11 Tips From a Successful Small Business Owner

As a small business owner and having been involved with several businesses from start-up phase, for Sylvia Smith,  the following are crucial to on-going success – 

1. Write a business plan and set your goals and objectives – keep it succinct and review it often. As you reach your goals – set new ones so that the business is always looking forward. Make sure you meet with any other shareholders or directors on a regular basis to review your business strategy. 
2. Do your budgets and cash-flow each year and review this against performance on a monthly basis.
3. Ensure your business has enough capital from the outset.
4. Make sure you have a good financial advisor/accountant.
5. If you have other shareholders in your business, have a shareholder agreement that sets out how you intend to work with each other together with a share valuation that all of you agree to. Enshrine it in the agreement. If you work these things out at the beginning, there is less likelihood of anyone become disenfranchised later on.
6. Manage your risks by identifying them up front and put in place measures to mitigate them.
7. Get a good accounting system installed. Something easy to use that will help you keep track of your business finances. Xero is one of the best and easiest to use and is web based so you can use it anywhere, anytime.
8. Find someone you trust to advise, mentor or coach you. If you are the CE you will need support.
9. Think long-term and as you get more successful, extend your capabilities by way of appointing an advisor to your board, or appoint an independent director or chairman.
10. Ensure your values are communicated across the business and hire people who are aligned to these values. Don’t be afraid to hire people who are better than yourself or who bring diversity to your business. Ensure they know what they have to do and reward them when they achieve their goals and support the business values.
11. Communicate with your employees – remember that even the receptionist wants to feel that they make a difference – let them share in the successes. 

Article written by Sylvia Smith, Director at
Syro Communications Management Ltd

Filed under: Small Business

Does Your Small Business Need A Virtual Assistant?

Virtual Assistant. The mere utterance of these words can make a small business owner ecstatic or apoplectic – all depending on their experience with this increasingly popular administrative help.

You may already have dipped your toes into the world of Virtual Assistants (an online Personal Assistant) and due to a poor choice or the wrong personality match found it not to your liking.  Try again!  With the right Virtual Assistant you will find the pressure of your own workload reduced, free up time to work on your business and present a professional image to your customers. 

By doing your homework, you will realise what many other small businesses already enjoy – hiring the right Virtual Assistant for your business has enormous benefits.  I strongly belief that  almost every small business could benefit from hiring one. 

Here are just a few signs that a VA might be a productivity enhancer for your small business.

• You’ve blown a business opportunity because you missed a deadline to follow up.
• You’re not on top of business development because you have no up-to-date client and prospect database.
• You have exciting work projects you would like to take on but always seem to be too tied up with the day-to-day running of your business to get to them.
• You work nights and weekends to keep up with routine administrative tasks.
• You have routine work items that you don’t like doing which take time away from other more creative and important tasks.
• You send out a newsletter but not regularly and while you would like a blog for your business you’re not sure where to start or how to find time. 
• You have more work than you can cope with but not enough to justify hiring another employee (which itself creates more paperwork and the need for further resources).  A virtual assistant is there for as little or as often as you need them.

If you’re shaking your head at this point and saying, “Huh, what is she talking about,” stop reading. If you’re nodding your head, read on to learn the best practices for bringing a VA on board to your small business.

Five steps to successfully outsource work to Virtual Assistants

1. Discover the routine tasks you dislike doing. During the next week, keep a log of all your activities. At the end of the week, sit down and review the list and determine which activities you need to do yourself, and which you could delegate to a Virtual Assistant. For example: uploading a week’s worth of pre-written tweets, physically posting your weekly blog, following up on invoices, etc. Those are perfect projects to give to a VA.

2. Find a list of potential VAs. As with all good resources, the best place to start is within your own network. Send out an email to a list of business associates, telling them a bit about what you want help with and asking if they have a VA they would recommend.

Search Google by entering “virtual assistant.”  If you prefer to meet your VA face-to-face initially, Google will place sites matching your locality first.

Another option – contact me!  

3. Screen the candidates for compatibility and professionalism. Now that you have come up with some candidates the next step is to do some research, first by reviewing their websites and secondly by conducting a phone interview.  Here are some sample questions for your interview:

• Do you have experience in handling (insert task you want done)?

• What are your hours (times, days) of operation?

