FYI September 2015

NORTH HARBOUR BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEMBER NEWS AND INFORMATION

SEPTEMBER 2015

INNOVATION - it's no longer a choice PG 14

BUSINESS SUCCESS

Get ready for NHBA Business Expo 2015 Pg 12

ECONOMIC MEGATREND

Managing your intangible assets Pg 16

DISCOVER

the best thing you can do for your business Pg 21

nhba.org.nz

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CONTENTS & FROM THE CHAIR

FROM THE CHAIR

T

here’s a palpable sense of spring in the air. The mercury is rising and the days are gradually

getting longer.

For me, personally, this is always an optimistic phase. Winter is something to be endured but now is the time when we set in place our goals for the coming year and plan on how to achieve them.

This FYI reflects the season, with a focus on innovation and leveraging the intangible assets that enable us to construct value when we set about the planning process.

It’s also a busy time for NHBA. The Board has been reviewing our recent performances and revisiting our short and medium term strategies ahead of the presentation of our AGM on October 13.

We invite you to mark this date in your calendar. We are emphatically a member-driven organisation. Everything we do is focused on adding value to our members and their businesses. The AGM is our formal presentation to you all of our performance against targets

over the past year and our expectations for the coming 12 and 36 months. We welcome robust debate on the direction the Board is setting for the association.

We would also encourage anyone who feels that they would like to contribute to the association and the local business environment to consider standing for election to the Board.

Details on the nomination process will be circulated closer to the event.

When talking of planning; topics don’t come any bigger or important than Auckland Council’s Proposed Unitary Plan. The Board and executive has continued to attend planning hearings and submit recommendations and evidence on your behalf.

I have written on this subject before but make no apologies for reinforcing the message that you all, property owners and tenants, cannot afford to ignore the implications of the Unitary Plan. It will codify the restrictions on how you do business for the next 30 years and it is much more specific than the old North Shore City District Plan.

We are entering the most important phase of the evidential process and will be ramping up

IN THIS ISSUE 3 4 6 7 8

From the Chair In Brief Dates for your Diary Events Who’s Who

10 11 12 14 16 18 20

the communications accordingly. Please make sure you read it!

As part of that education process we have another date for your diaries. Our local MP and Minister for Local Government (along with State Services and Social Housing), the Hon. Paula Bennett is our speaker on September 3. You can’t say we don’t deliver you quality speakers!

As I said, spring is a time of regeneration. We have a host of exciting projects that are either reviewed or outlined within this issue. Among them; C3 our successfully launched internship programme, our work with the transport agencies to continue to mitigate the congestion that clogs our local network, the upcoming 5th!

NHBA Business Expo and behind the scenes improvements to our own communication and information architecture that we are confident will all add value to our members.

Spring eh? It really is the most optimistic of times.

Yours sincerely, Kevin Moore Chairman

Business Growth Unitary Plan, E-Centre NHBA Business Expo Cover Story Asset Management Transport Crime Prevention

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Strategy Giving Back Finance Social Media Property Gold Sponsors Associate Members

NHBA GOLD SPONSORS 2015 – 2016

CONTACT FYI MAGAZINE General Manager - NHBA Janine Brinsdon janine.brinsdon@nhba.org.nz

Editor Anne Gray annegray@xtra.co.nz

Advertising Sara Ellis-Jack businesssupport@nhba.org.nz

Design Lewis Hurst lewis@hcreative.co.nz

Printer Trade Colour Print tradecolour@orcon.net.nz

North Harbour Business Association 12 Parkway Drive, North Harbour, 0632. PO Box 303 126, North Harbour 0751 Office 09 968 2222 Web nhba.org.nz The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of the publishers.The publisher does not endorse any person, company or organisation that advertises in this publication.

WWW.NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2014 3

IN BRIEF

Helping the wheelchair bound walk

F

ounded in Auckland, and with its New Zealand office still in the North Harbour business district, Rex Bionics Plc, the pioneer of the REX Robot technology that enhances the mobility of wheelchair users, has successfully demonstrated the REX directed by Mind Control technology at the 2015 Meeting of Robotics: Science and Systems, in Rome, Italy.

The Mind Control technology used in Rome has been developed in Texas. An electroencephalography application records the precise brain patterns of the REX user thinking about the process of walking; so that when the REX user, fitted with the robotic device linked to the EEG, initiates the thought of walking, a command is issued to the REX, which then responds by moving forwards. Other scientists also presented work on the control of REX. Richard Little and Robert Irving set about designing REX when Robert was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003. With both founders having had direct experience of the day to day challenges and side effects of prolonged wheelchair use via immediate family members, they set about developing an alternative which would allow a wheelchair user to stand and walk.

That’s a lot of solar panels North Shore based company, SolarKing, solar energy specialists, has just completed New Zealand’s largest fully racked solar system. The 170kW system consists of 680 solar panels.

Have a look at the video vimeo.com/136420633/

And the finalists are…

Many congratulations to the outstanding North Harbour businesses which have been named as finalists in the Westpac Auckland Business Awards – North.

Easyforms Ltd: Excellence in Innovation, Excellence in Strategy and Planning. iCOS Live Ltd: Excellence in Innovation.

Flintfox International Ltd: Excellence in Marketing, Excellence in Exporting.

Urban Dogs: Excellence in Marketing, Excellence in Customer Service Delivery.

Aluro Healthcare NZ: Excellence in Customer Service Delivery.

Durello Traditional Brazilian Foods Ltd: Excellence in Innovation.

Tomahawk Brand Management Ltd: Excellence in Exporting.

Excellence in Business Leadership: Mark O’Brien from Aluro HealthcareNZ. Excellence in Business Leadership: Mike Ridgway from Flintfox International Ltd. Good luck.

Growth for BNZ Partners

Moving on Brigid Rogers, NHBA’s Transport Manager, has announced it is time for a change. We would like to thank Brigid for the passion and energy that she has applied to championing transport issues throughout North Harbour. Brigid has represented our businesses and staff on a number of significant transport projects. We are confident that you will join NHBA in wishing her well in her future endeavours.

4 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

BNZ Partners has taken on three new senior bankers to meet growth in north and west with Tony Dench joining as a new Senior Partner. He has more than 20 years combined experience in banking, accountancy, tax and law as an advisor, leader, lender and borrower. Tony has worked for BNZ for the last 10 years following his banking career in Ireland.

Yana Hay is a new Business Partner. She has a Masters of Business with Honours from Auckland University and has been with the BNZ for the last three years assisting SMEs with their funding needs.

The third new addition is Gareth Clague, Cashflow Solutions Partner. Gareth has a BA/LLB (Hons) and specialises in invoice and stock financing, two types of confidential bank funding that can be used to alleviate the growth pains for customers. He works closely with other specialists within the bank to help fund the trade cycle for clients.

New property lawyer Olivia Spencer has joined Davenport Harbour Lawyers as a Solicitor in the Property Team. She assists clients on a wide range of matters including residential and commercial property transactions, leasing arrangements and occupation right agreements for those looking to move into retirement villages. Olivia also assist clients with preparing and advising on property sharing agreements and relationship property (contracting out) agreements.

Accelerating success.

Reach more people - better results faster.

colliers.co.nz

54

DIARY DATES

6 3

Diary Dates

BY THE NUMBERS 97% of enterprises in New Zealand have fewer than 20 employees (473,846 enterprises), according to MBIE.

69%

of enterprises in New Zealand are owner operators with no employees.

3,002,982

The number of visitor arrivals to New Zealand surpassing three million for the first time in the July 2015 year. This was 7 percent higher than the July 2014 year.

59,600

Annual permanent and longterm migration showed a record net gain of 59,600 migrants in the July 2015 year. This resulted from 117,100 migrant arrivals, and 57,500 migrant departures.

1,130,000

In 2013, 1,130,000 people living in New Zealand were born in other countries. according to a Pew Research Centre interactive map. In 2013, 6,470,000 people living in Australia were born in other countries.

6 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

NHBA Business Expo

September 17 NHBA Business Expo

October 15 Health & Safety Workshop

QBE STADIUM, ALBANY

7.30AM – 9AM, NHBA, 12 PARKWAY DRIVE, ALBANY

Showcase your organisation alongside the best of North Harbour at the NHBA Business Expo 2015. The event is known for the strong relationships formed and business development opportunities created. If you are a leader in your field, exhibiting is a must. nhba.org.nz/expo2015

The workshop will be hosted by Candice Murphy from Simpson Western who will be presenting an update on the Health and Safety Act. nhba.org.nz/events

21 Snakes and Ladders Workshop 4.30PM – 6.30PM, AUT MILLENNIUM

24 Funding and Accounts for start-ups 5.30-7.00PM, MASSEY ECENTRE

This informative workshop will give advice to start up companies on how to make their business grow, with ideas on the different financing methods available.

For more information see ecentre.org.nz/ categories/events/.

