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Archives for August 2009

Spark Challenge

It was an honor to be asked to present to the Spark qualifiers in Auckland this evening.  Congratulations to the 12 finalists.  All of those involved are affiliated with the University of Auckland in some way.  Of the individuals behind the teams, 11 are alumni, 10 staff members, 49 postgraduate students, 77 undergraduate students and 26 others affiliated with the University.

Here is a list of the ventures that will compete for a divvy up of the $100k purse over the next 7 weeks between now and the final Spark Entrepreneurial Challenge prizegiving on 22 October.  I’ll be watching this closely and will blog about this competition as it unfolds.

Metabo-link. The New Zealand economy still remains driven by raw material and food production. However, millions of dollars of value are lost during processing and subsequent transport due to fungal spoilage.  Current fungicidal agents to combat spoilage are synthetically produced and in most cases are toxic and therefore must be removed before shipping.  Natural alternatives have proved only up to half as effective, until now. Mycobane from Metabo-link is safe, odourless, and colourless and leaves almost no residue.

Green Loos. Green Loos designs and hires out eco-friendly portable composting toilets.  This new and improved odour-free experience will have you coming back for more, and all waste is recycled into valuable end products to be contributed back into the environment. Innovation in portable toilets – try it before you judge it!

Huka Hurtle. Enjoy the adventure tourism NZ has to offer or wish you were able to?  Coming soon is the next level of adrenaline.  Hurtle down what centuries of force took to create on what will be the low impact ride of your life.

Team Cube Brick. Points to Change is a business model that operates like a loyalty card within retail outlets. Points earned by buying products and services promoting Points to Change are then credited into a personal online account that the consumer then passes on to charity/ies of their choice. Points that are passed on to charities are then redeemed from the company that then pays the charity, completing the donation cycle.

NTouch networks. t-logic develops software for touch-screens that display content depending on location, and type of person viewing.  We specialise in visually appealing surveying, and product selecting solutions for touch-screen and web applications.  Our systems have analytic functions that allow administrators to observe customer behaviour, and iterate campaigns to optimise sales, brand awareness, and customer knowledge.

BlindVision. BlindVision is a company that endeavours to help vision impaired people perceive and navigate in a sightless world. The first product for BlindVision is a head unit, which uses camera technology to understand the world around the participant.  This information is portrayed to the user as sound and tactile information, so that the person can now be aware of objects that do not usually make noise.

Redlights. Red light running is a real problem.  Red light cameras have been shown to reduce red light running by 40% and injury crashes by 29%2.  Existing red light cameras require large vandal proof enclosures and are expensive to purchase and to install.  The proposed project is to build a smaller and cheaper red light camera using advanced technology which can be deployed more easily.

Nova Eco-Tech Limited. Eco-Vhiper converts existing vehicles to gaseous fuel operation and retain petrol operation capability in less than 8 hours, with no engine modification while achieving superior performance characteristics than those of major market competitor, the sequential Gas injection, SGI.

Buy2gether. We provide an internet based solution to these woes by making shopping of broad range of items cheaper for millions of consumers around NZ.

TwoNeeds. TwoNeeds is an innovative approach to marketplaces and resource management for NGOs.  Operating in diverse regions of the world, often with limited financial means, NGOs must manage their tangible and intangible goods wisely. TwoNeeds shortens supply chains for specialized goods and adds value to unused or underutilized resources and skills.

Healthy Green NZ. It doesn’t fly; it doesn’t play songs; it won’t flash pretty pictures at you; it doesn’t require batteries. It’s an ingeniously simple product that can be produced using wonderful products of the highest quality sourced solely here in New Zealand. And guess what? It makes money. Our business is based on a simple product idea that one of New Zealand’s biggest industries has been searching for – for decades: A seafood product which is easily storable and transportable, cheap to make but best of all is highly valued in a country offering an enormous market which is still growing.

Landmarker. Precision agriculture, or precision farming, is a concept involving the use of sensor technology to make better farming decisions.  Precision agriculture may be used to improve crop yields, reduce environmental impacts by optimizing fertilizer use, and provide climate warnings or trends and patterns for future planning. Landmarker is a cutting edge system to supply the very latest web technology to precision agriculture industries.

Fraser Hurrell is one of three directors of Elevate CA Limited, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in Whangarei, New Zealand.