• What are your fees? Do you bill hourly, by project or on retainer?

• Do you have the time availability in your schedule to take on my project?

• How quickly will you get back to me when I email or call you?

• Do you have a team to support you? If yes, will I be working directly with you, or will I occasionally work with other members of your team?

• What services do you provide (and what services don’t you provide)?

• Can you give me an overview of how you work with clients?

• How long have you been in business?

• Are you in full-time or part-time practice?

If they pass muster on the interview, ask for and contact at least two references.

4. Start small. Once you have done your due diligence and found the VA you think might be the delegation partner of your dreams, start with a small project as a way to test your theory. Let the VA know up front that you’re beginning with a trial project to see how things go.

5. Hire slowly, fire quickly. Doing your research up front helps minimize problems down the line. However, on occasion, once you begin working with a VA, you may find that despite a brilliant start, things turn sour. If your VA misses several deadlines, makes the same type of mistake again and again, or is difficult to deal with, you may decide to call it quits.  It’s best to put the request to terminate the services in writing and be sure to include the date on which the services will cease and any work already paid for that you expect the VA to complete prior to that date.

Do you have any tips about how to hire or work with a Virtual Assistant? I would love to hear your comments.

Filed under: Small Business, Virtual Assistant

Stressed? Tips To Reduce Your Stress Levels (Part 2)

Still stressed?  Here are some more tips for you to try.

Shake It Up

This quick exercise helps loosen the muscles in your neck and upper back: Stand or sit, stretch your arms out from your sides and shake your hands vigorously for about 10 seconds. Combine this with a little deep breathing, and you’ll do yourself twice as much good.

Get Horizontal

If sex has been on the bottom of your to-do list for too long, move it to the top. Sex increases levels of endorphins, those mood-boosting chemicals in the brain, and it’s one of the best total-body relaxers around.  Make a date with your mate, and don’t let anything get in the way.

Munch Some Snacks

Foods that are high in carbohydrates stimulate the release of serotonin, feel-good brain chemicals that help induce calm. Crackers, pretzels, or a bagel should do the trick.

Boost Your Vitamin Intake

Try a daily multivitamin and mineral formula that contains between 100% and 300% of the recommended dietary allowances of vitamin B, as well as the minerals calcium, magnesium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc. Avoid stress formulas, which often contain large amounts of randomly formulated nutrients, such as the B vitamins, but little or nothing else.

Space Out

Look out the window and find something natural that captures your imagination, notice the clouds rolling by or the wind in the trees.

Take a Walk

It forces you to breathe more deeply and improves circulation. Step outside if you can; if that’s not possible, you can gain many of the same benefits simply by walking to the bathroom or water cooler, or by pacing back and forth. The key is to get up and move.

Soak it Up

When I have the time, nothing is more stress relieving for me than a hot bath (ok, perhaps not a tip for the office – same with the Get Horizontal tip!)  But when I don’t have time, I do the next-best thing: I wash my face or even just my hands and arms with hot water. The key is to imagine that I’m taking a hot bath. It’s basically a visualization exercise, but the hot water makes it feel real.

Play a Few Bars A number of recent studies have shown that music can do everything from slow heart rate to increase endorphins. Good bets: Bach’s “Air on the G-String,” Beethoven’s Pastorale symphony, Chopin’s Nocturne in G, Handel’s Water Music, or pianist George Winston’s CDs Autumn or December.

Fall for Puppy Love

In a study of 100 women conducted last year at the State University of New York at Buffalo, researchers found that those who owned a dog had lower blood pressure than those who didn’t. If you don’t have a pooch, visit a friend’s: Petting an animal for just a couple of minutes helps relieve stress, researchers have found.

Practice Mindfulness

Heighten your awareness of the moment by focusing intently on an object. Notice a pencil’s shape, color, weight and feel. Or slowly savour a raisin or a piece of chocolate. Mindfulness leads to relaxation.

Phone a Friend

Sharing your troubles can give you perspective, help you feel cared for and relieve your burden.

Stretch

Muscles tighten during the course of the day, and when we feel stressed out, the process accelerates. Stretching loosens muscles and encourages deep breathing. One of the greatest stress-relieving stretches is a yoga position called the child pose, which stretches the back muscles. On a rug or mat, kneel, sit back on your heels, then lean forward and put your forehead on the floor and your arms alongside your legs, palms up. Hold for one to three minutes.

