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Rotorua Chamber of Commerce Tabloid - April 2005
Westpac - New Major Sponsor For Business Awards
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IMAGE COMING
LEFT TO RIGHT: Steven Pinder (Area Manager SME, Westpac),
Roger Gordon and Lloyd Upston (Senior Business Manager, Westpac Bank) | The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce has announced the signing of a new partnership with Westpac that will see the Rotorua Business Awards become known as the Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards.
“This is tremendous news for the Chamber. Having such a high profile and supportive partner for our business awards will see the event continue to grow as the premier event celebrating business excellence in our region.” says Roger Gordon, CEO of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce. “Westpac, with their depth of experience in Business Awards, will make a tremendous contribution to the organisation of our event.”
“Westpac has proudly signed on the dotted line extending its support for the Rotorua region”, says Steve Atkinson, Regional Manager Business Banking, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. “This is a natural extension of our ongoing support”, says Steve. “Westpac provides sponsorship support for the Hamilton and Tauranga Chambers and Business Excellence Awards plus we already have a long-standing sponsorship with the Rotorua Chamber. The Rotorua Business Awards really completes and cements our partnership across the three major business centres in this part of the country.
“Rotorua is a very robust region with a diverse mix of businesses and industries creating stability within the local economy. For example the high NZ dollar is really impacting forestry and international freight, yet there's a strong flow of international revenue coming through tourism. It is the wide range of businesses in Rotorua that this awards programme will support and recognise.
“Nurturing business excellence is very important to Westpac. All winners and finalists receive a unique opportunity to step into the spotlight, profile their business and receive recognition for their contribution to the business community.
“But this awards programme is not just about winning; taking part presents all entrants with a solid business opportunity. All participants have their businesses reviewed and benchmarked by experts. And all businesses are encouraged to leverage the awards to create opportunities and build networks against this backdrop of rigorous assessment. Every business in the Rotorua Business Awards should come away with something truly valuable to add to their business.
“We understand that it is a courageous move; to stand up and be counted alongside your business peers
and Westpac applauds every business that submits a nomination for these awards.”
The official launch of the 2005 Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards will be at the beginning of May. The Awards Presentation Gala Evening has already been set for 30 September.
“This partnership with Westpac heralds a new era in the Business Awards for the Chamber,” concludes Roger Gordon, “The extension of Westpac's support across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato opens up the possibility of extending the Awards to a regional event and adding to the accolade for the winners.”
Council Comments
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Peter Guerin
CEO of the Rotorua District Council
| I thought I would use this opportunity to highlight just some of the issues in the 2005/2006 draft Annual Plan which has been approved for public consultation. Submissions close on 13th May.
The draft Annual Plan is essentially the second year of the Ten Year Plan that was adopted last year.
The first matter I would like to discuss is the 4.1% rate increase. Chamber members were critical of the proposed rate increase in light of the December 2004 2.7% CPI. It must be remembered that the CPI relates to consumption expenditure. More than half of Council's expenditure is connected with the construction/contracting sectors. The index for these sectors has run at over 12% for the last year. The proposed 4.1% rate increase is substantially less than that, and is required to implement the Annual Plan targets. The difference is achieved through efficiency gains and a $200,000 savings in Policy and Strategic Direction areas.
Total debt has increased to $119 million. That which relates to general rate funded activity has reduced slightly from that projected in the Ten Year Plan. Separately funded activities such as wastewater and water supplies, pensioner housing, airport and the landfill has increased particularly the lake shore settlement sewerage scheme. These scheme costs have increased for three main reasons.
They are:
- introduction of a scheme for Lake Rotoma which was not included in the Ten Year Plan
- more detailed designs now developed with correspondingly more detailed costing
- increased contribution sector costs.
This year, the Annual Plan continues with the focus developed in the Ten Year Plan and will have particular emphasis on:
- Giving affect to the Community Outcomes
- Improving lake water quality of the District's 14 lakes
- Contributing towards the District's sustainable growth
- Implementing the Rotorua Regional Airport Plan
- Maintaining service levels for our activities
- Development of Community Facilities
- Continuous improvement for efficiency gains
- Building on the Rotorua Partners' Programme
Growth has been an area of high priority for Council for sometime now. We have made significant gains over the past two years. These have been centred on developing strategies for the visitor industry, retail, events and the film industry. Participation in lake action plans has been important as has been designing sewerage schemes for the lake shore settlements. A draft open space strategy, the regional airport development and infrastructure strategies for urban transport strategy, waste management strategy etc, have all contributed towards enhanced economic opportunities.
