really highlighted this for us, and it really cemented our client relationships. We have been adding more to our client’s businesses for years now, it made sense to us to have a name that was able to reflect who we are and what we do best.”

+MORE supports their clients through a range of advisory services that include business planning, cash flow forecasting, coaching, succession planning, governance, HR, people management and more. If there are areas where they can’t provide the specialised advice their clients need, they work with their trusted network of professionals to ensure their client receives the best support possible.

As an addition to their core service offerings, +MORE host complimentary webinars each month on a range of relevant business topics that are open to all to attend, not just clients.

What is +MORE?

+MORE is a business advisory and accountancy firm.

“We guide business owners through planning, forecasting and coaching with a suite of tools and strong partner connections to help our clients grow their capability.”

The team at +MORE believe every small and medium New Zealand business deserves access to practical business advice, and they are passionate about helping Hawke’s Bay business owners feel supported through their advisory and accountancy expertise.

The +MORE team truly care about the success of their clients and they understand that success looks different to everyone. Whether it is spending more time with family, growing a business or achieving financial freedom, whatever success looks like for the business owner, +MORE listen and work with their clients to help them achieve their business goals.

Jess Tietjen becomes a new Hawke’s Bay owner & director.

Jess joined the Hawke’s Bay team almost two years ago and most recently she became a director and co-owner of +MORE Hawke’s Bay with Sam Ogle.

The re-brand has been exciting for Jess: “The firm and I are starting our new chapter at the same time and I am helping shape the +MORE story.”

“We’re a modern firm with a vibrant high energy team and that’s why I jumped at the chance to become an owner and director.”

“It is great having Jess as a business partner,” says Sam. “She lives our core values daily. She is passionate about her work and has a healthy commercial view of the world.”

It is a partnership that works and will support +MORE towards their vision – fuelling the ambition of business owners in the creation of time, mind and financial freedom.

For Jess it made sense to come on board this journey with Sam. The firm’s values, purpose and vision resonated with her and when offered the opportunity to become an owner, it was a no brainer to accept.

“After spending years advising business owners, it feels great to be one myself. From starting out as a graduate accountant all those years ago to becoming a director of a firm feels like a huge sense of accomplishment.”

Jess has always had huge respect for business owners, always appreciating it certainly isn’t easy.

Becoming a business owner helped her further relate to the challenges her client’s face, the hard work that goes into it and, most importantly, the rewards that come with business ownership.

“We have a fantastic team along with awesome clients doing exciting work, which makes for an enjoyable work life for our team.”

The future of +MORE in Hawke’s Bay.

Sam, Jess and the Hawke’s Bay team are passionate about helping business owners achieve both their business and personal goals. Working alongside clients who have the drive to be the best that they can be and achieve their goals year on year is what gets them out of bed in the morning.

“Hawke’s Bay is a great place to do business and is filled with driven and innovative business owners. Being able to support them to achieve their successes is what we love doing and will continue to do in the future.”

Contact

Sam Ogle 021 802 882

Jess Tietjen 021 444 869

Office: Level 1, 33 Havelock Road, Havelock North 4130

Water supply business springs up in time for busy summer season

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OVID-19 might be the crisis that we will all remember 2020 for but locally, farmers will never forget the year due to one of our most severe droughts.

Water demand was at an all-time high as farmers in sun-parched rural areas tanked in our most precious natural resource.

Local businessman Shaun McPherson was forced to return to one of his old jobs, truck driving, while his commercial cleaning business Boulevard Services experienced a downturn due to offices and retail stores being forced shut for many weeks.

While driving a truck, Shaun had plenty of time to think about business opportunities that could come from COVID-19.

As he drove across the Hawke’s Bay hinterland that was bearing the brunt of the drought, he plotted his new business idea – getting water faster to those that live in remote areas such as farms and coastal property owners.

“You had to be asleep at the wheel if you weren’t hearing stories of water shortages and farmers struggling to get an immediate delivery of water at the height of the season. Water supply was also regarded as a critical service, so we saw the opportunity.”