Make Plans

Looking forward to something provides calming perspective. Buy concert tickets, schedule a weekend getaway, or make an appointment for a massage.

Straighten Up

When people are under stress, they slump over as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Slumping restricts breathing and reduces blood and oxygen flow to the brain, adding to muscle tension and magnifying feelings of panic and helplessness. Straightening your spine has just the opposite effect. It promotes circulation, increases oxygen levels in your blood and helps lessen muscle tension, all of which promote relaxation.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Tending your garden helps get you out of your head and lets you commune with nature, a known stress reliever. If you’re not a gardener, tend to a houseplant. Plants = growth = cycle of life, a nice reminder that stress, too, will pass.

Filed under: Management, Secretary, Small Business

How Productive is Your Day?

One area I am constantly working on as a Virtual Assistant is the time spent each day doing non productive or ‘nonchargeable’ tasks.  This is the time spent working on my business and the ‘to do’ list is ever present.

What works for me is automation.  Templates are my savior.  From email templates, rules, spreadsheet macros to Word forms and merges, almost every part of my administration is automated. 

How did I achieve this?  By keeping a diary of a period of one month in which each task was noted.  I was then able to go back through the tasks, group them and design systems to streamline.  Integration between Outlook, Word, Excel can save you time while your online tasks such as blogging, site updates, social media posts can be automated using some of the free tools on the web.

With iPhones, Android and other Smart Phones the tools available to increase productivity are fantastic.  I can go to a client’s office and through Google Docs and Dropbox share and edit information onsite, video ‘spur of the moment’ referrals, record meetings for later transcription … the list is endless.  While waiting in the car for my daughter to finish school I check my Google Reader feeds and post to networks, thus minimising down-time.

So, if you are constantly chasing your tail but reluctant to outsource, contact me.  Together we can automate your day and free up time so you can work ON your business.

Filed under: Administration, Management, Small Business

Stressed? Tips To Reduce Your Stress Levels (Part 1)

Stress is a fact of life, but being stressed out is not. Being overly anxious is not just a mental hazard; it’s a physical one too. The more stressed out we are the more vulnerable we are to colds, flu, and a host of chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

While you need to look for solutions to the problems which are causing you stress (time management, outsourcing, consulting with professionals, reducing your hours…) here are some ‘quick fix’ tools to help lower that blood pressure.

Breathe Easily

Breathing from your diaphragm oxygenates your blood, which helps you relax almost instantly.  Shallow chest breathing, by contrast, can cause your heart to beat faster and your muscles to tense up, exacerbating feelings of stress. To breathe deeply, begin by putting your hand on your abdomen just below the navel. Inhale slowly through your nose and watch your hand move out as your belly expands. Hold the breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly. Repeat several times.

Visualize Calm

It sounds New Age-y, but at least one study, done at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, has found that it’s highly effective in reducing stress.  Close your eyes, take three long, slow breaths, and spend a few seconds picturing a relaxing scene, such as walking in a meadow, kneeling by a brook, or lying on the beach. Focus on the details — the sights, the sounds, the smells.

Make Time for a Mini Self-Massage

Simply massage the palm of one hand by making a circular motion with the thumb of the other. Or use a massage gadget.

Say Cheese

Smiling is a two-way mechanism. We do it when we’re relaxed and happy, but doing it can also make us feel relaxed and happy. So ahead and grin (in front of the mirror works even better).

Do Some Math

Using a scale of one to 10, with one being the equivalent of a minor hassle and 10 being a true catastrophe, assign a number to whatever it is that’s making you feel anxious. You’ll find that most problems we encounter rate somewhere in the two to five range — in other words, they’re really not such a big deal.

Stop Gritting Your Teeth

Stress tends to settle in certain parts of our bodies, the jaw being one of them. When things get hectic, try this tip: Place your index fingertips on your jaw joints, just in front of your ears; clench your teeth and inhale deeply. Hold the breath for a moment, and as you exhale say, “Ah-h-h-h,” then unclench your teeth. Repeat a few times.

Compose a Mantra 
Devise an affirmation — a short, clear, positive statement that focuses on your coping abilities. Affirmations are a good way to silence the self-critical voice we all carry with us that only adds to our stress. The next time you feel as if your life is one disaster after another, repeat 10 times, “I feel calm. I can handle this.”

