This Week's Meeting - 10 November 2014
First of all congratulations to our Quiz Team, who represented the Club last Saturday night at the District 9920 Quiz Evening. We can fourth (out of twelve teams) and apparently breathed a sigh of relief when it was revealed to the winning team, part of their prize was to organise the 2015 Quiz Evening.
On Monday, instead of our usual 5 Minute Speaker, this week we had two 2½ minute speakers. Firstly, Donna Buckland thanked the Club for her time as a member, before she moves offshore to Hong Kong for work later this month. Donna has been one of the driving forces regarding the projects we have recently become involved with in Fiji and is looking forward to continuing her Rotary membership once she is settled. We wish Donna and her family all the best on their new venture.
Then Kaye Shannon spoke about our upcoming End of Year Evening Bowls and BBQ function on Monday 24th November. If you haven’t already let Jacqui in the office know whether or not you will be attending, then please do so. Also, remember we will be collecting Christmas gifts for children in need, which we will pass onto Lifewise for distribution. You can either bring the gifts with you on the 24th November, or pass them onto Jacqui at the Stamford on a Monday.
Our guest speaker this week was Phil Norman, who is the Managing Director of Nortek Management Services, a boutique business advisory firm for growth companies. Phil spoke about some of the current issues faced by small New Zealand companies wanting to grow, which generally means having to expand offshore. Small businesses need to spend lots of time with their customers to build a sound base and to ensure what they have to offer is what people ‘really need’, rather than what they what they ‘like’. Small businesses need to learn and respond fast in today’s environment and have a product the market is ready for and if the market isn’t ready, be willing to pull the plug sooner rather than later. Moving offshore requires time, money, flexibility and resilience and optimal results are often achieved by experimentation, which may have nothing to do with your original business plan. Business models need to be realistic, not optimistic; always hire the best talent available and have great internal systems to support your business. Also, select your shareholders wisely, as long term they can cause lots of problems if your goals and theirs are not heading in the same direction.
Finally Sergeant Matt Kemp provided a prosperous tax (due to the continuing increase in Auckland properties), a Melbourne Cup tax (as a NZ horse came in 3rd) and a Sunshine tax to ensure a boost to our Sunshine Fund this week.