In this episode, I break down why saturated markets aren’t something to avoid - they’re actually the smartest and most profitable places to start a business in 2026. I share real examples from my own shapewear brand, my students, and the businesses I’ve built, and walk you through how to find your unique angle in any crowded industry.

👉🏼 https://www.makeithappen.org.nz/
📲 Socials: https://www.instagram.com/makeithappen

 

In this episode, I break down why saturated markets aren&rsquo;t something to avoid - they&rsquo;re actually the smartest and most profitable places to start a business in 2026. I share real examples from my own shapewear brand, my students, and the businesses I&rsquo;ve built, and walk you through how to find your unique angle in any crowded industry.
👉🏼 <a href="https://www.makeithappen.org.nz/">https://www.makeithappen.org.nz/</a> 📲 Socials:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/makeithappen">https://www.instagram.com/makeithappen</a>
&nbsp;

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We're here to help you find a way with a curation of the ‘best bits’ from top business podcasts. 

Save time searching; subscribe to the SME Stream where you can listen to relevant, timely, business-related content today. 

 

Looking for actionable business insights all in one place? 
We're here to help you find a way with a curation of the &lsquo;best bits&rsquo; from top business podcasts. 
Save time searching; subscribe to the SME Stream where you can listen to relevant, timely, business-related content today.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The SME Stream

(#92) Why Saturated Markets Are the Best Places to Start a Business in 2026

As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice. 


This week,  the fuel crisis rages on so what are the plans to secure more stock? There are fears about what the conflict will mean for inflation and GDP, plus business confidence takes a hit, and the working from home debate continues.

As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice.&nbsp;
 This week,&nbsp;&nbsp;the fuel crisis rages on so what are the plans to secure more stock? There are fears about what the conflict will mean for inflation and GDP,&nbsp;plus business confidence takes a hit,&nbsp;and the working from home debate continues.

The SME Stream Weekly Wrap - 03 April

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 59, our guest is Lisa King, the inspirational founder of Eat My Lunch and more recently alcohol free cocktail brand, Free AF.

She was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Zealand at the age of two. Her hardworking parents instilled a passion for education and an enthusiasm for entrepreneurial flair.

Lisa King didn’t waste that business oriented zest for life. A couple of university degrees provided her ticket to her dream jobs, in big corporate organisations that could show her the world.

The New Zealand Daily Board sent her to the Philippines, Unilever took her to the UK and the arrival of her first child brought her home. Roles in the heart of FMCG business followed at Bluebird, Cadbury and eventually back to the newly named Fonterra.

But a need to do something with purpose was stirring and, inspired by an advertisement for shoes – buy one get one free – she set up a school lunch programme that followed that same model. If sponsors would pay for a school lunch, her team would deliver that and another to students in need. It was called “Eat My Lunch” and it arrived at a time when some schools had 50 kids going without a midday meal.

They prepared the lunches in her lounge at first, and at its peak her team were delivering 2,600 free lunches and the same number of paid ones, across 45 schools, every day. 

With the arrival of the Government’s school lunch programme, her work there was done and another purpose was waiting.

Lisa had decided to give up drinking alcohol, and was astounded by the social pressures and the awkward questions. She’d decided that the conversation around not drinking was broken.

And so, in 2020, despite Covid and lockdowns and plenty of reasons not to, she assembled a team and created a brand, developed recipes, and launched Free AF, an alcohol free cocktail brand with a goal to reduce the alcohol in people’s lives without sacrificing the experience.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Lisa King speaks to Bruce Cotterill about, not one, but two entrepreneurial journeys, the lessons she’s learned and the opportunities ahead. Free AF now features in more than 4,000 stores across the USA, including Whole Foods, Target and Walmart and she is very open about the hard work involved in getting established in a massive market, including the importance of keeping her team small and action orientated, jumping time zones and the funding challenges associated with order sizes you don’t expect.

This is a case study in purpose from someone who is in the process of building a global brand. It’s a must listen for every aspiring entrepreneur. Spoiler alert… it’s a lot of hard work!

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 59, our guest is Lisa King, the inspirational founder of Eat My Lunch and more recently&nbsp;alcohol free cocktail brand, Free AF.
She was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Zealand at the age of two. Her hardworking parents instilled a passion for education and an enthusiasm for entrepreneurial flair.
Lisa King didn&rsquo;t waste that business oriented zest for life. A couple of university degrees provided her ticket to her dream jobs, in big corporate organisations that could show her the world.
The New Zealand Daily Board sent her to the Philippines, Unilever took her to the UK and the arrival of her first child brought her home. Roles in the heart of FMCG business followed at Bluebird, Cadbury and eventually back to the newly named Fonterra.
But a need to do something with purpose was stirring and, inspired by an advertisement for shoes &ndash; buy one get one free &ndash; she set up a school lunch programme that followed that same model. If sponsors would pay for a school lunch, her team would deliver that and another to students in need. It was called &ldquo;Eat My Lunch&rdquo; and it arrived at a time when some schools had 50 kids going without a midday meal.
They prepared the lunches in her lounge at first, and at its peak her team were delivering 2,600 free lunches and the same number of paid ones, across 45 schools, every day.&nbsp;
With the arrival of the Government&rsquo;s school lunch programme, her work there was done and another purpose was waiting.
Lisa had decided to give up drinking alcohol, and was astounded by the social pressures and the awkward questions. She&rsquo;d decided that the conversation around not drinking was broken.
And so, in 2020, despite Covid and lockdowns and plenty of reasons not to, she assembled a team and created a brand, developed recipes, and launched Free AF, an alcohol free cocktail brand with a goal to reduce the alcohol in people&rsquo;s lives without sacrificing the experience.
On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Lisa King speaks to Bruce Cotterill about, not one, but two entrepreneurial journeys, the lessons she&rsquo;s learned and the opportunities ahead. Free AF now features in more than 4,000 stores across the USA, including Whole Foods, Target and Walmart and she is very open about the hard work involved in getting established in a massive market, including the importance of keeping her team small and action orientated, jumping time zones and the funding challenges associated with order sizes you don&rsquo;t expect.
This is a case study in purpose from someone who is in the process of building a global brand. It&rsquo;s a must listen for every aspiring entrepreneur. Spoiler alert&hellip; it&rsquo;s a lot of hard work!

