northland chamber

LEADER COLUMN JULY 2011
The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the Northland regional coordinator for Business Mentors New Zealand (BMNZ). This is an agency funded by patrons from the private sector and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and it has the capacity to combine the elements mentioned above. For a one-off registration fee of $100, BMNZ provide the service of putting client businesses in touch with mentors. This entitles the client to free mentoring services for a two year period.

Many small businesses do not have the support and resources found within large companies. The mentor scheme allows them to access skills and knowledge that may not otherwise be available to them and in doing so, an opportunity to overcome this disadvantage of scale. The mentor provides support to the business and the focus is on ensuring the business owner undertakes tasks identified as needing to be addressed if the business is to be sustainable or develop.

Although this is just one way the Northland Chamber of Commerce helps our region’s businesses, it is an important one. This is a service that is not just for struggling businesses, but for any business that wants to strengthen its position in the market. Assistance may be to develop a pathway to grow a business, explore export opportunities, or possibly to create a succession plan so a business owner may exit their business in a manner of their choosing.

Northland is blessed with a many very successful and knowledgeable business people who have gained their experience both here and overseas. For many of these people, living in Northland is a conscious choice made at the expense of career and financial opportunities. The challenge is to utilise them and their experience to better equip the next generation of business people.

This is a volunteer service and the amount of time commitment varies based on the individual mentor’s circumstances. However it goes without saying that the more mentors we have the better we can manage and improve the level of service we provide. Mentors have access to a wide range of resources to assist them in mentoring and care is taken to match the client’s needs with the mentor’s skills. We are seeking assistance from these amazingly talented and often underulitised business people in Northland, who can help the Region’s businesses, if you would like to know more about how you can help, please contact the Chamber at info@northchamber.co.nz.