New Zealand - Campbell Yule

Toughen Up – Michael Hill

what I’ve learned about surviving tough times

I have just finished reading Michael Hill’s recently released book ‘Toughen Up’ I found it an extremely easy and interesting read and the messages inside really helped my re-focus on where my energy should be put.

The general message is one that I have previously written about that the current economic times are a re great time to look for opportunities.

The book is broken up in to 16 chapters which form the basis of Michael’s business philosophy:

Don’t Panic

Tough times are good for you

Never be afraid of change

Hunt the right people and help them become better

Get down to the coalface

Embrace mistakes

Work is the wrong word

Keep an eye on the underdog

Now you see it: the power of visualisation

It’s nothing personal…

Start at the bottom

Present yourself perfectly

Keep your balance

Give back and you shall receive

Find your point of difference

Money is just a yard stick

Unlike many business books only about 50% of the book relates directly to business, the other 50% is a mix of stories from some of Michael’s staff and a series of anecdotes that help provide the context for each of the philosophies.

I definitely recommend the book – I for one like to read about other business leaders stories and ideas – and it is especially good to read about a New Zealander.

As many of you know Michael has done pretty well for himself (private golf course etc etc) and for that reason all the proceeds of the book to Cure Kids – an extremely generous gesture.

63km is a long way to run…

Which is why on Saturday we did the 5 man-relay not the Solo Ultra-Marathon of the Te Houtaewa Challenge 2009

At 8:30 Saturday morning Sally set off to run the first 3 km section of the 63km Relay down Northland’s Ninety Mile Beach. For the next 4:47:19 we took our turn to run a 3km section and then drive down the beach slowly making our way from the bluff to Ahipara.

map2

The team consisted of:

Gav
Ed
Wazza
Sal
Me

All of them seasoned pro’s having run the event as many as 6 times before (it only started in 2003!) I was new to the relay but had run the extremely monotonous Half Marathon back in ’99.

The guys were a little nervous at the start when they heard there were 5 other teams entered this year, however the nervousness was uncalled for as we ended up winning by over 45minutes.

Hats off must go to Tony Ahern though as he finished only 38 minutes after us having run the whole 63km himself!

Hats off also to the organisers – the event is very well run and has a fantastic Far North Community feel about it.

BAU 2009 – Architecture, Materials and Systems

I am currently in Munich to catch up with some of our Cadimage Tools partners during the BAU2009 Trade Show.

To say BAU is enormous is an understatement – BAU 2009 is being held at the Munich Trade Fair Center and covers all 16 Exhibition Halls.

Not surprisingly all the big names in Architectural SoftwareÂ were there. More surprising for me was the number of other CAD solutions on offer.

However, BAU is more than just software and IT though it is all about Building and simply the sheer quantity of building products – from mail boxes to car stacking systems – was mind blowing.

During the show I got a chance to catch up with some more Kiwi’s on the FrameCAD standÂ – it was really great to catch up with another New Zealand company taking architectural software to the world. FrameCAD were very pleased with the response they were getting from the show – not only fromÂ German companies but companies from Turkey, Poland, Romania, Iran… the list goes on.

Student Award Season

It’s that time of year again when academia celebrates another year of study and dishes out a number of prizes to students.

This year Graphisoft New Zealand have become the Principle Sponsor of the NZIA Graphisoft Student Design Awards – for this year and the next 3 years.

This sponsorship represents a sizable investment for a company of Graphisoft New Zealand’s size but I am sure we have made more thanÂ a few students happy.

Two nights ago we had the major Prize Giving where 4 students from each of Auckland University, Unitec and Wellington University competed to win a $5,000 cash prize along with an overseas trip.

Last night we handed out $10,000 in prizes to 16 students from across the first four years of study at the Unitex ScALA.

Tonight we do the same at the Auckland University School of Architecture and Planning.

Of all the Sponsorship, Advertising and Marketing we undertake, this exercise will be the hardest to quantify from a success/return point of view, but I can easily see that the money is going in a deserving direction.

I was never a good enough Architecture Student to come close to winning prizes of this nature – probably whyÂ I moved more into the technology side of Architecture. However, that saidÂ I know the money will be well received – even if some or all of it is spent on alcohol – and I am pleased Graphisoft has been able to supportÂ the New Zealand Student Community in this way.

I’m moving to Australia…

Actually I’m not but whenÂ I first heard about the following topic I simply couldn’t believe the state of our nation.

As I am sure many of you do as well, I love a great shower! Or more accurately I detest a weak shower.

To hear about the proposed changes that will place limits onÂ the flow rate of showers just seems that as a country we are continually focussing on small details and not big issues.

I can understand the need to conserve water and electricity etc but making allowable shower flow rates a law is one step too far!

You canÂ read about the proposal in the NZ Herald.

The following comment in the article certainly sums up my thoughts:

“Does this Government have a mandate to mess around with our lives to this degree?” one blogger wrote. “We can’t smack our kids, now we can’t bathe them as we see fit either?”