The spotlight on access to quality water has increased over the last few years, especially since the water contamination of Havelock North’s drinking water supply in August 2016 as well as the need for better water storage provisions for the primary sector.

Shaun and business partner Peter Cadwallader did some due diligence about the opportunity of water supply provisions and have set up Hawke’s Bay Water in time for the busy 2020/21 summer season.

“Our market research found that there is major shortage of water carriers, with people waiting up to three weeks in summer for water.

“I previously come from a transport background as well, so I understand trucks, drivers, log books and things like that.”

The pair have purchased two tanker units capable of moving a total of 28,000 litres under a Ministry of Health approved drinking water safety plan, and plan to operate 24/7 during the busy summer months.

Long term, they see an opportunity to become a turnkey water management and service provider from ‘tank to tap’.

“The whole idea in the future is to provide the tanks, plumbing, filtering and the water as well as all the compliance and monitoring. We will assist people to identify their needs, and treatment types and methods, then source quotes and project manage the works. Finally, we will develop the drinking water safety plan, which includes monitoring service maintenance/replacements, and sampling regimes.

“We want to add some professionalism and a turnkey solution. We want to be able to advise our clients on what are the best filtration and UV systems, not just deliver a tank of water.”

Peter has lived on a farm for many years and has experienced the stress of wondering how long it would be before their water would run out during long hot summers.

“We captured rainwater in our 45,000-litre tank and when that ran out, we would pump water from a creek three kilometres away, and when the creek ran dry, we had to find another source.

“These days we can deliver a tank of water, which takes the pressure off local sources and resource consent water restrictions.”

Despite his other business interests, both Shaun and Peter will be clocking up the kilometres over summer delivering water.

They purchase water from council-owned water filling stations in Hastings, Napier and Central Hawke’s Bay and will deliver as far north has Mahia and to Dannevirke in the south.

“We’re a start-up business so we’ll be doing the deliveries ourselves. We do have some others that are interested in helping out but we’ll see how we get on.

“Our real point of difference will be that we are 24/7.”

www.hb-water.co.nz

0800 429 283 or 021 836 946

On the correct path – Icehouse insight to First Chiropractic

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Brett and Emma Mead were forced to temporarily shut their doors for seven weeks when Covid-19 hit however, with the support of The Icehouse, the First Chiropractic Hastings owners are not only adjusting to a new economic environment, they are investing in new technology for their customers, taking on new staff and lifting the business to new levels.

Almost two year’s ago Brett Mead signed up to The Icehouse Owner Operator Programme, a collaborative, impact-based course. Brett and chiropractor Emma had bought the Hastings-based business in 2015, with limited business ownership experience and they were keen to upskill themselves in a way that would benefit their patients.

“We saw an opportunity to grow the business but we wanted to grow in a sustainable way – not growth for growth’s sake. We focus on seeing everything through our patients’ eyes, so we wanted to enhance the experience for our patients at the same time as developing a better business.”

Having the guidance from Icehouse business coach and Programme facilitator Michaela Vodanovich gave them the confidence to invest in new technology, including x-ray and a muscle scanner.

Brett says having an experienced person looking into the business from the outside meant they were confident in their decision-making, important for a couple working so closely together.

“Michaela gave us that reassurance we needed.”

While Brett was actively engaged with the Programme’s regular workshops and action groups, Emma was able to join the one on one coaching sessions with Michaela.

“Chiropractors are typically also having to be business owners and that maybe isn’t always our strength, so it’s been awesome having Brett focused on the business so I can focus on ensuring patient care is to a high standard.

“We wanted this place to be an enjoyable experience and more mainstream. People might have had the impression that seeing a chiropractor was a heavy, manual experience but we wanted to change that perception and offer a welcoming modern environment and gentle techniques suitable for all ages. The digital technology that we have now also gives us the ability to see more accurately what’s going on before we start any treatment.”

