Be ready to rip up the business plan, says NCC speaker

Wednesday 21 September, 2016

If you’re not passionate about what you do, you won’t succeed. It’s a mantra heard all too often but Mike Taylor is a living, breathing, high-yielding example of this. Fanatical about the stock market from a young age, Mike founded Pie Funds in late 2007, with $200,000 of capital and all the positivity in the world. Little did he know he was about to plough headlong into the greatest financial crisis the world had seen in decades. “Almost immediately, I had to rip up the business plan,” says Mike of the Global Financial Crisis. “We couldn’t raise money in an environment like that, and we were losing our clients’ existing money too.”

For the then 28 year old, who had a wife and new baby at home, trying to hold his family together while riding out the terrifying reality of rapidly plummeting markets was an exercise in resilience… and survival. He sold his car and his furniture, paid himself nothing…. and read, a lot. “I didn’t have a lot else to do, during those long days. I had to work out how to make money out of this situation. So I learned everything I could about recessions, and the advice I took from that was to sell.”

By the beginning of 2009 he’d sold most of Pie Funds’ investments, and promised his clients that if they just sat tight, he’d make their money back again. Working from a tiny, cheap, windowless office, “kind of like a prison cell” he figured out “where, and when, it was safe to go back in the water” - and made a 105% return by the close of that year.

With his hugely successful Auckland based business in the throes of establishing a Hawke’s Bay arm, Mike is delighted to speak at next month’s NCC Business Breakfast. Through his compelling and interactive presentation, he’ll share many learnings. What are the hallmarks of a successful business? Why do founder-led companies outperform other models? What does true passion look like? When the going gets tough, how do you maintain your customers’ trust? What does a good business plan look like? And… when do you throw it away?

The Business Breakfast Series is organised by Napier City Council and events are offered to the business community of Hawke’s Bay quarterly. We encourage businesses large and small to attend and to learn from the range of inspiring business leaders who speak and lead discussion on a variety of topics.

When: Friday 7 October 2016
Time: Arrive 7am for a light breakfast, Mike Taylor will begin speaking at 7.30am
Venue: MTG Century Theatre, Herschell Street, Napier
Cost: $20 per person

Bookings are essential. Register by Tuesday 4 October at www.napier.govt.nz/napier/whats-on/business-breakfast/

ENDS

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