Business Venture Competition: Keep the No 8 wire moving

The pioneering, do-it-yourself tradition New Zealand was founded on is thriving judging by the creativity and energy the The Great New Zealand Business Venture competition has revealed, writes BRIDGET WICKHAM*.

Kiwis are renowned for coming up with great ideas by using just their inventiveness and a bit of No 8 wire.

That pioneering, do-it-yourself spirit has launched the careers of some of our leading business people. But our high crash-and-burn rate for small businesses also indicates that too many budding entrepreneurs leap straight into small business without thinking through the process first.

How do you build a concept into a company? That is the challenge every entrepreneur faces - assembling the pieces of a highly complex jigsaw, bringing the product, the marketing strategy, the finance and the management team together to create a profitable new business entity.

The Great New Zealand Business Venture has been dedicated to assisting with the business creation process - it's based on a formula that has proven very successful internationally and has also now achieved very positive results in helping to create a score of new businesses.

In the past six months more than 1450 teams have learned how to build a viable business. The participants progressed through a three-phase programme where they learned how to create a comprehensive business plan, giving them the tools to take their idea from the kitchen table to the global business environment.

The Great New Zealand Business Venture also set out to change the impression that building a business is a battle that people have to shoulder by themselves.

One of the key concepts of the venture is to develop a network of entrepreneurs, professional advisers and venture capitalists who are focused on growing a concept into a company.

The participants received guidance through an extensive mentoring and advisory programme, which has been supported by some of New Zealand's major corporates and professional advisory firms. The budding entrepreneurs have been able to obtain free professional advice in any area, including law, tax, patent law, accounting, finance, marketing, software and information technologies.

Participants have also benefited from a nationwide programme of workshops where they have been able to road-test their ideas on experienced business leaders such as Stephen Tindall.

At each stage of the competition, a panel of judges, including experienced venture capitalists, and business advisers from New Zealand and Australia, have provided written feedback.

The prizemoney totals $360,000, including the top award of $80,000, which will be announced at a black-tie dinner at Sky City in Auckland tonight. Three runners-up will also receive $40,000.

The finalists include a bobsled business, "do-it-yourself" website software and a cancer diagnostic business.

The competition attracted entries from all over New Zealand with ideas for every possible type of business. There were especially large numbers of excellent entries from the tourism, environmental and sport sectors.

Similar business programmes overseas have been very successful in creating viable new businesses and a long-term infrastructure. A month after the first awards programme in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, 200 new businesses had been formed. The five-year targets for these businesses are sales revenues of more than $7 billion and 8000 new jobs.

The Great New Zealand Business Venture is also expected to result in the creation of many successful businesses, generating lots of jobs and creating wealth. There are already 15 companies currently funded or in discussions regarding financing.

Scott Perkins, chief executive of Deutsche Bank NZ, one of the competition sponsors, says: "We have seen many of our large companies move offshore as they reach a certain size and maturity. Rather than try and constrain what is probably a natural development, New Zealand must become expert in creating vibrant new businesses which will become the large companies of tomorrow.

"The Great New Zealand Business Venture is an excellent example of this process in action."

* Bridget Wickham, a board member of Industry New Zealand, is chief executive of the Great New Zealand Business Venture.