In the past month the burning issue for most people and I’m not ‘just talking business’ is the escalating food and fuel prices, this coupled with interest rates that don’t look set to being reduced anytime soon is placing huge pressure on families and business.   In April businesses began their employer contribution to KiwiSaver and the minimum wage rate rose to $12 an hour, add this to the extra week annual leave introduced earlier and it all impacts on the bottom line.  The dollar that may have been spent on production, upgrading plant and machinery or hiring an extra pair of hands is paying for the rising cost imposed on business.  While management look at ways to be more cost efficient, when everything is striped back to be lean as possible the next step is the question of redundancy of staff or services – sometimes both.  

How do we add value to our business without adding cost?  Firstly involve staff, meet and discuss together how they can help save the business money and resources or personally add value to the service they provide.  Come up with a small incentive, like employee of the month or a double pass to the movies for the best suggestion.    It may be as simple as turning the air conditioner on an hour later and off an hour earlier, using both sides of paper or making note cubes, switching off lights and not driving the company vehicle like they were Earl Bamber.  Secondly look after the customer base you have worked so hard to gain because if you don’t – someone else will.   Often with customers it’s the small things that matter, like remembering a partner was sick and enquiring how they are, congratulating them on a recent success, saying thankyou when they pay their account on time and putting right any mistakes.  People still do business with people and relationships count.

Chamber of Commerce is growing and a big welcome to the new members who have recently joined.  Now we want to involve you and help grow your business network.  It was great to see some new faces at the Business after 5 hosted by the Wanganui Chronicle.   For the first time in several years Chamber has reviewed the membership fee structure that is based on the number of employees a business has.  The categories have been changed to ‘sole trader’ ‘2-12’, ‘13-50’, ‘51+ employees’ plus another category of ‘associate member’ to accommodate retired business people who still want active participation in Chamber.  For some businesses there will be a slight increase in fees and for others a slight decrease, however Wanganui will become more in line with other Chamber fees throughout NZ.   If you know a business that would be interested in Chamber of Commerce give us their name and we will contact them.  

April has been a month of Forums, being out of town I could not attend all these but was disappointed that they had such low attendance.  It seems the same people go to the same things, giving the same opinion and concerns and it doesn’t give a true picture of issues.   Chamber has prepared a submission to the Wanganui District Council draft annual plan and thankyou to the members who raised questions; your input has been submitted.

April was truly a month of celebration in education.  I attended the opening of the new ‘Training for You’ Campus in Ingestre Street and what an inspirational journey it has been for them.  Then UCOL was officially opened on April 17th by the Prime Minister, followed by a tour through the Campus.   Education is a life long journey and the focus is getting kids into jobs and continuing their education.  Getting the basics right first means providing employers people they can use now and having people start on a path of learning – not just kids but people of all ages and then encouraging them to continue into furthering their qualifications and skills.  Educated, skilled people provide benefits to the whole economy and social fabric of Wanganui.  I encourage everyone to support this fabulous facility where all courses, tutors and student all come together under one campus roof.  And on that note this month is worthy of an educational quote:  “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our country’  by John F. Kennedy.