Celebrating start-ups

I’ve noticed a bit of a move recently to knock the entrepreneurial abilities of Kiwi businesses. We’re being told more often that the No. 8 wire mentality is no longer enough. We can’t just be innovative and adaptable; we also have to be highly productive and super savvy.

There’s nothing wrong with that – a bit of a reality check is good from time to time. And as a nation, we can’t just cruise along having great ideas but never getting anywhere with them.

But I think this movement risks knocking what it is that makes Kiwi businesses great. And that’s having the sheer guts and determination to come up with a business idea, and backing yourself to do it.

The fact that New Zealand is a nation of small business people, rather than a country full of people that would rather work for someone else, is a great reflection of the courage and character of Kiwis.

Starting a business is bloody hard. You have to do everything yourself, and take on so much. You often have to give up a lot too – like spending time with family and friends to make sure you get the work done. And even though you are ‘your own boss’, you give up the security of working for someone else or even the knowledge that someone else can carry the can every now and then.

In fact, many business people I talk to say that if they really knew what it was going to take when they started out; the number of hours they’d have to work; the nights they’d sit up worrying about how they were going to manage; the stress they put on themselves, they wouldn’t have taken that first big step in saying, “Today, I start my own business”.

But they do. And thank God. Because these people are the backbone of our economy. They employ people, they generate wealth, they pay most of the tax and they even collect it for the Government.

And they do it not because they want to go to work to slave away on compliance, accounting, payroll, export rules, council codes, employment relations, resource consents and all the other things they need to manage. They do it because they have passion. They have a great idea and they want to pursue it. Going to work for themselves makes them happy, gives them a sense of pride, and fulfilment.

And so it should. They should be celebrated, held up as our heroes, rewarded and encouraged for just giving it a go.

At MYOB we’ve taken the step of creating our own YouTube video tribute – please do check it out and perhaps pass on the link in recognition of those Kiwi businesses in your life that inspire you!

As a nation, we should all say more often to the small business community: “love your work!”

Julian Smith  (@JulianTSmith) is the general manager for MYOB in New Zealand.  A frequent keynote speaker and business commentator, he blogs on key issues and trends, providing advice on how to make business life easier