I have heard some other intereasting thoughts/ideas regarding Sustainability based on experiences during my recent trip to ArchiCAD University in the UK. I will share those in another post soon.

iPredict – NZ Predictions Market

With the two major news topics in NZ currently the Financial Market Turmoil and the upcoming NZ General Election the following website is of particular interest.

www.ipredict.co.nz

iPredict is New Zealands first real money predictions market. At a time when everyone is debating whether the current market should be left to sort itself out (as general theory suggests it would) or should be bailed out it interesting to observe what is, from my point of view, a new type of market.

Prediction Markets have actually been around since 1988 and harness the wisdom of crowds.

Like a stock market, stocks can be bought and traded and based on this trading a price for a predication is established that represents the crowds wisdom.

The majority of the current ‘stocks’ on iPredict deal with our upcoming election. Even if you don’t want to become a trader it does provide some interesting insight.

Research shows that Prediction Markets have a very high success rate and from an election point of view the reasoning for this is:

Prediction markets beat political polling for two reasons. First, they ask the right question. Pollsters ask who you will vote for. Prediction markets ask who is going to win. Second, prediction market traders put money where their mouths are, so it pays to do a little homework.

iPredict is owned by Victoria Link Ltd, itself wholly owned by Victoria University of Wellington, and the Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation (ISCR), also in Wellington. Our primary purpose is academic research.

While iPredict allows traders to make money I have found it just as interesting to monitor the stocks without actually yet purchasing.

Check out the website for more information and to sign up if you are keen to trade!

Great Coffee and Old Friends in London

Like most Kiwi’s I appreciate a good coffee which leads to one of my pet hates regarding travelling! There are very few places that make a coffee as well as my local cafe Bar Italia, Takapuna.

Having been in London for the last few days I made it my mission to hunt out Flat White a kiwi-run coffee shop in Soho – winner Independent Coffee Bar of the Year in the UK 2007 – Project Cafe07.

So there I was standing in line waiting to order a long awaited Latte and low and behold, in Soho, London I am standing behind William Tozer, an old friend from my days studying Architecture at Auckland University.

What a coincidence! William was recently featured in Architecture NZ as after having completed his studies he has been practicing Architecture in London for the last 12 years. Having read the article, I had thought I should look him up if I got the chance!

During the short wait for my coffee William and I caught up on 12 years!

The coffee and the catch up were both superb and I strongly recommend all Kiwi Coffee Lovers in London to make a visit to Flat White – you never know who you may bump into!

Business Planning – Make the Time!

Over the last three months the directors of The Cadimage Group have invested significant time into reviewing and renewing our business strategy.

While the cost of doing this, both in $ and time, is significant I can’t recommend it more highly.

As a small business owner there is the constant trap of getting caught in the busy’ness of business. As I have heard many times you have to “work on you business not in your business.”

To help us with this process we used Helen and Greg Cross of Cross Ventures. They bring an immense amount of knowledge and experience to the table and effectively we “chewed the fat” for a couple of days talking about our business and where it could go. Helen then put together a comprehensive overview of where we are and where we want to go along with a great financial model.

Having undertaken this process I found a huge amount of clarity in what we are doing and when attending the Morgo conference I found it easy to talk about what we do and where we are going.

I was pleasantly surprised to also be congratulated by a number of people for actually taking the plunge and investing in our strategic plan. To me, having completed the exercise it seems so logical to have done it, but again it is easy to get caught in the day to day running of your business and failing to come up for air and see where you are going.

Helen and Greg provide an awesome service and are there to check up on us as we move along our path so it is now time to start implementing and constantly reviewing.

On reflection my only regret is not doing this sooner!

NZTE – Export Grant

Today I received confirmation that Cadimage Solutions have received Â the NZTE Enterprise Development Grant – Market Develpoment for a second year.

This grant matches our Marketing Spending $ for $ (up to a limit) and is helps us develop our Cadimage Tools export business.

Running an online business and attraching customers is a challenging exercise. Having the support NZTE allows us to travel and meet customers and partners worldwide.

In the 8 months of this year we have already doubled last years sales and this can be directly attributed to the support with have received from NZTE.

Applying for a Grant of this nature is a challenge in itself which is why we used Helen Cross of Cross Ventures. For a small success fee Helen takes care of the entire application process and makes the process a breeze.

If you are New Zealand Export business make sure you maximise your investment by partnering with NZTE.

NZ Architect on World Stage

Recently Auckland ArchiCAD User Patterson Associates won one of three New Zealand Institute of Architects Supreme Awards for The Hills Clubhouse in Arrowtown.

This building along with his Maimai house in Auckland’s Ponsonby are now finalists in World Architecture Festival awards.

Other finalists include Beijing Olympics’ Water Cube swimming stadium, and London’s new Wembley Stadium.

You can read more at Stuff.