This practical workshop will be hosted by Ngaio Merrick, who will discuss tips and tricks for effective networking.

November 11 NHBA Business Breakfast 7AM – 9AM, QBE STADIUM, ALBANY

Craig Young, the CEO of TUANZ, will take a look at linking efficiency through technology and innovation, future-proofing communications and telecommunication trends. nhba.org.nz/events

21 One Day Sale More than 65 outlets were represented at the 2014 One Day Sale. More information on this year’s sale coming soon. nhba.org.nz/onedaysale

To keep up to date with what’s on please see nhba.org.nz/events If you’d like to feature your events in future editions of FYI Magazine please contact comms@nhba.org.nz

EVENTS

The art of indulgence The brand essence of the highly successful Devonport Chocolates centres around how its chocolates make customers feel, the 100 attendees at a NHBA Women in Business event heard.

S

tephanie Everitt, Devonport Chocolates’ managing director and her daughter Caroline Everitt, who is market development manager, explained that their brand allowed customers to “share, teach, demonstrate, gift, and reward”, the art of indulgence - as a treat, luxury extravagance and pleasure.

The company’s unique selling proposition centres around its handmade premium chocolate – it’s the oldest handmade chocolate company in New Zealand.

“Our bespoke recipes are developed in-house – they have stood the test of time; they are our secret,” they said, noting that the company’s quality ingredients are pure with the highest percentage of cocoa solids possible. Each chocolate is individually hand-crafted and designed and each mouthful provides a rich eating experience – “the exterior coating compliments the interior filling to create magical taste”. The company also willingly customises its products to enable messaging/symbols/branding to be put on each chocolate and packaging.

Since opening in 1991 with one product line, (truffle slices) and two members of staff Devonport Chocolates has seen 1700 percent growth

Lisa Hill, Caroline Everitt,

Stephanie Everitt

and moved from wholesale and manufacturing to now include retail and online with more than five different product lines and 22 staff.

In the beginning the brand showed potential in an emerging market in New Zealand for handmade products and they worked to create demand “and live up to it and live it” and keep a clear point of difference.

Now, they believe, they have established this clear point of difference in a crowded market.

They operate a comprehensive and detailed annual marketing calendar around different touch-points during the year, such as Father’s Day, and continually analyse all their marketing.

Other practical tips offered included making time to “work on the business instead of in the business” and seeking specialist input when you need it.

They have found working with a business mentor invaluable for keeping them on track and accountable and it has helped them to introduce simple, but effective systems to manage business growth.

Another key message Caroline had was identify what the core to your business is, what is essential and what you can entrust someone else to do to help free up your time. She also

Nicky White, Jan

et Marshall, Nic

ky Lukar

pointed to the importance of keeping the brand messaging consistent across online and bricks and mortar platforms.

The company works hard to live up to its brand promise which includes: • Using only the best, authentic and quality ingredients.

• The chocolatiers follow unique recipes that have been specifically developed and inspired from 25 years of experience.

• Each chocolate is handcrafted to complete perfection.

• Collectively the chocolates are presented in beautiful packaging ensuring the act of giving is memorable.

• The taste of each chocolate will surprise and delight and create a lasting and indulgent memory.

• “One is enough” The company has had a website since 2003 which has gone through six or more re-designs and sales are growing, albeit from a small base.

And online lessons learned? “This world never sits still,” and consistency of message and brand-look is important. Additionally, analytics, Google adwords and SEO are very important and “so time consuming”.

Businesses and students meet their matches at C3

J

uly’s launch of NHBA’s latest initiative, the C3 programme at Massey University had the room humming.

This new programme, piloted in partnership with Massey University, provided the chance for local businesses to connect, communicate and collaborate, and to meet students looking for employment opportunities, including internships.

Thirty local companies showcased their businesses and upcoming projects to approximately 300 students.

In turn, the students were able to introduce themselves and show what they had to offer as potential interns and employees. Businesses were impressed with the student turnout, and successful ‘matches’ were made over the course of the afternoon.

Many thanks to all the businesses that took part, and the students who attended for making the event such a success.

Further information from nhba.org.nz/c3 NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 7

WHO’S WHO

“What are you buying the business for, because if it’s to make wages don’t bother.”

With that I walked out, because that was exactly why I was trying to buy, simply to make the wage I was already getting. I went back the next day and said: ”I’m buying it to make money.” To that he said – “sit down”.

I have come to understand what he meant more so over the years, simply that if you are not serious about what you do in life you not only hurt yourself but all those you come into contact with.

What are the origins of your business and the scope of your business today?

Originally STIHL Dealers were typical mower and chainsaw sellers and repairers trading out of small shops with sales and repairs all done in the same areas. I guess some have likened the change to STIHL SHOP retail brand to the Harley Davidson story and how they transformed their image from greasy dirt floors to pristine show rooms.

These changes were needed to keep up in a fast changing retail world by offering quality products, great service and a pleasant retail experience in a great environment.

We started in 1998 as a STIHL Dealer, converted the store to STIHL SHOP in 2003, opened a second STIHL SHOP store in Waipapa (Kerikeri) in 2006, then opened STIHL SHOP Albany in 2009 and purchased STIHL SHOP Kumeu in 2012 – we still own the last two.

What have been your key business milestones and successes to date?

Key milestones, there are many, like firstly

What has been your biggest business challenge?

The biggest challenge in retail is people. making it through the last five years, building our store up to one of the biggest in New Zealand and moving from the country to the city (most do it the other way around at our age).

I think the STIHL SHOP group of dealers (75 strong nationally) have created a retail look and experience for their customers that is a very high standard and continuing to excite the industry.

What advice would you give to businesses just starting out?

If you are just starting out offer the best quality in everything, goods, service, environment and position, don’t do what your competitors are doing, do it better.

With the benefit of hindsight, is there anything you would have done differently?

What is the best business advice you have received?

Hindsight, never go there. You can’t change what you have done, only what you do. If you follow a path and it’s wrong don’t fret about it.

Find another and keep looking till it works.

The best advice I got was from a gentleman I went to for advice when I first looked at buying the Kaitaia shop.

Baden Beard, director at STIHL SHOP Albany albany@stihlshop.co.nz

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WHO’S WHO

Labyrinth Solutions The potential of your business is only limited by your potential as a leader and to grow your business, you first need to grow as a leader, says Vaughan Reed of Labyrinth Solutions.

What are the origins of your business and the scope of your business today?

Labyrinth Solutions has been building websites in New Zealand and Australia since 2001.

Our focus has always been to empower the marketing team with the control they need to deliver on a successful website strategy.

There has been a shift in online marketing in recent years to bridge the gap between the ‘online’ and ‘offline’ experience for customers.

This is known as omni-channel marketing, which implies the delivery of a seamless, integrated and consistent customer experience; irrespective of the channel or device.

To support this shift in marketing, our business today is about providing organisations with the tools required to implement and manage a successful omni-channel marketing strategy.

This enables organisations to deliver a unified marketing and communication approach for a superior customer experience.

What is the best business advice you have received?

The best advice I’ve learnt over the years, which has had a big impact on how I run Labyrinth Solutions is… ‘A business is a reflection of you, the business owner. The potential of the business is only limited by the potential of you as a leader. To grow your business, you first need to grow as a leader.’

What lesson in business do you try to pass on to others?

Outside of the office and family, I can generally be found out training on a mountain bike, road bike, kayaking or running in the bush. There’s

an old adage in multi-sport racing that you learn pretty quickly if you want to be competitive, especially when you have four disciplines to train for… “train smarter not harder”. You learn that training for hours on end doesn’t lead to big gains. You get a better result from having a well-structured training programme with plenty of rest days to allow your body to recover effectively.

The same applies in business, working endless hours in your business is not going to lead to effective business growth. You need to work smarter by regularly taking time out from ‘working in the business’ so you can focus on ‘working on the business’.

“You need to enjoy what you do and have a good work life balance. You can’t be an effective leader if you are constantly under stress or burnt out from working long hours.”

What advice would you give to businesses just starting out?

You need to enjoy what you do and have a good work life balance. You can’t be an effective leader if you are constantly under stress or burnt out from working long hours.

Even when starting out, you need to force yourself to step back from working in the business and focus on the activities that are going to help drive your business forward. This may simply be a couple of hours a week or one day a month, but it will pay dividends in the long run.

Who do you think is a great innovator (individual or company) and why?

I think one of the greatest innovators of our time is Steve Jobs. The iPhone not only turned the communication industry on its head, it brought about a massive shift in technology. The web industry has seen massive change in the last five to six years and I think the iPhone was the catalyst for driving that change.

His leadership style probably had a lot to be desired, but you can’t deny the contribution he has made to the advancement in technology.

Tell us about something innovative going on in your business?

The web industry is changing rapidly to the point where in five to 10 years time, it is going to be dramatically different to what we know now.