A considerable amount of effort has been put into the development of a Rotorua Economic Development Strategy called the “Bright Economy”. This strategy builds on the community outcomes “Bright Future” project of last year that identified eight community outcomes including “a prosperous community”. Bright Economy provides a strategy aimed at creating future wealth and prosperity for the people of Rotorua. The strategy has a vision and ten year targets. The implementation has been built around five keys themes of:
- adding value to the economy
- dynamic place
- business environment
- education and skills
- building networks and growing diversity.
The strategy implementation will be overseen by an advisory board of business leaders. It is hoped to launch this strategy in May June 2005 to the wider business sector, members of Parliament, neighbouring authorities, government agencies and many other interested parties.
Rotorua Regional Airport is an area where much progress has been made over the past 18 months. Work has been substantially completed on the new terminal; extension of aviation security fencing, increased car parking capacity, and two new aprons to accommodate jet services. This expenditure almost completes the trans-Tasman prepared objective. The final commitment to a trans-Tasman capable airport needs a change to the District Plan and completion of demand analysis. This should be completed in the next 6 12 months at which time a final decision on the necessary investment will be made.
A copy of the Annual Plan is available on our website at:-www.rdc.govt.nz / About Our Council / Publications / Draft Annual Plan 2005-2006
In conclusion, thank you very much for the opportunity to communicate with members of the Chamber. We look forward to continuing to develop this strong relationship between the two organisations which can only strengthen the well being of our District.
BOOST
INSPIRING ROTORUA’S YOUNG MANAGER
ATTENTION:
CHIEF EXECUTIVES, SENIOR MANAGERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:
As an employer, are you worried about losing rising workplace stars to the bigger centres?
Do your young managers and staff find it difficult to mix and network with like-minded people?
If so, Boost can help!
Since the last Tabloid was published, the Young Managers' Network of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce (Boost) has continued its solid membership growth as more and more young people with exceptional skills come out of the woodwork.
The Network has been established with three main goals in mind, namely:
- To foster professional development through meaningful support, guidance, mentoring, networking, and training opportunities for fellow young managers working or with an interest in the Rotorua District.
- To provide advice and a “youth voice” to key business organisations within the Rotorua District including but not limited to the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce and the Rotorua District Council.
- To be recognised as the leading cross-industry forum for young managers in the Rotorua District.
The broad spectrum of the membership allows for a diverse range of views to be shared through the network. The current member organisations include:
Rotorua General Practice Group, Bank of New Zealand, Reid and Reynolds, Waiariki Institute of Technology, Sport Bay of Plenty, Damar Industries, House of Travel, Mental Health Foundation, Property Strategies, Rotorua District Council, Kale Print, Forest Research, Sealed Air, Westpac, SBS Computers, Lakes District Health Board, Te Papa Takaro O Te Arawa, Destination Rotorua.
One of the topical issues currently on the agenda is how to recruit and retain young executives in Rotorua. According to Jeremy Mihaka-Dyer, Chair of Boost and Population Health Manager at Rotorua General Practice Group: “We want to achieve noticeable success at both ends of the continuum, first attracting young people to work and play in the Rotorua District, and second, motivating them to stay. So many companies spend large sums on recruitment for short term positions and watch that investment leave town at the end of the contract,” he said. “Be it through secondments within the Boost network, promotion in conjunction with Destination Rotorua and the Chamber or simply word of mouth, Boost can make a difference to recruitment and retention rates for young executives”.
And the members of Boost are also quick to point out the advantages of living, working and doing business in Rotorua. They cite the following:
- Affordable house prices
- Affordable business rentals
- The ability to build personal relationships with your customers
- A pro-active Chamber of Commerce
- A geographically central location
- Access to world class leisure activities and events
- No traffic jams.
In other words …
Before considering a move to the big smoke take stock of what Rotorua has to offer!
- Boost membership is open to individuals under the age of 38 with a desire to both develop their own careers and support other like-minded young managers with their career and professional development.
- Boost meets the first Tuesday of every month at Fuze City Bar from 5 pm onwards. The next meeting is on Tuesday, 3 May
- The annual membership fee is only $15 for an individual or $25 for a couple
- Contact Jeremy Mihaka-Dyer on 029 349 3563 or at jmihaka-dyer@rgpg.co.nz
Upskilling New Exporters
Experienced Bay of Plenty exporters are involved in an initiative to help those new to the industry learn more about selling their product overseas.
Export New Zealand Bay of Plenty has established this country's first “Sounding Board” allowing new exporters to tap into their experienced counterparts' knowledge.
