Soda Inc educates audiences how to build a business with the right tools

Cheryl Reynolds, chief executive of Soda Inc, spoke at the Wintec Spark festival about the tools needed for starting a business.

Soda Inc is a not for profit business incubator. It takes on board new businesses and gives them guidance on marketing, business models and legal issues. The goal is for the business to double in size during the initial six month period of incubation, when it is being nurtured by Soda Inc.

Three years ago Soda Inc was was founded “to start a revolution” for filmmakers, musicians and other people in the creative industries.

“The reason it was established is because there wasn’t enough jobs for creatives in this city and in this region,” Ms Reynolds said.

“There was at the time 20% less jobs than the national average in the city and in the region 43% less. There was an opportunity to shift what is a great economy here, an agritech economy, a dairy economy into a more diversified, creative, dynamic digital economy.”

She referred to New Zealand’s isolation and small population as issues for development.

“We are so far off the market,” she said. “We need to export. We need to get in touch with the rest of the world.”

Case study: Draw Inc

Draw Inc, an art gallery, won the 48 hour start up business competition run by Soda Inc in April.

Its prize was a six-week pre-incubation with Soda Inc, a process Draw Inc co-founder Craig McClure described as “terrifying.”

“It got us stripped down and scrutinised by people who really know what they’re talking about,” he said.

Soda Inc directed them to think about creating profit, something that clashed with the Draw Inc members’ more traditional penniless artist identity.

“There’s that cliche with artists that we’re resistant to commercial gain and consumerism,” Mr McClure said.  “When we go in there (to Soda Inc) we have to switch our mode of thinking.”

Draw Inc’s goal is to operate its gallery in a way that puts more money in the hands of artists.
The first thing it did to try and achieve this goal is put the commission at 25%, below the standard rate galleries take.

Mr McClure said when the artist doesn’t need to worry about a big cut being taken out of their work it allows them to sell it at a lower rate and produce more work, which would make art accessible to a wider audience.
He said that usually the type of  artists galleries take on is influenced by the owner and the client base he’s catering to.

“There’s a huge difference in the type of people they would be able to bring to a show and the type of people that come to our shows, that we just have here in Hamilton on the street.”