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Second Business
eases Succession Fears
“The
wheels on the bus go round and
round…” The chorus of the well known
children’s song couldn’t be more appropriate to start this story.
“Every morning is like
Christmas,” quips
Neville Bryant with childlike enthusiasm.
“Seeing how many bookings for the bus really puts a spring
in my
step.”
Neville
and Margaret Bryant own and operate
Remarkable Experience, a vintage bus touring business in Queenstown. Like the name taken from the famous lakeside
mountain range, the journey to get their venture off the ground has
been
remarkable.
The
business has proven to
be so lucrative, that operating at a third of its capacity it generates
more
annual income than their 2000ha Waikaka hill property.
After three years the venture will break even
in the 2006/2007 season.
Neville
and Margaret have always believed
they needed at least two income streams to secure the future of their
family. Having two or more businesses
reduces succession tensions, an important issue in the Bryant family.
Neville and Margaret work
with their daughter
and son-in-law, Stephanie and Steve Hastie at Mt Wendon while their two
sons,
Reuben and Craig, pursue careers in information technology and the
police respectfully.
During the late eighties
Neville and
Margaret began looking for business opportunities to pass on to their
children
and to ease themselves into retirement.
They were unsatisfied with the outcomes families 10 years
ahead of them
were experiencing and became involved with a network marketing business
to
generate a second income.
The networking business
provided social
contact and insights into how non-land based businesses operated. It also introduced them to many business
ideas beyond the agricultural sector, many involving the importance of
having a
proactive attitude to assume responsibility and be accountable to the
people
contributing to their success.
Another
thing with a non-farming venture is
experiencing how other businesses operate.
As Margaret points out, “Learning to work an operation
where we don’t
pay retail for anything is a real eye opener for farmers.”
Seizing the Moment
In 2002
they seized the opportunity to start
in tourism. They had known of a vintage
bus on a family property near Invercargill.
It had been sitting in a paddock for 27 years. As Margaret puts it, “One morning we both
woke up, sat up, looked at each other and declared let’s start a bus
business
in Queenstown.”
From
there they set about developing a
business from scratch in New Zealand’s most competitive tourism
community 150km
from their home base, facts that makes their success so remarkable.
Their Holistic Management
training helped
them to focus on what they could influence to get their venture off the
ground. “This was 100% new business,”
says Neville. “Holistic Management gave
us the belief to go for it. We wanted to
show others in our district that you can start a second business to
secure your
family’s future with nothing more than a can do attitude.”
A theme in the Bryant’s holisticgoal is to
lead by example.
When
reviewing their situation from a
succession perspective, the bus enterprise addressed their financial
weak link
by generating an additional business for the family.
Decision testing showed the enterprise would
provide a second income stream independent from the farm for a
relatively low
capital cost.
It also showed that
compared to the initial investment in restoration and market research,
the
actual running cost of the bus was very low.
Combined with their network marketing experience and
interest in people,
it was worth a punt.
First Steps
They
first approached their accountant and
lawyer. Both promptly told them to stick
to their knitting, but the Bryants charged on regardless believing an
opportunity existed. They saw an opening
in Queenstown for soft leisure activities in the baby boomer market and
borrowed the money to get started.
They
hired an Invercargill marketing
consultant to design a brochure and introduce them to people in the
industry. While the bus was undergoing
restoration, they made several trips to Queenstown to explore
opportunities.
“We
found businesses we approached in
Queenstown very receptive to our ideas, “recalls Neville.
“There was no them and us”. Like
starting any business they did most of
the initial foot work themselves. “We
spent a lot of time door knocking and presenting a bus trip based on
what we
thought we would like to experience for a half day.” Many
of the places they visit are wineries,
galleries, and activities baby boomers would appreciate.
Finding
the name Remarkable Experience
unclaimed at the New Zealand trademark and companies offices was an
incredible
piece of luck. The Remarkables mountain
range barrels along the eastern shore line of Lake Wakatipu into the
Queenstown
basin and has the Remarkables ski field at the northern tip.
Another
opportunity was using their son
Rueben’s skills as an IT specialist to set up their own wireless
internet
system that operated faster than broadband.
This allowed them to do all the administration from the
farm rather than
staffing an office in Queenstown, a great cost saver.
Neville and Margaret spend between 3-5 hours
a week doing marketing, promotion, and bookings, whereas the driver
maintains
the bus in Queenstown.
Minimising Risk
For the
Bryants, the most important aspect
of the business was getting the driver of the vehicle to have ownership
in the
business. From the Sustainability and
Energy/Money
Use guidelines they felt a profit sharing agreement with the driver
would help build
a robust relationship with the driver.
They settled on 20%.
“We
believe
profit sharing will encourage our employees to have greater self
motivation and
initiative to grow the business for both parties,” says Neville. This 2006/2007 summer season will see the
drivers getting some of the profit as the debts begin to reduce.
With the
arrival of the second bus in late 2006
the opportunity for the driver will double as his wife also drives
buses. As Neville observes, “Forty seats
are better
than 20 seats because it suits the large operators.
It should make the business hum.”
Shaping their business to
fit larger
operators will strengthen their position while reducing copycat
opportunities for
their niche service.
New
Zealand’s economy is export focused exposing
businesses to currency fluctuations and market trends that happen on
the other
side of the world. This is an important
consideration when planning a succession strategy in safeguarding
family
businesses. By targeting baby boomers
rather than adventure tourists the Bryants have tapped a steadier
market and
reduced their double exposure to a high exchange rate.
“Baby
boomers have more money than any
other group and it will remain that way for another 15 years”, states
Neville convinced
this group is looking for the quality soft leisure experience they
offer.
They are using many local
marketing
opportunities and channels to promote their service in Queenstown and
are
gaining confidence in marketing the buses. They
have even been to Australia to promote
the buses there.
Where Next?
“Being
farmer helps with the delayed
gratification thing,” reflects Neville. “In
five years we want the finances to set up another business. Holistic Management is great for learning to
seed
new businesses from your existing base because testing actions means
you are
not flying blind.
For example, we
decided to do all the marketing ourselves because others would lack the
passion
for our business. We use that Marginal
Reaction guideline for all sorts of things.”
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