While the couple have grown the business year on year, they are reaching their goals to offer a better patient experience.

“The growth has accelerated since we started in The Icehouse from patient feedback, to numbers through the door and referrals. Even though the business is tracking well, Michaela has questioned things. Having someone suggest tweaks to our processes, systems and time management has allowed us to increase the standard for patients and then in turn, we see the referrals increase all the time, which can only be down to patient experience.”

When Covid hit, both Brett and Emma’s first thought was, what could they do for the patients.

“We jumped on the phone to Michaela and worked out a plan for the staff to work from home. They contacted patients and free consults were offered on the phone or Zoom with the chiropractors. We started making advice videos and kept staff busy.  There were hundreds of calls made. Michaela gave us the realisation that we needed a plan and the patients loved it. When we re-opened, seven weeks later, the tap was back on.”

While Brett has finished his time in the Owner Operator Programme, the pair are continuing with one on one coaching with Michaela and have been able to utilise the Covid coaching funding offered by the Regional Business Partner.

“We have come back stronger from Covid that’s for sure.”

k.delautour@theicehouse.co.nz

Kaitime: Fueling the next generation

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It has been a rise of epic proportions for Maraenui-based Kaitime. The pakihi (business) is owned and founded by Tina Sheree Rangi and partner Jonny Tawhara with the mission to fuel the next generation by ensuring every child has at least one sufficient meal a day that is packed with nutrients and all the good things that our region has to offer. They are the only local Māori-owned business specialising in healthy packed lunches.

Launching in February 2020 Kaitime mooted their idea to provide affordable and nutritious packed lunches via Facebook, testing the market by running a competition and giving away their first product for free. Fast-forward to October and they now have three sites across Hawke’s Bay and are a provider for the Healthy Lunches in Schools programme. They make thousands of lunches each weekday and have grown to a team of 20.

For Tina and Jonny the key to their successful launch was research and accessing the right support for them. Driven by values and motivated by the need they saw in the community, they knew they needed practical and purpose-fit start-up support. They utilised the KETE Programme through Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga specifically the business start-up module and looked to trusted friends and whānau. “We are so lucky to be surrounded by friends and family who are business owners.  They have really helped shape what we have tried to create for the betterment of our community,” explains Tina.

While the business has clear commercial viability it also operates with elements of a social enterprise. With Kaitime still supplying some schools who are not eligible for the Healthy Schools Programme and ‘pay it forward’ options on their website. They keep prices affordable through donations and support from local businesses and food rescue programmes. For $5 a day, or $20 a week, they provide a varied weekly menu including fruit, yoghurt, sandwiches, scrogin and do hot meals once or twice a week depending on the season. Meals such as spaghetti bolognese, Mac’ n Cheese, chop suey or pumpkin soup. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea are included at these price points and all the food is prepared in registered commercial kitchens by certified handlers.

Growth and expansion

Tina’s background as a marketing coordinator has stood Kaitime in good stead as they navigate their growth.

Frequent communication and a range of touch points have been effective in building their reputation for reliability and awareness in the marketplace of their services. “Social media is our key channel where we share simple, consistent messaging regarding our menus and community events. It’s so important to keep people engaged,” says Tina.

Their biggest challenges are the not uncommon, establishing a workable work-life balance and delegating while developing roles and responsibilities when the workload forced them to increase the size of their team in order to meet demand. Tina shares, “The biggest challenge so far would be finding enough hours in the day for us to have a rest. Letting go of full control and trusting others to do the work has been hard. Not because of their abilities but because of my own personality being a bit of a control freak.”

The Kaitime team are in expansion mode, with plans to open a takeaway outlet with a focus on Māori and Polynesian cuisine, Kaitime restaurant and catering service. These services will provide existing staff members with the option to work over school holidays when their lunches aren’t required as well as employment opportunities for others.

“Our plans are to go national. If we can feed more children in different towns through our original Kaitime kids then that’s on the to-do list for sure!”