To future proof our business, we started redefining our service offering a couple of years ago to align with where I believe the industry will be in the next five plus years. This included extending our Enterprise Website CMS solution – Contegro so it delivers a ‘One Platform – Total Solution’ approach to the omni-channel marketing strategy. It does this by providing centralised management of content across the four primary digital touch points; websites, digital signage, touch screens and mobile apps.

Omni-channel marketing will be a key focus for consumer facing organisations now and into the future and we aim to be the leading solution provider in this space.

Vaughan Reed is the managing director of Labyrinth Solutions Ltd. Website.co.nz NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 9

BUSINESS GROWTH

Where are the biggest pay packets?

NZ ANNUAL ADVERTISED SALARY

9

Northland

$64,993

-4.5%

BOP

6

$68,078

$68,625

6.7%

$64,339

2

Auckland

$76,338

10

2.3%

$74,600

5

Gisborne

$65,060

6.2%

$61,288

Waikato

$69,168

4.2%

13

$66,381

Hawkes Bay

$63,535

1.3%

$62,689

3

Taranaki

$72,376

-8.5%

$79,073

Manawatu

12

$63,893

2.2%

$62,501

Tasman

7

$66,355

6.2%

$62,480

1

Wellington

$80,934

1.9%

$79,402

Wellington outstrips Auckland with the biggest pay packets by region, and consulting and strategy roles were, on average, the highest paid roles advertised on online employment market Seek, according to its latest data.

A

verage annual salaries for jobs listed on online employment market place, Seek, have increased by $1,674, or $94 per month after tax, year on year to June 2015.

The latest data from Seek shows that average salaries have grown, but only by 2.3 percent across the board, with the national average advertised salary now sitting at $74,965.

Janet Faulding, general manager of Seek New Zealand, noted in a statement that this modest growth is despite the reported drop in business confidence and slowing economic indicators.

Wellington tops the list as the region with the biggest pay packets, almost $6,000 above the national average. Roles advertised in this region average an annual pay packet of $80,934, 2 per cent higher than last year.

Bay of Plenty experienced the biggest increase of almost 7 percent over the last year, taking the average annual salary advertised on Seek from $64,339 to $68,625. It was closely followed

by Tasman and Gisborne, which both noted increases of 6.2 percent in annual salaries.

Seek also noted that the growth in salaries has been driven by a number of industries. Only three of the 28 classifications hosted on Seek experienced a decline in average annual salary.

“Consulting and strategy roles were on average, the highest paid roles advertised on www.seek.co.nz. They experienced a 2 percent increase in advertised salary, noting an average salary of $99,046,” said Janet Faulding.

“This increase was driven by significant growth in pay packets for environmental and sustainability consulting roles, which grew by an impressive 11 percent, to $88,396.

Management and change consulting roles and corporate development consulting roles also contributed to this increase, with average salaries increasing by 4 percent and 3 percent respectively.”

10 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

11

Westcoast

$64,607

-2.1%

15

$65,996

Marlborough

$61,373

2%

$60,178

4 8

$66,152

Canterbury

$72,512

2.6%

$70,703

Southland 2.5%

$64,509

14

Otago

$63,185

4%

$60,774

The top five highest paid regions are: REGION

AVERAGE ADVERTISED SALARY ON SEEK (per annum)

% CHANGE YEAR ON YEAR TO JUNE2015

1 Wellington

$80,934

1.9%

2 Auckland

$76,338

2.3%

3 Canterbury

$72,512

2.6%

4 Taranaki

$72,376

-8.5%

5 Waikato

$69,168

4.2%

The top five highest paid industries are: INDUSTRY

AVERAGE ANNUAL ADVERTISED SALARY

% CHANGE YEAR ON YEAR TO JUNE 2015

1 Consulting and Strategy

$99,046

2%

2 Engineering

$92,479

2%

3 Construction

$92,142

2%

4 Information and Communication Technology

$92,082

1%

5 Mining

$91,506

-8%

Why you should give your staff a pay rise Janet Faulding, general manager of Seek New Zealand, said that numerous factors influence where people are choosing to work; from flexible working arrangements, to a company’s value proposition and employer reputation.

“But it doesn’t diminish the reality that people still demand a competitive salary and one that recognises their skills and contributions. While there is commentary around slowing economic indicators, I would encourage employers to take a balanced look when it comes to deciding ‘to pay rise or not to pay rise’ – with the total cost to replace an employee being significantly higher,” said Faulding.

“Awarding performing employees with a pay increase is often a somewhat inconsequential cost to the business compared to having to replace them if they leave.

“It is accepted across human resourcing that it typically costs businesses three times as much to fill roles once loss of productivity, time to hire and resource to retrain is factored in. From a pure cost perspective, it makes complete sense to reward your employees with a competitive remuneration package, or performance bonus if they are a standout performer,” she says in a statement.

ADVOCACY

Make your voice heard The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP) may have an impact on our business district and we need your help to ensure it’s a positive impact.

T

he PAUP reduces Auckland Business Zones from 44 to 10 and, once in place, it will act as the governing legislation for the next 30 years. That’s a long time in any business’ life and changes to the zones within our area will impact on the permitted activities and their scale.

We don’t know yet for certain what this could mean for your future plans to expand, downsize or relocate but want to ensure that the best interests of the businesses and property owners in the region are met under the plan.

There is still time to lobby for changes, but we need to hear from you in order to act to help protect the business and investment potential within our area and ensure that any zone changes will have minimal adverse impact.

NHBA has designed a short survey to capture your current situation. This survey will not only allow us to analyse how your business and/ or property investment may be affected by the PAUP but also enables us to gather evidence to effectively campaign against possible adverse

changes. We are here to help you and obtain the best possible result for our area.

Please take five minutes of your time to complete our survey: surveymonkey.com/r/ nhbaunitaryplan

For further information please visit our advocacy page at nhba.org.nz. If you have any further questions, please contact NHBA’s general manager Janine Brinsdon on 09 968 2222 ext 204 or janine.brinsdon@nhba.org.nz

Looking to innovate and grow?

The combined annual turnover of ecentre alumni companies was $40 million last year. Could this business incubator help your business innovate and grow?

T

he ecentre is a hidden gem in the North Harbour region which has been supporting entrepreneurs and helping small businesses for the last 14 years.

Based on the Massey University Albany campus, ecentre was established as a business innovation centre to help create and grow innovative technologybased companies in the Auckland North area.

NHBA member s, including Perceptive, Marops, Zeald.com, Cleanflow Systems and QLBS, were residents in the ecentre during their start-up phase. In fact the combined annual turnover of ecentre alumni companies was $40 million last year. Many more start-ups are in the pipeline, some are based in the ecentre and others visit regularly for support services such as mentoring, fund raising, skills training, connections and for their own accountability.

Ecentre has partnerships with Microsoft Bizspark, Zeald.com

and EveredgeIP which provide specialist services for early stage companies. It also has a network of mentors, investors and technical experts who are motivated by seeing new ventures grow and succeed. It also works with established companies to help them identify a strategy for growth or assess the potential for their software system to scale. According to the CEO of ecentre, Steve Corbett, “the ecentre takes you from garage to global. We have assisted small and early stage companies to get investment ready, find advisory boards and enter export markets through our JV with CMC in India”.

Ecentre hosts Venture Science Labs which has the mission to help commercialise inventions and innovations. Ecentre is a one-stop-shop for innovation, helping entrepreneurs, inventors and companies to bring innovative ideas to global markets.

Workshops are held every month at ecentre to help local businesses

and entrepreneurs learn the latest techniques for validating and developing new business ideas. More information about the events is on the website or look out for them in the NHBA newsletter.

Dorian Scott, the ecentre’s business development manager, says that ecentre is currently offering office space and co-working desk space with flexible and affordable terms for companies looking to share an eco-system for growth.

Chris Pescott, CEO of Perceptive Research and a finalist in this year’s Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year says, “my time in the ecentre was instrumental for me in helping to develop my own start-up business skills”.

For more information email Dorian at dorian.scott@ecentre. org.nz to find out how ecentre can help your business innovate and grow.

NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 11

Exhibitors 1

PRESSO PRO

18

MiIT

32

Labyrinth Solutions

2

Benefitz

19

Global Security

33

NHBA

3

Benefitz

20

Global Security

34

NHBA

4

Benefitz

21

Centurion Management

35

Pack & Send Albany

5

Benefitz

22

BNZ

36

Leading Solutions

6

BNI

23

BNZ

37

Pickles Café & Catering

7

Advanced Personnel Services Ltd

24

BNZ

38

Easy Forms

8

Corporate Traveller Albany

25

Flo2Cash

39

E-Z Up Shelters

10

Connect NZ

26

Mark Collins NZ Ltd & Thexton Armstrong Probert

40

IMPEX

13

AUT

27

Friends of Albany Rotary

41

The Alternative Board

14

CrestClean

28

Balanced Spine Chiropractic

42

Wynners Networking Group

15

IT Power Services LTD

29

Penny’s Worth Ltd

43

Crown Worldwide (NZ) Ltd

16

Albany Toyota

30

Global Security

44

Speedy Signs Albany

17

Innopack Global Limited

31

Network Pro

45

Accountability Net Ltd

12 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

Connect with companies that are right here on your doorstep! Need to review supplier relationships ? Want to identify businesses to partner with? Come along to the North Harbour Business Expo on Thursday 17th September. Our exhibitors are looking forward to meeting you. Pre register for the event to ensure you don’t get stuck in a queue. nhba.org.nz/expo2015

Café

17 September, QBE Lounge, North Harbour Stadium 46

Maat Group

60

HR Profiling Solutions Limited

75

Pinehurst School

47

Simpson Western

61

Kinetics Group

76

The Hi-fi Store

48

Breakthrough Business Solutions Ltd

63

Hobbs Global Logistics Solutions Ltd

77

Drake New Zealand

49

EmbroidMe

64

Auckland Chamber of Commerce

78

i-Accounting & Tax Ltd

50

Pure Healthcare

65

Helix Computer Services Ltd

79

TONERDIRECT

51

Pure Healthcare

66

Oliver MMA

80

NZ Transport Agency / Auckland Transport

52

Photogear

67

Barker Business Brokerage

81

Electoral Commission

53

Flags4less

68

Shay Solutions Ltd

82

Seneca Group

54

My Goodness Gift Baskets

69

Edge Employment

84

ATEED

55

Massey University Recreation Centre

70

Jollands Callander

85

Wild Appetite

56

Spencer on Byron Hotel

71

GBPensions

86

Massey Business School

57

The Merchant Bar & Kitchen / Mama Loco Albany

72

Driveline Fleet Ltd

58

Computer & Network Solutions

73

Kiwibank

59

Bright*Star Training

74

NZ Home Loans

NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 13

COVER STORY

Innovation istockphoto.com

It’s no longer a choice

In this age of disruption, virtually every industry is undergoing some sort of transformation. And if your industry hasn’t already, chances are big changes are already on the horizon. So how can your business rise to the challenge?

T

he American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand encapsulated the current business environment beautifully with its headline “Don’t’ get UBER’d” promoting a programme it was offering with the US based Palladium Group to help companies “build a robust strategy in the age of disruption”.

The chamber said that 72 percent of CEOs believe that their current business model will be obsolete within five years, yet only 24 percent of organisations claim to develop strategies that adequately address disruptive change in their marketplace.

And, says the chamber, traditional approaches to strategy design and execution are too linear, too inwardly focused and too inflexible to deal with the rapid pace.

The chamber’s words are backed up by the NZ Herald’s July Mood of the Boardroom feature which reported that the impact of disruptive

14 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

technologies is forcing many companies to rethink the way they do business.

“Sixty-four percent of CEO respondents to the Mood of the Boardroom survey say they are grappling with such changes. And 97 percent say they are making greater use of technology to drive productivity increases.”

“Everything is subject to creative destruction because ideas can now be crowd funded. Every product. Every industry. Innovation is democratised.”

In turn a white paper for the Centre for Creative Leadership called Navigating Innovation Roadblocks Key Differences between Innovative And Non-Innovative Organizations by Cathleen Clerkin and Kristin Cullen-Lester highlights among other things, that:

• Innovation is one of the top 10 trends affecting business and leadership.

• Executives cite creativity as the number one leadership skill needed for dealing with an increasingly complex future.

However, they say in their introduction that despite the consensus concerning the importance of innovation, it continues to be an area with which organisations and leaders struggle.

“In fact, drive for innovation was identified as one of the primary challenges organisations face based on a survey of over 1,000 leaders around the world (Martin, 2007). “ See http:// media.ccl.org.

And it goes without saying that in these days of Uber, AirBnB, 3D printing; on-shoring of manufacturing, paddock-to-plate technology; global food chains; cloud computing; software as a service; the increasing use of smart phones; social media, Youtube and online retail whatever

COVER STORY

industry you are in – your business is going to be disrupted.

In a recent newsletter, international futurist, Rohit Talwar points to fundamental shifts that are taking place that could have a profound effect on our world.

“Digital transformation and disruptive innovation are reshaping jobs, professions, firms and industries. Developments in cybercurrencies and the underlying blockchain technologies could reshape entire economic and political systems,” he says.

“Groundbreaking bio-medical advances hold out the prospect of dramatic changes in everything from life expectancy to human capability and cognitive performance.

“Automation is eliminating even highly skilled professional roles – a recent Oxford University study of over 700 different jobs suggests that 47 percent of them could be completely automated in the next 20 years.

“At the same time the nature of the jobs market is changing, the new knowledge-based and highly-automated industries require far less and more highly skilled employees than those who are typically losing their jobs,” he says in a call for more discussion and debate around the future. (See www.fastfuture.com).

On top of this an extensive article from American author and blogger Brian Solis, outlined his 25 disruptive technology trends for 20152016 (see www.briansolis.com). Amongst them was the scary thought that crowd capitalisation accelerates disruption…everywhere. “Everything is subject to creative destruction because ideas can now be crowd funded. Every product. Every industry. Innovation is democratised,” he says.

What can you do How can you compete and innovate to get ahead of these fast moving and international mega trends? Global accountancy giant, PWC says on its website that the ability to innovate is now a

top priority for companies everywhere.

“The speed at which innovation occurs is accelerating, and consumers are hungry for the new products, services and experiences coming their way.

“But the economic climate still presents considerable challenges. Most companies have seen their budgets squeezed as a result of cost pressures. And game-changing innovation isn’t safe; it requires vision, courage and long-term commitment.

PWC also points out that the scope of innovation has also expanded.

“It’s no longer just a case of pushing products out of labs but, rather, of creating value for customers by personalising the entire customer experience.”

It says that the most innovative companies are creating new business models and combining related products and services to form new solutions, as well as developing new products and services.

“In fact, they don’t think in terms of products and services so much as outcomes, because they recognise that products and services are simply a means to an end.

“The top innovators also treat innovation like any other business process. They define the sort of innovation they want and how to measure it. Then they establish a disciplined R&D structure, with rigorous processes that can be reiterated and scaled up. In effect, they encourage innovation that’s both radical and methodical.

“But these companies don’t try to do everything themselves. On the contrary, they collaborate extensively with a wide range of partners both inside and outside their industries. “They co-create new products and services with customers. And they experiment with different ways of innovating, such as open innovation and incubators. pwc.com

What is disruptive technology?

The term disruptive technology isn’t new.

It’s 20 years old according to an excellent blog on the Wall Street Journal website,

by Mark W. Johnson, co-founder and senior partner at Innosight. He co-founded this company with Clay Christensen, the Harvard Business School professor who introduced the theory of disruptive innovation nearly 20 years ago. Johnson quotes Christensen who says, a disruptive innovation isn’t synonymous with being better than what currently exists. Nor does it mean something that is cooler or faster or based around a more advanced technology or any new technology at all.

Rather, a disruptive innovation is one that “transforms a complicated, expensive product into one that is easier to use or is

more affordable than the one most readily available,” according to Christensen.

Therefore, you know an innovation is disruptive when a new population has access to products and services that previously were only affordable for the few or the wealthy.

Johnson goes on to say that Tesla Motors (electric cars) often gets called disruptive. “The company makes innovative cars, for sure, but it isn’t disruptive in the classic sense, as its products are a more expensive alternative that targets people who already have cars. A truly disruptive electric car might look something like a golf cart and be used in new places or by new populations that don’t yet have cars.” blogs.wsj.com/accelerators

Top tips for SMEs on innovation Louise Webster is the co-founder and CEO of the New Zealand Innovation Council and owner and convenor of the NZ Innovators Awards. She is one of New Zealand’s leading innovation and commercialisation specialists.

FYI Magazine asked her for her top tips to help businesses innovate.

• Create a culture of sharing, ideas and innovation – listen to your staff and customers; they know your business more than anyone else does, including you.

• Listen closely to your customers and even more closely to your non-customers, they will predict future trends.

• Have a clear growth strategy and review it regularly, clearly communicate this to your staff.

• Keep an open mind at all times, on new technologies, trends and opportunities but don’t get distracted from your core purpose (keep the focus).

• Use action-based techniques to prototype ideas and make them a reality.

• Look for opportunities to partner and collaborate outside your company and industry.

• Inspire and engage your teams by getting them out of the office and providing them with new experiences.

• Look for problems that affect your customers and bring your teams together to help solve them.

The NZ Innovation Council is a private organisation with a social purpose – to help businesses to connect, innovate and grow.

It co-founded the New Zealand Innovators Awards in 2011 and provides innovators, entrepreneurs and business people with free access to innovation experts, forums, events and resources nationwide via an online hub. It boasts a network and community that reaches over 1.3 million people every year. innovationcouncil.org.nz or call 0800 2 INNOVATE (46668).

NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 15

ASSET MANAGEMENT

The great economic inversion – managing your intangible assets Paul Adams explains why balance sheets have been turned upside down and how managing intangible assets is now mission critical for your business,

L

ast week I received one of those emails that kick your thinking into a higher gear. It contained four simple statements: • Uber – the world’s largest taxi company owns no vehicles.

• FaceBook – the world’s most popular media owner creates no content.

• Alibaba – the world’s most valuable retailer has no inventory.

• AirBnB – the world’s largest accommodation provider owns no real estate.

These four statements neatly capture one of the mega trends revolutionising the economy.

Over the last 35 years the West has undergone a massive economic inversion. Corporate balance sheets, once cluttered with tangible assets such as property, plant and equipment have been inverted. Airlines don’t own aeroplanes anymore. Hotels don’t own their buildings. Car manufacturers are now outsourcing production lines.

This, of course, begs the question: if all the heavy stuff, the tangible assets, are gone – what replaced it? The answer is both profound and simple: balance sheets today are dominated by intangible assets: brand, content, data, know-how, confidential information, design, inventions, code – in short intellectual property.

A recent survey by OceanTomo found roughly 80 percent of the value of the S&P500 is now in intangible assets.

This makes sense on a micro level too: take a company such as Apple or IBM (or closer to home Xero or Lanzatech) and calculate the value of all their fixed assets (desks, chairs, lap tops and anything else you can physically touch) and it soon becomes clear that all the real value is somewhere else entirely.

It is evident in value chains too: in a backstreet in Pakistan (or China or Indonesia) I can buy a t-shirt for $1. Sew on a Calvin Klein (or

16 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

D&G or Chanel) label and it now costs $100. Same t-shirt.

Where did the value come from?

Brand (supported by content, design, innovation, marketing and distribution know how – all intangible, all intellectual property).

Despite the enormous impact of this inversion the financial, legal, accounting and regulatory world is playing catch up.

Seven hundred years of the pre-eminence of “real” assets in accounting and humans’ innate tendency to focus on the tangible over the intangible means we still tend to concentrate on things we can stub our toes on.

The key takeaway: If you’re in the business of employing smart people, you’re in the business of building intangible assets, which means you need to manage them properly.

For example in due diligence, audit or financing the counter par ty or investor typically focuses on what the fixed asset register looks like, yet in many cases it is now largely irrelevant.

Traditional company accounts frequently fail to show where real company value now lies. Value, like the underside of the proverbial iceberg, is often hidden or blended together under the blunt rubric “goodwill”.

This economic inversion (the movement from heavy (tangible) to light (intangible) balance sheets) presents enormous opportunities and risks and its effects are rippling, seen and unseen, through Western economies.

Corporate balance sheets contain both hidden, un-sweated assets that savvy management can leverage or insightful third parties can

take advantage of.

Witness Carl Ichan’s move to force AOL to monetise its patent portfolio. Analysts had valued the intellectual property at a few hundred million. When, under pressure from Icahn, AOL sold the patents which went for US$1.1 billion, the approximate value of all of AOL at the time. The stock surged 43 percent, adding hundreds of millions to AOL’s market cap even after it had divested the patents, the very asset that had driven the increase in the stock price. Icahn’s position earned him a handsome profit.

Risk exists as well Risk exists as well and can be identified once investors and management begin to investigate the previously unseen.

Many companies (and their investors) are exposed to currently un-priced or under-priced risk from: • Infringement of third party intellectual property, • failure to own or control intellectual property assets critical to delivery of major revenue streams, • the loss of key intellectual property through theft or lack of management (data, content, confidential information), • or are vulnerable to new technology and innovation coming on stream they do not influence that threatens core business.

This isn’t a US phenomenon – the same opportunities and risks exist in New Zealand and Australia.

Unfortunately New Zealand is behind the eight ball when it comes to managing intangible assets and intellectual property.

Despite spending millions of dollars on R&D and creative payroll, few New Zealand organisa-

ASSET MANAGEMENT

tions actively manage the intellectual outputs they have paid for.

The result is that valuable intellectual property leaks out of the organisation, opportunities for leverage (strategic and financial) are lost and intangible assets (if they make the Balance Sheet at all) is frequently recorded at cost, often grossly over or under stating their true value.

The reason is twofold: firstly, when intellectual property comes up most people talk to the traditional advisors in this field, patent attorneys, who focus almost exclusively on patents and trademarks.

Unfortunately this is not the kind of intellectual property inside most New Zealand companies. Most of the volume, and value, of intangible assets inside most companies is in know-how, trade secrets, code, content, data and brand which are very different assets than patents and trademarks.

Secondly, intellectual property is seldom a burning issue for managers and is all too easy to put off.

It only gets to the top of the agenda for most senior management teams when something goes wrong: they discover a contractor, not them, owns a core piece of intellectual proper ty or their latest “breakthrough technology” actually broke through 10 years ago and they are now infringing someone else’s intellectual property.

Problems are compounded by the fact that intellectual property is a “stitch in time saves nine” issue – it’s extraordinarily expensive to fix things up once they’ve gone wrong.

Managing intangible assets So how do you manage intangible assets? Intangible Asset Management involves ensuring that the organisation’s most valuable asset – its intellectual property – is proactively identified, assessed, protected and exploited and that the processes for doing this are efficient, transparent and easily understood.

It is a strategic function, not a legal or administrative one. It involves activities as diverse as identifying innovation that otherwise might be shipped out the door unprotected, understanding the intellectual property landscape to guide your R&D, overseeing technology transfer with development partners and cost effectively managing service providers.

A few points to keep in mind: 1 You can’t manage what you can’t see.

Intangible Asset Management begins with understanding what intellectual property you have now and what you do with the new stuff you are creating.

2 Although few companies in NZ are large enough to employ a full time Intangible Asset Manager that doesn’t mean you

have to do without. Smaller entities can outsource management of intangible assets to external providers who deliver the benefits of an in-house Intangible Asset Manager at a fraction of the cost and offer other advantages including the latest knowledge and networks and the security of dealing with a team rather than a single individual. If you do employ a full time Intangible Asset Manager, ensure that they are providing strategic not administrative oversight. If they are fundamentally an administrator, bring in an external provider to give you strategic input.

3 Intellectual property is fundamentally a business tool. Intangible Asset Management should tie into your broader business strategy and directly deliver against business goals. Despite what some say, intellectual property is not a legal issue and not something you should leave to your patent attorney. As a core business function it needs to be driven by the board and CEO. The key takeaway: if you’re in the business of employing smart people, you’re in the business of building intangible assets, which means you need to manage them properly.

One of the best ways to ensure you are

managing your intangible assets effectively is to put in place an intellectual property strategy that is aligned to your organisation’s broader goals.

This strategy should have a commercial rather than legal focus – intellectual property is fundamentally a business asset and should relate directly to business goals.

It is also imperative this strategy is independent – it should not be set by the same organisation that files your patents or trademarks to ensure independence.

Callaghan Innovation has recently launched a new programme for ambitious companies called InnovationIP – see box story for details.

The great economic inversion that began 35 years ago has profound implications: for management, for boards, for investors and financial institutions. There is no going back: in a knowledge economy intangible assets will only become more important. As with any fundamental shift, those that see further and embrace the change are best prepared to profit from it.

Paul Adams is CEO of EverEdgeIP, one of the world’s leading intellectual property strategy, management and technology commercialisation firms. Paul has three times been named one of the world’s top intellectual property strategists and was the recipient of the Outstanding Intellectual Property Leader Award 2012. EverEdgeIP.com.

Innovation IP In conjunction with Callaghan Innovation, EverEdgeIP has developed a programme to help New Zealand companies leverage their innovation and intellectual property to drive accelerated growth.

EverEdgeIP’s Innovation IP is designed to provide you with the knowledge and tools to understand and implement a relevant and cost-effective intellectual property strategy for your business.

Innovation IP consists of two interactive, confidential workshops plus on-going support relating to intellectual property strategy and technology commercialisation.

The goal of the programme is simple: to help companies transform their innovation and intellectual property into commercial success.

Led by experienced professionals we explain important concepts, the decisions you will face, case studies of what works and what doesn’t and demonstrate useful tools and frameworks that deliver results.

Our multidisciplinary team of entrepreneurs, high growth company CEO’s, engineers, scientists, IP attorneys and finance experts brings the fields of business, technology and law together under one

roof. Importantly, although we employ experienced patent and trademark attorneys we do not file patents or trademarks on behalf of clients – this is essential to providing impartial and objective advice on intellectual property strategy.

The investment for the Innovation IP Programme is $10,750. Callaghan Innovation will co-fund 50 percent of this amount for eligible, pre-approved participants.

