Waikato Business News April/May 2020

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8 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2020 Tutoring school quickly switches to video learning By RICHARD WALKER Claire Howarth could see change coming and moved quickly to prepare her local tutoring service for a locked-down world. Mindfull Tutoring in Hamilton offers after-school tutoring for students from year one to year 13, and the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown could have had a huge impact. But Howarth quickly flexed, adopting online technology for the lessons, which have continued without a break. One tutor was already using Zoom to teach via video linkup because three of the organisation’s 170 students could not attend lessons in person. It was a case of acquiring six more Zoom accounts and upskilling all 10 tutors to use the technology. On March 222, the Sunday before the lockdown announcement, that saw them spend a session getting up to speed. “We had a full staff meeting with PD to start to skill all the staff that afternoon and tell them what the plan was, moving forward. The rule was that we're only as strong as our weakest person, and nobody's going home until the weakest person knows how to do this.” It's gone really well and it's only gone well because the staff and the parents have supported it. So I'm certainly very proud of the staff and I'm very appreciative of the parents for getting on board. That took two hours, and meant the online teaching could start immediately, ahead of the lockdown. As well as Zoom, they use Google Docs to share materials with the students. For the first three weeks, either Howarth or her manager, Kimmy Crampton, sat in on all of the lessons so they could troubleshoot. “If someone was stuck, we could phone them up and help them out.” That saw them working 60 hour weeks as they also juggled the care of their own children, in Howarth’s case, four children under six. They kept the teaching hours the same as normal and retained the same teacher-student pairings as much as possible. “Obviously for kids it's really important to keep routine and familiarity,” Howarth says. It hasn’t always been possible to stick to routine, however - like the two students, one year 9 and one year 11, who moved homes and left their books behind. Howarth had to scan and send them the materials for the lesson, which was delayed. “So we did the lesson on the Friday night at 6.30. They were like, ‘yeah, we're not going anywhere'. You'd never normally get senior girls keen for a maths lesson on a Friday night!” She says the teachers are reporting that it’s getting easier as they go on, particularly after the initial setting up of resources. “Luckily, they had the understanding that there was going to be a bottleneck at the beginning, and that's just the unfortunate reality. But they were all quite happy to dig in and do it because they could see it was for the long haul, not just a week or two.” Howarth says parents have also been supportive, with a negligible drop-off in numbers, mainly as families’ employment situations have changed. “It’s been a big learning curve for families as well. Hopefully, when all the families start back at school, they should all be a step ahead of their classmates because they've just had three weeks of lessons.” The business was already growing and had upsized its premises to meet demand. The online option may provide further growth potential, though Howarth says some learning is better face to face - youngsters learning maths, for example. As a mother, she is also keen to keep some balance in her own life. Claire Howarth was quick to change as the lockdown loomed. “It's gone really well and it's only gone well because the staff and the parents have supported it. So I'm certainly very proud of the staff and I'm very appreciative of the parents for getting on board. Because that's what makes or breaks it for any business.” No queuing: Matt Brooks gets his hair cut the stress-free way pre-lockdown. Queue-busting app has social distancing role An app designed to avoid queues is being repurposed as a social distancing tool during the coronavirus pandemic. Tairua-based Matt Brooks came up with the Tuipoint app when he got fed up with waiting in barber shops. The premise is simple: download the app, notify the barber, wait in a virtual queue for prompts letting you know how much longer you’ve got, and arrive at the designated moment - spending your time more constructively in the meantime. You can also prepay for the service, and there is a web browser option. It typically costs $1 to join a queue, with the store owner choosing how much to pass on to the customer. “I'm in the queueing business. I queue people,” Brooks said. As queues lengthen outside supermarkets and pharmacies, that sees his business take on new meaning during the lockdown. Such a system means users are more easily able to maintain social distance, reducing their exposure to the coronavirus by waiting at home or in their car. “I couldn't afford to sit in barbershops waiting for a haircut, so I developed a time-saving app,” Brooks said. “And now it's becoming a social-distancing app because the climate's changed.” He has been approaching essential service providers including supermarkets, while it could also be of value to others including vets and pharmacists. “If we can help, we’re here to help.” With many essential service providers too busy to pause and consider the app during the lockdown, the biggest uptake may come afterwards as barbers, cafes and retail stores look ahead to the post-lockdown future. “Life's going to be totally different now. We're going to have to be queuing virtually somehow,” Brooks said. He said he’s treating the fourweek lockdown like a Christmas break - speaking, appropriately enough, via phone from his local beach. “When everyone breaks for Christmas, that's when they get a chance to really look at what's going on in the world and business people look how they can run their business smarter. “I've now got four weeks where I can get this out to people.” Brooks took the app to market last September, after two years of development, and is looking at adding further products. Guy Howard-Willis, Manta5 founder and Torpedo7 cofounder, is on board as an investor. Brooks sees global potential, but said in terms of building the brand, his focus is New Zealand. “The sky's the limit, but right now we're just looking at ways that we can help the current situation in New Zealand.” Pre-ordering app helps cafes, retailers under level 3 For cafes and retailers desperate to start selling again after a month-long lockdown, a Hamilton developed app may have arrived on the market at the right time. The app allows easy ordering and payment for pickup under Covid-19 level 3 restrictions while face to face interactions are still banned. The new offering is part of the established StampnGo app, used as a digital loyalty coffee card by cafes including Cafe Inc and Sugar Bowl Cafe in Hamilton and others in Auckland, Tauranga and Australia. The addition means customers can pre-order online, specify the time they want to pick up and prepay once the cafe has accepted the order. It became available a month