Mentoring small businesses around Otago and in the Pacific Islands has been a decades-long crusade for Dunedin businessman Michael Ferrari, and at 76 it's not yet time for him to put his feet up.
"I'll know when to stop, when people don't come and ask anymore,'' he said.
Mr Ferrari's mentoring of businesses goes back to the late 1990s, both in a voluntary capacity with Business Mentors New Zealand and self-employed with his Business Solutions. The former, to date, includes more than 300 companies, mainly across Otago, but including 19 businesses in Samoa.
Because of his longstanding and ongoing services to businesses and the community, Mr Ferrari was recently made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, in the Queen's 90th Birthday Honours List.
In roles of senior management, chief executive, mentor or volunteer, Mr Ferrari has long-standing associations with the Otago Southland Employers' Association, NZ Institute of Management, Dunedin Citizens Advice Bureau and Otago Polytechnic, to name but a few.
His route to Otago was circuitous. He was born in Scotland, to Italian parents, then following a marriage of one of his four siblings, the entire family moved, in stages, to New Zealand between 1950 and 1954, settling in Invercargill.
From 1959 to 1964, Mr Ferrari attended the University of Otago, completing a BSc in chemistry, and went to work as an industrial chemist at Finegand meatworks, then owned by the South Otago Freezing Company, which was a processor-only of stock.
He moved into management at Finegand. Inspiration for mentoring came from that stint and his later move to Greggs in Dunedin, which became Cerebos Greggs.
"There was good management and mentors there [at both places] and role models. It was great tutelage,'' he said.
After a stint for Cerebos Greggs in Auckland, as general manager of its manufacturing divisions, Mr Ferrari returned to Dunedin for a position with the Dunedin City Council's then City Works.
Initially, it was to combine the engineering-fleet management, parks operations, drainage and water and roadworks divisions, but eight years later, City Works was halved in size so contracts could be tendered out by the council.
In the late 1990s, Mr Ferrari took up mentoring, joining Government and private-funded Business Mentors New Zealand and also becoming self-employed with his own company, Business Solutions, offering management services to small to medium-sized enterprises.
While client confidentiality is a must, Mr Ferrari is pleased that 18 years on, his first mentoring assignment in Otago, a furniture manufacturer, is still trading successfully.
The "top three assists'' while mentoring in recent years, have been businesses not trading well, getting beyond the start-up stage towards established and growth options.
"Most common in the past five years is how to manage growth and how to meet that demand,'' Mr Ferrari said.
He noted growth could be measured in staff numbers, the adoption of technology or looking for funding options.
Mentoring in the Pacific Islands was once a focus for Business Mentors New Zealand, and Mr Ferrari was one of five mentors sent to Samoa, between 2010 and 2012, out of 20 mentors visiting all the island groups.
"There were wide and varied [businesses] to help there, many of them macro-financed companies,'' Mr Ferrari said of small start-ups.
The 19 businesses included beauty salons, a hotel, a large retailer, restaurants and food manufacturers. Mr Ferrari visited each client for a week, every six months.
He said the base necessity for any start-ups included their understanding market knowledge, basic financial numeracy and ability to put in some hard work.
"Enthusiasm, motivation and high energy levels are really what makes the difference'' he said.
New businesses often fell into one of two arenas, either buying an existing company or being a start-up. Separate issues had to be considered buying an existing business, such as the price of goodwill, the client database, its profitability during the past five years, market share and return on investment.
Closer to home, in 2006 Mr Ferrari became a board member of Enterprise Clutha Trust, and was later its chairman, before the trust became the Clutha Development Trust. He is still a board member and has high hopes for the Clutha district.
"There are some great businesses in the [Clutha] district and Milton and Clinton,'' Mr Ferrari said.
With three adult children and five grandchildren, he does not yet consider retirement an option.
"I'm still seeing people informally, for no fee, six or seven years on,'' Mr Ferrari said, but in recent weeks he has still been formally mentoring.
A JP since 2006, he has also been a keen collector of art, especially Otago artists, and has been a volunteer with the Creative Arts Trust since 2007, supporting people in the mental health community, with intellectual disabilities and those with alcohol and drug addictions.
He hopes other businesspeople will consider becoming mentors in the future.
"It's really rewarding. It would be a very valuable experience for them, if they find they have the time to put in,'' he said.
Michael Ferrari
Other appointments, positions and voluntary work:
•Otago Southland Employers' Assn, board member 19 years, life member 2003
•New Zealand Employers Assn, board member 1999-2001
•Business New Zealand, executive board, 2001-03
•NZ Institute of Management, fellow 1998.
•Dunedin Citizens Advice Bureau, member 1999 to present.
•Community Organisation Grants Scheme, member 2003-08, 2009-11.
•Otago Polytechnic, councillor 1995-2007. Multiple committees. Honorary member, 2007.
•PACT, board member 2004 to present.
•ACC Consumers Outlook group, 2006-08
•ACC Advocacy Grants Committee, 2007-09
•Ministry of Social Development, ministerial appointment as community rep on Otago Benefits Review Committee.
•Te Whare Pounamu Dunedin Women's Refuge, board member 2014.
•YWCA, allocation committee of Angel Fund, 2014.
•Reading for the Blind, Community Justice, panel member, Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Trust, 2016, Moray Foundation Trust.
•Otago Bridge Club, committee member 1990 to present, life member 2003. Otago Southland Contract Bridge Centre, committee 1992-2003, life member 2003.