Innovation IP will be invaluable to senior management teams, business owners, directors and investors, R&D managers, product managers, software and hardware development teams and innovators.

For additional information or to apply for the Innovation IP Programme contact EverEdgeIP on innovationip@everedgeip.com, visit everedgeip.com/innovationip/ NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 17

TRANSPORT

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The deadline for comments is September 18, so if you want to have your say please visit: nhba.org.nz/site/transport-infrastructure-news/news-34/new-cycling-walking-map-for-north-harbour

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re you a walking or cycling enthusiast? Ever thought it might be great to walk or cycle to work, or even part of the way?

If so, help is at hand, but we need your input.

The North Harbour Business Association has asked Auckland Transport to produce a walking/cycling map for the area to enable our members and their employees to either plan their journey to work or just go out and get some fresh air and exercise at lunch time.

AT have come up with a comprehensive map showing cycling and walking routes around the area (see above) but we now need your feedback if you know of routes not already shown on the map or perhaps walking/cycling routes that are no longer there.

Comments already indicate that people are keen to even just get out and explore the area in their lunch break and that being able to work out a circular route is proving popular.

Another aspect with a detailed map might mean that those who do have to commute might choose to park further away and walk the last bit of their journey either to get some exercise or because their workplace car parking is congested.

The map is expected to be available both online and as a printed version and once it is finalised we will let you know.

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18 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

UNSWORTH HEIGHTS

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Progress on Albany Highway upgrade

A

uckland Transport and its contractor Fulton Hogan are making great progress on the Albany Highway North Upgrade scheduled for completion in 2016.

The intersection is now safely operating on signals and provides an exceptional preview of the completed project.

Milestones to be achieved in the coming months include completion of the east side of Albany Highway closest to Bush Road and finishing one half of the new four-lane Days Bridge.

With these large portions of the project concluded, look for the works continuing on the other side of the road with traffic utilising the newly constructed areas.

TRANSPORT

How do your staff get to work?

A

massive 84 percent of commuters in the North Harbour business region continue to drive alone to work, our recent public transport survey found.

The survey, which was part of the northern region public transport network review, took in the responses of 149 employees in the region and 27 employers.

It found that among employees, of those who drive, 12 percent drive with others however these figures also indicate that some people use multiple modes to get to their work place.

The survey also found that 77 percent of employees would consider using public transport if there was a service that suited them. Forty four percent said a definite yes, while 33 percent might need some persuading, but the survey indicated there is an appetite for change.

See the NHBA submission to AT at nhba.org.nz.

Auckland transport will be reviewing all submissions and the comments. The new network will be rolled out in 2017.

Two lucky NHBA members have won $100 Westfield vouchers.

Stephen Hudson from BFT Automation and Josefin Wilson from Revera both completed our online survey on public transport and their names were picked at random from those who responded.

Congratulations.

NEW TRAVEL PLANS ARE TAKING SHAPE FOR THE NORTH SHORE – HAVE YOUR SAY The NZ Transport Agency would like your feedback on the latest design plans for the Northern Corridor Improvements project.

The plans propose a new direct motorway alternative to SH1, linking the North Shore to the Western Ring Route; changes to local road links; faster bus trips; and new walking and cycle paths.

Your feedback is needed now to help finalise our plans.

Construction is scheduled to start from 2018.

To have your say or find out more, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/auckland-northern-corridor and fill in our form, or come and see us at: • Westfield Albany – Sat 5 Sept and Sun 6 Sept, centre court location, all day • Local businesses’ coffee drop in session – Tues 8 Sept, 7.30-8.30am, Café Noir, 7A Triton Drive, Rosedale • Local businesses’ coffee drop in session – Weds 9 Sept, 7.30-8.30am, North Shore Cosmopolitan Club, 65 Paul Matthews Road, Albany • Unsworth Heights community event – Fri 11 Sept, 2pm-6pm, Meadowood Community Centre, 55 Meadowood Drive.

• North Harbour Business Association Expo – Thurs 17 Sept, QBE Stadium (stand 80) • Individual/interest group meetings if requested.

Alternatively you can call us, email us or drop into our project Infohub office Mon-Fri 9am – 4pm, at 33A Apollo Drive. Ph 0800 NCI PROJECT; email northerncorridor@nzta.govt.nz.

NCI15-1

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT:

www.nzta.govt.nz/auckland-northern-corridor

CRIME PREVENTION

Tools: lock ‘em or lose them A recent investigation resulted in the recovery of more than $250,000 dollars worth of commercial tools.

Patrolling the streets

S

even nights a week the North Harbour Business Association’s specially contracted security patrols are out in our business district providing a high visibility security presence.

These patrols are in addition to individual businesses own security arrangements and they are instructed to patrol areas at random times and vary each night’s travel routines.

Our NHBA crime prevention representative,

20 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

istockphoto.com

C

rime prevention is a term that we will all be aware of and it is the responsibility of the entire community – both residential and commercial.

Currently we have noticed a rise in the theft of commercial power and hand tools.

This offending includes the targeting of domestic and commercial premises and commercial trade vehicles.

Those who, unfortunately, have been victims of such crimes will know firsthand that not only is the replacement of trade tools a huge inconvenience and a very time consuming process, but it can also have an equally big impact on livelihoods and the ability to continue work without interruption.

We believe these items are regarded as a very profitable black market currency, one that is easily traded for other highly desirable items.

Police recover such property in circumstances that indicate it is clearly either stolen or unlawfully obtained and on many occasions we cannot re-unite owners and their property due to a lack of identification.

I understand that the task of identifying or marking tools can be a laborious one. But identifying your tools is a very simple step that you can take and, if they are stolen and reported, this will assist us in not only recovering and

identifying your property, but also play a large part in arrests and successful prosecution of these offenders.

One recent example of this was Operation Tank, an investigation of a large scale organised group of offenders based in Rodney but offending further afield. The investigation resulted in the execution of search warrants at four separate addresses, yielding the recovery of more than $250,000 dollars worth of commercial tools, the clearance of between 40-50 burglary offences and the arrest of three people.

A large portion of this recovered property remains frustratingly unidentified, however one diligent victim, a builder, had a photograph of all of his tools stored on his cell phone and from this simple process police were able to identify and return all of his stolen tools.

There are other very cost effective ways to effectively identify your tools, ensuring they are photographed, serial numbers are noted, tools are engraved/marked with a unique identifier.

These can be entered into the Police National Database and linked to related offences.

Other crime prevention advice is available to you through Dave Loader at the NHBA, and your local police station.

NHBA, in partnership with the police, are working through the roll-out of a crime prevention initiative that we intend on introducing to the trade industry. Again, please take the time to mark and identify your property and together we can work towards a safer community.

Dave Loader, has the authority to direct the security patrols to any areas of concern or to hotspots of reported crime from information provided by either the police or by our members.

Each business morning security reports are forwarded to our office outlining the patrol’s findings and observations from the previous night. These reported findings can include: • Street lighting outages.

• Graffiti on roadside assets/building premises.

• Broken street signage.

• Unsecure premises such as windows not secure; gates left open; building alarms activated.

• Skate boarders or trespassing.

• Suspicious behaviour and descriptions

Senior Sergeant Scott Cunningham is the youth and communities manager, North Shore, for the New Zealand Police.

obtained and any vehicle details.

Appropriate follow up with affected businesses is done within 24 hours or serious incidents are reported to the police immediately by the security patrols.

Our recent member survey results showed that these security patrols are valued by our members and the North Shore Police also appreciate our efforts in supporting them to detect criminal activity in our area.

For more information contact Dave on 021 560 287 or crimeprevention@nhba.org.nz

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: STRATEGY

The best thing you can do for your business

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If you are feeling over-loaded with work, Zac de Silva says the best thing you can do is take a few days away from the business.

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ow many hours are you putting into your business weekly? 40? 50? 60? 70-hour weeks? Sometimes I bet even 80-hour weeks don’t feel like they’re enough to tackle the enormous to-do list you might be facing.

There’s a quote that says, “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t”.

Put simply: put the hard yards in now and reap the rewards later.

Well here’s something I tell my 100 plus business coaching clients that may surprise you: “Take a holiday”.

You’re probably thinking the same thing they do – “What? But I’m busy enough as it is – things will fall over if I go away. How will I get stuff done?”

I’m not saying you need to go in your busiest period or that it needs to be six months in France, but trust me when I tell you that a few days away from the business will actually improve it.

Here’s five reasons why.

1 You get the space to think. It’s very easy to get caught up in your everyday tasks when you’re at the office and to have your brain filled with what needs to be done. But the important thinking – that pie-in-the-sky, big picture thinking that will improve your business – needs a bit of head room. Plonk yourself next to a pool, turn your phone off and let the thinking begin. Where do you want your business to be in five years? 10?

How are you going to get it there? What steps and direction do you need to take?

