New Zealand’s economy is officially in a recession, with statistics released today revealing a record 12.2% decline in GDP. But as Jarrod Kerr of Kiwi Economics writes, it’s now time to focus on recovery. As economists, we love trawling through data. But we’ve never seen anything like this. This is traumatic. Service exports were stonewalled, … Read more
With the economic effects of Covid-19 hitting small businesses hardest, shopping local has never been more important. Ben Fahy spoke to three businesses owners about surviving a pandemic. Things change quickly in 2020. One minute New Zealanders are able to hug openly, order shared plates at restaurants and gather in large groups to watch sporting … Read more
With roughly 97% of New Zealand enterprises categorised as small businesses – that is, 20 or fewer employees – accounting software platform Xero’s newly released analysis provides a stark picture of the severe impact of Covid-19 throughout the sector. What exactly does the data show? Essentially, the data shows that year-on-year revenue for small businesses … Read more
In the first part of our new series with Kiwibank answering your questions about Covid-19’s impact on New Zealanders’ finances, a reader asks about ways to get their business through the economic downturn and take advantage of new opportunities. Kiwibank’s Nigel Gaudin responds. Dear Nigel, I run a small retail business with five staff and … Read more
A restaurant that began life as a pop-up bartering for crockery has become the latest Kiwi concept to shake up the Australian food scene. Chef Peter Gunn grew up in a typical New Zealand home eating no-frills sausages, steak and mash. His Melbourne restaurant, Ides, is far from typical, and Gunn joins a select and … Read more
If commentators are reading the tea leaves right, the government is gearing up to put its money where its mouth is and help businesses caught in New Zealand’s infamous funding gap. Lisa Friis doesn’t strike you as the sort of woman who needs help getting in front of potential investors. Tall, with a stylish blonde … Read more
Small business owner Heather Claycomb learned the hard way that donating till it hurts is not how to change the world. She offers some tips for making an impact. How many emails have you opened in recent weeks from companies telling you they donated to charity for the holidays? Corporate charitable giving at Christmas is … Read more
Kiwis need to get over their cultural bashfulness and start faking it until they make it, businesses were told at Australasia’s first ‘Startup Grind’. Guy Kawasaki looks at me as if I’m a bit simple. I have just asked the corporate ‘evangelist’, speaker, author of 13 books and former Apple Mackintosh marketer whether New Zealand … Read more
Michael Petherick learned the hard way that while failure means losing in sport, in business it can be exactly the feedback you need to get you back on track. The road to small business success is littered with cautionary tales of failing and financial distress. But if your venture gets off to a rocky start, … Read more
The New Zealand head of accounting success story Xero talks to Maria Slade about battling his demons, and helping Kiwi businesses through their own dark days. Many people would think Craig Hudson has it all – sporting talent, good looks, a lovely wife and four children, and a great job as New Zealand managing director … Read more
No one likes the tax man. Not even his mum. But Dany Miller-Kareko is the modern face of the IRD, who’s out to convince Kiwis she’s here to help. James Borrowdale followed her around Auckland while she tried. If there was one place to prove that old adage wrong – the one about about the … Read more
Our piece on the struggle to get paid resonated widely with small business owners. Here are their stories, and some tips, covering the endless fight to get invoices paid. A customer who had hired goods from me failed to return them, and ultimately I had to go and collect them. Not all of the goods were returned, … Read more
They’re on your Instagram feed and your yoga teacher’s floor – foam mats covered in thousands of sharp points, a modern take on an ancient method of healing and relaxation. But what do they do, and where did they come from? Don Rowe talks to the two Kiwi guys behind the Shakti mat craze. Right … Read more
Incubators, accelerators, grants, tax credits – there are a dizzying array of taxpayer-funded subsidies available for business. But we could make it all simpler and more effective both for government and the businesses we want to target, says technology investor Rowan Simpson. Here in New Zealand, our local market is small so exports are critical … Read more
It’s been estimated to be worth $26 billion, with significant stakes in the forestry and fishing industries. But underneath the story of the Māori economy are also the humming small business stories in Frankie Apothecary and Huia Publishers, Rebecca Stevenson finds. The numbers bandied around are staggering. A 2013 report by BERL for Te Puni … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. Today Simon talks to Deanna Yang about the ups and downs of … Read more