Lessons from our first six months in business: 10 + 1 bonus
As we reach the close of our first financial year and reflect on six months of building RŌA Consulting, we have learned that running a kaupapa Māori business is a commitment to walking between worlds that blend commercial acumen with tikanga, western strategy with mātauranga, and short-term wins with an intergenerational vision.
These 10 (+1) lessons are real, unfiltered, and draw directly from lived experience over the last six months. Each one includes a reflection on how we made the most of the lesson or how others can build on it for themselves. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning on our haerenga and sharing insights that can help others go further, faster, and be more aligned to you kaupapa.
1. Kia punga te kaupapa – Anchor everything in your values
Turning down revenue might seem risky and has been hard but for us, it's not a trade-off. It's non-negotiable. Staying true to our kaupapa has enhanced our reputation and drawn in aligned, long-term clients.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Be bold in naming your values and your non-negotiables up front. When others know what you stand for, the right people lean in, and the wrong ones filter out early. Understand both the intended and unintended consequences of doing the mahi or not doing the mahi.
2. There’s no perfect time to start – so just start
We launched right before the summer holidays, followed by a quiet Jan–March. But we used that downtime to refine strategy, build kaupapa, and design our growth plans.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
If you hit a quiet patch, turn inward. Build your brand, design new offerings, and work on the parts of your business that support long-term growth. Then test them on your previous clients to demonstrate value.
3. Do it yesterday – urgency is your best friend
Pushing tasks until tomorrow compresses timelines and creates pressure. Deliver early and take the additional time to critique and perfect.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Treat deadlines like commitments to your future self. Act early so you can breathe later. Try and get things finished a week early so that you can spend time refining. None like a grumpy parent that has been up all night.
4. Cash is king – it’s not real until it hits your bank
Many opportunities sound promising but don’t convert. Business development means navigating interest, uncertainty, and following-up.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
We tracked our pipeline closely and learned to read between the lines. Stay present in conversations, but ground your planning in confirmed income. Including not spending money you don’t have.
5. Whakaaro nui – Think big, plan, project, budget… then stick to it
Having a strategy gives us direction and discipline. Without a budget and forecast, we would have been flying blind. When starting a business it helps to have six months of personal expenses and six months of business expenses behind you, well we didn’t, so this is where the following is really important.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Put your plan on paper and check it often. Build in flexibility but hold tight to your financial guardrails. No you don’t need that new office chair for $1,000, your current chair does its job well.
6. Kōkiri – You have to hunt for the mahi
Get out from behind the desk. We hit the streets, and leaned on old networks. Kanohi ki te kanohi still opens doors that cold emails won’t. Be purposeful with your time and work out how to multiply the opportunities.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Treat every coffee, every hui, and every hongi as potential. Relationships built on trust always outperform transactional pitches. When out of our rohe, we ask clients for referrals, introductions or jump on google to see who we can door knock to make the most of our haerenga. Just remember that there is such thing as over selling and clients don’t want to hear about you, they want to share their kōrero.
7. Say no fast – your energy is finite
We’ve declined more work than we’ve accepted. Saying no has protected our time, wairua, and integrity. Just because we are a start up with whakapapa to Taranaki, doen’t mean we are disparate to take your extractionary profits.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Create clear criteria for what aligns with your pakihi. Trust your gut, it always knows when something’s off. Saying no is a long-term investment in your mana and mokopuna.
8. Rest is resistance – protect your mauri
The grind is constant. Rest isn’t a luxury – it’s part of the business plan. Without balance, burnout becomes the cost of growth.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
We treated rest and fitness as strategy. Build in slow days, tech-free zones, or time in te taiao. It fuels sharper thinking and deeper creativity that you will never get at your desk.
9. Know your value – then help others see it too
A client once told us our fee was more than their CEO’s. They’re now repeat clients with a long-term kaupapa in place.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Back yourself. Package your value in a way that shows outcomes, not just time. When you lead with impact, pricing becomes secondary. As a small consultancy we focus on value rather then quantity.
10. Always be building – brand, resources, systems, relationships
Even when it’s quiet, we’re building: our brand, our resources, and our ways of working including who we subcontract mahi to. This will pay off in scale and sustainability.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Future-proof by turning your expertise into repeatable tools, content, or offerings.
+1 Be present with your whānau – not just physically, but fully
In the rush of launching and growing a business, it’s easy to convince yourself that being around your whānau is enough. But presence isn’t just physical, it’s mental, emotional, and spiritual. Think Te Whare Tapawhā.
We’ve learned that meaningful time with our friends and whānau requires intentionaly putting the phone away, switching off mahi mode, and truly connecting. Some of the most important moments in the last six months didn’t happen in hui, or planning sessions. They happened at the park, in the kitchen, on the marae, and sharing kai.
How we made the most of it / how others can too:
Treat whānau time as tapu - sacred. Schedule it, honour it, and protect it. Not just for balance but because this is why we do the mahi.
Holding the tension: How we balance the grind and the kaupapa
These lessons don’t exist in isolation. There’s tension in all of them and that’s the point.
Move fast — but only after you’ve planned well.
Build constantly — but rest deliberately.
Pursue pūtea — but never at the cost of your values.
These aren’t contradictions. They’re cycles. They reflect te ao Māori where balance, rhythm, and reciprocity are everything. Business isn't linear, and neither is life.
Closing: Building for Our Mokopuna
The first six months have confirmed that kaupapa Māori is not just a framework it’s a strategy, a strength, and a source of resilience.
To anyone starting or scaling a kaupapa Māori pakihi, trust the mātauranga of your tipuna. Back your value. Protect your mauri. Be present. And keep walking the path, even when it’s slow, even when it’s quiet, even when it feels like none is around, knowing you’re building something that truly matters.
E mihi ana ki a koutou katoa kua tautoko mai I ngā mārama e ono kua taha ake nei. Nā tō koutou mānawa nui mai I whakarewa a RŌA ki te tutuki I te pae tata, e tipu tonu ana kia tutuki i te pae tawhiti.
Nā te whānau Rāngitutia-Pihama, ka nui te aroha.
