Help for exporters offered by Small Business Expo speakers
The founding sisters of Wellington natural skincare company Trilogy shared their secrets on how survive when the
dollar’s high to a packed audience during the Export Session of the Wellington Small Business Expo (20 July). Sarah
Gibbs and Catherine de Groot told exporters “It’s what you don’t know in business that you should be aware of – not what
you do know”.
Their checklist for business success included:
- Concentrate on your business as well as your products
- Cover your bases
- Prepare a financial strategy and follow it
- Put a marketing model in place
- Build foreign exchange costs into product pricing
- Be aware of what you don’t know
- Hire experts to fill gaps in your business
- Gut instinct is important
- If there’s no synergy with a prospective partner/distributor in the first 5-minutes – forget it
- Have a business plan and update it regularly
- Communicate often with retailers/customers
- Use PR to market your business
- Make sure your retailers know your products well
Three thousand people attended the first Wellington Small Business Expo –far more than expected. Organiser Sarah Trotman
said she was delighted by the number of business people who took time out from their business to attend the expo and by
the quality information people received from exhibitors. “People need to get out and take a helicopter view of their
business from time to time and the Small Business Expo with its 40 seminars and 100 business information exhibits offers
just that opportunity.”
Together, the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch Small Business Expos, comprise the largest event for business in New
Zealand.
The Small Business Expo goes to Christchurch from 29-31 August for the first time. One hundred exhibitors have already
booked space at the Christchurch Convention Centre and 2500 are expected to attend.
ENDS