KEY POINTS:
Ecuadorian Eduardo Perez came to New Zealand in 2001 to see a bit of the country and get a job in information technology, but ended up living in the countryside and building a business based on fruit picking.
Like hordes of cash-strapped backpackers who arrive in New Zealand every year, Perez hit the Hawkes Bay orchards for a season. He was surprised at how much he enjoyed the outdoor work, so delayed getting a "proper" job.
Unable to find one in IT, he took a role as a marketing co-ordinator, but soon realised that he wanted more free time to enjoy the country he had moved to.
During his first fruit picking stint in Hawkes Bay, Perez had spotted a gap in the market matching seasonal workers with the farmers who needed them.
"When I arrived in the country I did not know where to go to get work and at the same time the orchards did not know where to go to find the workers," he says. He decided to do another six-month stint on the orchard and found nothing had changed.
So combining his marketing, technology and picking experience, Perez set up Pick a Picker, a web-based network linking foreign backpackers with short-term work in New Zealand.
"I wanted to develop something that would benefit both the local Hawkes Bay community and the backpackers," he says.
Eighteen months after its launch, the business is linked with orchards and vineyards from Northland to Otago, is viewed by dozens of travellers each week and is expanding into the construction and hospitality industries.
It's much easier to set up a business here than in Ecuador, as there is far less bureaucracy, Perez says
The business - on the web at www.pickapicker.co.nz - works a little like Yellow Pages in reverse.
Employers pay a small annual fee and can choose from three tiers of plans - the gold, platinum or the diamond plan. Diamond, which costs the employer $400 plus GST for 12 months, will give them the opportunity to secure employees before they even arrive in the country.
Perez at first visited local orchards to get members and now has 23 businesses registered. Around 3000 backpackers have found work through the website.
This week he was talking to the owner of a Hawkes Bay orchard who found all her 30 seasonal employees through the site. There's good money to be made in seasonal work - the orchard he spoke to paid $800 to $1200 per week.
Perez says the number of foreign backpackers arriving in New Zealand and expressing interest in the website has not slowed in response to the credit crunch, but he was surprised at the rise in the past year in the number of young New Zealanders looking for seasonal work and the chance to see more of the country. Kiwis now make up 30 per cent of the workers registered with Pick a Picker.
"These are adventurous people who want some fun - but maybe this is also because it is too expensive to go overseas right now," Perez says.
Employees are mostly targeted through internet search engines. Google AdWords pushes Pick a Picker to the front of the computer user's search when they type a related word such as "backpacking" into the search bar.
But a large chunk of the traffic is also generated by word of mouth. Perez says you can use all sorts of fancy marketing techniques but people speaking to other people "will never change, it will always be word of mouth". As with any small business, Perez says cashflow is the main challenge. Income is mostly from companies that advertise through the website - generally New Zealand businesses of interest to travellers such as Interislander, rental car firms, Cookie Time and Sky Dive New Zealand.
"It works quite well for me because advertisers are targeting people in the market they are approaching," he says.
Perez says he has always been interested in e-commerce and his stint in marketing gave him the skills to build a viable business. It was difficult to understand the local culture at first, but by immersing himself in it for two years Perez thinks he has got the hang of it.
He says he also understands the critical labour requirements of seasonal employers and the mentality of backpackers. Global business communities Made From New Zealand and startup.co.nz have helped the business make contacts, and Perez sees the success of websites such as Trade Me as an indication that New Zealand is becoming more accepting of online business.
One of the challenges in setting up the business has been getting employers, many of whom are based in the provinces, to accept the idea of looking for employees on the internet.
But many younger people who will soon be taking over farms are internet-savvy, so his business is positioning itself to take advantage of that, Perez says.
His main goals are to build the business into something that can provide a passive income, and to be the most reputable point of contact for seasonal employers and employees in New Zealand.
He thinks he's on the way there: the number of employers registered doubled in the past year and the business is growing at a steady rate of around 40 per cent. Perez has created the ideal work-from-home lifestyle: based in Hawkes Bay with his wife and 1-year-old daughter, he is able to tramp and camp in his spare time, and when it's the season, he picks a little fruit. "I love it here," he says.
