‘Tasty Southern Seeds’ is a small business based in Central Otago, in New Zealand’s South Island. Bianca founded the business in 2004, looking for a lifestyle change. Having been a nurse for the previous 30 years, Bianca decided to reduce her working hours to part time (one or two days per week) and became a late-blooming entrepreneur. The business grew steadily (but not without challenges), and within four years Bianca was making a net profit greater than her after-tax wages. Locals were her initial customers, but tourists – especially foreign visitors – rapidly became the majority. Eight years after establishing Tasty Southern Seeds, Bianca faced a series of interlinked questions: Should she give up her ‘day job’ and focus exclusively on Tasty Southern Seeds? Should she sell the business under the assumption that because of her age she would be slowing down soon and could not devote enough energy to keeping it growing? Or – her personal preference – should she expand into overseas markets through either exporting or franchising?

As a nurse with an interest in diets, Bianca knew the health benefits of various foods, and had created her own personal mix of sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Experimenting for over 20 years, she also developed a variety of seasoning mixes, with garlic and chilli being her favourites. Friends, family and visitors all appreciated sampling her seed mixtures at her home, and it was regularly suggested that she should sell her seeds at the local farmers’ market. She decided to test the saleability of her mixture at the annual arts and crafts festival in early 2004, selling her sample of 20 packs more quickly than she had thought possible. Tasty Southern Seeds was born – although the name wasn’t created until a few weekends later, when she arranged a stand at the weekly farmers’ market. Eight years later, the stand continues to attract regular customers, but the vast majority of sales occur in increasingly widespread and diverse locations outside Bianca’s home town – hence her interest in exploring overseas expansion, or alternatively letting her business fly under someone else’s ownership.