42 Parallel Holding
Dana Mitchell is one entrepreneur preparing to export. Her company 42nd Parallel Holding recently launched a brand of frozen organic baby food called Stages, which sells in several Auckland stores and will be launched overseas next year. The business got a considerable boost in May, when Stages won an award at the 2006 SIAL d’Or in Paris, where a panel of international food journalists judges innovative food products from around the world.
42nd Parallel was set up to be an export business, Dana Mitchell says. “We consciously thought about making it scaleable and compliant with overseas food requirements. We set up our own production facilities, which is costly, but gives us an ability to control the quality and provide the volumes we need to supply supermarkets.”
Dana Mitchell has a strong business background having worked for Telecom for several years, and her husband Darcy Sheffield is experienced in production and quality control systems. This previous experience means the couple have the skills to develop the back room support systems needed for an export business. “We don’t have all those systems in place yet, but we do know what will be needed and when.”
When she was developing the business idea she tested the concept of high-quality frozen baby food on friends and associates at social events, and organised to meet branding, industry and supermarket specialists. She used the internet as a research tool, and purchased some international research reports that gave her a better feel for the potential international market. To help keep a lid on costs, she also used the internet to screen potential brand names, before approaching a lawyer to secure the trademark. This reduced the risk that when the lawyer did their own international search, it would show that the brand name wasn’t available, she says.
She also sought help from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to develop an export plan, and was accepted into NZTE’s Escalator programme, which provides access to specialist skills and assistance for businesses looking to raise equity funding in order to expand, or commercialise a product or service.
Dana Mitchell’s advice to other entrepreneurs wanting to develop a good idea into a startup business is to get help from subject-matter experts. “These people may seem expensive but if you can get half an hour of an expert’s time it can save you months of research.”
NZTE’s business service manager Jeannine Walsh says 42nd Parallel’s success reflects the effort the company put into getting feedback from potential consumers and distributors, including supermarkets, before launching the product.
“One of the smartest things Dana does is to draw on the expertise of others. By being open to constructive criticism and testing each proposition in the business cycle, she is able to draw on a collective intelligence far better than just her own. She’s also seen real value from working through various NZTE programmes to gain access to specialist advice and information to help move her business forward.”
Discover more articles from Bright Magazine at www.nzte.govt.nz/bright
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