Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/49418
Who would you most like to sit next to on an international journey this year? My wife, Amy and our three kids, Ava, Marco and Coco. While it would be a hell of a flight with a 15-month-old it would mean we were heading off on a holiday, which would be great. Right now any time with the family is amazing. I have never been able to master this work/life balance thing people talk about. If you could change one thing about the world right now, it would be? The unpredictability of natural disasters. The tragic earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan have illustrated to us that we are so vulnerable and that it is not a matter of if, but when mother nature will come and kick our ass again. It would be nice for Christchurch to stop shaking in 2012. Your best advice to school leavers is? Tertiary education is hugely important, but not necessarily for everyone. We should not be afraid to encourage students leaving high school to enter the workforce and learn on the job. I was someone who was desperate to get into business but felt I had to go to university. It turned out I was hopeless at studying and would have been better to work, learning about business first-hand. Your best advice to people starting a business this year is? Simply 'go for it!' Do your research, but don't be afraid of entering a market that everyone says is saturated. There were 200+ car rental operators in New Zealand when we started and everyone said we were fools for starting another one. The difference was we embraced new technology to drive business and improve the customer experience. We also built a brand that enabled us to take market share and grow. Janene Draper Farro Fresh Food, Co-founder What is the biggest challenge facing New Zealand this year? Money. As a country we borrow far too much. I don't believe we can sustain our level of borrowing. We have an ageing population and need to look at ways we can grow New Zealand's economy. What will your main business focus be on achieving? My main business focus will be on starting our Grey Lynn Store at the end of March. In our present stores we will be working on establishing a meaningful values programme with our staff and building the culture within the work place. How do you intend working smarter? Not only setting goals for the year but writing them down, planning and prioritising. This will enable me to spend more time on high pay off activities. What do you plan doing more of in 2012? Cooking and sharing time with friends! I love to spend time in the kitchen trying new recipe ideas, but of late all I have time to cook is fresh simple food, using many of the wonderful 'cheats' or shortcuts that we sell at Farro! And less of? Time at the computer emailing. I now break my day up into three sessions where I answer emails. This enables me to be more productive throughout my day. Doing this, I often find that my team have often worked out the answers by themselves. What will your technology purchase be this year? Necessary but unexciting, point of sale software. What was the best book you read last year? Changing Gears by David Irving, Darl Kolb, Deb Shepard & Christine Woods. A straight forward, sharp-shooting book written by the founder and facilitators of The Ice House. As an owner/manager of Farro Fresh, I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in taking their business to the next step. How did you pay it forward in 2011? 2011 was a fantastic year for Farro Fresh. We have more than doubled our turnover from 2010. Farro Fresh also opened its third store in Te Awa Mall in Hamilton, and the company has received some wonderful accolades including The Supreme Award in the Retail Sector of the inaugural Good Egg Awards, due to our commitment to stocking only non-caged eggs. We also won Best Retailer in the Central Auckland Westpac Awards for Excellence. I have also done an ICEHOUSE Owners Managers Programme, which enabled me to focus on the business and take it to another level. Who would you most like to sit next to on an international journey this year? Nobody...I just love getting on a plane and signing off. No emails, phone calls or texts. Brilliant. I make the most of it, sit back, read a good novel and watch a whole lot of chick flicks! Something I get so little time for these days. If you could change one thing about the world right now, it would be? The world's dependence on oil. There are so many issues and conflict around the countries that have oil, and those that want oil. Your best advice to school leavers is? Choose your attitude! Every morning you have the option to put your best foot forward. Don't look back on your life and say, "If only I had done this or that." The world is your oyster, take it. HER MAGAZINE | December/January 2012 | 31