Having built up a successful business in a relatively short space of time, Peter Hishon stands out from the crowd, yet still focuses on training young people – part of his ‘long game’ business ethos.

Behind the Brand showcases our innovators, entrepreneurs, small and large business owners, managers, leaders. 

It’s like a backstage pass into the real person behind the success. What makes them tick, what makes them successful. A peek at some of Central Otago’s smartest and most interesting people.

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Peter Hishon loves what he does. He says that passion and enjoyment, combined with his competitive nature is one of the secrets to being successful.

“When people first start out in real estate, I tell them that the top 20 percent of agents bring in 80 percent of the business. Then I ask them, which group do you want to be in?

Peter says being born into a large family meant he had to be competitive as a child, then being highly competitive stood him well on the sports field. 

It has also stood him well in his business – he loves what he does and he is driven to succeed.

“Pick something you enjoy doing, and be the best.”

“My early career was all livestock-related, and involved a lot of travel.

“It was time to do something locally and be involved in the community.”

After learning the ropes with another real estate agency, Peter bought the Central Otago Tall Poppy franchise three years ago.

“The opportunity came about by accident, as opportunities often do.

“I looked into it, did my due diligence, and the rest is history.”

Peter said he had been in a traditional real estate company, and with this new opportunity came a vision of where real estate is heading – a different future.

“Other industries have changed, disrupted around the globe; the real estate industry has stayed the same.

“I just thought, hey, here’s an opportunity to do business in a new way.”

“I took the new model, applied new thinking, put my own spin on things, then adjusted to what would suit the local market here in Central Otago.”

“But in developing new ways to do business, you’ve always got to remember the fundamentals – good service and in our case, a fair fee.”

Peter said the worst part of any journey in business is the first few months – getting your first customers.

“We were lucky and got a lot of traction very early, then it was like a snowball effect – the better we did, the more business we attracted.”

Peter said the biggest problem for him was burn-out. The business grew very quickly and he was working very long hours.

“That’s often true for any business, though. You work hard to build it up before you can take on more people.

“We quickly grew from a team of two, to the team we have now of thirteen people.”

“We’ve also expanded. As well as our Alexandra team, we now have three agents based in Cromwell, and three in Wanaka.”

“A good business needs to grow a good team.

“I’m a colleague, not their boss; I give everyone the tools they need to succeed and we work as a team.”

Peter says COVID changed his perspective.

“It made me realise how important it was to be able to sell a house without people entering it.

“It opened another little world in 3-dimensions, with videos and ways of developing experiences for people when they couldn’t be there in person.”

“It raised an awareness of What if? What if this all happens again? Are we prepared?”

Peter says documentation also changed dramatically - how things are approved and signed. ‘Going online’ wasn’t just a simple process of putting images and information online - it was about creating online experiences, and making it easy for people to complete transactions online.

“The tools were there already, but weren’t often used. COVID made all that happen faster.”

But the real truth about COVID, Peter said, was that he enjoyed lockdown.

“After I got over the stress of not being able to work, I actually enjoyed having a break.

“It broke the cycle for me and taught me to take time out on a regular basis, to have a balance in my life.”

“Doing business is all about people, and if you’re tired and stressed you’re not going to play your A-game, you’re not going to provide your best service.”

“Stay passionate and enthusiastic about what you do.

“The day you lose that passion is the day you should take a good look at why - and get your life back into balance.”

“It’s all about people.

“We’re not sales people, we’re matchmakers.”

“In real estate you’ve got a constantly moving dynamic; you’re doing the same job but there’s constant change. 

“Look after yourself, stay enthusiastic, learn.

“Success is down to hard work, people skills, planning, persistence and honesty.”

“Success has a lot to do with repeat business and referrals - so good communication is key.

“Embrace change, look at the bigger picture, play the long game.

“If you’re good at what you do, and passionate about what you do, you get repeat business, and the rest looks after itself.”

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