Guiding Growth: Bjorn De Nijs on Startup Support in Queenstown Lakes

Bjorn De Nijs started his accounting career in 2008 and moved from his homeland of the Netherlands to Queenstown in 2007. In an all-to-familiar tale, he fell in love with the mountains and decided to stay. 

He soon met his future-wife who he now shares two children with and has built his life here. Today, he is the Managing Partner at BDO Southern Lakes & Central Otago and is a member of the BDO New Zealand Board, and couldn’t see himself living anywhere else. 

He’s proud to specialise in startups, tourism, hospitality, construction and property development, and thoroughly enjoys the work he does with Startup Queenstown Lakes. 

SQL: Describe your job and how long have you been supporting the Queenstown Lakes district? 

Bjorn: I’ve been in accounting ever since 2008 and have seen the unique environment that Queenstown brings to businesses, around seasonality mainly. It seems to have its own little microclimate within the rest of the country really, and I find it interesting to work with business owners and entrepreneurs, seeing them tackling daily challenges and how they go about things – and try to do my piece to guide them along the way in their journey. 

Picture: Bjorn (Left) on the Judging Panel at Lift Off Pitch Night 2021.

SQL: How did you get involved with Startup Queenstown Lakes? 

Bjorn: Originally through Olivia Wensley, who was CEO at the time. She asked me to host some guest learning sessions – I did some webinars throughout Covid, so that was about five years ago. 

At that point I was coming up through the ranks and trying to partially put myself out there. At the same time it’s a way of giving back to the business community, to people that are starting from scratch and maybe not necessarily having the means to get all the right advisory onboard. I think for them to go through an organisation like SQL and just get a wide exposure to a lot of experienced people in different types of fields is very valuable for them. I love that I was asked to be a part of it and to contribute towards that. 

SQL: How has supporting SQL programs and workshops impacted your role?

Bjorn: With the more exposure you get to different people, the more experience you get on how certain people operate, how certain people think, and the better you can tailor your advice to them. People respond differently to how information is sometimes presented. 

I understand accounting doesn’t set everybody’s world on fire, so explaining things in a way that they understand, for less numerically inclined type people. It’s just explaining it in a common way where they feel confident about what it is they’re required to do. It’s working with people that’s really helped me in my day-to-day. 

SQL: What impact do you think you have supporting SQL and its founders?

Bjorn: That might not necessarily be a question for me, maybe more so for the recipients of my programmes. I’d like to think that due to that experience, that I’m now able to explain things in a common sense way for most people that might not have a deep background in numbers or accounting, and hopefully giving them insights into what it is they’re required to do and how they can get insights into their business, whether that be forecasting or cash flow, or just keeping compliant with regulatory matters. Hopefully contribute that way by giving them more confidence in their business.

Picture: Bjorn’s Startup Financial Workshop in SQL’s Startup Booster Program.

SQL: How would you describe SQL in one word? 

Bjorn: Informative, essential, awesome – how do you wrap up into one word an organisation that is an incredibly beneficial organisation for startups?  

Story written by Startup Queenstown Lakes