2 You get time to read. Pack those books you’ve been hankering to read but which have been gathering dust on your bedside table; finally read those business blogs you’ve been wanting to. Try Sam Hazledine’s Unfair Fight or Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity. Be inspired by the stories of other people’s success.

I’m not saying you need to go in your busiest period or that it needs to be six months in France, but trust me when I tell you that a few days away from the business will actually improve it.

3 You get some perspective. What’s your biggest problem in business right now? Are your overheads skyrocketing? Your team morale is low? You latest product has been a bit of a flop? Sometimes in business you need to get out of the forest to see the trees – remove yourself from the situation and give yourself some time to mull and work through what the root cause of your business troubles could be. The answers will come.

4 Holiday mode makes you creative. The escape from routine, those new sights, smells, experiences, culture – it all boils up to a new perspective, which brings new ideas and creative solutions and innovations.

5 It recharges your batteries. Most people can’t sustain 60 to 80-hour work weeks for too long. Yes, the body will keep keeping on but you won’t be operating at the top of your game. Plus, you need to be refreshed on your return from holiday in order to implement all the amazing business ideas you’ve had.

I strongly believe a holiday is just what the doctor ordered, which is why I prescribe it to my business coaching clients.

And which is why I co-founded with Steve Pirie, the Nurture Change Business Retreat – a five day “bizcation” in Fiji where you get to think on your business and your life while fitting in some much-needed R&R. The speakers and attendees we have on board will give you the jumpstart you need for your business for the coming year.

Your next challenge? Keeping yourself accountable in implementing all these awesome new ideas once your return from your holiday.

Zac de Silva is a business coach at businesschanging.com and helps businesses of all sizes and industries, from SMEs to big international corporates. He was awarded International Coach of the Year last year. Zac has close links with the North Harbour area as a former CEO of Barkers Menswear which is based in Albany and has a good number of clients on the North Shore. He also developed virtual coaching softwareaccme.co and is a co-founder of nurturechange.com.

NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 21

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: GIVING BACK

Giving back to your community If you would like to contribute to your community and assist Rotary in its very worthwhile local fundraising efforts, they would welcome your support.

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administration. And Rotary is strongly tuned-in to the charitable community because it is part of our monthly business.”

Businesses gain individually because their donation will be recognised at many levels – a distinctive wall plaque (framed for gold and platinum friends), logo presentation on the website, invitation to key charity/club/ social events and regular feed-back on the charitable work.

Barter says the first event was the launch on August 20 where around 120 guests heard Paul Blackwell speak about the Breakers basketball team and the keys to its success as a franchise.

“We are also looking for a recognised North Harbour figure to be one of the three people who will make the final decisions on which charities will be recipients.”

“Business gain collectively because of the likely public interest in this project and we intend to ensure it gets as wide press coverage as possible with the accent on North Harbour businesses being motivated well towards their local community.

“We are also looking for a recognised North Harbour figure to be one of the three people who will make the final decisions on which charities will be recipients.

“We have a policy which sets out the general

areas to which donations will be targeted – these being predominantly local.

“The reception so far has been better than anticipated. We estimate that the average response exceeds $500, and in four weeks we have raised as much as the club would usually raise from any of its traditional annual fundraising exercises. One of the potential benefits of Rotary giving is the influence of Rotary International and its matching grants process, which will enable us to seek additional funds directly from Rotary International for some targeted areas.”

Rotary has a strong alignment with young people and their development. This club, like many others, will be hosting a Rotary exchange student from overseas and also acting as the sponsor club for a local student to go overseas.

Rotary also sponsors the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards – a three-day intensive in-house programme with outstanding speakers for young leaders which has been the stimulus for the careers of many business and vocational leaders. Albany Rotary has, in the past, directly sponsored a programme at Massey University managed by Professor Belgrave, a long-standing club member and one of the architects of this project.

For further information please contact Steve Barter (steve@barterlaw.co.nz ) or Kevin Covacich (kevin@accountingnorth. co.nz)

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he Rotary Club of Albany is inviting local businesses to become platinum, gold or silver sponsors of the Friends of Albany Rotary in what the club says is a major opportunity for North Harbour and Albany businesses to make a strong statement about philanthropy and their position in the community.

The club was founded in 1997 and is a registered charitable trust. The essence of Rotary worldwide, for more than a hundred years, has been the combination of business and professional people for charitable work.

It has made substantial donations over the years to many local charities such as Yes Disability Centre, North Shore Hospice, Life Education Trust, Women’s Refuge, Riding for the Disabled and Plunket as well as involvement with Pacific Island relief charities.

Recently the club has come up with a more wide-ranging scheme which targets businesses which want to donate to their community in an effective way and want to be seen and recognised to be doing so.

Rotary’s Steve Barter, says that Friends of Albany Rotary meets both needs.

“Rotary is a trusted manager of charitable money because it has been in that business for a long time and is voluntary. Apart from disbursement costs all donations go to charities. And the charities are generally those who have proven themselves as being administered in a similar way – so the money gets to the intended recipients with little in the way of

22 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: FINANCE

Funding the trade cycle and moving away from traditional security The recent and significant drop in the NZ dollar against the currencies of our major trading partners has highlighted the need for New Zealand importers and exporters to actively manage their foreign exchange exposure. By Gareth Clague.

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here are many challenges that face New Zealand businesses but two that stand out as worthy of mention are the tyranny of distance from offshore suppliers and markets and the preponderance of SMEs, where a lack of scale can both personalise business and create added vulnerability in difficult times.

As United States author Lewis Black said: “If the people of the New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push ‘em closer.”

Whilst the world may be shrinking for some New Zealand businesses such as software developers, for many, who are reliant on importing supplies to on-sell to New Zealand customers or exporters of New Zealand produced goods, it still remains large. And New Zealand remains remote. The distance between suppliers and customers can create a significant issue in timing and managing cash flows for businesses.

The first and obvious issue that importers face is foreign exchange risk as they will inevitably be paying for their supplies in US dollars, Australian dollars or Euro but receiving payment in NZ dollars.

The recent and significant drop in the NZ

dollar against the currencies of our major trading partners has highlighted the need for New Zealand importers and exporters to actively manage their foreign exchange exposure.

For importers, this is often managed by obtaining trade finance in the currency of payment, say USD and then entering into a forward exchange contract to repay that facility

The distance between suppliers and customers can create a significant issue in timing and managing cash flows for businesses.

when payment is anticipated to be received from the New Zealand customers. Trade facilities can generally be obtained for up to 120 day terms.

The second is the significant time delays between making an order and receiving payment. This is often exacerbated by offshore suppliers having the upper hand over New Zealand importers and dictating minimum order quantities and timing of delivery.

We frequently find this is a problem for businesses forced to hold stock for long periods.

Stock finance can be a useful mechanism to free cash from these assets for importers.

Depending on the nature of the stock, the BNZ will fund up to 70 percent of its value.

To accelerate cash flow we have introduced an invoice financing facility which funds 80 percent of the invoice value when issued.

This enables the business to release cash from the invoice prior to receiving payment. The proceeds can then be used to meet other commitments such as staff and rental outgoings.

The result of the integrated funding approach – trade-stock-invoice is that it is fit for purpose and meets the demands of the trading cycle, accelerating cash flow in the business which helps with prudent management and enables growth beyond the constraints of bricks and mortar security.

For more information please contact Gareth Clague, Cashflow Solutions Partner at gareth_ clague@bnz.co.nz or Maree Erskine, Trade Finance Partner at maree_erskine@bnz.co.nz NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 23

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Media 101: What you need to know The most important thing you need to know about social media is that you need to be on it.

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n our recent survey, you told us that you wanted to know more about social media, so FYI spoke to two social media experts – Wanita Fourie from the Online Business Academy and Simon Cope, senior tutor from the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University.

What do businesses need to know about social media?

Fourie: Without a doubt, social media and digital marketing has changed the way people do business. I see social media as a combination of a few functions traditionally used in business. It is a combination of sales, marketing, customer service and training.

Cope: It’s more than just uploading photos of yourself. It’s a powerful tool to be able to relate and get to know your customers.

Using social media will help you pick up any trends or changes that your customers may be aware of. Social media is also a fantastic medium for getting to know your customers in a non-confrontational way. Particularly effective is using social media to post questions and competitions which help engage with customers and stakeholders.

Why should businesses be using social media?

Fourie: Although every business should have a decent website, you also need to use social media to complement this website and increase engagement. Social media plays a huge role in the online world. It helps your business to be seen on a regular basis, if you are active. You can measure your customer engagement and, if done correctly, you can measure your sales through online advertising. Social Media is also cheaper than print, TV or radio advertising and can be very focused right down to the smallest details.

Cope: It’s very cost effective, many platforms are free and if you want to advertise, it’s not too 24 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

expensive. It also offers targeted advertising, allowing you to narrow down your customer base. If you don’t want to pay, you can use Facebook to slowly build up your customer base.