Check Your Chi 
Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is a 5,000-year-old Chinese practice designed to promote the flow of chi, the vital life force that flows throughout the body, regulating its parallel. Bend your knees to a quarter-squat position (about 45 degrees) while keeping your upper body straight. Observe your breathing for a couple of breaths. Inhale and bring your arms slowly up in front of you to shoulder height with your elbows slightly bent. Exhale, stretching your arms straight out. Inhale again, bend your elbows slightly and drop your arms down slowly until your thumbs touch the sides of your legs. Exhale one more time, then stand up straight.

Be a Fighter

Focus on being proactive. If your flight gets cancelled, don’t wallow in self-pity. Find another one. If your office is too hot or too cold, don’t suffer in silence. Call the building manager and ask what can be done to make things more comfortable.

Put It on Paper

Divide a piece of paper into two parts. On the left side, list the stressors you may be able to change, and on the right, list the ones you can’t. Change what you can and stop fretting over what you can’t.

Count to 10

Before you say or do something you’ll regret, step away from the stressor and collect yourself. You can also look away for a moment or put the caller on hold. Use your time-out to take a few deep breaths, stretch, or recite an affirmation.

Just Say No

Trying to do everything is a one-way ticket to serious stress. Be clear about your limits, and stop trying to please everyone all the time.

Warm Up

Rub your hands together vigorously until they feel warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes for five seconds while you breathe deeply. The warmth and darkness are comforting.

Say Yes to Pressure

Acupressure stimulates the same points as acupuncture, but with fingers instead of needles. Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, CA, recommends pressing on the following three points:

• The Third Eye, located between the eyebrows, in the indentation where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead.
• The Heavenly Pillar, on the back of the neck slightly below the base of the skull, about half an inch to the left or right of the spine.
• The Heavenly Rejuvenation, half an inch below the top of each shoulder, midway between the base of the neck and the outside of the shoulder blade.
• Breathe deeply and apply firm, steady pressure on each point for two to three minutes. The pressure should cause a mild aching sensation, but not pain.

Schedule Worry Time

Some stressors demand immediate attention — a smoke alarm siren or a police car’s whirling red light. But many low-grade stressors can be dealt with at a later time, when it’s more convenient. File them away in a little mental compartment, or make a note and then deal with them when the time is right. Don’t let them control you.

I hope these tips help you through prolonged periods of hair-pulling, teeth gnashing tension.  What other stress relief valves work for you?

Filed under: Small Business

Keeping An Eye On Your KPI’s

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”,”serif”;}

Who here thinks Key Performance Indicators are things only big corporates need to worry about? Or perhaps a better question – who’s only KPI is their bank balance at month end?

By definition we can say “We know we are doing well when XYZ is happening” is a KPI.

For example, if we are an automotive repair garage, we might say We know we are doing well when we are charging out 85% of our total payable labour hours. Or, if we are a hairdressing salon it might be when 60% of our clients immediately re-book their next appointment. Whatever they might be, if we’re not clear on them and we’re not measuring them, WE ARE simply waiting to check our bank balance!

As a Business Coach, getting mastery or clarity on the KPIs of a business is one of the first areas I go to with the owner. Most business owners have a fair idea what they are, but much less are measuring them and fewer still are applying the right strategies to improve them. It’s OK saying the GP% benchmark for my industry is 55%, however when I don’t know where my margins are right now, it’s hard to get myself (or my team) excited about going after it. “I think we’re doing really well boss” – compared to what??

There’s many schools of thought of how many KPIs we need in our business – right from “only 1”  to “as many as you can think of”. Typically with businesses I work with we focus on 2-5 initially. Once these are agreed upon, we set down our “stake in the ground” as to where we are now, set our goals as to where we want to get to, then draw the “strategy map” as to how we’re going to get there. Typically making this a 90 Day period I’ve found has worked the best.

So time to dig out that Business Plan you wrote a while back and check how you’re going on those KPIs. Remember – every business needs them no matter what your size or shape. If you need any help on clarity – give me a call. 

Guest Blogger: Clif Shaw of Recalibrate

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”,”serif”;}

“Face-To-Face Business Development Programs For Small To Medium Sized Businesses”

Filed under: Small Business

Blog Free Day …

But got my newsletter out!

