Building whanau business a key driver to economic prosperity

The final Hamilton-based event for 2018 of the Maori Business Panel series drew an enthusiastic audience last week, interested to hear the experiences of small business success stories from within the Waikato.

The Maori Business Panel is a joint initiative between Waikato-Tainui and Te Waka Waikato Economic Development agency, aimed at growing Maori business in the region through networking and continuing learning. Te Waka’s Business Growth Partners, which was previously part of the Waikato Innovation Park business growth advisors’ network, along with Waikato-Tainui’s Whanake (economic development) team, have confirmed that similar events will continue in 2019.

Previous topics have included marketing, the importance of a business plan, and understanding tax. Last week’s event focused on starting a new business, with advice from a panel of recent start-up leaders on topics including business planning and getting the right support from the right sources.

“Building whanau business is a key driver to economic prosperity for our whaanau, marae and the region,” says Waikato-Tainui’s Whanake (economic development) manager, Karleen Turner-Puriri.

“We have a number of initiatives and collaborations that are focused on building the capacity of our entrepreneurs. The support is growing for our entrepreneurs who are beginning to leverage recruitment and procurement opportunities within Waikato-Tainui and our partners.”

Approximately 80 attendees took the opportunity to network before enjoying personal insights into the early years of business from three diverse Maori business owners, each with different yet compelling stories to tell.

Lee Tane of NOA Essentials showed the importance of a strong brand story, as he described how NOA’s organic skincare products evolved out of a need for restorative skincare products amongst his whanau. Lee wanted to create natural products for his children, building on the knowledge handed down through generations of his family before him, and the popularity of the NOA range soon grew.

“Fusing organic skincare and the traditional cultural background has added value to the product story,” Lee said.

He also left a sound piece of advice for the room: “don’t jump at every opportunity, jump at the right opportunity”.

The following speaker also addressed the challenge of knowing which opportunities to act on. Chloe Mansfield of IC Scaffolding shared her advice on managing risks, saying that “sometimes taking a risk and jumping in gives you the best results”.

She said that over IC Scaffolding’s four years in operation, she’s learned that detailed planning can be scary if you overthink things too much.

Chloe also stressed the importance of communication with clients and how valuable it is for keeping your business top-of-mind. She also spoke of the value of a good business mentor, and of knowing who to go for additional funding and business support, through organisations like Te Puni Kokiri, Waikato-Tainui and Poutama Trust.

The final speaker had taken a different approach to planning, putting more of a focus on creating a plan, regularly reflecting on it and revising it where necessary. 

Nichola Te Kiri has been creating jewellery and clothing featuring her unique style of contemporary Maori design since 2011.

She reiterated the need for a good business mentor. “You need to find someone who really has the right fit for your personality and your vision.”

As a result of the Maori Business Panel’s popularity, the team has now added a Huntly-based event to the calendar, to be held on December 6 at the Essex Arms, including guest speaker Kawana Wallace from OMG Tech and myReo Studios. A young Maori tech entrepreneur based out of Huntly, myReo Studios is a Maori game development company that makes bilingual educational software. Tickets are available through EventBrite.

Further details about 2019 Maori Business Panel events will be published on both the Waikato-Tainui and Te Waka Facebook pages.