David Irving - Gearing Up: Leading your Kiwi Business into the Future

First published 2020

Auckland University Press

University of Auckland

Private Bag 92019

Auckland 1142

New Zealand

www.press.auckland.ac.nz

Darl Kolb, David Irving, Deborah Shepherd and Christine Woods, 2020

ISBN 978 1 77671 062 1

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand

This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior permission of the publisher. The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.

Internal design by Amy Tansell/WordsAlive

Illustrations by Tim Nolan/Blackant Mapping Solutions

Cover design by Kalee Jackson

Cover image: stock photo 37745270 AlexKalina/123RF

What a difference 10 years makes a lot has happened in the world since we wrote Changing Gears: How to Take Your Kiwi Company from the Kitchen Table to the Board Room (Auckland University Press, 2009). We felt that it was now time to reflect on and respond to the challenges facing owner-managed businesses in the present-day context as they prepare for the future.

Our first and foremost acknowledgement goes to the many hundreds of owner-managers who share their experiences good and bad with us, so that we continue to learn and grow, just as we encourage you to learn and grow. Your incredible business successes are the inspiration that has led us to write this (our second) book.

The key source of our interaction with owner-managers continues to be The Icehouse Owner Manager Programme (OMP). It is a learning journey that gives back so much to those of us involved in the programme. It is truly wonderful to be part of the facilitation team along with the many other facilitators, business panellists, mentors and presenters too numerous to mention who each bring immense knowledge and enthusiasm to The Icehouse programmes. A special thanks goes to Raewyn Goodwin and Liz Wotherspoon. We also thank and recognise Andy Hamilton, who has always been a great advocate for our work and for growing businesses in New Zealand.

In writing this volume, we have been very fortunate to have Vaughan Yarwood, who had worked with us at the University of Auckland Business School, take on the role of editor for the author team. His professionalism and courtesy were outstanding as he retained our intent while improving our words. Vaughans considerable business insight and pleasurable disposition were the perfect match for this project. As such, he was a key member of the team of authors who, together with the patient publishers and editors at Auckland University Press, have made this volume possible.

Thanks to all!

Darl, David, Deb and Chris

In 2009 we published Changing Gears: How to Take Your Kiwi Business from the Kitchen Table to the Board Room as a celebration of owner-managers and their contribution to New Zealand. That book served as a companion text for the Owner Manager Programme of The Icehouse, an organisation that has assisted almost a thousand New Zealand small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the 20 years since David Irving, one of our co-authors, co-founded it.

Much has changed in the decade following the publication of Changing Gears. Writing that volume during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), we were keenly aware of the tentative nature of business success and the vulnerability of New Zealand businesses to the global economic environment. As we worked on this new book, the US stock market was at soaring heights but the global economic outlook was uncertain. Perversely, after years of the barriers to trade being systematically lowered, a radical nationalist and protectionist movement is now sweeping several of the worlds large economies, resulting in widespread business uncertainty. As we go to press, we remind ourselves that business growth cycles are just that, cycles; they change, and they can change rapidly. Thus, we have written this book with an eye towards a future that, while far from predictable, is not without hope.

Since that first volume, everyones lives have been transformed by the incredible technologies exemplified by the smartphone, which have led to a revolution in how business works, how customers interact with brands and how near-constant connectivity has come to characterise our day-to-day lives. Social media plays a growing role in every aspect of business, from recruiting talent to developing a productive culture and engaging with customers. Customers, in turn, are able to use these same technologies to seek alternative products and services from around the world. Entire industries have been disrupted, with revolutions in retail (Amazon and Alibaba), hospitality (Airbnb), transport (Uber), as well as the potential mega-distribution of block chain.

Automation, robotics, machine intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) have likewise challenged longstanding views of what humans are good for, and debate rages as to whether these new technologies will generate as many jobs as they displace. Small business is not immune to these seismic shifts. As robots and artificial intelligence (AI) become more accessible, your competitors will increasingly use them even if you dont. And so-called big data now offers a previously unheard of amount of information about consumers, in the process throwing up concerns about data security, privacy and the appropriate boundaries for public and private life.

Society itself has also changed gears. A generation of socially aware and community-conscious consumers and employees care deeply about the environment, including issues of sustainability, consumption levels and the effects of global warming. We have witnessed the rise of social entrepreneurship business designed to achieve social impact as well as turn a profit. We are rediscovering the fact that each generation has different views about what is important in life, including how to achieve life balance, find meaning at work and make a difference in the world. Communities now expect more from businesses, not just in terms of creating jobs and donating to local clubs and causes but also in offering career pathways for youth, introducing family-friendly policies and providing continued employment for seniors. Diversity of all sorts and at all levels is becoming imperative in order to be competitive in a contemporary world.

What, then, hasnt changed over the past 10 years? First, our commitment to you, the owner-manager. The more time we spend with you, the more we are convinced that your role in our local, national and international economy is critical to the success of New Zealand not only as a small economy but also as an increasingly dynamic society that is respected around the world. Our second observation is that achieving enduring success is as challenging as ever if not more so. In a world of get-rich-quick start-ups, most businesses need to work hard for every customer, every sale and every dollar they earn. And small businesses have to do this without the advantages of scale. That doesnt mean that you are not up to it but there is always work to be done. Finally, we continue to believe that many owner-managed businesses in New Zealand will grow not by reacting to business as usual but by actively shaping the markets they encounter. This has always been the case, and we think that the best is yet to come. Ultimately, we want to help you gear up for the future you desire.