August Issue

Sign up here to go on the mailing list.

Filed under: Virtual Assistant

Are Your Emails Perfect?

Do your emails ever contain errors?

Your emails represent both you and you’re company and poor content containing mistakes will both create a negative impression while possibly relay inaccurate or incomplete information. An email or document with spelling errors will shift the reader’s focus from the message you are conveying to mistakes picked up.  

Proofreading isn’t about being good at spelling, it is attention to detail and the rewards speak for themselves.

• You should always re-read your emails before you send them out. Its best if you can give yourself breathing space before proofing by “queueing” emails before you send them, or saving them as drafts. But even if you want to send a message immediately, a second look could be a life-saver.

• Proofread your emails before sending them for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. Use your spell checker to pick up obvious typos and the search and replace feature to find commonly mispelt words (their/there, it’s/its, your/you’re, to/too).

• Be on the lookout for any ambiguous statements that might easily be misunderstood. Intent and meaning are frustratingly hard to convey by email since the recipient only has the words they’re reading to go by, with no clue about your mood or frame of mind when you wrote them.  When you re-read your email sometime after it was written, often tone or content will differ from what you had in mind.

• Stay well clear of emotions and tones; sarcasm is particularly dangerous, since it relies on voice clues that are completely absent in an email.

• If you’re angry, remember that an email sent in haste can’t be recalled. It’s also potential “evidence” that’s out there, effectively in the public domain. After all, you have no control over what the recipient will do with it: they could repost it on a blog or website, send it to the media – or use it as ammunition in building a legal case against you.

• Is all the information you meant to include in the email actually there? For example, have you included any attachments you referred to in your message? Have you answered the questions you were meant to answer? ALL of them?

• Finally, is there anything in the message that could come back to haunt you later? Remember that emails can be re-circulated instantly, and they effectively live forever.

• If you have has problems with accuracy in your emails, try printing them out to proofread.  Read the email backwards in order to concentrate on each word or place a piece of paper over the next line to ensure you don’t read too fast.

• Read your email aloud to ensure your grammar is correct and sentences flow nicely.

• Proof for each problem seperately and mark each problems in a different colour.  For example, spelling and punctuation in red pen, grammar in blue and content alterations in green.

• Ask someone else to proofread your email; forward to another staff member, a friend or a professional.  They will often pick up errors you may miss.

• Get into a routine of proofreading every document you produce.  While tedious at first you will soon get into a habit and the benefits more than outweigh any additional time you may have to spend.

• If you don’t have time to proofread yourself, forward your email/documemnt or copy to Your Virtual Assistant.  I will get your document back to you promptly and highlight any corrections or editing suggestions for your approval.

Note: Newsletters and Websites are critical documents to have zero errors.  These documents represent your company and errors will reduce the investment and the ‘professional’ image you are trying to protray.

Pop Quiz: How many errors are there in this document; did they annoy you?

Filed under: Marketing, Word Processing

How to Promote Your "Made in New Zealand" Product

Recent Linkedin Discussion:

Watching a Close Up article recently highlighted the lack of genuine made in New Zealand products for sale in the tourism industry.

Taking this further, there is not a lot the average household purchases that is Kiwi Made.

As a nation which prides ourselves on our identity and quality, I suggest we start to look at how we can promote our Kiwi made products, and where cost prohibits the production of these products, which point of difference we can highlight to justify that cost.

Dione Jones • Great to see that the Closeup programme struck a chord. Our gift website sells only New Zealand made products. There are some fantastic products and producers out there but maybe because they are small they dont get hooked into to the larger marketing/selling campaigns (supermarkets hide them in a corner).

In sourcing new products I have to weave my way around all sorts of excuses for products advertised as ‘New Zealand product’ but made overseas.

Jobs are needed here, we need to make as much as possible ourselves to provide those jobs – yes, they have to be competitive but usually good quality will help that.

On a more positive note, I do think more consumers are looking to find out where products are made – and buy New Zealand made where they can

Esther Goh • Clever Bastards is another great site showcasing emerging kiwi designers and artists, plus of course Endemic World, and felt.co.nz is a little bit like our answer to Etsy.

