Business zipping along nicely

Ron and Lora Betts are looking at expanding the Zoom Zipline operations at Skyline Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker

She built a career in massage therapy, he in risk management and adventure tourism.

Now, half a world away from their home, Lora and Ron Betts have combined their respective skills to set up and run Zoom Ziplines - and less than a year from opening at Skyline Rotorua they've already got expansion plans under way.

The Canadian couple moved to Rotorua for the business and while it was hard leaving everything they knew, they said operating alongside an already existing company such as Skyline had helped ease the differences in doing business in another country.

"Instead of thinking of the 10 reasons not to [move], we focused on the 20 reasons we should."

And they've got no regrets. In the next couple of months they plan to introduce new equipment to allow people to zoom down the zipline Superman-style, as opposed to hanging in a sitting position, and are preparing to increase the height of the jump tower at the end of the zipline, allowing those brave enough to complete a much higher freefall.

The pair said one of the benefits of creating a new business was being able to build it from the ground up and create a culture among employees.

"It's really nice to be able to sculpt how you want the business."

A highlight for them was the feedback from customers about the skills and attitude of the staff - something they'd placed an emphasis on.

"Customer service is really important for me. In Canada I was running my own [massage therapy] practice. If I didn't understand customer service I wouldn't have had a product," Mrs Betts said.

"As hokey as it sounds, you can't fake sincerity," her husband said.

While working on the ziplines was completely different, Mrs Betts said she loved it. However, her health background meant she was always looking for ways to make sure people had healthy workplace practices.

Mr Betts said there were some difference in running businesses, and ziplines, in the two countries - mainly around safety and auditing. In Canada, litigation was "alive and well", while Mr Betts rated the auditing and safety processes they've recently gone through in New Zealand.

He believed it was also beneficial for staff to see the company go through the process,

For Mrs Betts, it was a case of being thrown in the deep end. She got off the plane in the first week of operation to be told the staff needed to be paid - which resulted in a whirlwind lesson of the different names of departments and forms here, compared to Canada.

"It was a pretty steep learning curve."

Mr Betts said the real highlight of the job was sharing in the joy of watching people go down the zipline. Mr Betts said they'd had people of all ages go down, from a 6-year-old through to people in their 80s.