Doing it tougher than talking about it

By Karyn Scherer

He is probably best known for fronting Success, the television series that highlighted some of New Zealand's top entrepreneurs.

But former financial journalist Peter Verschaffelt admits his own business ventures are unlikely to inspire glowing documentaries.

Three years after setting up a company to produce his own TV show, Peter V Live, he is still trying to sort out what he admits is a financial nightmare. Eleven episodes screened on Sky TV, but Sky has never been paid for use of its studios. Last month it took Mr Verschaffelt to court to try to retrieve $35,658. The company set up to make the show, Btv Ltd, has gone into liquidation.

A despondent Mr Verschaffelt told the Business Herald he had been through hell in the past two years after unnamed associates let him down. It is understood Btv accumulated around $200,000 in debts.

"I've paid back the great proportion of that, which I'm proud of," he said.

It has not been a good year. At the end of May, Mr Verschaffelt resigned as a director of his wife's company, Moffett Blair Publishing, also in liquidation. Companies Office records show Wendy Moffett also held a $50,000 debenture over Btv.

But his hands-on experience of commerce has not put him off entirely. Last month he set up four new companies - Peter Verschaffelt Investment Tours, Bluesound Holdings, The Public Relations Company, and Kiwiwire Ltd - and also remains a director of two others.