Executive officer Joanne Buxton says the Sounding Board idea came after she received many calls from people wanting to know if there was someone they could talk to about exporting their product or service.
“There are no text books available for those who want to learn about exporting, so the best way to gain an insight is to tap into the wealth of knowledge held by experienced exporters.
“What better way to learn about exporting to Bahrain, for example, than to talk to someone who's been doing just that for the past five years? You could find out how they broke into the market. Ask who their agent is. Or what the cultural situation is in Bahrain and will it effect my export?”
Buxton says regular Export New Zealand Bay of Plenty networking helps to answer some questions, but the idea of having an exporting mentor who works with you one-on-one on a monthly basis has been a popular one.
“Our Sounding Board mentors are experienced in a wide variety of areas, such as manufacturing processes, future planning, pricing strategies and branding markets. This means as well as helping to break into specific markets, they can also provide advice about exporting practices.
“Sometimes when you are working hard towards getting your product exported, it's easy to get tunnel vision. Obstacles can seem insurmountable and things can be very frustrating.
“For this very reason the Sounding Board is of interest to some of our most experienced Export Bay of Plenty members, not just our newer members. It certainly helps to talk through things with someone who is on the same wavelength as you.”
Buxton says because each overseas market is so different some experienced exporters can feel like beginners if trying to break into a new country.
“Exporting is a different ball game in each country. You may be experienced in trading with Korea, but to move into the Thai or Japanese markets is very different again. This also applies to the European markets.”
The Sounding Board is a free service to Export New Zealand Bay of Plenty members. Buxton says Export New Zealand will be watching the initiative closely, with a view to roll the programme out over the whole country if it proves a success.
“It makes sense to start the Sounding Board in the Bay, one of the strongest exporting regions in the country, backed by New Zealand's biggest exporting port at Tauranga.”
SOURCE: EXPORT NZ
WORKPLACE STRESS AN EMPLOYER'S RESPONSIBILITY
On 13 April 2005, Nalder & Biddle (Nelson) Limited (“the employer”) earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first company in New Zealand to be convicted of failing to ensure the safety of an employee pursuant to the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (“the HSE Act”), after that employee suffered
work-related stress.
The Facts
The employee was hired in August 2003 to be an assistant in the employer's accounting department. However, within a few days of the employee's appointment, the financial manager and his assistant resigned. The employee immediately took on the role of financial manager in the employer's company.
By October 2003 the employee told her employer that she was suffering stress-related chest pains and had been placed on medication. The employer agreed that the employee could hire two assistants. However, the two assistants that were ultimately hired, had no accounting experience.
Through to late November 2003, the employee continued to suffer work-related stress and as a result of a further meeting with the employer, a qualified accountant was recruited and employed in December 2003.
In January 2004 the employee suffered chest pains and was advised to stay away from work. She then returned briefly in January because of an important upcoming meeting, but on 30 January was unable to continue and was placed on stress leave.
Medical examinations conducted indicated that the health problems suffered by the employee on 30 January 2004, were directly related to stresses placed upon her in her employment.
The District Court Decision
In convicting the employer, Disctrict Court Judge McKegg held that although the employer acknowledged the employee's stress related problems after it had been informed, a solution to alleviate the stress being suffered by the employee was not found and this resulted in the employee suffering injury.
In delivering his judgement His Honour stated:
“It is difficult to assess the effect stress has on an employee. Employers have to be diligent that the stress placed on an employee is reasonable. There will always be stresses in a job, but they must not become health-threatening. Where employees have stressful work conditions and special medical difficulties advised to the employer, then immediate remedial action is required.”
The Law
Under the HSE Act, employers must take all practicable steps to identify and manage hazards in the workplace and ensure that employees are not harmed.
From May 2003, the definition of “harm” in the HSE Act was extended to include both physical and/or mental harm caused by work-related stress.
The Result
In finding that the employer did not take all practical steps to ensure the safety of its employee, District Court Judge McKegg noted that the maximum penalty available to the Court for this type of offending was a fine of $250,000.
In consideration that the employer had already compensated the employee for loss of income and emotional harm in a confidential settlement under the Employment Relations Act 2000, McKegg DCJ fined the employer $8,000 with an additional award of $1,294 for the employee's medical expenses, $150 for costs and $500 for solicitor's fees.
In total, the employer was ordered to pay $9944.
Summary
Pursuant to the HSE Act, workplace stress is now a hazard that employers must manage effectively. Just as an employer must protect employees from dangerous machinery or goods, the onus is now on employers to ensure that systems are in place to both manage and resolve instances of work-place stress, so as to facilitate a safe working environment.
