Traffic in the fast lane

Traffic founder Debbie Turner gave up a cosy $100,000 job. Picture / Richard Robinson

Seeing the corporate world as a barrier to her creativity, Debbie Turner left the comfort of a $100,000 salary to start consultancy company Traffic four years ago.

Last week, the 34-year-old was awarded Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year at the New Zealand Incubators Awards for her role in building the venture into a multi-million-dollar earner.

When the former Fletcher Building marketing manager turned 30, she decided she wanted to initiate new projects and drive change in the workplace - something she felt unable to do in a corporate environment. "I asked myself, is this really how I want to spend the rest of my life? I had a dream and I wanted to give it a try."

Turner joined forces with the former head of marketing at Fletcher Building and Marketer of the Year 1999, Chris Caiger, and a former senior manager at Watties and Progressive Enterprises and software entrepreneur, Mark Estall.

With no initial capital, the trio invested time in the business until securing their first client, a family-owned firm in the building industry with turnover of $120 million.

It was a familiar industry to start with, but they have since ventured into pharmaceuticals, retailing, agriculture, utilities and media, targeting companies facing similar market challenges.

The three started out in the AUT Technology Park, the business incubator of the Auckland University of Technology, graduating late last year.

Traffic now has offices in Newmarket, an ever-growing client list and turnover of $5 million.

Turner describes Traffic as a business performance accelerator, offering an innovative approach to consultancy.

Where most of its larger competitors sign off with a strategic plan, Traffic helps its clients to translate the research into something they can use and works with them to implement the plan.

"We're more like part of your team. We come up with creative ways to solve business growth issues and then help you roll it out."

So what qualifies the "black sheep" at Traffic as the experts?

The 25-strong bunch are all former corporates with reputations for creating powerful growth programmes.

Among them are former Taubmans and NZ Dairy Foods chief executive Richard Punter, Mercato Communications founder Elwyn Pugsley, former New Zealand manager of Nokia Andrea Durrant, venture capital specialist Simon Brown and design director Barry Bloomfield, who has worked on international brands Wella, Kodak and Heineken.

In their time, this array of talent has seen millions spent on consultants fees that rarely get past the document phase. To an outsider, the way they work seems like a tangled web, each delivering components to projects from their own areas of expertise.

Four sub-companies operate within Traffic, covering finance, human resources, operations and marketing.

Traffic has a 50 per cent stake in each sub-company, with the role of overall project manager. This saves clients from having to juggle individual consultants in each area. .

"Because we all work together as one unit, there's no lobbying for cash, as can happen between individual consultants on a project," said Turner.

After thoroughly "scoping" trends, markets and policies affecting a firm, Traffic analyses how these influence opportunities and puts together scenarios to tackle them.

The team then come up with a plan of attack and send in troops to follow it through.

"Chief executives don't have the time to coach their entire organisation through the changes," said Turner. "We serve as the extra resource for the company at that time."

It can take five months to develop a strategic plan, then anything up to 18 months to implement it.

Fees range from $50,000 for a six-month project to as high as $800,000.

"We know what is of value because we've spent that money on consultants ourselves," said Turner.

As for the future, Traffic has overseas ambitions - wanting to break into Australia, Britain and the United States within three years.

* Taking her turn

* Debbie Turner left the corporate world to start business consultancy Traffic four years ago.

* Her team of ex-corporate "black sheep" find creative ways to solve business growth issues.

* The company graduated from the AUT Technology Park last year.

* Last week, Turner was awarded Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year at the New Zealand Incubators Awards in Wellington.