New Zealand produces high quality safe food and most importantly
Were there times you doubted yourself in building your
has a worldwide reputation as a reliable food brand to use as a
business? If so what advice would you give to those who have
competitive advantage. We need to do a lot of work on that in
periods of doubt about whether or not they’ll make it?
product and market development. I believe we (NZ) can do. it. We are
Doubt is a constant companion when dealing with new products and
innovative, more so than most other countries, but we need to up the
new markets. Frenz always believed free range eggs were the best
ante and move from talking to walking!
product for the consumer and the animals welfare, eventually markets would accept the concept. We also believed we had to export to grow
Do you believe anyone can learn to be a successful
the company later on. We had to continually remind ourselves of that.
entrepreneur?
Keeping these two objectives in focus and continually keeping the end
Creating and/or identifying the opportunity is the hard part to learn.
result in mind helps to beat the doubts.
Also the stubborn persistence to keep at it when things are not going right. Most of the rest is learnable and follows business principles
Building a business can be the one of the most stressful
standard to commercial enterprise. Product and market development
things can undertake - what do you do to cope with stress?
is where the “entrepreneurial flair” helps. Generally speaking anyone
Managing the business well is the best way to beat stress. Not risking
that really believes in their vision and is prepared to really give it
more than you can afford to lose and sharing the load - a mentor
their best shot has a reasonable chance to be an entrepreneur.
helps. I was lucky to have some good ones. Relaxation is a must and being as fit mentally and physically as
What are the three most important skills you would advise
possible gave me the ability to absorb the day to day demands.
new entrepreneurs to develop? •
M a r k e t i n g - This was important when we started in 1989
What would your advice be to any NZers reading this, who
and is even more so now that there is an oversupply of product
have an idea for a business but are scared about leaving
in most markets worldwide. Get your target market defined
their jobs to try it?
as closely as possible. This involves knowing who you are selling to both consumers and customers. Frenz did at least a year’s research with customers and consumers locally and internationally (with NZTE) before we started. •
F i n a n c i a l C o n t r o l - Before long the entrepreneur will need money and the ability to control it. Find a sympathetic
I did a feasibility study before committing to anything. It took three months and sorted out many misconceptions giving us confidence to proceed. This was done whilst we continued with our “day” jobs. I would advise getting sound advice from as many reliable independent sources and taking as much time as possible before diving in the deep end.
bank and sound accountants. We were lucky with Ron and Ken providing that guidance. •
P e o p l e S k i l l s - Progress always comes back to getting
To find out more about The Free Range Egg Poultry Co, or ‘FRENZ visit their website at http://www.frenzs.co.nz/
things done by delegating to competent people.
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