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Members of the business community had the opportunity last week to hear tips on working remotely. Go Carterton facilitated the business social hosted by Carterton businesses Nectarine, Experienz Immigration, and Planwell Services. 

It was a good opportunity for locals to check out the renovated Marquis of Normanby Hotel. New owners Anthony and Sarah Walton were in attendance and outlined their community-minded ethos. They have fully renovated the Marquis accommodation area which includes rooms upstairs, a shared kitchen, bathrooms, and a downstairs shared working space where the business social was held. The upstairs accommodation is available for short or medium term stays through online booking systems such as Air BnB. Anthony and Sarah have also purchased Pete O’Leary’s garage in Memorial Square, and intend to develop the site. 

Minty and Bek, of Nectarine, are experts in graphic design, website design, board game design, animation & coding. They have been working from home for over 20 years, and Minty credits some of that success to creating a purpose built workroom upstairs. 

Chris Tracey, of Planwell Services, Planwell Services provides a range of services including project management and policy development. Chris has been involved in planning big local events such as The Oversew Fashion Awards, The Clareville Country Music Festival, and Wings over Wairarapa. She works from home in her rural property in Carterton, and says one of her favourite things about working from home is hearing all the birds outside. 

Feija Bokhoven, of Experienz Immigration provides specialist immigration services to individuals, professionals, businesses and investors. Feija works from home in Carterton, but can often be spotted hot desking at 3mile Coworking Community. Covid-19 has impacted her business significantly, as many of her clients were based overseas. After receiving external advice, she is now working on expanding different areas of her business, including creating online courses to take applicants through residency applications. She was also a recent recipient of the Carterton District Council’s Covid-19 Small Business Grants. 

Thinking of working from home? Here are some of the tips from our hosts: 

• Maintain a good record of your hours
• Enjoy the flexible work hours, but ensure you maintain that work/personal life separation
• Keep up the paperwork: maintain a paper trail of Zoom catchups, client meetings, etc. 
• Comfort is key! Make sure you have a good working environment
• Don’t be afraid to dress up and get into your work clothes
• Stay connected with what’s happening in your sector, e.g. networking, keeping up with professional development
• Don’t overcommit! Focus on paid work, and don’t let work creep into your personal time
• Don’t forget to exercise - the commute is pretty short, so find ways to keep up your physical activity
• Ask for feedback from clients (you won’t get it from your boss!)

What is the point of the passport/Carterton Deals Club?

The purpose of the passport is twofold: to provide a gift that is an enduring memory of Carterton and to encourage visitors to stay longer in our town and shop in more places.

Why is there a picture on one side?

We’ve made it a beautiful take home item you can pop into bags at the point of sale, to achieve the first objective.  And there are seven participating businesses offering deals on the back, to achieve the second.

Who should get it?

Hand out the postcard to anyone you feel deserves it - it’s your call - perhaps if you can identify customers as being visitors in some way, you might prioritize those over your regulars but again, it is absolutely up to you.

What happens if someone shows the card to my staff/to me at the till?

Honour the deal that your shop has offered.

Cross out the deal on their card 

What if their purchase doesn’t qualify?

It’s always your call to decline the deal, if the purchase doesn’t meet your criteria.  

What if one of my staff forgets to cross off the deal and the same person comes back?

Absolutely up to you, if you want to honour the deal again you can, if you feel confident in declining, you can.  If the purchase in front of you warrants honouring the deal, it’s probably a great idea to do it - and remember to cross it off!

What if someone comes up to me with ten postcards and wants the deal ten times?

Again, up to you.  You’re absolutely within your rights to only offer it once, but it’s at your discretion.  If their purchases warrant you honoring the deal ten times, then go for it!

What happens when I run out of cards to hand out?

Email ctndbi@gmail.com and the team will be in touch

I’m not one of the featured businesses but I want to have a deal on the card! How do I get involved?

We’ll print the postcards regularly and can update the deals on offer.  Please email ctndbi@gmail.com with your suggested deal and we’ll collate them in time for our next print run

I have photographs you could use on future postcards

Awesome, email them to ctndbi@gmail.com 

Tips on how to explain the postcard to customers

• Would you like a memento of Carterton - we’ve these lovely pictures and they come with deals you can use at other shops in town
• Just show the card to any of the shops on there for your deal

Go Carterton, the town’s business networking and advocacy group, this week announced the two winners of the inaugural Go Carterton Growth Fund grants. Wairarapa Dream Clean Ltd (Leah Wynne) and Rae Matheson Ltd (Rachael Matheson) were each awarded with $1000 to boost their business.

More than 15 applications from across the town were received, which was deemed a great result by the judging panel made up of Go Carterton executive committee members. While there was an excellent breadth of ideas, the two winners stood out for their well thought out plans, and the unique ways they would accelerate their businesses as a result of the grant.

Wairarapa Dream Clean Ltd, founded only two years ago, will be using the funds to accelerate marketing and generate leads in order to create employment opportunities in their business. Owner Leah Wynne said “This grant comes at just the right time, I’ve got the ideas and now I can find an expert to help me execute!”

Rae Matheson Ltd, recently established by 8-year Carterton resident Rachael Matheson, is using the funds for start-up costs for a Surface Pattern Design company which will largely operate online and leverage international sales through print-on-demand.

Go Carterton will open a second round of the Growth Fund later in 2019, with a launch event featuring the inaugural winners reporting back to the community on their projects.

For more information on the grant recipients head to www.cartertonnz.com/people