NZBusiness March 2019

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Recalibrating a brand: lessons from Japan

At the recent Better by Design CEO Summit, NZBusiness caught up with Icebreaker’s Shelley Guerard for some secret sauce on how the brand successfully pivoted in Japan with help from

Growth issue

Boom times for digital commerce

In just two years Auckland-based digital commerce agency Overdose.Digital has gone from ‘go’ to revenues of $8 million. Proof that when you harness multiple teams of smart people, it’s likely

Company-X Hallett & Hughes (2)

An appetite for growth

Even the worldwide shortage of skilled IT professionals didn’t stop software specialist Company X from growing rapidly. If you want a shining example of a deliberate and disciplined growth strategy,

Sarah Perry 2

When bootstrapping beats VC funding

Enterprise communication software specialist SnapComms is proof that bootstrapping can achieve spectacular business growth and be a better growth option over outside investors. Like many idioms, ‘pulling yourself up by

Issue banner v2

FROM THE EDITOR

It’s all about growth  Buy March issue here We’re just two issues into the year, but already we’re turning the spotlight up on growth. Why? Because growth is what business

Glenn Banner thumbnail

March issue out now!

Buy March issue here We’re just two issues into the year, but already we’re turning the spotlight up on growth. Why? Because growth is what business is all about. Without

art 6

Recalibrating a brand: lessons from Japan

At the recent Better by Design CEO Summit, NZBusiness caught up with Icebreaker’s Shelley Guerard for some secret sauce on how the brand successfully pivoted in Japan with help from its in-market partner. Japan is a highly unique market – no doubt about that. Many a brand has stumbled in its quest to resonate and find scale in this highly competitive and culturally-defined consumer environment. Icebreaker, a New Zealand icon, was one such brand. However, its ultimate success in the Japanese market has proven to be a tribute to design collaboration; an example of how adapting your brand storytelling and product mix based on the tastes and size of the local market can pay major dividends.  It can also lead

Growth issue

Boom times for digital commerce

In just two years Auckland-based digital commerce agency Overdose.Digital has gone from ‘go’ to revenues of $8 million. Proof that when you harness multiple teams of smart people, it’s likely you’ll produce spectacular results. Business entrepreneurs have been known to harbour over-optimistic growth predictions. But when you hear the grand plans of Overdose.Digital’s co-founders – Group CEO Todd Welling and creative director Ryan Delaney – you just sense they’re right on the money. That’s because 2018 was such a stunning year for the business. The runs already on the board are impressive to say the least. Let’s examine those runs. In November the rapidly growing digital commerce ‘anti-agency’ won Best Emerging Business, Central, at the Westpac Auckland Business Awards. In

Company-X Hallett & Hughes (2)

An appetite for growth

Even the worldwide shortage of skilled IT professionals didn’t stop software specialist Company X from growing rapidly. If you want a shining example of a deliberate and disciplined growth strategy, look no further than Hamilton-based software specialist Company-X. Founded by David Hallett and Jeremy Hughes in 2012, “a ferocious appetite for growth from day one”, as Hallett describes it, has grown the business to more than 50 team members. Staff numbers doubled in a little over two years. “Our strategy is both deliberate and disciplined, but it moves at the speed of a bullet train.” Company-X ranked in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in 2017 and 2018 due to “defined goals well understood by the business’s leaders, who ensure those

Sarah Perry 2

When bootstrapping beats VC funding

Enterprise communication software specialist SnapComms is proof that bootstrapping can achieve spectacular business growth and be a better growth option over outside investors. Like many idioms, ‘pulling yourself up by the bootstraps’ sounds somewhat ridiculous – but when applied to business growth, it’s a strategy that can be seriously successful. SnapComms co-founder and chair Sarah Perry (pictured) knows this through personal experience – because SnapComms’ growth was totally bootstrapped and today the company has more than two million paid users in more than 75 countries. Perry is so convinced of the merits of bootstrapping over venture capital options, and in many cases crowdfunding, she wrote a book about it: BRAVE Bootstrapping. How to Grow a Global Tech. Business without VCs.

Issue banner v2

FROM THE EDITOR

It’s all about growth  Buy March issue here We’re just two issues into the year, but already we’re turning the spotlight up on growth. Why? Because growth is what business is all about. Without growth, a business is on a highway to nowhere, stuck in a daily grind in which its owners can see no way forward. Growth is a big deal for business owners, which is why it is covered so often within the pages of this magazine and on our digital platforms.  In preparation for this month’s Growing your Business feature, I typed the words ‘Growing your business’ into the search box of the NZBusiness editorial database covering the past 15 years.  It produced no less than 1053

Glenn Banner thumbnail

March issue out now!

Buy March issue here We’re just two issues into the year, but already we’re turning the spotlight up on growth. Why? Because growth is what business is all about. Without growth, a business is on a highway to nowhere, stuck in a daily grind in which its owners can see no way forward. Growth is a big deal for business owners, which is why it is covered so often within the pages of this magazine and on our digital platforms.  In preparation for this month’s Growing your Business feature, I typed the words ‘Growing your business’ into the search box of the NZBusiness editorial database covering the past 15 years.  It produced no less than 1053 editorial items – proof