Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the Realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is evening [sign]

May I specifically greet you: Tony Caughey, Chair of the Young Enterprise Trust; Donna Dentice, Chief Executive Officer of the Young Enterprise Trust; Your Excellency George Fergusson, British High Commissioner to New Zealand and your wife, Margaret; Ministers of the Crown, Hon Georgina te Heuheu, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs; Hon Paula Bennett, Minister of Social Development and Employment, Hon Dr Pita Sharples, Minister of Māori Affairs; Jacinda Ardern, Member of Parliament; sponsors, judges, young directors; Distinguished Guests otherwise; ladies and gentlemen.

My wife Susan and I are delighted to be present here this evening to play a part in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme awards ceremony.

These awards have now been operating for a number of years, and it is exciting to hear that this year some 650 student companies were established in what has become a huge national business exercise, and a highly competitive one. 

I am advised that the standard of the projects being developed under the Young Enterprise Scheme has risen dramatically in recent years and that the scale can be described as national as well as international.

In preparing for this evening, I have reflected on what students may have learned from taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme.  The challenge, as people will know, is to form a company, assign management roles, to come up with an idea for a product or service, to develop and market it and thereafter, to write an annual report.

This may sound straightforward on paper. But this is not an exercise that is conducted just ‘on paper’.  It is an exercise in teamwork, leadership, creativity and communication.  It is also an exercise in what might be termed “character,” which can be defined as being, saying what you mean, meaning what you say, following through, and not letting your colleagues down.

Some students will have found that they may be actually quite good at the very things they thought they would be most challenged by.  Some will have discovered that their classmates had skills they would never have attributed to them.

Many will have learned that a team is greater than the sum of the individuals involved, and that out of discussion can come creative ideas which not any of the individuals would have had if they had not been actively engaged in debate. 

Finally, many will have no doubt learned how a looming deadline can concentrate the mind!
What has transpired and can be described as ‘real life’ education.  Students taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme are on a fast track towards some of life’s most fruitful lessons—lessons which are often not learned until one has travelled some distance on a particular career path.     

Enterprise education is now well and truly established in New Zealand, thanks largely to the Young Enterprise Trust.  It is evident that this form of learning is already making a contribution to what can be called New Zealand’s “bottom line” because of the formation of successful businesses by those who may have taken part in recent years.

At the moment there is much current talk of recession and of financial restraint.  This could sound more than somewhat “off-putting” to those thinking of beginning a business.

But our history shows that even in economic ‘bad times’, long-lasting businesses have been started successfully in our own country.  

Historians have generally characterised the twenty years from the late 1870s to the mid-1890s as ‘the long depression’.

Economic historian Associate Professor Ian Hunter at the University of Auckland School of Business has recently re-cast these seemingly dull two decades rather as the “age of enterprise”. In his 2007 book Age of Enterprise: Rediscovering the New Zealand Entrepreneur he points to a number of businesses which began in that era. I would like to identify two businesses which have been New Zealand household names for more than a century since then—Hallensteins and Hannahs.

German-born migrant, Bendix Hallenstein, opened a general store in Invercargill and then one in Queenstown in 1864. The business sold moleskin trousers and hardwearing work shirts, and when he found that he was not able to get regular supplies of these he set up the New Zealand Clothing Factory in Dunedin in 1873, the first clothing factory in New Zealand. Shortly afterwards he opened another store to sell what was made in the factory. 

By 1900 there were 36 Hallensteins stores up and down the country, and branches of the New Zealand Clothing Factory, and latterly the DIC, in both cities and towns.

As the Professor puts it in his book,

“Bendix Hallenstein’s persistence in the jaws of failure and his prosperity to initiate multiple business ventures demonstrates the value of a focused approach to business strategy.  While Hallenstein went on to hold directorships in a diversified range of business interests he was first and foremost a gifted retailer.  His swift recovery from dire financial straits and the remarkable expansion of his clothing empire are ample proof of his entrepreneurial edge.”

Robert Hannah arrived in Wellington in 1870 from Belfast in Northern Ireland and opened a shoe shop. By 1900 he, too, had a national chain of both shops and factories producing boots and shoes.

Bendix Hallenstein and Robert Hannah both saw gaps in the market and filled them. In the process they made fortunes for themselves and they employed thousands of other New Zealanders.  Moreover both men were renowned for their generosity to others less well off.

These people knew that times were not the best for success when they started out. In fact, both encountered financial difficulties but resolved them in different ways. 

If those decades at the end of the nineteenth century were, as Dr Hunter has it, an “age of enterprise”, so, too, are the decades at the beginning of the 21st century. There is always opportunity in one form or another.

In the book, Age of Enterprise, Hunter goes on to say: “Pluck, timing, skill, ambition, and perseverance were vital requisites for the New Zealand nineteenth century entrepreneur”.

I am sure these are “vital requisites” for those starting businesses in the 21st century as well.

Nobel Prize winner scientist, Ernest Lord Rutherford, one of New Zealand’s most famous sons, once remarked: “We haven’t the money, so we have to think”.   May I suggest that participants in the Young Enterprise awards have a head start, in the kind of thinking that can transform a spark of creativity into a successful business enterprise.

I would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s awards, and to commend all of those who have taken part.  I would also like to add an appreciation to all the teachers who have helped in the process, and to the Young Enterprise Trust for its ongoing dedication to helping young New Zealanders find their business feet.

And on that note of anticipation, I will close in our country’s first language, offering everyone greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours.  

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.