Kurt Sandtmann is the Managing Director of TRACTA and an Owner Manager Programme 42 alumni.
This Kiwi Business Story is based on a podcast from 29 September 2022 and all figures and facts quoted are from that time. You can enjoy the complete podcast here.
Who is Kurt and what does life look like?
Life's pretty good! I've got a young family in Te Awanga. Living by the coast helps me enjoy my passions on a regular basis. We’ve got a little agency down in Hawke's Bay... and I love what I do. We've some challenges from time to time, like most business owners, but I have a lot to be thankful for.
Tell us about your career journey?
I did an undergrad degree at Victoria University… and started working in bars to pay my way. I was quite lucky, I met the director of the company that owned all the bars. He approached me and said, ‘I'm wanting to start a bar, do you want to come and you can own it with me. I'll give you a share if you want to design the bar and do the menus and whatnot!’
I was 22 and got a real crash course in running a business…12 months in I got approached by the same guy, and he happened to be one of the top managers at Weta Workshop. So he said, ‘Do you want to come and work alongside Weta on The Hobbit?’ So off I went into film. I did that for four years.
I did three or four years in events; event management, event design, and digital experience. I jumped into agency land after that, completed my Master's degree, worked in agencies for a few years, and then the opportunity came to come and work at Tractor, which I did. I worked here for three or four years and then ended up purchasing it.
Tell us about TRACTA?
We help Agri businesses grow their businesses and brands through marketing, creativity and communications work. We work with any sort of business from small to medium sized enterprises right up to a multinationals. We’ve got clients across New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, The Philippines, and Israel, so all around the world.
What’s been a highlight in your journey?
We’ve had a number of wins this year. For us, this has been one for the record books. We've had a lot of new business wins – some really, really big businesses. It gives me personally a great degree of pride to win some of the world's largest companies from little old Hawke's Bay.
How did you hear about The Icehouse initially, and the Owner Manager Programme?
I first heard of OMP through a colleague. I was firstly a little sceptical because I'd just come off the back of about seven years’ worth of study, but as soon as I looked into it, I thought, ‘Yeah, this looks great”. It's a lot more practical, hands on, has a great amount of presenters and course leaders, and I think the practical-ness of it was the biggest appeal for me.
Is there anything you've implemented into the business, but also your lifestyle since doing the programme?
Heaps! One of the big things I took away from day one was the three circles; you, your business and you in the business, and I think that a lot of Kiwi business owners don't separate that.
By pulling that apart (well, I still have a pretty bad work/life balance!) I've managed to balance it a little bit better than I had.
Some of the workshops we did with the likes of Sven Hansen on resilience, from a personal perspective, really stand out, and also financial simulations. It amazes me the amount of Kiwis who aren't actually that financially literate. That really helped from a business perspective.
And, finally, and most importantly, I’ve got a lot of respect for Liz [Wotherspoon, Chief Executive at The Icehouse]. The people management that she teaches, and the frameworks and hacks within that, I've definitely adopted in a very big way.
You’ve also attended several Owner Manager Exchange Programmes (OMX)?
I rate them highly. The OMX programme was a really good opportunity to reset and rub shoulders again with people that are in the same position. What you quickly figure out is any problem you think you're battling with alone, you’re not, there's others.
It is such a good way to reconnect. I always bring a page full of questions for the guys and the course directors – to just bounce off them. Then you also get an update from the likes of Darl Kolb and Deb Shepherd on where the industry, the market, and the country is at. So, I place a really high value on the OMX.