Warehouse founder Sir Stephen Tindall reveals his successes and failures

Thursday, 6 December 2018

As the boss of one of New Zealand's biggest retail chains, Sir Stephen Tindall knows all about success.

But, as he told an audience during a visit to New Plymouth on Thursday, he also knows a bit about failure - it's a topic he said he could go on about for three hours. 

'The biggest learning is investing in the right people,' Tindall, who founded retail giant The Warehouse in 1982, told an invited audience during a lunch at the Devon Hotel.

'We look at how good is the idea, how far can it be scaled, how good is the plan to deliver it, but then there is the people.

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'There has been a couple of organisations that we invested in that were run by certain people that initially looked like it was all going to be fine, but it turned out not to be. And not only did they fail in terms of the operation and lose us money there, but then they tried to sue us as well.'

His response came in answer to a question from Taranaki Chamber of Commerce chief executive Arun Chaudhari, who wanted to know Tindall's biggest learning curve from a failed venture. 

Tindall was in New Plymouth to celebrate generosity and giving in Taranaki at the invitation from Te Karaka Foundation, a Taranaki charity which administers endowment funds to good causes. 

He shared his experiences and successes with his foundation, a charity he set up with his wife Margaret in 1994, and what they were currently working on. 

Tindall spoke of some of his current investments which include rocket launches, meat-free products, and a halter that dairy cows would wear and be trained by the noises it made. 

He encouraged people that they didn't have to have a lot to be generous. 

'The example we give is that if you are making up your will and you have a house worth $700,0000 or $500,000 and you have two kids, there isn't much difference in leaving 100 per cent to them and leaving 90 per cent to them.

'Think about what that 10 per cent could do for someone else.'