The successful prosecution of Nalder & Biddle (Nelson) Limited by the Department of Labour should be taken as a signal that employers need to take work related stress seriously in New Zealand.
The lesson to be learned is that workplace stress is the employer's responsibility. Accordingly, employers must act quickly and decisively to stop work-place stress becoming so severe as to cause physical or mental illness to employees.
Should individual employers have concerns or questions about their obligations under the HSE Act, they should seek legal advice. Davys Burton's employment team will be running a seminar later this year on employer liability for work-place stress related issues.
FREE BUSINESS MENTORING SERVICE IN ROTORUA
Like many of the members of the Executive of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, Dr Margriet Theron, the President of the Chamber, wears a number of hats. One of her roles is to be the business mentor coordinator for Rotorua. The free business mentoring service is provided by Business in the Community, an Auckland-based organisation with 23 agencies around NZ. The Rotorua agency is the Economic Development Unit of the Rotorua District Council. There are 19 business mentors and over 80 clients in Rotorua.
"The owners and managers of small businesses often feel lonely and appreciate having a business mentor to use as a sounding board" according to Margriet. The business mentoring service has the financial support of a long list of NZ's most prominent large businesses, including Air NZ, ANZ Bank, ASB Bank, KPMG, Saatchi and Saatchi, the Tindall Foundation, Telecom, TVNZ, and Westpac.
Business mentors are coaches, not consultants. They provide opinions and ideas, are experienced in business, and are willing to offer their time voluntarily. To be a mentor requires good listening and communication skills.
Some of the areas in which Rotorua businesses most often seek the advice of a mentor include business planning, market development and promotion, people management, OSH and other compliance issues, cash flow and financial accounting. When required, the mentors will steer their clients towards professional advice. They also encourage them to join business networking organisations such as the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce.
Business mentors are willing to give their time to enhance the chances of success of smaller businesses. They find the mentoring process rewarding and satisfying. The business mentors also develop their own business skills by guiding others through challenging times, and by making use of the extensive business management resources that are available to the mentors. As business mentor coordinator, Margriet organises training workshops for the mentors, where the mentors also widen their own business networks.
To apply for a free business mentor, register on-line at www.businessmentor.org.nz, or phone Margriet on 3477211. The service is available to businesses with fewer than 25 employees that have been going for at least six months.
And, or course, if you would like to put something back into the Rotorua business community, you could consider applying to become a mentor by following the steps on the same website: www.businessmentor.org.nz.
The 4th Annual Newstalk ZB Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament
Off The Stick
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Newstalk ZB's Daniel Fluker struggling with the hazards.
Chamber of Commerce CEO Roger Gordon eyeing up a birdie on the 17th.
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The Newstalk ZB Rotorua Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament report with the double bogie master, Daniel Fluker.
The weather gods were shining down on us once again at the 4th annual Newstalk ZB and Rotorua Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament on Friday the 11th of March. Close to one hundred keen golfers were greeted with a slightly overcast day, very little wind and a comfortable temperature for eighteen holes of golf at the Arikikapakapa Golf Course.
Starting from the 10th tee, the signs were ominous when three of the four golfers in my group found vegetation from their first shot (me included!) However the limbs soon loosened up, heads were kept down and composure was found and the golf became a pleasurable experience as we worked our way around the course.
There was the normal donation of a couple of balls to the Taniwha in the lake on the 15th, and the old balls from the bottom of the bag were duly called upon. The day would have been very hard indeed without the welcome interruption of the drinks trolley. Although seen driving erratically over the course and rumoured to have fallen into the 12th bunker, the Radio Network personnel driving the cart made sure all players were well watered during the afternoon.
By about the 17th the signs showed that a course record was already beyond me and I instead concentrated on getting around the course without losing any more balls. The Millennium team handing out another round of refreshments at the 8th were a wonderful sight with only two holes to play and gave me the extra energy needed to finish. With my score well into the triple figures I returned to the club house, hoping to accidentally loose my score card in the process.
Newstalk ZB's Danny Watson entertained the group while the marking took place after which the prizes were awarded. Major winners included:
Best Male Gross Danny Lee
Best Female Gross Caroline Kopu
Best Male Net Nick Moke
Best Female Net Ngaire Mitchell
Best Non-golfer Male Andrew Armstrong
Best Non-golfer Female Moana Corbett
The Guardian Trust Trophy which went to the best two combined golfers of one team was a tight battle. Runners up were the Waiariki Institute of Technology 1st team and the winners were Geyserland Construction.
