Inspiring Northlanders reveal how they got off the benefit and into self-employment.
Video / Michael Cunningham
From benefit to business owners: Reporter Jenny Ling talks to five enterprising Northlanders who have created three thriving businesses from scratch and are now giving back to their communities.
Getting off the benefit and starting up your own business isn’t easy – but it’s entirely possible for those with the drive and determination to do it.
It also helps to have the support of programmes like The Generator, a Ministry of Social Development-funded initiative that provides seed funding and mentorship to help people on low incomes kickstart their business ventures.
The online platform backs eligible Kiwis – usually those with a community services card – who have bright ideas to improve their financial situations for themselves and their families.
The Generator national manager Therese Ireland said most people who go through the organisation don’t want to be on a benefit.
“They do everything within their power to become independent and create a better future for themselves and their whānau.
“Self-employment for many is the only option.
“They work extremely hard to get their start-up enterprises to a point where it can not only sustain their family but also help others in their community who are struggling.”
Tavita Salu’s dream has always been to create a family business that would be a legacy for his seven children.
Now, after years of hard work and facing some tough times, the father of six sons and one daughter has achieved his goal by setting up Tavita & Sons Automotive Mechanics in Whangārei.
“I’ve got a workshop now and this dream is coming true,” Salu said.
“I look at my seven kids, and I know I’m going to create a platform for them in the future.”
Salu migrated to New Zealand from Tuvalu in 1999 and moved to Whangārei in 2012 where he worked as a corrections officer for several years.
After resigning when the shift work became too much, he was temporarily unemployed on the jobseekers benefit while searching for more work.
Salu held down a few random jobs before realising he wanted to run his own business.
The 41-year-old began working out of his home garage while undertaking a three-year automotives course at NorthTec.
When he qualifies in June, he’ll have a New Zealand certificate in automotive engineering level 4.
Salu said he was grateful to “the people around me who helped make this happen” including his friends and workmates who gave him support and advice.
He is also thankful for The Generator who helped him buy tools and grow the business.
Being a business owner is a mindset, he said.
“You’ve got to see yourself as a business owner.
“If there’s something you want in life, and you feel in your heart and mind that you can do it, there’s a great chance you’re likely to achieve it.
“Put aside those negative thoughts that try and pull us down, and use the good advice and things that will help you achieve in having a business, especially if it’s something you really want.”
David Croft had been helping his dad build houses on his ancestral land near Towai in Northland for many years when he came up with an idea for a new business.
Croft had suffered a heart attack and was having to take things a bit easier when his father, then 80, mentioned he was building coffins for himself and his wife.
Croft could see the value in what his father was doing.
With help from The Generator, Croft and his partner Jess Henson established Moe Mai Ra, which means rest in peace in te reo Māori.
The whānau business, building and supplying ply coffins to the community, is based from the couple’s home on Ruapekapeka Rd and began in December.
Croft builds the coffins, Henson does the marketing, and her son Christian is also involved.
By keeping overhead costs low, Moe Mai Ra is now a Winz-approved provider of affordable coffins, keeping whānau from getting into debt when death comes knocking.
The custom-built coffins start at $600 and include wooden handles, and there are also urns and caskets for pets to choose from.
“David’s concept started out being a plain box, and he created it into such a beautiful waka,” Henson said.
“He fell in love with the concept of doing an original coffin for each individual.
“Dad’s sister rang him and said, ‘can you come and build our one’.
For Val Jefferson and her daughter Amy Low, establishing a beauty business they could run together in Dargaville has meant more than making money.
Not only has it given the former beneficiaries financial security, but it’s also given Jefferson a sense of purpose and a reason to get up in the morning.
Jefferson and Low now run Nia’s Beauty Room by Amy from a studio room in the Dargaville community hall.
Low was working part-time at the former Blush Beauty salon while receiving supplementary income from Winz when the opportunity arose to buy the business.
Low and her mum worked with The Generator and sold an inherited caravan to get the funding they needed to buy the client list and equipment.
They rebranded and launched their business in September – 39-year-old Low as the qualified beautician, and Jefferson as the salon manager taking the bookings and taking care of the administration.
As well as doing affordable facials, waxing, tints and massages, they also sell a couple of different skincare ranges.
“It’s given Amy financial security, and for me it’s made a huge change to my life,” Jefferson said.
“I’ve got a reason to get up in the morning.”
Val Jefferson and her daughter Amy Low work together on their thriving beauty business in Dargaville. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The enterprise has been so successful that Low has transitioned off Winz support and Jefferson, who was on the benefit since she moved to Dargaville five years ago, is now only partially supported by Winz.
The aim is for Jefferson to transition off the benefit altogether.
Renting space in the community hall is affordable and the pair managed to set up their business without going into debt.
Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.
