Graphix Explosion News

BA5 Hawera 16/02/12

Many thanks to everyone who came to our joint BA5 with La Nuova in Hawera last night. It was great to see so many of you and to catch up with the latest Hawera business news. We would also like to thank Jane at Biz Link Hawera and the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce team for all their help in promoting and running the event.

---

Taranaki Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2011

Graphix Explosion recognised in two categories

It was a very proud night for all the team at Graphix Explosion as the company received a 'highly commended' in the medium business category and a 'commended' in the branding and marketing category. It was great to be recognised by our peers and it is a tribute to all the team for their dedicated hard work and professionalism.

Many thanks to all who voted for us and we extend our congratulations to all the award winners.

---

Challenge 2011 puts spring into Taranaki businesses

(Photo is from Reveal Event video by Stoney River Studions) Cheree Menzies, owner and GM of Feats, Challenge 2011winner, presenting at the Reveal Event on 26 August

Take a 15 person strong team covering all key areas of business development and operation, add businesses that have real potential and aspiration to thrive, mix well with a ‘speed-dating-meets-business analysis’ Supercircuit and a full day Masterclass on how to get clear and be compelling, put it all into practice over an 8-week project-focused time frame and what do you have? The Business Makeover Challenge 2011.

“I like the event because if we didn’t get done everything we said we were going to we’d look like eggs up here and that works for us,” commented Bevan Broughton of Inglewood-based La Nuova Apparelmaster at the recent Reveal Event.

“We’re focused on becoming an industry centre of excellence for operations, innovation, standards and training. In the Supercircuit speaking with all the makeover team experts we realised we have many things pretty well right but also identified several projects that we’d done all the fun bits with but hadn’t finished off ,” said Bevan. “Our Challenge focus was to complete several related projects; that’s involved nailing around 50 key tasks.”

Taking the best from the formats of previous years, this year’s Challenge provided guided DIY makeover experiences to 9 businesses, with one business winning a fully-managed, contributed makeover as a demonstration of what happens when the right business and the right team gets clear and gets going.

The selected winner is a 19 year old privately-owned training provider working with school leavers and long term unemployed. With 3 campuses throughout Taranaki, the organisation formerly known as Taranaki Feats had run for many years alongside its smaller sister company Vocational Literacy Services achieving significant success with transitioning students into work.

With the defined Challenge project being to join the two companies, owner Cheree Menzies says the input of the makeover team has been exceptional.

“Even though these are sister companies that have grown up together, successfully joining two teams is about people being happy and choosing to do that,” says Menzies who gives her staff high praise for embracing the Challenge and making the most of the experience.

Along with expertise in HR and teamwork provided by Shona Glentworth of Implement + Associates and workshops that resulted in process mapping and understanding of lean concepts lead by Mohamed Abouelkheir of A3 Lean, Feats also benefitted from sessions on strategic business accounting with Kirsty Godfrey Billy of PwC, business structure with Garry Anderson of law firm Auld Brewer Mazengarb and McEwen and regional development with Michelle Jordan of Venture Taranaki. Cheree also found the opportunity to visit her personal vision with Wayne Dellow of results.com was a timely reminder to set new personal goals.

“The Challenge has just been so fantastic in that you set down, “I am going to do this”, not “I might”, not “I’ll get to it”, but “I am going to do this in this time frame”, that’s been just exceptional,” says Cheree who acknowledges that the biggest visible impact has come from working with Ross Bennett of Cause and Effect on branding.

“Having for years been Taranaki Feats and Vocational Literacy Services, we are now Feats,” says Cheree proudly holding the new Feats brand manual. “Working with Shona Foster from James & Wells gave us confidence that we could make and really own this name change.”

For a challenge within the Challenge the annual Careers Expo provided the opportunity to be present either as the old brands or the new Feats. “Shane from Graphix Explosion, Kevin from Speedy Signs, Ross and Jacqui just pulled out all stops to have us ready with business cards, posters and the new web presence. Our poster encourages our students to ‘Achieve Amazing Feats’ and that’s just what the makeover team did.”

Feats also took the opportunity to change banks to BNZ through the Challenge, to review risk exposure and protection with local firm Abacus and to address a major headache arising from outdated technology. “I saved $10,000 straight off in this Challenge,” says Cheree. “Before working with Liam from Gen-i we’d received a proposal for a new communication system that required a $10,000 outlay. Liam quickly figured out that what was proposed could already be achieved with our existing system.”

In addition to Feats and La Nuova Apparelmaster, The Challenge 2011 Reveal Event also featured local businesses Aatea Solutions and their soon to be launched service at maoritranslati on.co.nz, the spectacular Belt Road Seaside Holiday Park, Bremner Music with their innovative sshhmute, Climate and their new branding, new communication initiatives from the local Configure Express franchise, Kiwa High Performance Web with its rebrand, and the iconic retail and online store Kina NZ Design + Art Space.

Following updates from Challenge 2010 Taranaki participants Vision Living (who were hosts for the event) and Ultrasport Helicopters, and congratulations from 2010 co-winners mbar, Jonathan Young MP for New Plymouth and Waitara told the audience how impressed he was with the work that had been done to reassess and renovate.

In closing this year’s event, developer Jacqui Jones announced a summer renovation Challenge for Taranaki in 2012, asking the audience in her best radio voice, “If your business had a body, how would it look in a swimsuit?”

More information is at www.thechallenge.co.nz