Q and A: Craig Waterhouse

Craig Waterhouse, chairman of the Pettigrew-Green Arena Regional Indoor Sports and Events Centre is after more funding for expansion plans. Photo / Warren Buckland

Just back from a fact-finding trip to Europe, Hawke's Bay Local Authority Shared Services independent chairman, entrepreneur and Pettigrew Arena Indoor Sports and Event Centre Trust chairman Craig Waterhouse talks to reporter Andrew Ashton on his take on business and his big ambition for Hawke's Bay.

What general insights have you gleaned about yourself, through your role as an independent board member and has that or will that help you further in your own business matters?

In any director's roll you need to constantly remind yourself that the sum of taking everyone on the journey will deliver far more than an individual trying to move the business forward, have the faith in decisions and execute them, avoid procrastinations in decision making, which so often occurs with decision making when you do not have enough information. Good accurate information and financial reporting can assist so much in the decision-making process.

Probably the best learning is to ensure you have quality people around you, from a varying background who are making an effort to contribute. This group can deliver so much more.

What specific business-orientated ideas/lessons would you like to see taught in schools?

Society seems to have developed an instant philosophy – finance company money is so easily available, we get a car on finance in the first year out of school, and we are more than happy to spend money on instant gratification. This all comes at a cost and a strain on personal finances. We are always paying for the past, rather than saving for the future. We do not understand the real cost of this.

I am not sure what you would call it as a school course, teaching accounting, banking or finance will not deliver this educational lesson. The value of long term personal management – it could cover a range of things well beyond money management to prepare the youth for their future.

Is there one thing that you think would revolutionise the business environment in Hawkes Bay if it could be implemented?

Simon Nixon will like this answer - an international airport in Napier. One of the resultant impacts on the Hawke's Bay economy would be some corporates would have Hawkes Bay as their head office. There's a massive number of big New Zealand companies that no longer have their head office in Hawkes Bay. It would give us a far greater quality of senior executives in Hawke's Bay contributing to school boards, sport clubs, voluntary organisations, local government and the fabric of our society. The whole base of the Hawke's Bay society would benefit.

We have some of the best weather in New Zealand, we have excellent summers, we have amazing outdoor experiences, in the winter we are close enough to the ski fields. The cost of property is so much less than Wellington and Auckland. When they predict bad weather for New Zealand, it is never as bad in the Bay. Last week's cold snap, we still had sunny days, unlike what was reported as to what was occurring in Wellington. We are really very lucky to live in this part of the world.

What first got you interested in going into business?

I love being successful and I get so much enjoyment out of continuing to improve things for success. I am a great believer in a continuous evolution of improvements within an organisation rather than a massive imposed change process. Developing a culture that aligns all staff to goals has a far more positive impact on the business than an external consultant imposing change. Your good staff know your business well and want the best for it, use them to make a difference, it is so much more enjoyable.

Are NZ businesses making best use of modern technology compared to our overseas counterparts?

Absolutely not, I too often say - I am sure the organisation executives are not using the web site they have designed. But I believe we are ahead of many parts of the world. It is difficult to have a balance. It is exceptionally hard in most traditional businesses. Those businesses were developed through the vision of their founder, they had a skill set in the business not in technology, or in process improvement. In many cases technology has become an add on, often the business does not have scale to effectively integrate technology into their business as they are so busy just doing.

There is real opportunity to find the right software applications to improve business processes. Xero is a great example, developed for all by one. There are lots of applications developed to improve business efficiency process and increase the service to the customer. These are rampant in small businesses that do not have scale, but the service outcomes are similar, in the trades and food industries to name two. But so many new business developments have occurred due to the lack of vision or foresight of the incumbent players – for example, Uber.

These start-up developments are due to the founders being able to focus on the outcomes, rather than the day to day business they are currently running. StockX the local online livestock trading application is a great example of this.

They are not part of the traditional sales channel trying to add technology to the business, but a technology business trying to convert farmers to adding efficiencies into their business. They will revolutionise farmers livestock buying and selling, and then I am sure, with the customer base they have, will start adding more efficiencies into the farmer's life.