When Lance Spence left secondary school at 15, without qualifications, the principal told him he would never get anywhere in life.
Fast forward 40 years and the self-described "uneducated" Dunedin businessman is at the helm of a multimillion-dollar company.
International play centre brand Chipmunks is a business that largely goes under the radar. While many people, particularly those with young children, are familiar with it, few realise its head office is in the main street of Port Chalmers.
This year marks 20 years since the first Chipmunks store opened in Christchurch and it has since grown to 17 stores in New Zealand — a new store opens in Rotorua today — 23 in Australia and 10 in Indonesia.
Not a bad effort for someone who admits he was a "bit of a Jack the lad" back in his school days, yet had a work ethic and good morals instilled in him.
Brought up in Dunedin, Mr Spence (55) worked for a tyre business after leaving school, drove trucks for a while and then got a job on the wharf, like his father.
An avid rugby enthusiast, he played for Port Chalmers and Harbour and, around the time he hung up his playing boots, he was looking for a change.
It was a friend’s wife who suggested using his nickname, Chipmunk, and the character Charlie Chipmunk was subsequently created.
Mr Spence wanted to set up in Dunedin but recalled the Dunedin City Council was not very proactive.
So they shifted to Christchurch, got a play centre up and running and then started to franchise it around the country, later returning to Dunedin.
Tiring of the travel involved and wanting to be more involved with his children, he took several years off and set up a mobile coffee franchise and got involved in various other businesses in Dunedin.
But as the children got older, he decided to move Chipmunks forward again and launched into the Australian market, later followed by Indonesia.
Mr Spence attributed the success of Chipmunks to risk and hard work. He might be uneducated but he had life skills, he said.
He also believed the key in business was not to focus on money.
"If you think about money, you never succeed."
Rather, it was better to do things right and the money would "come later".
"We were never driven by money ... [it was] the passion of the business and wanting that business to be the best," he said.
It had been a case of learning by mistakes made and they would always ‘‘pull the pin’’ if they realised something was not going to work.
They "nearly went bust" when they opened their first store, thanks to a difficult landlord, but it was to prove to be a valuable experience.
It was a hard market. Entertainment was a business where the majority of income came on weekends and holidays, so Monday to Friday was a challenging time.
At Chipmunks, that was supplemented with after-hours functions, after-school care and holiday programmes and entertainment in-store.
Every demographic was different and catering to each respective clientele was key, Mr Spence said.
Over the years, the business had to change and there had been website rebuilds, different logos and upgrades of equipment and systems.
"I’ve reinvested back into the brand to keep us ahead of our competition," he said.
Chipmunks had a good growth plan, with plans for new stores in both Australia and New Zealand.It was hoped to double the number of Australian stores over the next two to three years and then look at opening in another country at "some stage in the future".
There was a lot involved in setting up in a new country and organising menus and systems. Dealing with different cultures was not easy, he said.
When Chipmunks opened its first premises in Jakarta, it sponsored 1000 orphans to visit, which Mr Spence described as the most humbling experience of his life. Every month, an orphanage was sponsored to the store.
As he was the company’s only director, decisions could be made quickly and changes made when the market changed.
"Business is good but it isn’t easy. It has its challenges," he said.
Dealing with franchisees — who came from different cultures — required being flexible, listening and being honest with them.
"You become a friend. If they have a problem, the first person they come to is me," he said.
The Dunedin market was difficult and Mr Spence said he felt sorry for people who ‘‘try things in Dunedin’’.
"I’ve got a philosophy if a business works in Dunedin, it’ll work anywhere."
He believed the Dunedin City Council needed to change and be more proactive towards business.
He supported as many local businesses as possible, from printers to signage companies.
"If we support each other, we become stronger. There is a lot of talent and skill in Dunedin," he said.
Mr Spence was setting up a new franchise business, Charlie’s Mobile Play, which would cater for children’s birthday parties in backyards.
That would open soon in Queenstown, then be rolled out throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Outside work, Mr Spence remained a staunch supporter of rugby in Otago. At one stage, he had a racing stable, Chipmunk Lodge, with up to 24 horses, but it consumed a lot of time and money and he was too busy now.
One thing he would like to do in the future, when he had some more time, was act as a mentor to people getting into business.In the meantime, he still enjoyed the challenges involved in his own business.
"I get bored easily," he said.