A big thank you must go to Roger Gordon and the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce Team for their efforts; also to Lyn-Marie McFadden and the crew from the Radio Network. Big thanks to the eighteen businesses who sponsored the holes, Roger Downey and Mike Drakovic who compiled the scores, and to the members of the Rotorua Golf Club.
I have one apology to make to Jan Harker. While strolling up the 7th Jan did a very good job of nearly getting in the way of one of my wayward shots. If it makes you feel any better Jan, I shot a ten on that hole.
Well done to all the golfers who made the day a memorable one. Look forward to seeing you next year.
Daniel Fluker
Newstalk ZB
The Radio Network – Rotorua
UNISON
Our Mission
To be a successful business through excellence in customer service, innovation, growth and leadership.
Who We Are
Unison is the fourth largest electricity lines company in New Zealand; our offices are based in Hastings and we employ more than 120 local people. We have total assets of $395 million and a turnover of $87 million. Unison is wholly owned by the Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust, which was established in 1993. We distribute electricity via our overhead and underground network to over 103,000 consumer connections. We own, manage and are responsible for the design, development, operation and maintenance of the combined electricity networks in three of the North Island's most progressive regions - Hawke's Bay, Taupo and Rotorua. On an annual basis, our combined networks distribute approximately 1,600GWh of electricity covering remote rural areas to highly populated urban areas. Our power lines span thousands of kilometres across these regions.
An Overview of the Industry
The electricity industry in New Zealand has gone through a comprehensive reform process which has resulted in the creation of 'competing' electricity generation and supply companies, separate lines businesses and a competitive wholesale market for electricity.
The Government ended its statutory monopoly in generation in 1987. The Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy was corporatised and became a state-owned enterprise known as the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand. Throughout the 1990s the industry began massive reform. In 1994 the national transmission grid company, Transpower, was separated from ECNZ. The foundation for competition in the electricity generation market was laid in 1996 when Contact Energy was split off from ECNZ. Electricity companies were required to separate their distribution from generation and retailing activities by the Electricity Industry Reform Act (1998). In 1999 ECNZ was divided further with most of its assets going to three new state-owned enterprises, Genesis Power, Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power.
The electricity industry is largely deregulated but participants are required to comply with specific legislation, principally:
- The Electricity Industry Reform Act (1998);
- The Electricity Industry Reform Amendment Act (2001);
- The Electricity Amendment Act (2001);
- The Commerce Act (1986);
- The Electricity Amendment (No2) Act (2001).
New Zealand's electricity consumers are free to choose from which retailer they buy electricity. Unison charges the retailers a network charge based on the “load group” for each individual site. For more information log on to www.unison.co.nz
Growth in Rotorua
Growth is monitored and planned with the assistance of the Rotorua District Council, electricity retailers, local developers, and our associations with larger users' and influencer groups such as the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce. Although electrical demands in Rotorua have not risen dramatically in the last few years there is an expectation that this will change in the future with new initiatives being discussed with several parties.
One of the issues facing Unison at present is the age of some network assets which are nearing the end of their life expectancy. Sourcing new equipment from overseas and having enough trained and qualified staff employed by contractors is a challenge facing most network companies around New Zealand.
Unison is in discussion with other stakeholders regarding local generation opportunities including geothermal, cogeneration and biomass.
For more information please contact Bill Hewitt, Customer Relations Manager:
Phone: (06) 873 9361
Mobile: (021) 739 461
Email: Bill.Hewitt@unison.co.nz
Rotorua Airport - The Future
Jet-aircraft on the Rotorua-Christchurch route are vital to Rotorua's tourism industry and therefore Rotorua's economy. The Rotorua-Christchurch route comprises 180,000 passenger movements being 62% of total travellers through the airport - most being international visitors.
Back around April 2001 the Rotorua Tourism industry lobbied both the Airport Board and Council (as airport shareholders) on the threats to our economy if Rotorua should loose the Rotorua-Christchurch route for jet-aircraft. Both the Airport Board and Council of the day, from their own research, accepted this view.
History has shown that they were right. Prior to the loss of jet-aircraft from May 2001, passenger numbers had been growing at 9% per year. Almost immediately after the cessation of the jet-service the passenger growth rate on the ROT-CHCH route dropped by 20%. Almost all of these lost passengers were overseas visitors.