Visit the Kaitime website (www.kaitime.nz)

Story supplied by Sally Crown of Tipu Ake Tonu Ltd –
www.tipuaketonu.co.nz

A kaupapa to help others’ succeed

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Pūngao,  kohara and ānga (energy, passion and drive) easily describe the collective essence of Theresa O’Brien and Sally Crown as they push forward an important kaupapa of “helping others live their best lives”.

Although history will show how many businesses were lost due to COVID-19, Theresa and Sally, established Tipu Ake Tonu Ltd during this time, with a vision to help others to succeed and achieve community well-being through economic development.

During the level 4 lockdown in March/April, the two friends and entrepreneurs set up regular zoom catch ups with others to share their lockdown experiences and to create a support network.

It was from these online hui that their idea to collaborate and create a business was born and since then it’s been a whirlwind.

“We were reflecting on our own experiences of the rāhui and the impact it was having on us and our whānau.  We started thinking about how it was therefore impacting on other whānau, hapū, hapori (community) and iwi,” said Theresa.

The pair started looking at social and economic data and forecasts, while discussing the role entrepreneurship and the ability to be agile in business would play on our regional and national recovery. With the issues identified they worked on where they could add value.

Sally adds: “We wanted to start a business that utilised our shared passion for helping others combined with our skills and experience in enterprise and community.; a business that would specifically support the regions’ economy, underpinned by values and the Māori eco-system.”

Within a week Tipu Ake Tonu was registered and ready to go.

Sally is of Ngāti Rereahu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Apakura descent. She has a background is in communications, business development, policy, governance and education programme development and delivery. She has worked as a consultant in these areas for community, iwi and private organisations and in 2019 became a Napier City Councillor.

Theresa is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tuhoe and Ngāti Rarua decent. She was born and raised in Hawke’s Bay and has successfully worked in both the private and public sector as a consultant in business development, community development, project management and governance.

They both see business as a way to affect positive change and growth.

“If an individual is engaged in doing something that is meaningful, this has a ripple effect on whānau and the wider community,” offers Theresa.

Sally and Theresa say the strength of a Te Ao Māori lens on business is that it all starts with the people – he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. However, from their experience they know that social outcomes aren’t the only indicator of success.

Sally says, “profitability and sustainability are also goals. The outcomes we aim for by harnessing the ‘people-first-Māori-worldview approach’. A successful business has to make money.”

Current start-up and business growth support is generally ill fitting for those looking to embrace Te Ao Māori values and frameworks. In addition to experiencing this first-hand as owners of several businesses, Sally and Theresa have noted similar experiences and requests for support from many others in the private sector who struggle to access culturally appropriate assistance.

“We find that Māori in business are incredibly motivated by values and social impact outcomes, but they hear language like ‘bottom lines’ and ‘pieces of pie’ and it doesn’t resonate with them and that puts them back a step. It becomes a negative experience and we are trying to make sure that our services are delivered in a culturally appropriate way  – with a balance of both profitability and social impact,” says Theresa.

Recognising that the business model for Māori is linked to atua (deities), whenua (land) and whakapapa (lineage) and then supplementing that with western business fundamentals, the aim is to equip those they assist with the skills and knowledge to take the best from both worlds. This approach is applied across all of their services.

For example, Kurawaka, a multi-level start-up programme for wāhine (women) is a 9-week course that provides wāhine with the skills, confidence and networks to successfully launch a business.

It blends business foundations with Te Ao Māori and has been funded by Te Puni Kōkiri.

This programme is delivered primarily from the Te Oranga Pūmanawa whare in Maraenui, home to the youth employment programme that is owned by Theresa operates from.

She says, “it is a privilege for us to bring people to Maraenui for a positive outcome. The whare is a place of healing.  It radiates so much vibrancy and is a space with unlimited potential.”

Tipu Ake Tonu also provides business growth and development coaching and mentoring and cultural capability services.

They have also led the revitalisation of the regional Māori Business Network – Te Aka Kaipakihi.