Leanne Martell • As a “Maker” of New Zealand products I can say from experience that there is a very fine line small businesses like myself have to walk. Purchasing New Zealand raw materials to create my products (soap, lotions etc) is more expensive than purchasing from overseas – and actually making them here costs more than having the cheaper labour available elsewhere make them. That DOES mean that my products must sell for more in order for me to make a living at what I do. The expectation, however, is that it must be a competitive wholesale price in order for the larger outlets to carry NZ made and make a profit as well… something they are reluctant to do. I am venturing into the wholesale arena this year with fear and trepidation – and my fingers crossed! Hoping I have all my boxes ticked – being fair in my costing and ready to educate buyers. It is STILL a Business, not a hobby, and although I do it for love – it also has to pay the bills.

I am listed with many New Zealand made sites, and to be honest, have not benefitted or had any sales directly from them – my sales and my business growth has come from talking directly to my target market, educating them about the process, the ingredients, and very often giving away samples to try, overcoming the attitude of “I just get this cheaper one, then if it isn’t what I like I haven’t lost as much $” – once tried I generally have created a loyal customer – Facebook and Twitter have also been invaluable. In order for people to buy NZ made products that are more expensive than their overseas equivalent, the product CAN’T be the same… it MUST be better. 

 

Cathy Knight • At New Zealand Showcase we too specialise in NZ made products and gifts. Sourcing suitable gifts and products can be frustrating, especially with the prevalence of ‘Designed in NZ’ gifts, which invariably means ‘not made anywhere near NZ’. Your average kiwi would be horrified at the sheer volume of perceived Kiwiana not made here.

We are especially sad to see every year at least one manufacturer of quality products shift their production out of New Zealand. This results in immediate job losses here both directly and indirectly, and in the long term it can mean a skill loss that is difficult to replace easily.

It seems increasingly obvious that for companies to continue here, they need to work the high-end of whatever market they are in. Competing on price simply won’t work. So the success in dependant on building their brand, not just making great products.

Justine Tatt • … in the meantime we need to come up with strategies where our products are not marketed in cost competitive terms. While I understand retail is such a competitive market, surely we can put the #8 wire mentality to work and come up with ways to circumvent the issues facing us.

As a Virtual Assistant I am competing with companies from India and the Philippines (to name a couple) where you can contract services for as little as $3 an hour. I cannot hope to compete with this, and don’t wish to, but I can offer more services than the average ‘administration’ based providers. I am in the middle of a course in Small Business Growth & Development to 1. offer my customers (who are for the most part small business owners) a better service, and 2. develop goals and strategies to improve my own business direction.

Retaining our “made in NZ” brand is a massive task as more companies, and countries, look to outsource both labour and production….but we are up to it!!

cathy Tsui • new zealand has a great advantage over plants and herbs resources. balms and oils shall be very fine here.

 

 

Dione Jones • There is lots of skin cream being made here, all natural, but obviously really hard to market when the producers are up against multi-national companies. Linden Leaves, Tebe, Skinfood – all great products with prices which are very competitive. Then there are wonderful smaller producers – Be True, Feelathome, etc who sell locally but who still have products better than many of the overseas ones.

Hopefully there has been so much inferior imported stuff that New Zealanders have finally got out of the old feeling of ‘If it comes from overseas it must be better’. Most of the New Zealand skincare is far better

Ahmed Atef • Shipping cost and logistics must be carefully studied to help exporting NZ products. Exporting will then push to increase the production and reduce the cost due to mass production. Then producers can compete in both local and global markets.

cathy Tsui • anyone suggest effective logistic company for exporting to China?

Tim Lee • What I didn’t like about the CloseUp piece was they didn’t look in the fridge! I would bet a large chunk of dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables and other food products (even something like wine) would have been made in New Zealand. Food production is our primary industry and one that we are very competitive in, people all to often over look this.

It’s all well and good to encourage New Zealand made products as long as we can be competitive (either through price, quality or otherwise) cause the most job growth comes from thriving competitive business with real value creation.

Scott Jackson • At the end of the day, NZ will always struggle with import/export because of our size, the economy and constant battle with pricing. But like other commenters have said, we kiwis know our products stand for quality and if we keep encouraging New Zealand artists, craftsmen and small businesses by making a conscious effort to support and purchase from each other, we will begin to foster some incredible relationships.

Justine Tatt • Well said Scott!