People are used to social media, which will spread a lot faster than having a website alone.

Which channels should your business be on?

Fourie: This depends on your product or service and where your audience or ‘tribe’ is hanging out. Knowing your audience will help you to target the right channel for your product or service. For example, 18-25 year olds have decreased on Facebook but increased on Instagram and 45-55 year olds have increased on Facebook but have yet to embrace Instagram.

Also think about your product or service – if it is a craft or hands on service e.g. plumbing, organising, selling a physical product, then Pinterest and YouTube would be fantastic channels.

Cope: In my opinion definitely LinkedIn and Facebook for a start. LinkedIn is a good way to interact, business-to-business and is a good way to find contacts. Facebook is also good to increase engagement with stakeholders in a very easy and effective way. If your business has a visual display, try using YouTube to upload videos highlighting your skill or unique business edge. You can also upload this to your website as a header, which is more effective than text alone.

Tips from the experts • You don’t have to start big. Start with one social media channel and be consistent.

• Start with a social media strategy.

• Get help if you can’t cope.

• Learn as much as you can, even if you are going to outsource it.

• Be aware of what you are posting online; keep in mind your customer base. In particular, keep away from posting things that may be controversial, particularly with things like politics, religion, or money depending what your business is.

• Go look at what the ‘big boys’ are doing overseas, for example Frucor or Lipton.This will give you ideas from larger organisations that have targeted social media plans. You may want to borrow the style and questions they are using and adapt them to your own business.

PROPERTY

Seven things to know about bodies corporate

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Many owners and tenants in Unit Title property can feel daunted by what appears to be a complex and confusing array of information on Unit Title property. Steve Plummer outlines several key things that may help to clarify some of those issues.

1. What is a Body Corporate?

It is surprising how many people are not completely sure of the answer to this question. The word ‘Body Corporate’ seems to conjure up various answers including the government, council or the company appointed as the managers. The answer is the body corporate is the collective ownership of the units within the unit titled property and the body corporate is created on the deposit of the Unit Title plan (Sec 75 & 76(1) UTA 2010).

The body corporate number used as a legal reference by Unit Title property is the Deposited Plan number held by Land Information NZ on the application to deposit the unit plan.

2. Unit Titles Act, Regulations and Rules A Unit Title property is governed by the Unit Titles 2010 and related Unit Titles Regulations 2011. This legislation replaced the 1972 Unit Titles Act. There has continued to be various ‘tweaks’ to this legislation and a further review is currently underway. With the new legislation coming into effect the previous rules lodged under the old Act were made redundant. Unless new rules have been adopted the default operating rules (Schedule 1 of Regs 2011) will apply.

Old rules that have lapsed are unenforceable under the new Act and should not be relied on.

3. AGM Under the Regulations an Annual General Meeting must be held once per annum and a Notice of Intention to hold an AGM sent to owners at least three weeks (in most cases) in advance of the AGM date (Sec 5 Regs 2011).

This invites owners to nominate committee

members and a chairperson in addition to any resolutions or matters for discussion. The formal notice must be sent out at least two weeks prior to the AGM (Sec 6 Regs 2011).

Owners unable to attend can still vote by postal ballot or appoint a proxy for the meeting.

4. Committee A committee of owners must be formed to manage day-to-day issues that arise if the Unit Title property has more than nine units (Sec 112 UTA 2010). It is often useful to form a committee on even smaller properties as this can expedite decision making. Any committee authority must be delegated by the owners collectively at the AGM and it is this collective group (in conjunction with the Unit Titles Act and Regulations) that determines the extent of the committee power to make decisions (Sec 22 Regs 2011). The committee always remain accountable to the wider ownership and may carry liability should they seek to disregard the directions of the owner majority.

5. Funds Under the new legislation there is greater responsibility in the handling of funds held for the Body Corporate (Sec 115-120 UTA 2010, Sec 29,31 Regs 2011). Funds must be held in the name of the body corporate and any Long Term Maintenance Funds held separately to other operating funds. At each AGM owners are required to consider an audit of their accounts and the accounts are subject to audit unless 75 percent of those represented at the meeting decided not to do so.

6. Levies At each AGM owners consider the operating budget for the coming year. Once the budget is approved each owner will receive their share of the budget based on their Utility Interest. Once the budget is approved and raised these levies become a legal obligation of the unit owner to the Body Corporate (Sec 121 UTA 2010). In a number of cases with commercial property the owner has an arrangement with their tenant to pay these costs. Legally, however, the owner remains liable directly to the Body Corporate regardless of the tenants’ non-payment, which they would have to pursue with their tenants under their lease.

7. How levies are calculated Under the Act levies are raised by either Utility Interest, or Ownership Interest (Sec 121 UTA 2010) – the default position is that these are both the same. The ownership Interest is a percentage calculation based on an assessment schedule completed by a registered valuer as part of the lodgement of the Unit Plan. Once completed this schedule is lodged with Land Information NZ and cannot be changed without going through a specific legal process. At the transition to the new Act (and at the first meeting of a new development) owners would have been asked to consider the Utility Interest percent.

In most cases Utility Interest has remained the same percent as the Ownership Interest.

Steve Plummer is the CEO of Centurion Management Services Ltd. centurion.co.nz NHBA.ORG.NZ FYI SEPTEMBER 2015 25

GOLD SPONSORS

Hobbs Global: Your local that keeps you global

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hen putting your company’s reputation into the hands of another, you need to make sure those hands know what they’re doing.

Here at Hobbs Global Logistics Solutions Ltd we combine good old-fashioned values amassed from decades of experience, with cutting-edge systems that keep us at the forefront of the industry.

By creating an exceptional experience for our customers, they remain loyal, and most importantly they are inspired to tell others about us, assisting us to grow our business.

Our head office is based locally, right here on the North Shore, our professional senior staff – with more than 30 years experience, complemented by a worldwide agency network, our own 3PL Warehouse and Distribution Centre based at Auckland International Airport are your keys to a flawless Customs Brokerage, International Freight Forwarding and Logistics Solution – we are “Your Local that keeps you Global”.

Keith Hobbs Managing Director hobbsglobal.co.nz

Driveline: What’s the best way to finance your business vehicles?

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peak to Driveline, your local specialists in vehicle leasing and finance based in Paul Matthews Rd, Rosedale. As an independent New Zealand owned finance provider, it is able to offer free, impartial advice on how to finance both business and private vehicles.

Driveline has been around since 2001, helping businesses all over New Zealand structure their vehicle finance in a way that delivers long term benefits. Its mission is to help reduce the total cost of ownership of vehicles by developing informed and unbiased solutions tailor-made for you.

Driveline’s ground-breaking website is fast becoming an essential tool for businesses providing information on different types of finance options and lease pricing for thousands of new vehicles.

Driveline will lease or HP finance on all makes and models of vehicles both new and used. It also funds plant and equipment at very competitive rates.

The Driveline way Saving you money – Driveline’s buying power delivers the best possible discounted price on new vehicles. On used vehicles it will negotiate with the dealer to ensure you get the best deal available.

26 SEPTEMBER 2015 FYI NHBA.ORG.NZ

Saving you time – Are you better off leasing or buying on HP? Let Driveline run the numbers so you can make an informed decision. It can organise everything from vehicle sourcing and finance to accessories like tow bars, commercial fit outs and sign writing.

Saving you hassle – Tap in to decades of experience with Driveline’s knowledgeable team, who use their expertise to make the whole experience run smoothly. You get delivered a vehicle that’s ready to go to work from day one.

Special offer for Albany businesses Driveline supports local businesses as an NHBA Gold sponsor and you may know the team from one of the many networking events in the area. The team has put together a special vehicle finance package for FYI readers.

Complete an application form and if you meet the criteria below you’re approved to finance vehicles up to $100,000.

• Is your business located in the Albany area?

• Has your business been trading for two years or more?

• Are you a home owner?

• Do you have clean credit?

More info: 0800 275 374 or driveline.co.nz

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

New Associate Members Welcome to our new Associate Members who have recently joined us.

Total Cover

Armourguard

Strata Title (Body Corporate Administrators)

Cornerstone Education

191A Archers Road Glenfield Contact: Kourtney Ngaamo Email: kourtney@totalcover.co.nz Phone: 0800 100 019

Dilworth Building First Floor 36 Queen St, Auckland 1010 Contact: Paul Cormack Email: paulcormack@stratatitle.co.nz Phone: (09) 307 3721

666 Great South Road, Penrose Auckland 1061 PO Box 11184, Ellerslie Contact: Tere Ryan Email: tere.ryan@armourguard.co.nz Phone: (09) 580 8000 Mob: 027 240 2389

Level 1, 369 Khyber Pass Road Contact: Aaron Ah Chee Email: aaron@cornerstoneeducation.co.nz Phone: (09) 522 0438

NHBA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 12 OCTOBER 2015 4PM NHBA.ORG.NZ/AGM2015