“By offering Māori businesses an opportunity to collaborate, connect and access education, mentoring and communication opportunities, we will grow and thrive together.”

www.tipuaketonu.co.nz

A template for success

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Joanna Monteith has been helping businesses set up business software solutions for many years but it’s some of the easier requests that has the potential to launch a global marketplace business.

Joanna owns Consult, a Napier-based business that helps transition businesses to cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) products such as Xero and WorkflowMax.

The days of printing invoices out on pre-printed letterhead with logos and contact details is long gone and the cloud-based software solutions can replicate the old way, while offering much more – if you know what you’re doing.

“That’s where Customisedt comes in. Many industries have their own requirements and off-the-shelf solutions sometimes don’t easily enable customisation. The capability is there but the ability for a business owner or manager to customise can be time-consuming.

“I’ve done customised invoices, purchase orders and packing slips upon request for many years and when another client asks I’ve then had to try and find the last one I did to duplicate, which sometimes isn’t too easy.

“I realised that I should create a library of templates for all types of business documentation and when the next client asked, I could show them some examples to choose from.”

This was the start of what has quickly become a global marketplace where businesses similar to Consult can list and sell their document templates.

Joanna says its only early days and she is still working out the best way to ensure the template designers/creators are well rewarded while at the same time ensuring the templates are significantly cheaper than one-off versions.

To build up an initial library of templates, Joanna emailed consultants similar to her as well as connecting via Linkedin and Facebook.

“I had a massive response with contributors coming from Canada, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and Australia.

“I’ve been working with them to ensure they are well compensated with an ongoing income stream. The benefit is that what was previously a one-off design for a client becomes open-source and creates a new passive income stream.

“Initially I thought I would offer a royalty to template contributors, but the current aim is to get as many templates as possible so I have made it a set fee to list a template and we’ll charge an administration fee.

“I know I would rather earn $2,000 from selling 200 downloads of a template rather than $200 for a one-off.”

Joanna is now working out the most effective way to market the online marketplace to businesses looking for document templates as well as getting referrals from professional service providers such as accountants and book-keepers.

www.customizedt.com

Getting Lift off – youth development programme profile

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To counteract concerns the job market would get harder for its rangatahi (young people) following the Covid-19 outbreak, they fast-tracked plans to create jobs themselves and LIFT Business on Emerson Street, Napier, was born.

This retail hub, supported by council and charitable funding, opened its doors in August selling products made by LIFT’s rangatahi ‘clients’ or their broader whānau. Part of the shop is set aside for running a screen-printing business, while out the back rangatahi with business ideas work through business modelling and skills courses with staff.

“This is literally the only initiative like this in New Zealand,” says LIFT founder and director Jody Hamilton. Fledgling businesses are already hatching. One 22-year-old participant has launched a domestic cleaning business with help from LIFT Business. “She came back in to us on Thursday because she needs to hire someone now. It’s brilliant,” she says.

“Even within our retail hub we’ve hired seven people to fill retail associate and screen-printing jobs, who were all unemployed before. Five of them had never worked before in their lives,”
says Jody.

This proactive attitude is what got LIFT started in the first place. The statistics on job prospects for Māori boys in Hawkes Bay, did not impress Jody. With a young son herself she wanted to do something about it and in 2017, LIFT Youth Employment began.

A key part of its success is its Bounce Programme, which teaches rangatahi about how their brains work, communication style and integrity. They learn their pepeha (self-introduction) and about their turangawaewae (where they come from), as well as employer and employee expectations.

“This culminates in the graduation at the end of the two weeks, where they present a plan of where they want to be. It includes personal and professional goals and that’s what we use as the basis of working with them. Then we do whatever it takes to deliver that. It’s transformational,” Jody says.

Many will have been involved with the criminal justice system, so LIFT spends time working with various services to help their clients get on track towards their goals. Others may need help with getting their driver license. “We tend to be receiving through our doors what other people think are the most disadvantaged and unruly kids in the area. But everyone has dreams and aspirations, even these rangatahi deserve the right to chase them,” says Graeme Ewart, in charge of LIFT’s business development.