Andrea Kahukiwa • If a product is identifiably and uniquely New Zealand it’s authenticity and integrity is strengthened if it is also made in New Zealand.

Websites like the soon to be launched www.discoverme.co.nz that promote New Zealand made products help enable small and emerging New Zealand business to sustain their NZ Made philosophy. They provide an increasingly important additional distribution channel that helps profile and position identifiably NZ products in the market.

NZ small businesses, especially those that offer something that is uniquely NZ reflect who we are and contribute to our sense of national identity and pride as well as to our enonomy.

I think there is often so much focus on whether a ‘world market’ will want a product or service’ that it is that ‘kiwi’ uniqueness that could have provided the globally appealing ‘x’ factor that is lost.

The movie Whale Rider for instance, is a uniquely and specifically NZ story. It was not altered or tweaked to have a more ‘global flavour’ Instead it maintained it NZ authenticity and this in part made it the globally appealing success.

My vision is that Tutu Taniwha can maintain authenticity as a uniquely NZ children’s character loved by generations and from this a global appeal will follow:)

Louise White • We specialise in retailing NZ made furniture, art and homewares. It is extremely hard to find NZ made homewares that are great design but within peoples budgets. We have definitely noticed a downturn in the last 3-4 years in the demand, price has become the main objective. We do still sell a reasonable amount of furniture- custom made for our clients- as most are not prepared to compromise on quality and finish on their big purchases. 

It does still surprise me that so many people are prepared to order a sofa from Italy (for example) and wait 12 weeks for it to arrive- what’s the guarantee that it is going to be perfect when it arrives? I think our Furniture manufacturers in NZ do a fantastic job and can supply us with all the up to date trends for a great quality and price.

Filed under: Small Business

"NZ Workers Lazy & Unmotivated"

With agriculture being New Zealand’s main source of income the questions need to be raised, “Are farmers able to resource quality labour required to maximise productivity, if not … what systems are in place to address the issue”.

Any business knows that your employees are your company’s biggest asset.  The inability to find motivated and hard working staff and the shift in the last decade towards employee rights has crippled many employers. 

Productivity has soared since the Bloem family employed Filipino workers at its Highcliff piggery. 

Long-time pig farmer Peter Bloem estimated his operation was producing an extra 1500 pigs a year from the same number of sows. 

He had become frustrated with New Zealand workers who were “lazy, unmotivated and didn’t want to go the extra mile to learn anything”. 

“In the end, I had nothing to lose,” he said. 

He was given a contact in the Phillipines through his pig-breeding company, and the contact’s uncle, brother-in-law and nephew came to work on the property about 2007. 

Two of the Filipino workers remain on the property, while a third has moved on but has been replaced. They were all quick learners and very motivated to get excellence performance, Mr Bloem said. 

They came to New Zealand for the same reasons his parents came from Holland – better opportunities. 

The operation comprises a total of 3000 pigs, including 300 breeding sows. Having motivated and competent staff was important, as every sow mated meant deadlines that had to be met further down the track. 

In all his years as a pig farmer, there were probably only four or five staff that he would previously have considered worthwhile to send for further training. 

He encouraged training and one of his Filipino workers, Jimmy Malit, recently achieved a herd manager qualification through industry training organisation AgITO. 

Mr Bloem, whose son is a third-generation pig farmer and is herd manager, said the pork industry was “really tough going”. 

There was a “huge” amount of pork – 700 tonnes a week – being imported into New Zealand and he sometimes wondered if pig farmers were “ever going to get good times again”. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will defend in court this month its decision to allow the importation of fresh, uncooked pork from Canada, the European Union, Mexico and the United States. 

The New Zealand Pork Industry Board is challenging Maf’s decision to issue four updated Import Health Standards for pig meat, pig meat products and by-products, which permit importation of consumer-ready cuts of uncooked pork from countries where the disease porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is present. 

PRRS, a highly contagious disease, can cause stillborn fetuses, abortion or respiratory sickness.

The pork industry was battling the high New Zealand dollar. Pork prices were at record levels in the US but, because the New Zealand dollar was so high, pig meat from the US was still cheap.

While 2001 was the last time the farm made “decent” money, Mr Bloem said he was still passionate about what he did and gain a sense of achievement, especially in terms of the productivity gains over the past three or four years. 

Source: Otago Daily Times

Filed under: Small Business