My Story.

I’d always wanted to go out on my own. I always wanted to have a go. I bought Lakeland in 2008. Started off with 2 vans and 2 dudes. There’s 9 vehicles there now and we’ve got about 11 staff.

I learnt a bit from running a construction team in the UK. There was only about 5 of us when I was working for my old boss. I was quoting, running the workshop and helping run the business. I was kind of self taught really. I did do a business management course in Queenstown with Peter Wakka when I got back. There was a class every Wednesday.

"You guys are awesome,

I don’t know what I’d do without you guys."

 

Hunter McLeod

I bought Lakeland in 2008. We had a different accountant but it didn't work out. I’d worked with Rae before, I did all the glass for Rae's building. That must be 15 years ago.

"They make my life easier."

 

Pretty much they cover everything. They do my wages now too, I don’t have to do the PAYE, I don’t miss anyone out, and there's no mistakes. Now I’ve got my head around it, it’s easy and it means I can keep doing this. I can keep doing what I'm good at.

Caleb does all of the financials, tax, end of year financial, planning. Sarah does my PAYE and Terry, he’s doing the wages now.

"My experience has been awesome."

Our Story.

We bought this place 2011. Steve worked here and he was close with the guy who trained him. Fast foward a while and his wife sold the business. 11 years later we’re still here. We just jumped straight into it. It wasn’t how to run a business. [Steve] For me, it was just about getting stuck into it. I knew how to run the workshop.

[Amanda] Steves family gave us a lot of advice too. My dad had experience in running commercial sites and finances.

Before we moved to Hunter McLeod we didn't have much support. We had to incorporate it ourselves, we GST registered ourselves too, we had no money but we just got into it. Just had to wing it.

"Once we moved to Hunter McLeod, it made things a lot more simple."

 

We started with one guy and now we’ve got between 10 and 12. We started with one old van, now we’ve upgraded machinery, vans, vehicles and we’ve got a new workshop. It's quality work, with clients that support you, we’ve been really lucky in that respect. I like the client relationships.

"We rely on our accountants a lot."

 

The accountants keep us alive, they keep us afloat. Our tax obligations, even our staff. I do all the Crystal payroll which has been a lifesaver and we can do it all on the cloud.

They're great advisors. I literally ring Caleb for anything; new purchases, whether it’s something we should be looking to do, or pointing out the risks involved and

"I think they’re a big part of our success."

 

And honest too. Our first accountants did our books and that was it, no reminders, no reports.

Caleb does our personal stuff too. He liaises with all the banks, help us with the houses we build, etc. "They [Hunter McLeod] go above and beyond what you would expect from your daily accountant."

My Story.

I was a farming cadet but later ended up moving into signwriting when my father wanted to retire from the trade, there was an opportunity waiting there for me. I did a crash course apprenticeship, in those days all lettering was done with a paintbrush, I guess that dates me.

I soon ended up expanding with several of my own sign shops in Auckland. I was running my own business at 20. I bought one of the first computerised vinyl cutters in the country for similar money as I could buy a small house. That was innovation and progress.

Fast forward 10 years, I gave away signwriting, sold the companies and went full time as a landscape painter – living the quiet country life as an artist.

The Lonely Dog concept happened on the side, about 15 years ago. I started by mucking about with a paint brush, conceptualising dog characters, inspired by my own dogs and their personalities.

Business.

Operating from my home studio then was pretty low key.

Fifteen years ago we stepped up to lease a large retail space in Queenstown's CBD to establish an art gallery, this came with a lot of overheads. There's staff, contracts, wages, GST and everything else which is like a rubics cube to me.

We began growing the Lonely Dog character and soon found ourselves creating a brand.

First up we had to get that protected, and from there other companies and entities stemmed from that. Hunter McLeod have helped us all along the way and have been fantastic.

 

"They do what they do, which let’s me get on with the creative."

 

I give credit to the team at Hunter McLeod.

The gallery in town largely runs itself, managed by a great team. I refer to them as my bosses. We’ve got systems in place that were largely put in place by Hunter McLeod and we stick with them. I must confess, I’ve actually never been on Xero or Vend. The artist in me doesn’t like numbers. I just have to leave that part of the business to someone else. For me, I think if things can’t be delegated and managed, then I shouldn’t be in that business. Hunter McLeod take care of the small stuff as well enabling the business to work for us by taking care of things behind the scenes. Systems have all been implemented by Hunter Mcleod and there’s been modifications and upgrades along the way.

" They take care of everything else."

 

Running a business.

I enjoy having an intelligent team around me who are in sync with Hunter McLeod. They keep the tax man from the door. If the IRD comes knocking, I’ll invite them in for a cup of tea and tell them to go see Caleb [Hunter McLeod]. That’s the experience of having professionals behind you, you have trust in your team. 

Accountants.

So its my view that the Accountant should keep the wolves away. Accounting and all the small stuff makes my eyes glaze over. Hunter McLeod have been great with keeping us current and everything up to speed.

" So its my view that the Accountant should keep the wolves away. "

My Story.

I was living in Nelson and I took a chance at a job opportunity in Queenstown. I moved down, then the guys I was working for went bust. I tried to get a job at the opposition but he was selling up. He said I could take over the client base for $10,000.

"It was hard. We had to sell the boat to cover rent."

 

Up until recently I didn’t even know how many bank accounts I had. Hunter McLeod helped with the bank, my phones, my loans, and all of the accounts. Because you can talk to Rae, they’re a great business to deal with. She’s great with her advice.

Running the Business

The hours and the stress are tough. I’ve been self employed since I was 23. We went first 10 years without taking a holiday.

I enjoy lots of aspects, but it’s the freedom I like most. I've just been up in Auckland at a conference discussing new technology, that's pretty cool.

If you’re running a business it’s a great thing to do, but its just me [running it]. It's stressful. That’s where Hunter McLeod comes in good, they look after the book side of things.

"I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t have Rae."

 

Its been great, just having someone I can call up and talk to. We’ve always had good service.

Why?

We got involved with Hunter McLeod while we were doing the access control in their new development. It was The Forge building and we got on really well with the team. They looked like a really friendly bunch. They were also one of the few firms that had Xero up and running.

They run my business. I do the quoting and the tools and they charge everything out and do my GST. I don’t have any admin staff, Hunter McLeod are my admin staff. I haven’t got an office which saves me $20k a year, I don’t have another staff member that I would be paying 8 hours a day, I don't have any of the worries that come with extra staff.

They do everything for me. I like having the security that my books are up to date every month. The way it’s happening with them now, everything is relevant, everything is up to date.

"There’s no stress".

 

Because they’re attached to my accounts, I get emails to say how much GST and how much PAYE I need to pay.

If I was to do it myself it would cost a great deal more, I’d be slower, and I’d be off the tools. I don’t want to work all night, I’ve got kids at home and that's more important to me.