ago, after about six months of development by Hamilton’s Ryder Technologies, while the virtual coffee cards have been available for a year and a half. They are part of a wider loyalty programme, most of which has been overseas. As Covid- 19 takes hold, the company is turning its attention to the local market. “We're not doing as much stuff overseas and obviously we won't be in the next two years,” says product designer John-Paul Mclean. “So we've got to change our angle and focus more on New Zealand.” The company also does a gift card offering, for outlets including Repco and Heathcote Appliances, which Mclean says has been decimated by Covid-19, placing all the more emphasis on StampnGo’s new product. “We're going out to our customers to say, at Covid-19 alert level 3, this is a great product for you to have because customers can book in a time and pick up the product.” One of their customers, Flaveur Breads in Tauranga, is planning to use it for bread Ryder Technologies director Stacey Mclean picks up a pre-ordered coffee. pickups, while non-food retailers could also introduce it. “Anyone who can offer a pre-order and pickup service - it's not restricted to any demographic.” The app and platform is free to download and use. StampnGo charges a 5 percent fee on transactions, and payment gateway Stripe charges a further transaction fee of around 3 percent which is dependent on the country and plan chosen. Mclean says that works out cheaper than PayPal, and considerably cheaper than the likes of Uber Eats, which he says charges 35 percent plus delivery. “Obviously it's a great time for us to get our name out, but it's certainly not a monetary thing for us at this point of time - it's more about, hey, we can help people out.” https://stampngo.com/
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2020 9 Wintec students launch virtual agency free for businesses There’s a saying that something great can come out of a crisis and for Waikato businesses looking for a post-Covid-19 lockdown boost, the “good” could be free communication and marketing services. Abby Dalgety teaches digital marketing at Wintec School of Media Arts. With Wintec remaining open during the lockdown and delivering education online, Dalgety and her teaching colleagues were challenged to deliver education in different ways. “Our Communication degree includes a substantial work-based component to give students real-world learning,” she said. “Because of the Covid-19 lockdown, the industry partners we usually work with have all had to cancel. Some have closed and others are working from home or at a reduced capacity.” With an agency background she is well aware that during a downturn, paid public relations and marketing take a hit. So she came up with a solution for her third-year Communication students who would normally be working on client assignments for their ‘own’ agency during the next term.“Our students will be providing help to businesses that need it due to Covid-19. We know that marketing, advertising and public relations are usually the things that companies cull in a crisis, so here’s an opportunity for businesses to get some fresh thinking for free, while helping students get some work experience at the same time.” Working online during the lockdown is second nature to Wintec communication and journalism students who are honing their skills for careers in the online space. For some time now, journalism students have published their work to Waikato Independent, an online news hub. The students have also started a public blog, Waikato Now , a window into student life at home during the lockdown. Media Arts group director Sam Cunnane says that when Wintec redeveloped its Communication degree and relaunched it in 2018, the need to respond to change and future-focus teaching was a top priority. “Not so long ago we were talking about preparing students for a rapidly changing workplace. The past few weeks have seen more change for students and staff than we could ever have anticipated, and they are responding with innovation and enthusiasm. This period is going to have a great influence on how we teach, learn and interact with our community.” In the first week of teaching and learning online during the lockdown, Wintec staff and students spent the equivalent of 1,020,307 minutes or 708 days participating in 2,720 Zoom meetings involving 38,000 participants. • Waikato businesses that would like to know more about working with Wintec’s virtual agency, can email Abby.Dalgety@ wintec.ac.nz. Find out more about studying Communication at Wintec School of Media Arts. Abby Dalgety and her students have launched a virtual agency during lockdown. Experience care as it should be, experience the Braemar way. New support centre buffers Waikato businesses Waikato business are benefitting from a new phone-based support centre that is providing advice and assistance to organisations affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Targeting small to medium sized firms, the Waikato Business Support initiative is a partnership with councils and led by Waikato’s regional economic development agency, Te Waka. The new service is part of cohesive and growing efforts by the Waikato community to support businesses hit hard by COVID-19 Alert Level 4 and the lockdown period, together with a focus on business recovery beyond lockdown. The Waikato business community is strong and will continue to rally to protect its own from the COVID-19 fallout. Te Waka’s job is to help Waikato businesses survive, revive and grow post COVID- 19. That means pooling our resources and working together with others to accelerate business recovery and enhance business capability. This project is also about taking a longer-term view and thinking about reviving economic activity and growth in the region post COVID-19. The Waikato Business Support initiative strengthens Te Waka’s existing Business Growth Service. It offers Waikato business owners access to a first point of contact, with the knowledge and skills to help them access an even broader range of skills and expertise at a time when they need it most. Waikato Business Support will provide an effective way to connect Waikato businesses to local and national government support resources. It will also reassure business owners that help and resources are available to help them navigate their way through this uncertain time. For more information about Waikato Business Support call 07 929 4673 WBZ HOPE or visit the website www.waikatobusinesssupport.nz to register for a call back. Braemar Hospital is one of the largest private surgical hospitals in New Zealand, and it’s here in Hamilton. With more than 100 world class specialists, 10 state-of-the-art operating rooms, 84 beds including 32 private rooms, at Braemar you’ll receive the highest level of care. Choose the very best. Choose Braemar. braemarhospital.co.nz “Serving the community since 1999” P 07 211 4654 or 021 881 229 Email: ana@ana-maria.nz Address: 82 Grey Street, Hamilton, NZ Assisting families in their time of need with professional, compassionate, personal care.
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Waikato Business News April/May 2020

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