New skills help local businesses start growth acceleration

22 May, 2015

New skills help 11 local businesses start growth acceleration journey

Eleven local businesses have widened their sales and leadership skills through the Growth Acceleration Programme which aims to spark Rotorua business improvement.

Led by Grow Rotorua and the Chamber of Commerce, the programme started on 25 February and runs through to 28 October, with two hours training per fortnight run by McGarvie Business Coaching.

Director Darren McGarvie says with eight sessions held so far, he has noticed businesses have been most engaged with learning about leadership.

“Business owners are realising that effective leadership is crucial to grow and expand. They understand that leadership is a skill set they need to work on and the difference it can make to their organisation,” he explains.

Tuff Plastic Moulders development manager Hilton McLachlan says he joined the programme because his business had struggled to grow in the last few years and he was open to new ideas to get his business running better again.

“I’m of the older generation and I’ve been in business since 1971, so I’ve been learning some new skills and I think the programme’s a brilliant idea.

“I’ve learnt to organise regular meetings with staff once or twice a week, to let them know what’s happening, provide constructive criticism, encouragement and to improve two-way communication – my team certainly aren’t shy of getting involved in discussions now which is great,” he explains.

“It’s also been really good to be there with other businesses to share what we’ve learnt over the years and have some banter with a mix of people with different ideas.”

Quest Rotorua Central franchise director Colin MacPhee says his business has been running for two and a half years and he saw the programme as an opportunity to strengthen and grow the business.

“One of the things we do in every session is discuss successes, challenges and goals – it makes you accountable for implementing something each fortnight. I’ve looked at my sales strategies to see how to improve sales and occupancy of the hotel, as well as how to diversify the market.

“We are also instigating a mission statement to set a direction for the whole team – a philosophy so the team knows where we’re going.”

Mr McGarvie says the focus for the next six months will be goal setting, strategic planning, pitching, pricing, branding and marketing, with the aim of the programme to help businesses triple their growth rate.

“This programme wouldn’t be possible without support from Grow Rotorua and the Chamber of Commerce who assisted in choosing the successful applicants,” he says.

Grow Rotorua chief executive Francis Pauwels says helping to retain and grow existing businesses is a key part of providing jobs in the community.

“As well as working to attract investment into Rotorua, we support programs like the Youth Enterprise Scheme for school children, the Growth Acceleration Program and the Start-Up Program as tangible ways that we can help build a great business culture and healthy attitude toward improving and growing businesses.

“It’s fantastic to see the calibre of people and businesses on the program most of which are well known in the Rotorua community.”

The 11 Rotorua businesses involved in the Growth Acceleration Programme are: Croucher Brewing, Advanced IT, Innovatek, Quest Rotorua Central, Mark Bishop Architecture, Numedic, QE Health, Telfer Young Rotorua, Tuff Plastic Moulders, Tarawera Publishing and Event Impressions.

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