Pictured above: Ryan Sanders.
As a major local tourism business experiencing significant growth, Haka Tourism Group was hit hard by Covid-19’s arrival. Fortunately, its quick-thinking CEO Ryan Sanders created a pathway through the upheaval to ultimately reinvent the business.
On March 19th 2020, when New Zealand closed its borders in response to the outbreak of Covid-19, effectively shutting the door on all tourists and visitors, understandably Haka Tourism Group would be one of the hardest hit businesses.
At the time the company, which had been profitable since day one, was in high-growth mode. It had been named the country’s 21st fastest growing business and fastest growing tourism business at the 2019 Deloitte Fast 50.
The border closure was brutal. In less than a year revenue plummeted by 96 percent – from $34 million in FY20 to $1.4 million in FY21.
“Unfortunately, we had to make close to 200 staff redundant, and as a privately-owned business with no capital partner, it really was the stuff of nightmares,” recalls CEO and founder Ryan Sanders.
“At the start I remember thinking it was game over. Obviously, we didn’t know how long it would last, and I don’t think anyone thought it would last as long as it did. But you had to just keep playing everything forward.”
While forced to downsize and right-size the business considerably, but keen to retain key people, Ryan became “laser-focused” on reducing their liabilities and extending their ‘cashflow runway’. He remembers if an activity didn’t correlate with this policy, then he simply wouldn’t proceed.
“This involved selling three accommodation assets, re-negotiating software licenses, sub-leasing our office space and hustling every day for business,” he says. “We won a few government contracts to house the homeless and a short term MIQ contract – both of which helped hugely since 95 percent of our customer base was international.”
Out of the Covid chaos there emerged opportunities a-plenty – it was almost a case of making hay while the sun wasn’t shining.
Ryan connected with a real-estate banker via LinkedIn to develop a capital raising strategy to acquire sought-after accommodation assets across Australasia. Through this partnership the company acquired the portfolio of YHA hostels in New Zealand, and through a separate fund launched a new lifestyle hybrid hotel brand called Drifter.
Ryan didn’t stop there either. In the touring side of the business, he sold a 60 percent stake to Intrepid, a business he had always been a huge fan of.
“Today our tours are sold via the Intrepid network, which is huge exposure for us and generates significant business.
“We now lead their New Zealand operations and I retain a minority share of our two touring brands, Haka Tours and ANZ Nature Tours, and sit on the New Zealand board.”
The educational business, Haka Educational Tours, operates in ten countries worldwide and is still privately owned by Ryan and co-founder Eleri Williams, and he is gradually selling down shares to go from a majority to minority shareholder.
Digging deep through tough times
Creating a strong mental picture of life post the pandemic was vital, believes Ryan. He simply needed something to get excited about.
“Every day I made sure I did something to drive my business forward, no matter how small. I knew keeping the foot on the pedal was so important. Becoming mostly comfortable with the absolute worst-case scenario was key too. Once this didn’t seem as petrifying, it provided a lot of freedom and clarity,” he says.
Lots of quiet time and contemplation helped as well, and his Northland bach proved to be the ideal place to do it.
Meditation and wellness have both contributed to building Ryan’s resilience. He meditates often and clears the mind with regular supplements.
Prioritising sleep is also important, he says. “On high stress days, I love nothing better than going to bed super early, turning my mind off and sleeping for nine hours.”
How does he turn off so easily? “I think it comes down to loving sleep!” he says.
Surviving covid’s business disruptions was also about having the ability to think big and translate those thoughts into action. It’s about being emotionally engaged too, he believes.
“The latter is also my biggest weakness as pragmatism doesn’t often feel like the best course of action. Following my gut instinct has served me well over the years, which was fine when I was the only shareholder, not so much now when I need to articulate a reason.”
From small beginnings
To understand just how Ryan Sanders managed to successfully ride the highest peaks and deepest troughs of business ownership, you must first understand what makes him tick, the impact of his previous career and the influencers in his life.
He had spent some time working in HR for a global bank based in Europe but struggled with not having complete autonomy and accountability.
“I knew instinctively I had to be my own boss,” he remembers.
In hindsight he knows it would have made sense to work for a tourism company first, before launching Haka, but admits to having a preference for a ‘sink or swim’ approach.
“I’m a bit of a day dreamer,” he says. “I love letting my mind wander about big ideas, building a really strong mental picture around an idea and then putting it into action.
“I also love any sport that gets the adrenalin going, and enjoy a good amount of quality time alone,” he says. “If I don’t get enough alone time, I get anxious.”
Ryan’s biggest influencer has been his uncle who was an entrepreneur and ran a chain of $2 retail shops. “I watched first-hand the intensity at which he lived his life, which left a mark on me when I was a kid.”
He started Haka by simply saving up some money, writing a business plan and then executing on it. For the first nine months he managed the business remotely from Europe, and then returned to New Zealand when he knew he had something workable.
“It really was the ultimate example of bootstrapping which, in hindsight, set me up for future success.”
How business changes you
It has been 17 years since Haka Tourism Group began life, and through thick and thin Ryan believes he has grown a lot wiser.
“I like to believe I can now navigate to a successful outcome quicker than I could previously,” he explains, adding that it’s all about sticking to your roots and core values.
“I will always be super risk tolerant. Recently my husband and I purchased a 100-plus year old manor home in Clyde called “Earnscleugh Castle” which was never fully completed, and let’s just say, we should have spent more time understanding the costs involved in such a large heritage building renovation!” (The process is being filmed for television and should air at the end of 2025, see more here).
In 2024, Ryan Sanders is just as passionate about the youth travel and backpacker markets as he was before launching Haka. He describes them as “the soul of the travel industry, providing huge value beyond their tourist dollars”.
These travellers work in seasonal roles and hospitality jobs, he reminds us. On average they stay in New Zealand a long time and favour less-visited regions over tourist hotspots.
They also make amazing brand ambassadors by posting their content on social channels.
“For this market to flourish, a comprehensive hostel network is needed,” he says.
“During the pandemic, it is estimated that 51 percent of New Zealand’s hostels permanently closed. I’m proud to have been able to attract the capital to provide the largest owner-operated hostel network in Australasia.”
Entrepreneurs Organisation a key success factor
Ryan is under no illusion about the contribution his EO membership has made to his long-term business achievements.
“EO has been integral to our success. For the first 16 years of my business journey, I never had a formal board but instead used the monthly sessions with my EO forum group to workshop business issues and hear real-world examples from other entrepreneurs to educate my decision-making process.
“I can genuinely say our achievements to date have really been guided and informed from what I have learnt from Entrepreneurs Organization. Furthermore, EO also exposed me to the “Gazelles Scaling Up Framework” – a business growth framework we have implemented with a huge amount of success within Haka.
“It genuinely revolutionised our business.”
The 360° Entrepreneur is proudly brought to you by EO New Zealand. The series will follow Kiwi entrepreneurs and how they are overcoming challenges both professional and personal to grow and scale their businesses.
For more information about EO membership, reach out to [email protected].
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