As predicated by the tourism industry, the inbound tour wholesalers (the companies that bring the majority of visitors to New Zealand), changed their schedules. Instead of the normal schedule being bus from Auckland to Rotorua via Waitomo Caves, stay Rotorua 2 nights then fly Rotorua-Christchurch, they changed to busing their clients Auckland-Waitomo-Rotorua then back to Auckland in one day.
The next day they would fly their clients Auckland-Christchurch direct. Rotorua as a result lost two nights of accommodation/ meals, significant reduced sightseeing and retail spending. The reverse happened with tourist flying for South-North.
Why? Because with the smaller turboprop aircraft tour parties were being split between two aircraft with different departure/arrival times and far too often their bags had to be off-loaded because of the limited weight capacity of the smaller aircraft. Rotorua hotels reported tour parties turning up with their bags arriving the next day.
Rotorua airport originally built for 20 ton Fokker Friendship turboprop type aircraft was not capable of handling the heavier modern jet-aircraft. So when both Air NZ and Qantas changed to 50 tonne 737-300 Boeing jet-aircraft, the airport had to upgrade the facility to keep the jet-aircraft services. The new jets, although significantly quieter, are larger, heavier and require a longer runway to lift off than the previously used Air NZ and Ansett jets.
With the completion of this work Rotorua will be able to maintain jet-aircraft on the Rotorua-Christchurch route into the foreseeable future and will be fully trans-Tasman capable.
All up the $16.0 million spent to date is financed by a Council loan with interest paid by the users of the Airport, from Airport operating profits not the ratepayers.
As a company Rotorua Regional Airport Limited had insufficient equity to secure borrowing of $16 million. As a pure business decision it could not justify this level of expenditure on a return on investment basis.
The real financial return comes as an economic benefit for the District/Region. From the extra dollars spent by international visitors staying overnight in Rotorua as opposed to flying over the top of Rotorua on the direct Auckland-Christchurch route.
The Council wanted the economic benefit to the community that a jet capable Rotorua Airport can produce, so the Airport Company agreed to sell the assets of the Airport to the Rotorua District Council and lease back the operating rights. RDC is therefore able to use its equity and borrowing power to develop the asset and the company is still able to operate as a commercial airport operator.
Where to from here?
There now remains only two hurdles to developing a fully capable trans-Tasman airport:
- Resource consent to extend the runway
- $20 million to undertake the required works
Neil Oppatt
Chairman Rotorua Regional Airport Ltd
Growing your business by franchising
As the franchising sector leaps from strength to strength, Westpac are continually building their team of experienced, regional experts to match New Zealand's growing need for franchising specialists. But franchising is not just about buying into a franchise. There are considerable opportunities for NZ businesses to grow strategically and leverage intellectual property by becoming a franchisor.
If you are managing a solid business, doing well in its market, but are finding that you are at a crossroad regarding future growth, you may want to consider franchising as a way to quickly and strategically grow the business using other people's capital.
New Zealand's franchise industry is worth $6.9bn and has experienced astonishing growth of 20-25% per annum over the last three years (2003 Survey of Franchising). Most growth has been in the services and business-to-business categories. On the retail side, more than 50% of all US retail applies a franchise business model. In New Zealand we are way behind this figure indicating a range of opportunities for our businesses.
The main advantages of franchising your business are:
- Business can expand quickly and strategically to fill gaps in the market and make use of opportunities ahead of competitors.
- Leveraging third party resources (franchisee's) can resolve one of the biggest stumbling blocks to business expansion, namely adequate capital.
- Retail-based businesses can increase sales. Corporate businesses converting to a franchise business model frequently demonstrate sales increases in excess of 20%, even where they sell to the existing manager.
- Solves personnel issues by providing self-motivated owner/operators.
- Synergies allow franchise systems to achieve economies of scale, for example, marketing, brand awareness and purchasing costs can be reduced thus increasing competitiveness.
For these reasons, large companies are increasingly turning to franchising to drive their future growth, for instance most of the fuel, automotive and fast food industries operate on a franchised model.
Franchising allows the business owner to leverage his or her intellectual property, something that is difficult but very important to maximise opportunity in today's knowledge-based economy.
By Katia Addison - Westpac's new Franchising Manager for this region. She has a professional history of providing franchise solutions and a detailed knowledge of how to drive business success through franchising.
For more information: contact Katia directly on (07) 834 2859 ext. 53259 or.
Email: katia_addison@westpac.co.nz
Always make use of professional legal, accounting and other advise when considering setting up a franchise system.
Introducing A New Way Of Working
The next time you head down to Rotorua's Starbucks café on Tutanekai St, take your laptop with you. Your office will be waiting for you down there, but don't expect to see any desks, phones or cables. The office can come to you when you use Telecom's wireless hotspot service at the café.