Episode 59: Founder of Eat My Lunch & Free AF, Lisa King

New Zealand drivers are about to discover a whole new way of paying to use the roads – and for most, it will be a shock. 

For decades, petrol and diesel motorists have funded the transport network through fuel excise quietly folded into every litre at the pump - currently a 70c tax. 

Soon, that largely invisible tax will give way to something much more visible – paying per kilometre under an expanded road user charge (RUC) system.

On the latest episode of The Business of Tech, I talk to Dunedin-based entrepreneur Adam Johnston about what may be the biggest shake-up to transport funding in 50 years. Light vehicle owners who have never had to think about RUC before will be pulled into a regime that currently applies to heavy vehicles, diesel cars and electric vehicles. Petrol vehicles currently make up around 55% of the national fleet.

Instead of passively paying when you fill up, you’ll be actively buying distance in advance, tracking your odometer, and keeping on the good side of Waka Kotahi.

A new marketplace for RUC payments

 

That sounds like a recipe for confusion and admin overload, especially in a cost-of-living crisis where drivers are already stressed about the price of petrol and diesel. But this shift is also opening the door to a wave of innovation. As the government hands more of the RUC system over to private providers, a new marketplace will emerge around how you pay to drive.

It will likely be in the form of apps that let you buy and manage your RUC from your phone, real-time dashboards that show how much you’ve used, and even telematics devices that automate the whole process by reporting your mileage in the background. Payment platforms will sit in the middle, clipping the ticket on every transaction. Start-ups and incumbents alike will compete to become your go-to RUC retailer, bundling services and perks to win your attention and loyalty.

Johnston and his co-founder, Briyarne Pascoe, both former Delivery Easy workers, are among the entrepreneurs racing to shape this new ecosystem. Building on their RUC Hub project, a free-to-access platform that tells you everything you need to know about road user charges, they saw an opportunity to make a complex system more transparent and user-friendly, while preventing the market from devolving into a cosy oligopoly. The pair plan to become a retail player in the emerging RUC ecosystem.

In the episode, Johnston explains the trade-offs between better digital experiences and the extra transaction costs that could quietly inflate what you pay overall.

This episode unpacks what’s coming, how your relationship with your car and your wallet is about to change, and the tools that could make surviving the new RUC era a little less painful. Streaming on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

New Zealand drivers are about to discover a whole new way of paying to use the roads &ndash; and for most, it will be a shock.&nbsp;
For decades, petrol and diesel motorists have funded the transport network through fuel excise quietly folded into every litre at the pump - currently a 70c tax.&nbsp;
Soon, that largely invisible tax will give way to something much more visible &ndash; paying per kilometre under an expanded road user charge (RUC) system.
On the latest episode of The Business of Tech, I talk to Dunedin-based entrepreneur Adam Johnston about what may be the biggest shake-up to transport funding in 50 years. Light vehicle owners who have never had to think about RUC before will be pulled into a regime that currently applies to heavy vehicles, diesel cars and electric vehicles. Petrol vehicles currently make up around 55% of the national fleet.
Instead of passively paying when you fill up, you&rsquo;ll be actively buying distance in advance, tracking your odometer, and keeping on the good side of Waka Kotahi.
A new marketplace for RUC payments
&nbsp;
That sounds like a recipe for confusion and admin overload, especially in a cost-of-living crisis where drivers are already stressed about the price of petrol and diesel. But this shift is also opening the door to a wave of innovation. As the government hands more of the RUC system over to private providers, a new marketplace will emerge around how you pay to drive.
It will likely be in the form of apps that let you buy and manage your RUC from your phone, real-time dashboards that show how much you&rsquo;ve used, and even telematics devices that automate the whole process by reporting your mileage in the background. Payment platforms will sit in the middle, clipping the ticket on every transaction. Start-ups and incumbents alike will compete to become your go-to RUC retailer, bundling services and perks to win your attention and loyalty.
Johnston and his co-founder, Briyarne Pascoe, both former Delivery Easy workers, are among the entrepreneurs racing to shape this new ecosystem. Building on their <a href="https://www.ruchub.co.nz/">RUC Hub</a> project, a free-to-access platform that tells you everything you need to know about road user charges, they saw an opportunity to make a complex system more transparent and user-friendly, while preventing the market from devolving into a cosy oligopoly. The pair plan to become a retail player in the emerging RUC ecosystem.
In the episode, Johnston explains the trade-offs between better digital experiences and the extra transaction costs that could quietly inflate what you pay overall.
This episode unpacks what&rsquo;s coming, how your relationship with your car and your wallet is about to change, and the tools that could make surviving the new RUC era a little less painful. Streaming on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

(#92) Why Saturated Markets Are the Best Places to Start a Business in 2026

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