Learning the way to the top

By ELLEN READ

Being a woman in the male-dominated construction business isn't the biggest challenge Caroline Smith has faced.

The big one was going from having no business experience to founding and running a family firm, Mete Construction.

Smith moved south to Auckland from Manukau, near Kaitaia, 4 1/2 years ago.

Her father and brother were working as carpenters in Auckland, and Caroline Smith decided to set up a company based on their skills.

"I'd been here for a month and didn't have anything else to do so I decided to open a company," she says.

With no business training, Smith had to work hard to learn how to keep a company ticking over and meet all the regulatory requirements.

Learning about tax meant spending time with a friendly accountant and reading an entire publication on GST.

"I got that figured out. It means you are just holding the money for the Government for a month and then you have to give it back to them. So don't spend it, you're not really rich."

With the aid of helpful people who answered her questions and gave her their time, Smith soon had things under control and the initial workforce of four began to grow.

"At first we plodded along one job at a time, but that wasn't enough," Smith says.

She realised, one wet day when her staff were being paid but had no work to do, that the company needed to have more than one job on the go.

"They were sitting around because they couldn't work and we were still paying them," she laughs. "That only happened once."

Mete - the Maori version of the Smith family surname - built up its numbers and skill base by taking on apprentices.

Smith says this means workers are properly trained and have the skills to do a good job.

The company has registered as a master builder - a move made necessary when the firm went back north to do some work on the family marae. One of the job requirements was to be registered. When the business started, in March 1999, Smith found jobs by answering newspaper advertisements. Some men she dealt with were rude to her and thought she was a secretary.

Today, those calls are unnecessary, as the firm has established a reputation and has contracts with several big construction companies.

Her aim is for Mete to become one of those big companies, "but you have to have the money behind you".

She plans to keep building up Mete until the firm can be the lead contractor on jobs.

Mete Construction won two awards and several commendations in last month's Maori Women's Development Institute business awards.

Awards run in the family - father David Smith was the first Maori recipient of the Craftsman Rotary award, in 1968.

Being a whanau business is important to Smith.

"I'm really proud to be a Maori company," she says. "The family ties are strong, and we all support each other. You've got to enjoy the people you're working with."

Explaining Mete Construction's commitment to its workers, Smith says: "We had a lot of young guys in our apprenticeships and a few years back we'd have to drive all over Auckland to collect them for work because they didn't have their own cars."

This also came through in her Maori Women's Development Institute award acceptance speeches, in which she thanked each of her staff by name.

Smith readily admits that building up the company has been hard work - hard work which she fits around bringing up her four children. "But it was offered to me to do, and I had nothing to lose and everything to gain," she says.

Her advice to others planning to set up companies is to always think for themselves and do what they think is best.

They must also be honest and not try to put a face on things, ask questions if they don't understand or know something and be prepared to take risks.

"You have to take a risk somewhere along the line or you'll never get anywhere."