Ready for a new year

And we’re back!

Just like that it’s 2021 and we’re back at work.

Blink. Right?!

But we’re excited.

Last year saw our local community rally together in a bunch of new ways and we’re better and stronger for it.

As it happens Xero agrees, stating “being part of a community has a very real commercial benefit that can’t even be broken by a pandemic”.

The local pivots and innovations that 2020 delivered or inspired are worth celebrating.

Things like Pen-y-bryn’s two Jameses’ own-price’ strategy last May. Brilliant and the frontrunner for elevating Oamaru in the minds of Kiwi travellers – thanks guys!

Things like Anvil Engineers’ foot-operated hand sanitising station that made us all that bit safer and made the national news. Go Hayes family!

Things like Jane Thompson and Helen Riley-Duddin’s inspired Meet the Maker fundraiser which showcased incredible local talent (some of whom sold a year’s worth of work in one day), instilled massive local pride and raised a wadge of cash for Fenwick School. Take a bow, guys – you’ve shown us the future!

As 2020 closed, we saw the launch of new local businesses – hospitality retail, manufacturing, trades, importing, health and wellbeing, professional services and more – all businesses being built by people boldly investing in their futures and our collective economy.

Congratulations and thank you, every one!

We also saw profound bravery in those who closed their businesses. You worked every bit as hard as the rest of us. Thank you for your service and your effort.

You got beaten in the ring that was 2020 but you’re not out for the count. Stand tall. There will be new bouts and you will win again.

Looking forward, Xero tells us that small business trends for 2021 include: more remote working, more online sales, more workplace flexibility, more pivots and more small business tech. These are things The Business Hive can help support and we’ll keep working hard to help keep local businesses thriving.

Expect some new offerings. Stay in touch and watch this space.

On a personal note, I was humbled by being named a Waitakian of the Year for 2020.

I have a lot of support that enables me to get involved in things that matter to me and am grateful beyond words especially for the guy who makes it possible – Alex Regtien.

Welcome to 2021! Let’s get cracking.

• Cara Tipping Smith is a director of The Business Hive, a co-working space in Oamaru’s Ribble St.

Source: http://www.oamarumail.co.nz/opinion/ready-for-a-new-year/

Collective for local businesses

Back in the day, when people asked me what I was studying and I said, “psychology”, their response was usually to fold their arms, take a step backwards and say something like “are you analysing me?”.

Let’s just say psychology didn’t make me the most popular girl in the pub.

That all changed when I decided to lie and tell people I was studying palmistry. Cue a line-up of people with their hands out, palm up, asking me what I “could see”.

I learned that the way information is presented makes a difference.

Psychology is a science and like all sciences, it depends on numbers.

I quite like numbers. They either add up or they don’t.

So, a couple of weeks ago, when the Otago Chamber of Commerce put out some numbers about how it had distributed central government money to help support businesses in our region, I was interested.

Scrolling down the list of districts I read: Dunedin City, Clutha, Central Otago, Queenstown, Waitaki and then, last on the list, Wanaka. Wanaka’s not a district. Wanaka and Queenstown are part of the Queenstown-Lakes district.

At least they are in every single other government or regional authority report I could find.

Interest piqued, I went down the rabbit hole. Turns out, it was one of those dusty, shallow, lazy sort of rabbit holes that don’t run very deep.

With some quick maths, I recognised that, of all the funding distributed, Queenstown-Lakes received on average, about 61%.

Within that, it received 78% of the tourism transition and 58% of the Covid-19 advisory support money allocated to the Otago region.

By contrast, Waitaki received an average of 2% to 3%.

Personally, I can’t begrudge the support delivered to Queenstown-Lakes. It has by far been hardest hit.

Why create a separate Wanaka district? You can make up your own mind about that.

For us, the focus is local.

That’s why we’ve signed up to the newly incorporated Oamaru Business Collective.

We think it’s important for local businesses to have local representation that doesn’t have to juggle the interests of any other district.

The Oamaru Business Collective is more than a retailers’ group. It offers collective support for all local businesses; professional services, trades, manufacturers, hospitality and more.

Membership starts from $10 per month and the first event – a social media workshop – is free for those signed up.

Join the Facebook group for details.

• Cara Tipping Smith is a director of The Business Hive, and an Oamaru Business Collective committee member.

Source: https://www.oamarumail.co.nz/opinion/collective-for-local-businesses/