Small fry linked up with savvy mentors

Mark Lennon, owner of Branco's Sausages, will get business advice from a co-founder of Charlie's under the ASB programme. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Running a small business is always fraught with challenges, but Mark Lennon - owner of Auckland food manufacturing firm Branco's Sausages - has faced more than his fair share.

On top of sluggish retail conditions and rising raw ingredient prices, his company's Ellerslie factory has been hit by two arson attacks in the past 16 months.

The fire that ripped through the building following the first attack, in April last year, forced a five-month closure of the plant. To keep orders rolling out to Branco's customers, which include Foodstuffs' North Island supermarkets, manufacturing had to be shifted to a temporary site.

"It was pretty stressful," said Lennon, who bought the business from a South African family in 2006.

"So much so that in August last year [following the first fire] I ended up in hospital with chest pains and as a result of that they kept me in for a few days and I ended up having a heart attack in hospital."

Then, once the factory and Lennon were up and running again, another fire was started in the building in January this year, which luckily caused far less damage than the first.

"The mentality [of the arsonists] is just beyond my understanding," Lennon said, adding that the culprits had not been caught by the police.

The difficulties have not put Lennon off being self-employed, or wanting to grow the company.

"I think the desire to battle the setbacks is a key thing," he said.

Branco's, with nine other ASB small business customers, has been selected by the bank to receive mentoring from some of New Zealand's sharpest commercial minds, including 42 Below founder Geoff Ross and Erica Crawford, who co-founded Kim Crawford Wines.

Lennon had his first meeting with his mentor - Stefan Lepionka, co-founder of juice-maker Charlie's - last month.

He said he hoped to get some new ideas around how to grow the business from someone who was well versed in dealing with supermarkets.

He wanted to place increased emphasis on marketing.

"Marketing, for us, has been a shortcoming," he said, adding that he would like to get away from the operational side of running the factory and out on the road in a sales role.

Branco's conducted in-store tastings in supermarkets, but Lennon said he was considering branching out into other promotional methods, including radio advertising.

The firm, which employs two staff as well as Lennon, makes nine flavours of sausages, from South African boerewors to ostrich, pork and even Indian and Thai-style varieties.

Lennon said the company's factory had plenty of spare capacity to accommodate growth in the business.

Branco's manufactured about 800kg of products each week, but he said the plant could handle up to 3000kg a week.

As well as Foodstuffs' supermarkets, the company supplies its products to speciality stores, cafes and hotels.

MENTOR SCHEME
* The ASB's Business Futures Mentor Programme, launched last month, will see 10 of the bank's small business customers receive guidance from some of New Zealand's most successful businesspeople over the next year.

* The Business Herald is following Mark Lennon as he makes his way through the ASB mentoring programme.