Wednesday, September 12, 2007

NZ made

Today I met a memorable character called Davey Hughes.

Just when a number of clothing companies are being lured to China because of lower labour costs, Davey is committing to staying in New Zealand.

His staff and customers are loyal too.

The clothing is top quality. It gets used by hunters, farmers, defence forces and search and rescue.

His business tips were:

1. It's never too late to talk things over.

2. Fire customers who aren't fun.

3. Tell staff they must have 2 possible solutions to every problem they bring to you.

4. Remember there's more to life than business.

5. Customers own the brand.

6. Forget 'passion', focus on 'love'.

7. Treasure your brand & use intellectual property protection.

2 comments:

Susan Plunkett said...

Some intriguing tips in his list and I unreservedly support his decision to retain manufacture in NZ. The "fire customers" is a very unique phrasing. I like the 'bring 2 options' notion very much and so on.
I hope NZ'ers get behind the business in a big way as few business owners are choosing onshore these days - and I believe in the end the decision won't suit longer term.

Susan Plunkett said...

Nice to see your Lovemark nomination on this man and his company Tony. One of my noms was in the top 5 last week and now yours! :) I nominated Michael Palin's Travel Shows today because I obviously enjoy them so much but they are also so universally admired I believe. And he cuts across the often trite genre and gives us something new.