If you're an Xtra customer, our wireless hotspot service gives you high-speed Internet access on your wireless enabled laptop or PDA without the need for an Internet cable.
We have several wireless hotspots around Rotorua, as part of our nationwide network, which let you check Xtra and web-based email, surf the Web, watch streaming video or even download multi-media presentations onto your laptop or PDA at high-speed.
But our wireless hotspot service is just one of a number of ways you can keep on top of business if work or family commitments regularly take you away from the office.
For extra mobility, you can access the Internet on our recently-launched Mobile Broadband network. Or you can use Xtra email on your 027 mobile.
These tools all help you turn down-time into productive time and can also improve your customer service. Dead time between appointments, for example, can be used to process orders. Or you can respond to customer inquiries instantly, rather than having to clear your email backlog when you get back into the office.
Remote Internet options also mean you and your staff can more effectively manage your work/life balance. You can more easily keep on top of work commitments if school holidays or family illness, for example, are keeping you from the office.
Here's a guide to the remote working tools which Telecom offers. Whether you're having a coffee, are travelling to visit a client, or are at home looking after the kids, they'll keep you on top of business.
Telecom wireless hotspots
All you need to connect to this service is an Xtra account and a wireless enabled laptop or PDA.
Many new laptops and other computing devices are already capable of connecting to our wireless hotspots. If yours isn't, you can purchase a WLAN (wireless local area network) card from Telecom retail stores.
All you then need to do is start your web browser when you're in range of a Telecom wireless hotspot and follow the connection instructions that appear. Your Internet usage will be automatically billed to your Xtra account.
Rotorua's Starbucks café joins the rest of Starbucks' 36 stores nationwide in being fitted with a Telecom wireless hotspot. So every time you're out of town, you can duck into a Starbucks for a cup of coffee and check how things are going back at the office.
Rotorua also has a number of other hotspot sites in the Heritage, Millennium Copthorne and Kingsgate Hotel hotels, as well as the Princes Gate Hotel, the Silver Oaks Heritage Motor Inn and the Ventura Inn.
There are Telecom wireless hotspots in public locations nationwide and there are plans to add further locations progressively. Visit www.telecom.co.nz/ wirelesshotspots for a map of our wireless hotspot sites around the country.
Mobile Broadband
If you'd like more flexibility in where you access the Internet away from the office, you can use Mobile Broadband on your laptop or PDA.
With Mobile Broadband - our new T3G network - Internet access is not restricted to a particular site. It can be used anywhere within Telecom's 027 coverage area. All you need to do is to plug a data card or a data-capable mobile phone into your laptop and launch your Internet browser.
Mobile Broadband was the first T3G service to be launched by Telecom and it offers some of the fastest mobile data download speeds in the world. When you're in key metropolitan centres and major holiday spots, you'll be able to connect to your email and the Internet at speeds you're used to at the office or work Outside these areas, your fast Internet connection will automatically switch to Telecom's nationwide mobile data network. Speeds will vary depending on coverage, network traffic and file type.
Taupo Tandem Skydiving was one of our first customers to start using Mobile Broadband when it was launched in November last year. Mobile Broadband has streamlined the business' customer service by making it easier for staff to take after-hours bookings and to provide instant responses to phone inquiries.
They recently established a central database to store all their bookings. The next step was to streamline the after-hours service so they could provide customers with a range of jump times and prices and enter bookings immediately.
All reservations staff now have Telecom Harrier PDAs, with Mobile Broadband, which means after-hours they are able to instantly access the central database.
What's made the service really work is the high speed of Mobile Broadband. There are three web pages to go through, each of which can take up to 20 seconds to upload using slower networks. It doesn't sound like a long time but it's an eternity when you've got a customer on the phone.
Mobile Broadband lets the staff switch between these pages almost instantaneously. It's more professional and means all the work is done in one phone call. They're providing a better service and also processing more reservations particularly important when they can have up to 200 enquiries a day during summer.(assume this is factually accurate)
Email On Your 027 Mobile Phone
Wireless Internet Hotspots and Mobile Broadband are great for surfing the Internet or for clearing your email backlogs. But remember you can access your Xtra email on an 027 mobile phone to keep working when you're out of the office.
You can use your mobile to quickly check your Xtra inbox as well as send emails. Just launch your phone's web browser and enter your Xtra email address and password.
