The Sunday Star Times wrote: California is turning into a happy hunting ground for Christchurch web developer Hairy Lemon, despite the financial crisis...

California is turning into a happy hunting ground for Christchurch web developer Hairy Lemon, despite the financial crisis. After getting a contract with the National Association of Television Program Executives in August, the company has won a further three contracts in the states and aims to generate $3 million in revenue from the US within three years. The reason, says co-founder Graham Dockrill, is two-fold – there’s still plenty of money in the US entertainment business; and Hairy Lemon’s services command a premium, even in the internet hub of California. Dockrill, who learned management skills at building materials distributor Steel & Tube, started Hairy Lemon in 2000 with business partner Sue Wilkinson, just before the dotcom crash. Despite the timing it worked out OK – websites still needed to be built and improved, even as IT ventures were crashing all around. The pair now employ 23 people in Christchurch, and ensuring their skilled staff have interesting, well paid work, is part of the reason for looking overseas. The export drive was “purposeful and planned” says Dockrill. “We did a little bit of work in Ireland, but the times zones really sucked. So the North American market, particularly the western seaboard, has been a deliberate strategy.” “We obviously want to retain our staff and a way to do that is to give them opportunities they can get in any other international city.” Dockrill attributes his ability to win contracts in the US to customer service. “We give them love. When we pick up a client we treat them really special, like family, and Americans are very susceptible to that feeling of love.” “Plus I’d like to think we’re more innovative,” he says. Technical skills aside, Hairy Lemon makes a point of giving its customers any intellectual property associated with its websites, such as software coding and graphics, a concession that appeals to American clients. The icing on the cake is the exchange rate – about US83c per dollar when the company started doing business in the States, it’s now down to US54c. Presto. Revenue growth. Dockrill and Wilkinson are not software experts themselves – that grunt comes from staff, and Dockrill, in Los Angeles to schmooze customers, is keen to give credit where it’s due. “It’s all well and good getting the work over here, but the hard work, where the respect is deserved and earned, is with the team back home,” he says. “They’re taking on the most advanced market in the world, and they’re winning.”