From ice cream to supermarket price comparison app, social enterprise helps people learn business skills

Hillary Tuason’s family have always loved food.

In the Philippines, his grandfather ran his own restaurant and after taking a chocolatier course in Melbourne with his father, Alberto, the family started their own ice cream and sorbet business called Zelati in 2009.

With a laboratory in Tawa, the family initially sold their products wholesale.

But Tuason said she always thought there was a lot more they could do and wanted to bring their ice cream to the public.

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With Tuason’s father taking a step back, the 26-year-old oversees the entire business.

Eager to develop her business skills, in 2018 she participated in a free 10-day course set up by the social enterprise Rebel Business School Aotearoa. Established in 2017, the school’s program was brought to New Zealand from the UK and its main purpose was to provide people who were struggling to find work opportunities with skills to help them get started or to develop a business.

“There were a lot of workshops, and I was given resources and contacts to further develop the business,” she said.

It also encouraged her to focus on building the company’s website and connecting with local councils when it came to events.

By setting up a food truck, Tuason also helped establish the company’s first dessert cafe in 2019, on the Left Bank off Cuba’s St.

She wants to include more herbal products for Zelati and, with Wellington On A Plate coming up, hopes to have more Filipino-inspired dishes on the menu.

Tuason was also looking to expand the business with more dessert coffees.

His advice for people with business ideas? “Don’t be afraid to start now. Take the plunge. “

The Rebel Business School also helped Terence Hikawai.

Hikawai was once a broke college student and that’s what inspired one of his business ideas.

“I was sitting somewhere and all I thought about was I had to go to Countdown and then New World to compare prices,” he said. “That’s what did it for me.”

Turning his idea into a phone app called CheapKai !, he said she would compare prices between different supermarkets and dairies.

Although the app is still in the works, it was a springboard for a bigger business idea, launching PÅ«tahi Innovations Limited, a think tank for like-minded entrepreneurs through a Maori kaupapa approach. .

“Initially, I didn’t fully understand all the moving parts of building a business, I had a great idea that I knew would help my community, but the infrastructure and support to bring it to market was non-existent.” , did he declare.

Wanting to keep the momentum going but also in need of direction, Lower Hutt’s Hikawai said he signed up for the 10-day trading course during the lockdown.

Describing himself as a “complete noob” in business, Hikawai said the discussions and presentations, as well as the homework, gave him clarity and motivation.

“It also gave me better ideas because I got to talk to mentors, staff and also other people on the course. I feel a lot more confident and a lot more informed.

School founder Tony Henderson-Newport said his experience in the UK cemented in his mind that you don’t have to have a mountain of money to start a business.

“There is an untapped source of new ideas and knowledge from the perspective of the underdog – we want to help bring it to the fore. It’s about helping people get into business who never thought they had a chance to fight, ”he said.