Kiwi Business Story: Stuart Gerring from Parks Garage

Stuart Gerring from Parks Garage is a Owner Manager Programme 46 cohort alumni.

This Kiwi Business Story is based on a podcast from 19 November 2021, and all figures quoted are from that time. You can enjoy the complete podcast here.

Can you explain your business to us and your journey of becoming a business owner? 

Mine is a family business called Parks Garage, My parents bought it in December 1994.  We are a towing business, but it had a panel shop out back. When I left school, I did my panel beating apprenticeship. I decided once I had done that I was sick of being covered in bog and dust and everything. I then took some time out and got into the ski industry, drove snowcats, and then decided after getting a call from my dad around the time of the Christchurch earthquake saying are you coming back or what are we doing here? I have been back ever since. We have had to reset the panel shop.

Is there any advice or a heads up you would have given your past self in terms of business ownership?

Kind of the bigger we have gotten in the more specialised equipment we have built up over the years, we have started to just charge what it is worth, as opposed to what the industry reality is trying to tell you. That is a lesson learned earlier on in my career, you bend to your customer. These bigger guys, it is the self-confidence thing of being able to say, okay, we can do business without that relationship, if they are not going to play their part. Too much negative energy going into something like that. Also for me, networking earlier on in my days, I just spent too much time in the business, not on it.

How did you hear about The Icehouse?

I got introduced to The Icehouse through BNZ. I had been looking for a course for a long time. I am a tradie and through acquisition I have ended up running this sizable business and I think the last acquisition we took on an additional 18 staff. I had been looking for something for a long time and when I meet with Gareth, I do not think he had to sell me hard, I just liked the look of it, and some of the interviews I had watched on the website, it had just been a good fit from from the start, and still enjoying engaging with the various kind of events they have down here.

Have you implemented anything into your business or lifestyle since the Owner Manager Programme?

The Icehouse has helped me with a lot of our internal structures. I think, as we grew quite rapidly, I was not passing jobs or tasks on to others, and had people that were from the trade or from the industry, coming off the tools to do a step up, but they were not really the perfect fit either. It made logical sense, but it did not work in practice. So we restructured again which allowed us to get the right people into give me support so that I can focus on the right things. As far as my personal life goes, I have started to take the odd holiday. Skiing trips down to Wanaka and things like that. They just give you a bit of clarity and perspective when you come back. Not everything is mission critical, you cannot stress about everything.