Young bosses rub shoulders with Apec's finest in NZ

The Herald's Young Apec reporters, Michael Christianson of Auckland's Rangitoto College and Femke Meinderts of Sacred Heart Girls' College in Hamilton, report on four young entrepreneurs with big ideas.

* Umbrellas are always in demand, particularly in wet climates, says Geoffrey Bourke, managing director of College Pride, a company that sells umbrellas as part of the Young Enterprise scheme.

The 16-year-old from Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth set up the business along with six others in March when they realised there was a potential market due to the wet Taranaki climate.

"In Taranaki, there is always demand for umbrellas, says Geoffrey, who was last week participating in the Apec Student Company Achievers Forum. The [Young Enterprise] scheme is run during winter so it's a good product to be selling."

College Pride imports the golf umbrellas, and then adds value to them by printing on school designs and logos. Already, the company has sold 50 umbrellas and is now waiting for its second order.

Geoffrey puts the company's success down to focused attention on consumer needs, and its enthusiastic marketing skills.

Although one of the main goals for College Pride is to obviously make a profit, Geoffrey sees the project as primarily a learning experience. "It will be great when I go into the real world, into the big business. I've already had the experience of managing a business, and knowing how the finance and marketing works. I'll be a step above everyone else."

* Juan Gomez had one major objective when he and seven others started Pop, a business selling plastic folders: "To double the amount of money we started with." The 20-year-old from Paulo, Mexico, who was in New Zealand for the Apec Student Company Achievers Forum, says they fulfilled that objective and then some, although exact figures "are confidential."

Pop, which was set up as part of an Enterprise Scheme similar to Young Enterprise in New Zealand, decided on folders as a product because of the great demand from students at Juan's University. The company did everything from producing, marketing, and selling the folders. This was all part of their strategic marketing plan.

The firm picked up numerous awards along the way, including Best Product Quality and Best Product. Juan feels that service and excellent market research were the secrets behind their success. Juan has his own business ambitions: "I want to establish a market research company."

* Rachael Waihi wants to see more Maori people making money from traditional Maori remedies. The 16-year-old participant in the New Zealand Apec Student Company Achievement Forum is already managing director of a Young Enterprise Scheme company at Te Waha O Rerekohu college on the east coast.

The scheme, which is school-based, gives young entrepreneurs a chance to practice business skills. Rongoa Maori Rua Mano, translated as Maori Medicine of the Millennium, was set up earlier this year by Rachael, one teacher, and four other participants after brainstorming revealed a common interest in traditional Maori remedies.

They researched the idea and discovered that it had never been tried by a YES company before and that there would be no other local competition.

"We started growing two types of plants. Korimeko, which is used for toothache and stomach ache, and Kawa Kawa, which you can bathe in to help against eczema," says Rachael.

Some diplomatic skills were required when there were objections to their plan from some members of the community.

"We had a bit of a standstill to do with the Treaty of Waitangi. Some people were against us going into the bush and just taking plants that you're not supposed to, but it was a misunderstanding as we had bought the seeds and were growing the plants ourselves."

* Owning and running a hotel chain is the big dream for Mary Magafakis from Adelaide, Australia. The 17-year-old was this year named Australian Young Business Person of the Year and, as a result, has already had job offers from several major companies.

She says the title is giving her the chance to go to all kinds of different forums, such as the New Zealand Student Company Achievers Forum.

Her knack for business was first realised last year when she was managing director of a Young Enterprise Australia company, a version of New Zealand's Young Enterprise Scheme.

The company, called Yakety-Yak, sold pencil cases and lip-balm and involved 20 students from 10 different schools.

"Because we were all from different schools and we hardly knew each other, teamwork was a big issue for us. We actually had to go through re-elections because we felt we hadn't chosen the right people for the different jobs." After completing a law and commerce degree, Mary hopes to take up one of those job offers.