Northlanders might find it is a case of use it, or lose it, if they respond sluggishly to a new government scheme offering subsidised training to grow business capability.
The scheme matches dollar for dollar what an approved business owner spends on training with an approved provider, up to a maximum of $5000.
Some people are asking why Northland small business seems a bit underwhelmed by the opportunity of a 50/50 subsidy to lift capability. Questions like, do business owners know about the scheme, have they filed it in the "to do" basket, and do they realise that the offer might be withdrawn if it is under-utilised, given the extensive cost-cutting in every area of government activity?
Launched nationwide in November 2010 and in Northland the following February, the service is part of a wide-ranging New Zealand Trade and Enterprise/Ministry of Science and Innovation initiative delivering a range of specialist services and funding.
The whole programme is aimed at enhancing business capability and growing business investment in research and development.
NZTE has selected 14 Regional Business Partners (RBPs) to deliver the services. Northland's RBP team is a partnership of Enterprise Northland and the Northland Chamber of Commerce. NZTE has also approved a list of training providers for every region, 12 in Northland.
The Northland RBP partnership says the arrangement is working well, with EN Business Grow Team David Templeton and Jamie Rosemergy assessing 147 businesses over the past year and issuing 55 vouchers (some owners proved to need different support) to the value of $132,000. Thirty-six of the vouchers have been redeemed; seven more will be taken up shortly.
Northland business owners will have invested over a quarter of a million dollars in training when all 55 vouchers are used - but chamber chief executive Tony Collins is issuing a "could do better" report card.
The take-up rate is disappointing given the range of opportunities under the RBP scheme, he says.
"At the very least we're saying, no matter what your aspirations are, no matter how large or small you are, get in touch with the Business Grow team and see what they can do for you."
Leah Peacock, a director of Whangarei firm Sudburys Chartered Accountants, one of the licensed training providers, agrees that opportunity is knocking and not enough small business owners are opening the door, and wants to know why.
Her company actively promotes the scheme to clients and business contacts because it has seen the significant growth in confidence and profitability when clients have taken advantage of business coaching services, she says.
"Northland businesses have enormous opportunities to grow and develop with this subsidy scheme in the areas of business coaching and assistance with research and product development."
Enterprise Northland general manager Wayne Hutchinson has no argument with that but says RBP services are definitely gaining traction in the business community.
"It took a bit of time to wind up but we are getting busier and busier with applications for voucher support and increasingly for the services offered through the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
"We've always seen the voucher support as just the start - a hook into the MSI services."
And while Leah Peacock wonders how people get to know about the service, he says referrals come from a range of sources.
These include the 12 providers (who aren't necessarily the provider of choice for the applicant), the Northland Chamber of Commerce and professional service providers for business, he says. Enquiries also came in as a result of owners' internet research. Full information was available on the websites of all the agencies involved.
"The fact is we have not got the funding to mount an advertising campaign but our experience is that those other channels, along with good old word of mouth, are the most effective way of alerting people to the opportunities. The rest is up to them."
EN's Business Grow team assess applicant businesses and direct them to courses, information and other services, including the voucher scheme, that meet the particular development needs of those businesses. The process includes developing an action plan focused on areas needing attention for the business to increase capability; vouchers are then issued for a specific area of training. A business owner approved for voucher support chooses his or her own training provider from the NZTE list. The owners pay their half of training costs to the providers. The provider then invoices NZTE for the balance. NZTE later surveys clients and providers.
Jamie Rosemergy was formerly running the franchised business coaching company 10-X Northland, one of the NZTE's licensed providers. He is now directing clients to his colleague David Templeton.