A career in complementary medicine has brought Englishwoman Jane Lumb to New Zealand under a long term business visa. Jane and her husband Ian have lived in Wellington since June 2002, and she has established a business within Haight Ashbury Boutique salon in the centre of the city.
New directions
Complementary health is a far cry from educational administration which was Jane’s original field of interest. Although Jane says she thoroughly enjoyed the work and set up a number of specialist services, she left it because of the stress.
“I had been going to a reflexologist for a few years, and she told me that my health problems were stress-related and that I should seriously consider a career change.
“I was seeing a woman who practised ‘organic hand sugaring’, which is an ancient Egyptian form of hair removal, and I became interested in learning that. However, I was fascinated with complementary medicine and realised it was very powerful but without the side effects of some conventional treatments.”
So Jane studied reflexology, massage therapy, aromatherapy and sugaring at college. By the time she had completed her qualifications she was running a home-based business.
Although her business was very successful, she was still attracted to education, and returned to college to earn a teaching qualification in adult and further education, specialising in basic numeracy and literacy, and advanced TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
New Zealand beckons
“Retraining and establishing a business was a complete lifestyle change, and I did it for nine years. But we were looking for even more of a change and thinking about emigrating, when I learned about the New Zealand business visas.”
Jane applied, was accepted, and brought her business to New Zealand.
She and Ian were also considering Australia. While initially it was more difficult and expensive to get into New Zealand, an Australian business visa would have required her to be generating a minimum net profit of $100,000 and be employing two people by the end of four years. She says she didn’t want her business to grow to that extent and felt New Zealand would be more suited to her business ideal.
“Obviously, my business has to succeed, but here it can succeed without having to expand too quickly.
“A lot of small businesses fail and I didn’t want the stress of the rapid expansion that I would have been under in Australia, so it became obvious that NZ was the best choice.”
A new type of business
One of the criteria for being granted a business visa is that a migrant brings a new technology or business opportunity to New Zealand.
In Jane’s case that was the hand sugaring. It is a gentle method of hair removal using a sugar paste, which is suitable for people with skin problems.
However, it is virtually unknown here, and Jane has to educate potential clients on what it is before they will even think of coming to her. Jane also offers other types of complementary health care including reflexology and aromatherapy. Jane is keen to see people using reflexology and aromatherapy in the workplace. She says where this has been tried overseas, organisations have found that absenteeism was lower, concentration improved and workers made fewer errors because of stress.
Starting a business is a challenge anywhere, but especially so in a new country.
Jane approached Biz Wellington, which is part of a government-funded network of centres that support small business with advice and training. She can’t speak too highly of them.
“They run courses on everything that a small business might need, from marketing to accounting. I went to some half-day courses, and they do a lot of follow-up and networking.
“They seem to take a personal interest in you, and they were a great help to me. All small businesses should make contact with them.”
A logical alliance
While setting up a business here was very similar to in the UK, especially for a home-based service, Jane has found building up a client base much slower. Jane’s initial plan was to establish a home-based business before moving into premises in town. However, earlier this year she met Robert Rogers, who has operate the Haight Ashbury hair salon in Wellington for many years. He was shifting to larger premises, and wanted to offer beauty therapy, nail extensions and complementary health treatments alongside hair styling.
The result was that Jane teamed up with Robert, and Haight Ashbury now has hair stylists, a nail technician, a beauty therapist and Jane working as a collective in the same boutique salon.
They share many clients, and Jane can offer a number of business services she couldn’t at home, such as EFTPOS and credit card payments. Haight Ashbury is a well-known name in Wellington, and Jane’s business is included in their advertising.
“I wasn’t expecting to be in this situation for another three to four years, and I have moved into town before building up my clientele. That means business has been slower than you would expect in the city, but I’m breaking even now, which is not bad after only nine months in business.”
Putting down roots
Jane’s business visa only lasts three years and runs out in August 2004 . She can apply to renew it for a further three years, but she hopes to apply for permanent residence before then.
“I’m hoping to have my next set of annual accounts done before then so I can apply for permanent residency.”
Jane’s husband Ian has a work visa. Although Jane has to work for herself, he has been able to get what she jokingly calls a ‘proper job.’ Coming from the UK, Jane and Ian found the transition to New Zealand smooth and the country easy to adjust to. “We’ve bought a house here, so we’ve really taken the plunge. I definitely don’t want to go back to live in the UK. Apart from our daughter who lives there, we have no reason to go back at all. We want to live here.”