LIFT uses a reverse marketing approach – establishing what the rangatahi want and then finding an employer that fits, rather than the other way around. It’s getting results. LIFT exceeded the employment target on a recent government contract by eight times. They aim to move 95 individuals a year towards employment and have already worked with about 700 people since LIFT began.

“Even if [the rangatahi] wants to be a rocket scientist, we start them on that journey. Over time they realise that they might need to do some other jobs or training along the way,” Graeme says.

Find out more about LIFT Youth Employment and LIFT Business – www.liftyouemployment.nz

 

Family Business pumped for the future – Harris Pumps

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Stephen and Michael Harris are the third generation to take the helm at Hastings-based firm Harris Pumps and Filtration and the cousins are determined to take the business to the next level, joining business growth organisation The Icehouse’s Owner Operator Programme and recently getting support from the Regional Business Partner to work through the shock of COVID-19 .

Stephen Harris anticipated trouble ahead when the effects of the pandemic had the potential to hit their supply chains in Europe and Asia earlier in the year so he started ordering extra products and supplies.

“We stocked up on pumps from Europe and Asia and thankfully the freight kept coming in.” Initially, when lockdown hit in New Zealand there was a group of staff ready to work but the phones were quiet and staff numbers required in the office were cut back. Workshop staff were in their own bubble and staff came up with ideas to maintain safety with workshop hours, for example, staggered. “We couldn’t send staff in the same vehicle and the costs went up for sure.”

April’s revenue has been slashed but Stephen knows they were fortunate to continue being operational, particularly as farmers were being hammered by the drought and needed their specialist support. Most supplies weren’t too hard to get – with the exception of polythene and PVC pipe.

“We had to prove that the pipe was required for essential services and the suppliers were just very nervous about getting the supply to us. Some were also charging a premium for delivery.”

Before COVID-19 hit the business, Stephen and Michael made the decision to join the Icehouse Owner Operator Programme facilitated by leading business coach Michaela Vodanovich.

They had heard about The Icehouse from Tim Masters from Masters Plumbing who had completed the Icehouse programme a few years back.

“We needed a push – we had grown up with the business and just kept doing things they way they were always done and I guess you fall into that trap of sticking with the way things were done in the past. We tended to get busy with the everyday work but since we’ve been in The Icehouse Michaela has made us think about the future and finding out the key things that we needed to sort out to work smarter.

“We delegate better and we have created a leadership team which is working really well. We promoted our office manager into an operations manager role and she has been absolutely brilliant – she’ll say what needs to be said. We are incredibly fortunate with her and with all our staff. I think everyone enjoys their roles and for most it’s not just a job.

“We have a lot of staff that have been here for a long time and we now sit down together for a lot more meetings and that’s meant there’s more ideas coming from those staff. Sometimes you only think about things from your own perspective so the value in gaining staff input has been valuable. During lockdown we really needed those different views especially when we were trying to decipher the Government information because a lot of it was quite grey.”

While key clients were maintained during lockdown, including food producers, farmers and growers, Stephen said it was interesting to see what people wanted to buy. “Strangely a lot of products and fittings weren’t things we would normally sell so I think people were trying to utilise what they had lying around.”

Through the connections made on the Owner Operator Programme Stephen is looking to work with specialists to develop online strategies and e-commerce.

“If this happens again , the ability to sell online might be something that is really useful – who is to say this thing doesn’t come back – there’s always the potential for it to happen again – hopefully not, but the risk is there.”

A Smart way to clean

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Gary Singh always wanted to have his own business. Gary and his family moved to Hawke’s Bay in 2008 and he started to work for a local commercial cleaning business.