There's no charge if you just view your inbox and it only costs 35c to read or compose and send each email. So you can quickly scan the names of the people who have sent you emails waiting to be read in your inbox for free and, if you've been expecting an email from one of them, open it and read it in full before replying then and there.
Each of these technologies Telecom wireless hotspots, Mobile Broadband or 027 mobile email suit some businesses or working styles more than others. But they all offer the same benefit you no longer have to be at your desk to keep things moving in your business.
Why Have Links To Your Website…?
The Rotorua Chamber provides a link through to your website as part of what the Chamber does for you as a member.
Why are these “inbound” links to your website important…?
There are two considerations for links to your site:-
Firstly traffic can flow into your web site from the Chamber website.
We will be doing some more search engine positioning with the Rotorua Chamber website over the coming months and so the link to your website will result in another traffic flow for web visitors to view your web based information.
Visitors to the Rotorua Chamber web site can use the Chamber website as a resource of those businesses that are credible and professional so by association the web visitor will “trust” you more.
Chamber members can also view other members and their products and services offerings in the Member 2 Member area.
Secondly and more importantly than just having a traffic flow and being seen as credible is the way that Google currently ranks its search results.
For those that have not used the web in the past 12 months, Google is the number one search engine in use today. It indexes over 1 billion images and over 8 billion web pages.
Google uses a complex algorithm to rank the search results and one of the key weighting factors is how many inbound links a web site has. That is “is this site more popular than the second ranked website…?”
Google also considers not just the number of inbound links but gives more weight to those links from popular websites. As we undertake to place the Rotorua Chamber website better in the search rankings your web site will also raise in Google's search results.
If you'd like to know about how to better position your website in the search engines please contact Russell at rus@e-c.co.nz
Rotorua Employment Skills Project Gaining Momentum!
The Rotorua Employment Skills Project has gained momentum with three sector groups underway addressing the Skills Shortage issues in the Rotorua region. The three sector groups are Construction, Engineering, Manufacturing & Transport (CEMT), Agriculture & Horticulture and Tourism & Hospitality.
The fourth meeting of the CEMT sector group was held in April with over 40 companies and organisations attending. It is pleasing to note we are still attracting newcomers to the initiative with the active database for this sector group up to 85 companies. This meeting covered the Rotorua Business Awards, the Business in the Community mentoring scheme and a workshop on, are ITO’s, industry, schools, tertiary providers meeting your expectations and what solutions can you provide to strengthen these working relationships/expectations with one another to achieve positive outcomes?
We have also started to bring on other priority sectors to work through the same process of developing specific sector based action plans with Agriculture and Horticulture sector attracting 20 participants and the Tourism and Hospitality sector having 40 participants at our initial meetings Destination Rotorua Economic Development employment skills co-ordinator, Jo Gargiulo says “there is real benefit in these meetings as it brings industry together along with schools, ITOs, tertiary providers and other groups to develop a co-ordinated approach to addressing the skills shortage issues through contributing to making sure the Action Plan developed are being delivered”.
“These meetings are a great time for businesses to Network with one another and keep up to date with what is happening in the industry. It is extremely important that we get the commitment of industry to attend these meetings and provide us with the valuable information that comes out of the workshops, so we can analyse this information and provide solutions to the problems/barriers that have been identified. We invite guest speakers to present on a range of topics from Curriculum Alignment to how to understand and read NCEA to how to be involved in the Careers
Expo to recruitment, training and retaining your staff.
One of the major actions to come out of the first CEMT breakfast was to develop a strategy that looks at marketing Rotorua locally, nationally and internationally to encourage skilled workers to the region. This was to be achieved by implementing a marketing strategy that features a motivational publication backed by our redeveloped website to reinforce Rotorua as a great place to live and work. This action has been achieved with this Marketing Package being presented to the CEMT sector group in February 2005. To visit our website and download the motivational booklet please go to www.rotorua-business.com.
We have also achieved other objectives through the CEMT action plan such as getting a Professional Engineering working group together to promote professional engineering as an attractive career at the Careers Expo in May 2005. If you have not yet attended one of the Networking Events for the above sector meetings we extend a warm invite for you to come along and join us. The next meeting for Tourism and
Hospitality is on Tuesday 17 May 2005, Agriculture and Horticulture on Thursday 19 May 2005 and Construction, Engineering, Manufacturing and Transport on Wednesday 1 June 2005.
For more information on the Employment Skills project please visit our website
www.rotorua-business.com/
employskills.asp
or contact the Employment Skills Co-ordinator
Jo Gargiulo on3484199 ext 8543 or jo.gargiulo@rdc.govt.nz.
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