FROM NZCB —
Halo Guarantees Limited – one year on... An update from the Halo Guarantees Limited Board It’s coming up a year since we launched Halo Guarantees Limited and so far, it feels like one of the best business decisions we’ve made. We’re learning all the time, doing work that’s important to you, work we feel makes a difference, and we’re able to make the decisions we want to quickly and for the right reasons. These are all big drivers for us when we’re deciding what our next moves should be. We started on the smell of an oily rag but knew we had a pretty good product and an established client demand. We also had a very supportive majority shareholder. And yes, so far, it’s exceeded financial expectations. What makes a successful startup team? One common answer is that prior startup experience, product knowledge, and industry skills predict the success of a new venture. But what other secrets did we unlock since starting this business? Lesson #1: Invest in specialist advice and support A financial services business has a range of somewhat unique characteristics, which are significantly different to running a successful builder association. Not the least is around the regulatory requirements. Our small team has a great depth and breadth of experience around small and large businesses but from day one we recognised our limits. We, therefore, drew on legal, financial, and risk management expertise, not only in the developmental phase but even more so since we launched. Lesson #2: Get noticed Putting ourselves out there was the thing that scared us the most. There’s always an underlying question of “Did we get it right?” Lesson #3: Don’t undercapitalise a new venture. A lesson learnt from our collective business experiences. Lesson #4: FOCUS. Start small, stay focused, and grow slow. Learning these lessons along the way helped us quickly adapt and modify the business and the product. Our focus is on an evolving and compelling value proposition. Lesson #5: “Wherever you go, there we are.” This is about focusing on you – our customers – and accepting the fact that like any business, this is a journey with you. We’ve built our/your business on strong customer-centric values.
‘When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour.’ Elon Musk Lesson #6: There’s never a perfect time to start, so just do it. Lesson #7: New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) members wanted us to be successful. Yes, there was the odd naysayer, but the vast majority wanted Halo Guarantees Ltd to be successful and respected our decision to go it alone. Lesson #8: Identify your competitive advantages Having worked in a large corporate, I know getting decisions made can be a long-winded process. Our competitive advantage is that decisions can be made and implemented quickly because we (through NZCB) have a strong engagement with NZCB members and their clients. If a technological advancement comes along that will perform faster and provide a better experience for our customers, we can adopt it. If we need to access specialist skills, we can quickly bring onboard experienced and talented workers on a contracted basis. Competitors will usually be more established in the market or at least have a more established brand. Therefore, it’s important to identify and use to our advantage the strengths we have as a startup. We celebrate what we’ve accomplished but are committed to raising the bar a little higher each time we succeed. Let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported Halo Guarantees Ltd in this first year. The Halo Guarantees Ltd team looks forward to continuing this journey with you all!
Kevin Sceats Halo Guarantees Limited Chairperson
NOTE: If you took out a Halo 10-Year Residential Guarantees prior to 2020, this Guarantee Insurance Policy still sits with BrokerWeb Risk Services Limited. Any questions or claims should be referred to BrokerWeb Risk Service Limited on 0800 644 444.