Property Development

Tonight a contingent of professionals of different disciplines headed North from Whangarei to Kerikeri to discuss property development.  This seminar was organised by Cato Bolam surveyors and held at the Kerikeri Sports Complex.  It was a repeat of the successful session held in the Whangarei Cato Bolam offices back in April.  The subject matter tonight included the latest issues in resource management, taxation, governance and the latest legal issues surrounding property development. 

On the tonight’s panel was Dean Subritzky – Director of Elevate CA Chartered Accountants, Simon Reiher – Principal of Cato Bolam, Alistair Nicholls – valuer from Telfer Young and Roger Bell – Partner from Webb Ross.

Spark $100k Challenge

The Spark $100k Entrepreneurial Challenge is billed as New Zealand’s premier business planning competition.  This competition is open to all ventures where at least one of the team is either a staff member or a student of Auckland University.  And up for grabs is $100k in cash and kind, which is a bit of a motivator!

The competition is run jointly by the University of Auckland and The ICEHOUSE.  This year, close to 100 entries were received, and the 12 finalists were announced at an event at the Auckland Business School on Friday night.

The driving force behind the Spark $100k Challenge is Geoff Whitcher, Commercial Director at the University of Auckland – and a Board member and Trustee of the ICEHOUSE.  Unfortunately there is only one Geoff Whitcher, because I have a feeling that if there were 100 of him spread around New Zealand, this country’s budding entrepreneurs would be taking the world by storm.  That’s a big comment, but Geoff is one of those guys with seemingly limitless energy for the cause who is constantly connecting people – and inspiring those around him to move and shake a little bit harder. 

So back to Spark.  Spark is a bootcamp for entrepreneurs that is equal to anything I have seen, and I have spent some time in similar initiatives in Bangkok, San Francisco and Boston over the past few months.  The 12 finalists in Spark are given intensive training in the practicalities of bringing a start-up to fruition – and are put in front of some smart folk with battle scars and gems of wisdom.

Out the other end of it, in October, the 12 finalists are put through their paces in a Dragon’s Den style pitching session which decides how the $100k is divvied up.  Nerve wracking stuff.  I know, as along with Dr Yvette Ahmad I was one of the 12 finalists in 2008 with the BrightMind LABS venture, and we were lucky enough to take the overall runner’s up prize for Spark 2008.

Spark is fantastic for New Zealand.  They boast that 35 companies have been formed from the Spark ranks over the past seven years.  These companies now employ 160 plus people and sell into 18 countries.  That’s worthy of a boast, I would say.

Imagine the difference if we had 100 Spark Challenges operating around New Zealand?

 Logo - Spark $100k Challenge

 

Fraser Hurrell is one of three directors of Elevate CA Limited, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in Whangarei, New Zealand.

Shareholder Current Accounts

Thanks to everyone who joined us at the Business Owners Forum this week with Stuart Spicer, Geoff Griggs and myself on the panel.  Feedback has been great.  There was plenty of quality discussion around shareholder current accounts – and how to make sure they are tax efficient, protected from creditors – and equitable between shareholders.

The Business Owners Forum is a means for business owners to get together for quality discussion around a relevant topic with a panel knowledgeable on the subject.  Format is casual over pizza, beer and wine.  The supporters are ElevateCA Limited, The Bottom Line Expense Reduction, BNZ, Webb Ross and The ICEHOUSE – and the ethos of the supporters is to keep the forum free from sales.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly – and alternate between Auckland and Whangarei.

The September Business Owners Forum will be held at The ICEHOUSE in the Textile Centre, Parnell, Auckland on 17 September from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.  The topic will be “Cashflow”, and the panel of three will consist of Michael Masterson, a senior BNZ banker and myself.

Entry is limited to business owners, and is by invitation.  There is no charge.

The October Business Owners Forum will be back to Whangarei in the ElevateCA Limited offices on 15 October from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.  The topic will be current employment issues – and an expert panel will be assembled for the session.

The forum is tailored to owners of businesses turning over $1m and upward – so if you fall into that categoty and would like to be included on the invite list, contact me.  In a nutshell, the Business Owners Forum is all about quality discussion with no sales.

Oh, and enjoying a beer or wine and pizza with peers.

Fraser Hurrell is one of three directors of Elevate CA Limited, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in Whangarei, New Zealand.

Winner – What’s your problem, New Zealand?

I have been criticised for being a bit harsh about the lack of initiatives to help Kiwi entrepreneurs get their products to the world – compared to what is available in America and other OECD countries.  I stand by my previous comments, but of course there are some great initiatives here – some of which I have blogged about previously. [Read more…]

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