Helping hand at a business' most difficult stage

Gerard Martin, Enterprise North Shore business development manager:, explains a scheme to help new businesses.


Starting Out Right is a free programme for people considering starting businesses in North Shore City.

Why is Enterprise North Shore doing it?

It's good for the economy.

The period during which businesses start is vital to each business' success.

More start-ups fail than succeed, so if we can encourage people to be better prepared for business - or even consider delaying starting a business if the financial planning doesn't stack up - this must be beneficial to the economy and to the people involved.

In turn, stronger, better planned start-ups will more quickly realise their own potential and, over time, grow and take on more employees and generate more return for the owners.

Starting Out Right fills a significant gap in the North Shore market.

* Start-ups are invariably looking for information and support to help them with their business decisions, and this programme meets that need by sharing the initial information they are likely to want and that we recommend they consider.

* A group setting such as this means that people can see other business people trying to do the same thing as themselves, and the networking opportunity helps in sharing concerns and solutions to problems.

* A group setting allows individuals to ask questions that others may not have thought of. What's in it for start-ups?

By providing the right information, the workshops provide the basis for business people to make better business decisions.

This leads to better planning, realistic goal-setting and better quality businesses.

Start-ups learn about focusing on what is necessary for them to build and maintain a successful business.

They are given the tools to write a business plan, they learn how to plan their finances and we show how to apply in practice some of the many theories about running a business.



What are we finding?

From the 83 people who have attended Starting Out Right since the workshop was offered in September last year, we have learned that:

* Because of the broad range of information shared, the workshop is attractive to all types of businesses, although some industry groups are more highly represented than others. This reflects perceived demand in some North Shore markets, such as ESOL schools, immigration services and hospitality; and also the low barriers to entry in others, such as trades people looking to establish a business

* Increasingly, immigrants to New Zealand are becoming a big proportion of attendees. Thirty to 45 per cent are in this category.

What do we expect as a result of this programme?

It is too early to be specific about trends among those who attend the workshops, but it will probably take between six and 12 months for people to start businesses after their attendance at Starting Out Right and a significant percentage may not start businesses at all during that period.

But the most important result we expect is that when attendees do eventually start businesses they are more likely to be successful and, in turn, will provide a greater return to the local economy than if they had not attended a workshop such as this.

Starting Out Right gives people focused information and things to think about before they launch into business and encourages them to be realistic about the risks, but also focuses on clear financial planning, goal setting and development of systems and processes that have proven to be essential for success.

What happens next?

The range of economic and business development services Enterprise North Shore provides is available free to all North Shore attendees at the workshops, and we expect successful businesses will build a relationship with us and take advantage of our wide range of allied organisations, mentors and training programmes.