The fish are biting. The blue cod, to be more precise, are throwing themselves at our lines — a blessing because it’s a stinking rainy day in the Chathams, with a bumpy sea. These are ideal fishing conditions, but not so comfortable on board the large tin can that is our fishing platform. They build boats to cope with the conditions here, not for comfort.
Not that the line of fishers strung out across the stern seem to mind. They’re a motley lot in their assorted wet weather gear, some with waterproof leggings found on board, and they haul in blue cod like mad.
Across the stern, braced against the swell, are the managing directors of a Pukekohe accounting firm, a Rotorua-based electrical company, a Henderson-based manufacturer, a Whangarei manufacturer and the director of an Auckland-based physiotherapy
empire.
They are alumni from the owner manager finishing school run by
the Icehouse. And apart from the fishing, what they have in common is a desire to grow their respective companies. The Icehouse is a business incubator set up in 2001 by the University of Auckland Business School to help New Zealand companies grow and, in turn, grow the New Zealand economy.
Think of this motley crew as representative of the lifeblood of the New Zealand economy although, in light of some of the behaviour witnessed on this trip, I wonder if one or two are the bad blood.
But what goes on tour stays on tour, they repeatedly tell me.
Taking part in an owner manager course requires an investment of close to $20,000 plus time spent away from the business and, as equally important, a passion for that business.
“These people are motivated, otherwise they wouldn’t write the cheque,” says Graeme Kerr, managing director of
Hansen Products, a Whangarei company with a staff of 50 that manufactures all manner of plastic hose fittings for the Australasian market with some exports to Canada and the US.
Kerr is a nuggety guy with a pragmatic manner whose company sponsors the Northland rugby team. He seems to be a pretty knowledgeable businessman. Why did he choose to come on the course? It was highly recommended by a good friend in Whangarei, he says, and his partners in the company thought it was a good investment.
“I’m a chartered accountant by trade and I sold out of a chartered accountancy practice to buy into this business. As an accountant I was always staggered by the variety of companies I came across and the people and dreams and ideas and I guess that was what I was looking forward to.
“Business can be very lonely. Here were people who had paid to be on the course and they were at the sharp end doing it. Everyone has to be motivated to want to be there.
“There are some neat stories in here and the other interesting thing is that we started the course in the middle of the recession and there were some guys who were in deep shit. There were some guys in freefall and throughout the course they were put in touch with people who helped them get back on the right track.”
It started with a drink. I was at the Auckland Art Gallery for the announcement of the finalists in the
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, talking to the Icehouse CEO Andy Hamilton when a guy called Glen Beal approached and began talking to Hamilton about this upcoming trip to the Chathams.
“Mark, you should go,” said Hamilton, a pint-sized dynamo with a highly developed nose for networking. “It would be a great story.”
A few emails and a couple of months later, I was in the Koru Lounge at Auckland Airport with Beal, the managing director of a Pukekohe accounting firm, and a bunch of hospitable strangers, waiting for our flight. There were 12 owner managers plus a scattering of partners, and tutors Darl Kolb and Deb Shepherd.
We almost didn’t get there. The Chatham Islands, probably best known for an abundance of seafood and bird life and a crayfish gold rush in the 1980s, lie around 800km east of New Zealand. You take an Air Chathams Convair from Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington. If you leave from Auckland, there is a stopover in Napier. We waited and waited at Auckland, eventually got to Napier in the early evening and flew most of the way across the ocean in the dark. We made one pass across the airfield, then swung around for a second attempt. But there was no familiar bump as the wheels touched down and the next thing we knew, we were roaring away into the darkness, headed back for Napier. It turned out there was ground mist across the runway, something that apparently happens two or three times a year, and the plane only had enough fuel for two landing attempts.
The Icehouse owner manager programme is held three days a month for five months, followed by a couple of day-long workshops. It’s intensive, and often life changing. As Graeme Hansen says, running a business can be all-consuming and often there is no one to talk to about the challenges. You get so head down, bum up in the day-to-day minutiae, there is no time to think, let alone think strategically. At the Icehouse they call it working in the business rather than on the business.
How can you change that? You might find a mentor who can help you get some perspective on your company, or you can invest close to $20,000 on an owner manager course. The blurb promises you will discover a new perspective on your business, a better understanding of yourself as an individual and business owner, and a clearer sense of where you are going and how you will get there while maintaining a better work/life balance.
“The programme will provide you with the necessary skills to help you manage the turbulent phases as an established or mature owner manager, and will set you on the path to greater success through the implementation of a strategic growth plan. It is a learning experience that is challenging, practical and enjoyable.”
What’s not to like? Well, it’s a substantial investment of money and time, for starters. You need a significant equity stake in your business, management control and revenue of more than $2 million. On the owner manager programme (OMP) 18, company revenue ranged from $2 million to $98 million. That can be daunting in itself.