He worked hard but wasn’t sure if an opportunity to buy into a commercial cleaning business would eventuate. So he left and went to work at BP Bayview as a café manager. While there, the opportunity came up to buy a café in Hastings, but Gary realised that although he loved making lattes and flat whites, he wasn’t so confident in the kitchen making food.

It was around the same time that the owner of the cleaning business he had worked for was ready to ease into retirement and asked Gary if he was interested in buying the business.

“We looked at the books and decided to give it a go.”

But two weeks out from settlement, the cleaning business’s largest client and over 50 percent of revenue decided to go elsewhere. This was a huge setback and as the sale transaction had already commenced, there was no chance to renegotiate.

Gary and wife Deepti decided that they would give it a go and Gary hit the streets looking for new cleaning contracts as well as building a reputation for quality cleaning.

Through sheer determination and hard work, that initial setback has been the springboard to creating a successful business and it’s Gary’s optimism and planning that will also get the business through the COVID-19 setback.

Over the last 18 months Gary has invested significantly in technology. Although commercial cleaning is labour intensive, Gary is set to launch app-based technology that will enable artificial intelligence (AI) cleaning audits.

The app is currently being fine-tuned via a trial with some of his team and some local clients.

Presently the business undertakes manual cleaning audits every 45 days, but AI will enable technology-based daily audits.

The technology ensures consistency of the quality of the cleaning job as well as improving processes and communications with the client.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Gary’s business was significantly impacted, with many commercial businesses closed and not requiring daily cleaning services.

However, rather than dwell on the pending lockdown, Gary started to look at what opportunities would arise.

Two days out from lockdown he had worked with his cleaning chemical supplier and they were ready to launch a new service offering that would immediately cater for the businesses classed as essential services.

“Ninety percent of the businesses that we clean were closed but we needed to provide a service to those that were regarded as essential service businesses.”

He researched both the Ministry of Health requirements as well as the World Health Organisation’s recommendations and could see a higher level of santisation would become mandatory.

“We knew it was not going to be normal going forward. A few things would change and we needed to adapt to these scenarios. We realised that santisation service provisions were going to be big going forward so we were working harder to ensure we grabbed the most of these circumstances.”

It was hard work to find the right equipment but Gary purchased two santisation cleaning machines to capture the new evolving market.

“It was hard to find the resources but it was also important not to rush and then get caught buying too much of something that might not work – it was important we made good decisions and got the right products.

“We were lucky, we’ve got a good team and we found the right product just before we went into lockdown, so it was fortunate that we had a little bit of cashflow coming in.”

Gary says that as a business owner, he needs to lead from the front, no matter how hard the storm is and not let negativity set you back.

“It’s important to keep yourself positive. There’s a lot of negativity out there and rather than thinking about what’s going to happen, think about what you have at the moment and just keep going.

“My wife was fantastic. Sometimes my face would show the story and the worry, but she would say ‘don’t worry, it will be ok’. Those little words and that support around you make a difference to your mindset and when your mindset is clear, nothing is going to stop you.”

Gary is now in the final preparations for rolling out his new AI- based cleaning app. Watch this space.

The Alternative Board proves to be a winner

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TAB was first featured in The Profit in 2018, when it was launched in Hawke’s Bay by Wayne Baird and Russell Jaggard. Back then, Wayne and Russell were just starting to establish TAB, seeing the opportunity to offer the model that was benefiting small businesses across New Zealand and the world.

The more conventional advisory structure for a business is to have a governance board, made up of experienced business people across a range of business competencies such as financial, legal, human resources and marketing and sales.

This type of structure is usually for medium-to-large businesses and is particularly common in the corporate sector as well as the not-for-profit sector.

TAB was launched in 1990 by US entrepreneur Allen Fishman as a way for small businesses to get the benefits of a board structure. In 2012, Aucklander Stephen James introduced TAB to New Zealand and it’s now in nine cities and towns across the country.

Wayne Baird is the franchisee for Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Taupo and Wairarapa, with Russell being joined by experienced business leader and start- up extraordinaire Ailne Bradley as board facilitators.

