Commerce Comment June/July 2012 - Nelson Tasman Chamber of ...

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Aspire Conference 2012 The audience at this year’s Aspire conference may have missed an autumn day’s sunshine, but in return they got the benefit of listening to some of the country’s top business speakers and thinkers talking about the opportunities and challenges to be faced and the tools that are on hand to deal with them. It was a small price to pay. Headline speaker Sir Ray Avery survived homelessness as a child in the UK to become a successful pharmaceutical scientist and philanthropist who has been behind world changing health care technology and social entrepreneurial initiatives. So he knows something about challenges, and how best to deal with them. “You have to be customer-centric. Start with what the customer wants. If you start with an idea, you end up with a product but no guarantee that anyone will want it. If you start with a need, you have a market waiting for you. “People say “this can’t be done,” and I respond, “So how are we going to do it then.” With that attitude you learn how to get around your problems.” Sir Ray’s most successful health innovations have come from asking the end users – i.e. nurses in maternity wards in the developing world – what problems they face in their work, and then finding solutions to those problems. He said that challenges such as low economic growth facing New Zealand, and more specifically Nelson, today, should be faced through collaboration and leverage off existing strengths. “Do an audit of your assets. Bootstrap new ideas onto existing successful products. Seek parallel technology and ideas and keep your eyes open for new technology that will solve existing problems. And don’t forget to tell the world about it.” “Nelson has a stable workforce because of its lifestyle – that’s a real asset that could be exploited. Find new markets for your existing tourism products and build scale. There’s a need to attract new investment and to do that the brand must be right. You have to dare to dream”. But of course along with expansion, growth and new ideas comes risk. Lawyer Mai Chen, founding partner of law firm Chen Palmer and one of New Zealand’s top public lawyers, specialises in managing business risk. “Managing risk will give you market advantage. Prevention is not a cure, you have to get ahead of the game.” Mai talked about the impact of regulation on business. “Regulatory risk is getting heavier and there is an increased expectation to get it right in terms of quality and ethics. If you get it wrong, regulation can make it impossible to operate. There is an increasing call for accountability both in Government and the private business sector.” “Managing risk will give you market advantage. Prevention is not a cure, you have to get ahead of the game.” Mai said that knowledge, “knowing the numbers,” is integral to success. “There is a lot of information out there about Government issues and regulation, you just have to know where to look for it.” She also said that it is easier to influence the business regulatory environment these days “You can email the minister direct. Individuals can change things! Talk to your Chamber of Commerce, get them to lobby for you. Be pro-active and see risk as opportunity. And if you have an idea that will make the New Zealand boat go faster, you might just get some help from Government if you know where to look.” Someone who has first-hand experience of managing business survival during disruptive times is Richard Ballantyne, Director and Executive Director of Christchurch retailer J Ballantyne & Co Ltd. His talk about resilience was underlined by the survival of Ballantynes, not only through the recent Christchurch earthquakes, but through the terrible fire of 1947 that cost 41 lives and left the business insolvent. He said that the strength of the company is very much vested with its staff and that people have been its priority throughout the earthquake recovery period. Innovation and collaboration play key roles in developing new businesses and helping existing organisations to survive. Simon Stockdale, co-founder of Nelson-based Solar City, believes that businesses should be integrating innovative technology into their strategic plans for the future. “The question with technology is, are we making it easier for the customer? They just want stuff that works. Technology comes in waves and mostly riding the wave is just like surfing – a matter of timing. Technology takes a long time to develop so you have to be looking out for it to see what’s coming down the pipeline. Otherwise by the time you realise what’s coming it’s too late.” Collaborative business models can help private enterprise build scale and productivity and stimulate value growth. Gary Hooper is CEO of Aquaculture New Zealand, a multi-company collaboration marketing Pure New Zealand Greenshell Mussels under a single brand through its Shanghai based operation. “NZ companies were competing with each other in the US, so when the Chinese market started to open up we approached it with new thinking. The opportunities in China are huge, with rapid GDP growth and interest in marine products for beauty, health and longevity. Food marketing needs compelling reasoning as you are displacing other foods out of the diet. But aquaculture is set to supply 58% of global seafood by 2020. Foresight and entrepreneurship are inseparable when it comes managing change and making the most of the business opportunities out there.” And for the future? Who will be paddling the New Zealand boat and riding the waves 8 Commerce Comment
of change? Terry Shubkin, CEO of Young Enterprise Trust, said that the paddlers of tomorrow, the ‘net generation,’ are more demanding, less patient and look for instant gratification. “But they also have a lot to say. We don’t know what technical skills we will need in 40 years time but we know that the best habits are learned young and the best lessons are those experienced.” So the Young Enterprise scheme in schools give young people a hands on experience of business. “They learn financial literacy, experience entrepreneurship, and learn in a safe environment that it’s OK to fail.” And how will those entrepreneurs of tomorrow succeed? According to Ambrose Blowfield of The Marketing Company, they will need to plan their marketing better than we do today, and use social media to keep a close eye on what is happening in the marketplace. “Social media is just a new way of networking, but it’s so quick that we are not always the first to hear information. If we make a mistake, our competitors may know about it before we do.” Ambrose said that networking and referral marketing is the strongest way to build business, and that marketing is the start of the sales process not the end, so planning it is essential. “In New Zealand it’s all about building relationships and trust. Focus on the long term relationship and on what they want from you.” So that was Aspire 2012. Be innovative and customer focused but look after those around you. Be informed in terms of government and technology. Plan ahead, support tomorrow’s leaders and don’t be afraid to tell everyone how good we are! Article courtesy of Caroline Crick. www.commerce.org.nz 9
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Commerce Comment June/July 2012 - Nelson Tasman Chamber of ...

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