Waikato Business News August/September 2018

46 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS August/September 2018
When business ownership goes bad…
Recently I’ve had occasion to work with a
small handful of business owners who are
at the end of their tether.
Typically, they’ve been
in business a couple
of years, employ less
than 20 staff (often smaller)
and are running to stand still.
They are working relentless
hours, every small problem at
work becomes a major issue,
and generally staff are causing
them massive headaches. The
issues at work are regularly
being taken home and life is
pretty draining.
They’ve created a job that
causes them significant stress
and haven’t planned or even
thought about what sort of
business they want to lead.
Often it is very much a tail
wagging the dog situation.
To me, these cases really
sing to my purpose in life – I’m
a problem solver and an ideas
generator so when I talk with
clients who are often emotionally
drained, unsure how
to move forward and stuck in
a situation they don’t have the
skills to deal with, I like to
step up. In essence, this is how
Everest came about in the first
place... I digress.
More recently, however,
I’m seeing some patterns that
are quite concerning and one
perhaps we can all learn from.
When business ownership
goes bad it takes a massive toll.
Not just on the business owner,
but the staff who work there,
customers, suppliers, families
and the business community.
So how does this happen in the
first place? There is a common
storyline – either you’ve been
a technical expert in the past
and felt you could make some
money doing this yourself, or
you’ve been an employee with
dreams and desires and being
given the opportunity to buy
into a business you’ve worked
Business ownership
goes bad when
business owners
lack leadership and
financial skill, are
inconsistent in their
behaviour and take
their personal stress
out on others.
The Minister of Immigration
is considering
the development of a
regional skills shortage list as
a means of better serving the
labour market needs of regions
like Waikato.
This drive to meet skills
needs through a greater focus
on regionalisation is one of
the key messages from Immigration
Minister, Hon Ian
Lees-Galloway, who visited
Hamilton recently as a guest of
the Waikato Chamber of Commerce.
“In New Zealand, each
region is quite different in
terms of geography, population,
natural resources and also
its job market - so it seems logical
to me that we should look at
a regionally-focused approach
to immigration when it comes
to meeting the demand for
high skilled migrants to allow
regional economies to grow,”
Minister Lees-Galloway told
an audience of business leaders
at the Chamber of Commerce’s
breakfast meeting at Wintec.
He said he had officials
looking at ways to ensure that
migration policy integrates
with wider regional labour
market demands.
“We are looking at the feasibility
of shifting to a regionally-based
skill shortage list
which would address the
specific needs of a regional
industry, rather than the current
for is very attractive – right?
You know the products and
services, you know the customers
and you’re very good at
what you do.
Stop. That does not make
you a good business owner and
leader. In fact, all it proves is
that you’re good at one aspect
of your job. Being a business
owner comes with a whole pile
of responsibility and accountability
that many don’t appreciate
until it’s often too late.
It’s a pretty painless process
in New Zealand to become a
business owner: hop onto the
Companies Office website,
register your business interest,
pay some money and voila…
you’re now a business owner!
The first year or two is really
scary – you might make some
money, you might pay some
taxes and you have a couple of
advisors or friends who help
you out from time-to-time.
You are likely spending your
weekends sending out invoices
and reconciling bank accounts
to see who owes you money.
You’re working evenings to
make sure you have enough
jobs in the pipeline to make
sure you can pay your bills and
when it gets busy enough, you
might start employing people.
It is at this very juncture
you really do need to pause
and start thinking more strategically.
Specifically, thinking
strategically about how you
will manage and lead your
staff. Employing people comes
as a huge shock to some business
owners who have never
been responsible for other people.
Quite literally it can make
or break your business.
This is where you need to
step up and become a great
leader. What does that actually
mean? The advice I often give
new business owners is to start
small and learn how to lead
well before trying to do too
much.
Firstly, make sure your
business is legally compliant
when it comes to employing
staff. If you don’t know how to
do this – ask. You can’t afford
to muck this stuff up from the
outset. Next, figure out what
is important to you and your
business and clearly communicate
the “these are my expectations”
and “this is how we do
things here” direction to your
staff (and any new ones you
subsequently employ). You
might want to get someone
to help you document these
thoughts if you’ve never done
it before. Next, once you’ve let
your team know your expectations
and standards, hold
‘one-size-fits-all’ regime based
on nationwide skill shortages.”
