Dream Au Pair: Caring for the Business

Name: Ginny Douglas and Tanya Burrage
Business: Dream Au Pair
Year Founded: 2010
Industry: Education
Location: Auckland
Icehouse Programme: Owner Operator Programme, 2013
Increase in turnover: 51%
Increase in FTEs: 8%

We first heard about The Icehouse through a friend, Tim Alpe from Jucy Rentals. He had been involved in the Owner Operator Programme and had seen some really positive results with his business. We then attended a BNZ Connect event where Leith Oliver spoke of the programme and we realised it was exactly what our business needed.

Our initial reason for joining the programme was a general feeling of the business being out of control. We didn’t know how to manage the growth we were experiencing whilst achieving positive outcomes and maximising opportunities. It felt a lot like we had a tiger by the tail!

However, these challenges were resolved quickly on the Owner Operator Programme and with the guidance from The Icehouse.

The Owner Operator programme helped us build the capabilities and resources in our team so we could step away from operational work and focus on the big picture: business growth strategy; planning; and governance.

Every fortnight our action group meets to review our business plan.  This group of advisors have come to understand our business and have helped us make some tough decisions. Despite our wildly different industries, the action group experience similar issues and challenges which has been reassuring.

We love the workshop days, we come away buzzing with enthusiasm and ideas and can’t wait to share these with our staff back in the office.

We have also found that this programme has helped fill the gaps in our expertise through training and knowledgeable advisors. We are now a much more confident and capable management team.

In the past year our big achievements have been building capacity and capability as well as setting up a robust infrastructure which will provide the foundation for some serious growth this year. We have secured new premises, developed well-structured processes and invested in systems and staff resource. We have gained control of our company and gained skills in areas we were lacking which has taken our company to the next level.

Without The Icehouse, we would still be gripping that tiger by the tail and operating in the same old reactive patterns. So watch this space, it’s going to be a great year!