John Whyte fills that bill, with at least 50 years in the agricultural machinery industry and 2016 marking the 40th anniversary of Whyteline Paeroa.
Based in eastern Waikato and serving an area that encompasses the Coromandel Peninsula, the Bay of Plenty down to Whakatane and the Hauraki Plains, this family business, run by John and his son Mark, epitomises how a well-run operation can evolve over changing times.
John started his tractor days as a parts man at an IH business in the Bay of Plenty, before spells with IH in Brisbane and IH New Zealand in Palmerston North. He’d always had a hankering to run his own business, so he jumped at an opportunity to join the late Jim Scott at Paeroa Motors and became the sole owner in 1984.
Back then, bread and butter business was those aforementioned models, alongside B47 balers and the ubiquitous PZ two-drum mower. From those early days Whyte had a mantra “do it once and do it right”.
His success over the ensuing years has shown that paying attention to detail – in sales, parts or service – makes a difference, as shown by the third-generation customers continuing to come through the door.
Over the years the business has seen changes, like the formation of Case IH in the 1980s, a move to the current site on Paeroa’s main street in 1993, when son Mark came on the scene, and the arrival of quads, cars and latterly utes.
By these means the business survives the fluctuations in farming’s fortunes and a rapid expansion of new technology we think common today.
Fast forward to today, and the team now numbers about 20, many of them 20 years there and promoting those same values do-it-right values. The Whytes realise that loyal customers are the core of their business, and they have repaid that loyalty in their by supporting schools, sports clubs and community initiatives.
What are the abiding memories for John Whyte?
A town-ravaging flood with water up to the light switches that brought into perspective an electrical problem with a tractor -- it was completely underwater.
And the amazing change technology has brought about in a short time: powershift and CVT transmissions are the norm, GPS and auto-steering keep things on track and efficient, and ever-increasing emission regulations have made
engines much more fuel efficient.
Two key things spring to mind for John Whyte: agriculture, and indeed farmers, are the core of the business; and the perennial question, “where has all that time gone?”