Lees-Galloway said that
the Government’s priority is
always to ensure that New
Zealanders come first for jobs,
particularly in youth training
and apprenticeships. But he
recognised that when there
are skills shortages that are
constraining growth, there is a
need to bring in highly-skilled
overseas workers to ensure
places like the Waikato continued
to grow.
The demand for highly-skilled
workers is a message
that was driven home to the
Minister through site visits in
Hamilton to a scaffolding and
rigging company and an engineering
business.
Industrial Site Services, a
Te Rapa-based scaffolding and
rigging company with a head
office in Hamilton, and five
branches around NZ employing
250 staff, is experiencing
a strong demand for their services.
The company told the Minister
it is committed to training
New Zealand staff through an
apprenticeship scheme, but its
ability to grow is constrained
by the lack of highly-skilled
staff.
Normally scaffolding or
rigging teams would have two
apprentices, one intermediate-skilled
worker, and one
senior scaffolder. In a tight
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
> BY SENGA ALLEN
Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM
www.everestpeople.co.nz
people to account regarding
those expectations. There is
no point saying we’re always
customer-focused, for example,
and then allowing two of
your staff to be grumpy every
day with your customers. The
message it sends is that’s OK
to be grumpy with customers –
not only to those two staff, but
to every other team member as
well. And the slippery slope
starts!
Business ownership goes
bad when business owners
labour market, the company
is finding it difficult to source
enough senior scaffolders and
riggers locally to meet current
demand, and hence needed to
look overseas to employ skilled
migrants.
The company said it faced
significant delays in visa processing.
It asked the Minister to
consider providing a dedicated
account manager within Immigration
NZ for an accredited
employer such as itself so that
the same visa official could get
to understand the needs of the
case.
During the Minister’s visit
to Frankton engineering company
Longveld, the managing
director Pam Roa told him the
lack leadership and financial
skill, are inconsistent in their
behaviour and take their personal
stress out on others. Of
course, there are a myriad of
other reasons why things go
bad, but from a people perspective
you must first have a sharp
set of tools before you can
truly run a successful business.
Invest in yourself and you will
definitely reap the rewards of
business ownership. It doesn’t
have to be horror story that you
live through every day.
Minister considers regional approach to skills shortages
company faces difficulties in
getting skilled staff.
She said Longveld was
strongly committed to being a
good employer with apprenticeship
schemes. However the
highly-skilled steel fabricators
it required were often only
available overseas, particularly
specialist welders out of the
shipyards in Singapore.
Despite an urgent skills
shortage, it could often take up
to six months to find the right
skilled worker and get them
through visa processing. As an
accredited employer, Longveld
would also like to see a more
rapid pathway for visa approvals
for companies that meet the
good employer test.
TRT opens Christchurch branch
Hamilton-based Tidd
Ross Todd has opened
its first branch in
Christchurch to meet growing
demand from its South Island
customers.
TRT opened the branch,
its first in the South Island,
on August 1, at 35 Parkhouse
Road, Wigram.
The new branch is focused
on truck and trailer parts for all
makes, with a range of products
that include commercial vehicle
seating, drive line, hydraulics
and TRT’s own Traction Air
CTI, heavy transport trailers
and cranes.
Gavin Halley, TRT’s
national parts manager, has led
the team in developing the new
Christchurch branch as part of
TRT’s strategic plan.
“As a privately-owned
business, we bring with us our
family values. It’s fantastic that
we are able to deliver our TRT
standard of service and full
product offering to our South
Island customers,” he said.
We’ve got great
support from local
operators and look
forward to meeting
more of them over
the coming months.
The new Christchurch
branch is supported by a dedicated
team of truck and trailer
parts experts. There are new
warehouse facilities, customer
service and teams on the road.
“We have a high calibre,
local team, recruited within the
region. They bring a wealth of
experience and are already well
regarded experts in the industry,”
says Gavin.
TRT Christchurch’s new
branch manager, Ed Foster,
says: “We’ve got great support
from local operators and look
forward to meeting more of
them over the coming months.”
The new branch also supports
MC Transport Repairs
Ltd, now based at the rear of the
facility.
TRT’s manufacturing facility
and head office is in Hamilton
and has truck and trailer
parts branches and warehouse
facilities in Hamilton and
Auckland.
Celebrating the opening of the new TRT Christchurch branch
at 35 Parkhouse Road are, from left, warehouse co-ordinator
Emma Fraser, branch manager Ed Foster, customer service
representative Stefan Duffell, sales representative Chris Wild
and national sales manager Gavin Halley.