Our country may be small and geographically isolated, but a visiting expert says New Zealand companies face an even bigger barrier: lack of ambition.

Ken Morse, head of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center in Boston, is in New Zealand for a two-day workshop, Global Strategies for Ambitious Kiwi Entrepreneurs, being held at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Auckland offices.

Although he loves New Zealand’s number eight-wire innovation, Mr Morse says another iconic part of Kiwi culture is often a problem in business: the “she’ll be right” mentality.

He says too many New Zealand businesses “muddle through”, rather than having coherent plans for recruitment, sales and expansion; “I like people who are really focused and don’t accept second best,” he adds.

According to Mr Morse, there are two types of entrepreneurs in New Zealand: those who make lifestyle companies and are satisfied with the three Bs (bach, boat and BMW), and those who have the ambition and drive to make growing companies.

However, he says that as well as ambition and drive, successful entrepreneurs also need integrity and the ability to work well in a team environment.

Ambitious start-up ventures also need plenty of outside help to get off the ground, particularly from angel investors who can provide experience and knowledge as well as dollars.

And now is as good a time as any to start up these types of businesses, he says.

“Now is a great time to start up a new company; there are plenty of people available to recruit and real estate and other costs are low. Grass grows in cracks.”

Mr Morse says there is a higher tolerance for failure during hard times, and uses a Jack Kennedy analogy to highlight the opportunities available now.

“They asked him ‘How did you become a war hero?’ and he said, ‘They sank my boat’. In this case the question would be, ‘How did you become an entrepreneur?’, and the answer, ‘I got fired'.’”

But even great entrepreneurs can’t get it done on their own, and Mr Morse says the “entrepreneurial ecosystem” is very important for supporting these fledgling businesses; “everyone has everyone else’s cell phone number.”

One problem he sees in New Zealand businesses is “they aren’t very good at hiring”.

Mr Morse's advice is simple: good bosses will hire people smarter than they are, whereas bad bosses will hire less dynamic people who are also less likely to challenge or criticise them.

“Every hire is not neutral,” says Mr Morse. “It either raises or lower the average intelligence of the organisation.”