Having been a board director and chair myself for the past 14 years, it was a pleasant surprise to turn up for a TAB meeting and be asked to go to the white board and rate out of 10 how I was feeling about my own business and also how I was feeling personally.

New Zealand had just moved from COVID-19 Alert Level 3 to Level 2 and so the four of the five members of the TAB I was joining were all happy to see each other in person, instead of via a Zoom video conference call, therefore they were in relatively high spirits, with the lowest rating being 7.5 (and this was me!).

Wayne hosted of the TAB meeting that was attended by local business owners Carol Reid of Soulpreneurs, Kay Castles of Admin Plus, Alieta Uelese of Learning Innovations and newcomer Joanna Monteith of Consult Ltd. Absent was Dr Sundar Jagadeesan of new dental practice Dentiq, who had only just reopened his practice and had a backlog of patients to treat.

The agenda for the meeting followed the TAB’s well-honed formula that affords everyone around the table equal opportunity to provide updates on their business, and then report on progress from actions they agreed at the previous meeting before presenting a new challenge or opportunity their business is facing.

Following the biggest disruption to businesses and the economy and the world strike on March 24, you would have expected the mood of the table to be sombre, but in fact it was largely the opposite.

The forced physical closure of their businesses and lockdown spent at home had given these business owners the time to not only keep business going and staff motivated but also to adjust their businesses to the new normal.  When it came time to put forward a recent challenge or opportunity, the true benefit of the TAB board format came into its own.

As each member addressed their fellow board members, they were scrutinised first, responding to a range of questions, some expected but many unexpected.

The appeal of the process was that the room wasn’t full of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ people, nor those who had a vested interest due to being a staff member, director/ governor or an investor/shareholder.

The questions were tough and the advice even tougher. And that’s the gold of TAB. There are no hidden agendas, you get what you give, as your time to put something forward soon comes.

For small business owners it can be a lonely place leading from the front but with TAB, there is genuine support as well as accountability.

As the facilitator, Wayne gave everyone an opportunity to firstly ask questions rather than risk going straight to the possible solutions.

This was an easy trap for me to fall into and I quickly realised that I couldn’t shoot straight to what I thought was a solution. Instead, by asking questions you get to fully understand the situation each business owner is experiencing before putting forward any suggestions, ideas or advice.

I like to think of myself as an ‘ideas person’, so this was particularly challenging, but the approach works. Not only does it draw out the full picture but it enables the business posing the issue or opportunity to get a broader and more external perspective.

Everything is confidential; there’s no risk of ideas being leaked. As an observer I signed a confidentiality agreement, so I’m not going into any detail on what was raised.

However, two members had challenges they wanted to moot about how to evolve their businesses, while the other two members were looking at solutions to get the best out of their teams.

My summation was that the challenges and opportunities weren’t anything I hadn’t heard before but it was the process – the listening, line of questions, advice and agreement for action – that was unique.

There’s accountability and it’s not to those within your business that perhaps you can make excuses for not actioning as promised.

To close the meeting, Wayne asked each member what they intended to action before the next meeting and it was recorded. After the formal meeting, Wayne contacts and works with each member on their actions.

Kay Castle sees many benefits in becoming a member of a TAB board, saying that she always gets something valuable to further develop her administration support business.

“We all share ideas and our experiences and there’s a high level of confidence and trust in each other. We’re also very fortunate to have Wayne and the opportunity to tap into his wealth of knowledge.”

Like the board meeting format, the final word must go to Wayne (not me …).
He says his personal vision is to work alongside as many SMEs as possible to help them reach their own goals and visions for what they want their business to be.

“When you ask questions, you gain clarity. I often see business owners who leave the meeting with a completely different viewpoint. That’s the beauty of the collective wisdom around the table and one of the aspects that makes The Alternative Board different.”

As we all move out of COVID-19 and look to keep adapting our businesses, it’s worth contacting Wayne at wbaird@ thealternativeboard.co.nz to discuss how TAB can assist.