A Tavake is a bird, a white tern with a long red tail, once highly prized for decorating traditional Cook Island costumes. The Cook Islands are one of the only places in the world where you will find this beautiful bird. Recalling happy weekends with his childhood family spent on Cook Island atolls surrounded by these birds, Tearaia Maoate could think of no better name for his humble café than Tavake.
Located on family land overlooking the lagoon in Aitutaki, COVID forced Tavake to evolve. Without tourists, Tearaia converted the café into a bar for locals. Now life has returned to normal, Tavake continues to evolve. The push from COVID sparked a dream – to create a place where community can gather to share food and coffee, or to just sit around sharing a joke. Alongside the café, it will also be a one-stop-shop for tourists and locals offering car hire, some accommodation, and a small grocery store onsite. The café is also further evolving into a restaurant.
And Tearaia is getting there. He has successfully applied for two Business Link Pacific Business Support Grants over the last three years. When applying for a grant, businesses must demonstrate how their project satisfies at least one of five categories. These categories are Finance, Inclusion, Climate, Growth and Innovation.
Taking the advice of Iokopeta Williams of IMW Accountants, a BLP business advisor, Tearaia applied under the Growth and Inclusion categories. ‘Growth’ because he aimed to use a grant to extend his business to offer additional services, and ‘Inclusion’ because his business serves a rural community. During the application process, Iokopeta also helped Tearaia with his business plan and other financial documentation, and she now regularly advises Tearaia on accounting matters, just to keep him on track.
Most recently he has extended and fixed up the elderly café building to make it more comfortable and attractive to customers. While the location is beautiful, being on the lagoon it is also open to wind and rain. That has now been mitigated by developing a protected, covered seating area between the café and the store.
While things are going well for Tearaia, he notes the difficulties of conducting business in such a remote location.
“It’s very difficult for people outside Rarotonga. There’s no one for them to talk to here unless a delegation arrives from the mainland, and once they leave, we’re back to no one. I’m lucky I have a lot of contacts and have been able to reach out to the right people who pointed me to BLP. The support I have received from BLP’s representatives has been fantastic and I’m so glad I just gave it a go.”
Tearaia’s enthusiasm is infectious.
“Business is growing in Aitutaki, even though we only have a small population. I was able to start a small café attached to my parents’ shop, and I am now on my own piece of family land, growing my little café into a restaurant. We have a licence all set up, just waiting for the building work to be complete. We have a beachfront unit set up for accommodation, we offer car rentals, souvenirs and groceries. If I can do it, so can you!”
BLP facilitates access to business advisory services and financial support. To start your journey with BLP, you can self-assess your needs by using the free online tools available to help small and medium-sized businesses diagnose areas in their businesses that an advisor could improve.
The first step can be the BLP online Business Health Check. You can also check your business’s resilience to respond to crises or climate change challenges on the Business Continuity Planner and the Climate Action Sensor.
If you prefer to meet a local BLP representative in person to discuss your business, get in touch with our local partners to arrange a face-to-face Diagnostic.