Complexity has become a defining feature of the operating environment for New Zealand businesses. Rising costs, labour constraints, geopolitical uncertainty and changing customer expectations have added new pressures, all while
Two years after leaving corporate life, Josh Burgisser built Burgs Digital into a full-stack marketing agency. He talks to David Nothling-Demmer about the attention economy, why video isn’t optional for small businesses showing up online, and convincing his own father to become a client.
Kiwi innovation meets smart marketing. Telescopicgoal is transforming the way football is played and trained around the world, all with a clever, adjustable aluminium goal and a creative, targeted approach to reaching customers.
More than 60 exhibitors, 75 speakers, leading franchise brands and 1,600 attendees are expected at Due Drop Events Centre this September.
Where are they now? Brolly Sheets Founder Diane Hurford on 20 years of bed-wetting, bandanas and building a business that stuck.
Some of New Zealand’s most influential science, business and policy figures will gather in Auckland next week to grapple with a question that has dogged the country for decades: How does New Zealand turn its ideas into lasting prosperity?
Leading a multi-national company takes guts, hard work and determination but without good governance, structure, and processes there is risk for shareholders – no matter how hard you work.
New Zealand’s leaders are shrinking their own ambitions in isolation. Revved Co-founder Rochelle Moffitt wants to put them in a room together instead.
Taupō’s The Cozy Corner isn’t just a café, it’s a community hub where inclusivity, wellness, and sustainability meet. With a menu that caters to every dietary need, a great team culture, and a commitment to values-driven business, owner Camilla Baker has built an eco-friendly café that sets the standard for hospitality with heart.
New Zealand small businesses are facing one of the biggest shifts in customer discovery since the rise of Google Search, as AI-powered tools change how consumers find, compare and choose who to hire.
More than 80 percent of people don’t independently verify AI-generated information. As AI becomes the first place customers go for answers, that trust is creating a new challenge for New Zealand businesses.
We’re told the economy and the environment are locked in a trade-off. Autex’s Jonathan Mountfort says that’s a false choice, and shows how circular thinking is already building a healthier version of both.
New Zealand research into scientist-entrepreneurs has identified an “IP paradox”: Intellectual property is seen as essential to start-up success, yet often experienced as a costly, complex barrier. Here’s what the findings mean for founders, investors and the wider SME community.
AI is having its “peak hype” moment, but beneath the noise there is a very practical question most New Zealand business owners are asking: Will this actually help my business run better, or is it just another shiny tech distraction?
Most of the AI conversation right now is about what the technology will eventually do for everyone. Not much of it covers what you should actually start doing, this week, to make sure your business can use any of it. Let’s change that.
Keynote speaker, educator, author, recording artist and Solo Meo Award winner Julia Grace, has turned her mental health journey into inspiring talks, workshops, and performances across New Zealand and beyond. She’s also made a success of being an entrepreneur in the process.
Setting a big, bold goal feels like strategy. It isn’t. Ryan Sproull explains why picturing success can actually work against you, and what to do instead.
After a punishing economic cycle Kiwi businesses are emerging into something of a stabilisation period. Cautiously optimistic, past the worst, but with operating costs still biting and reinvestment held back. Why the next six months will define the recovery, and what business owners need to be doing in that period.
New data from Employment Hero shows New Zealand’s small and medium business sector continuing to add headcount in May, even as wage growth stalled completely on an annual basis, highlighting a labour market where businesses are growing cautiously rather than competing hard for talent on pay.
Turning a dreaded parenting challenge into a science-powered solution, ISpy Nits is making head lice detection accurate, stigma-free, and even fun for kids, and in the process earning Kate Ricketts a well-deserved David Award.
After burnout and a corporate career, Nikki Taylor started her own business at 44, and discovered that midlife isn’t a crisis, but a chance for clarity, on what kind of work, and life, actually fits.
New Zealand’s productivity gap with countries like Finland isn’t about effort, it’s about clarity. Elliot Royce argues that as businesses grow, complexity quietly crowds out a shared understanding of what actually creates value, turning productivity into a symptom rather than the real problem.
A pilot programme’s runaway demand has exposed just how many promising New Zealand startups are being turned away by traditional bank lending.
New Zealand’s sustainable innovators remain confident about growth, but a new report shows many are struggling to access the capital and conditions needed to actually scale.
New Zealand’s small business productivity has flatlined, with the country continuing to trail Australia and the UK, even as Deloitte’s latest CFO survey shows finance leaders remain confident about growing their businesses despite economic uncertainty.
Solar retailer Lodestone Energy is opening up its “virtual rooftop” solar product to residential and small business customers for the first time, choosing Hawke’s Bay as the launch region for its new EASY Plan.
New Zealand tourism businesses are committed to becoming more sustainable, but new research shows the journey from good intentions to genuine change is anything but straightforward.
Spacebar Design won Most Innovative Business at The David Awards 2025, also taking out the Supreme Award, recognition that cements its role as a trailblazer in sustainable interior design.
New Zealand’s longest-running sustainability awards programme is calling for entries, with expanded categories and a direct pathway to a global million-pound prize.
Kiwibank has become the first New Zealand bank to roll out open banking across all its digital channels for both individual and business customers, delivering most of the data‑sharing capability required by regulators six months ahead of its statutory deadline.
Coco Hou explains how to spot the signs a bookkeeper is stealing from you and how to stop it. In an ideal world, your bookkeeper should be someone trustworthy and loyal. After all, your bookkeeper knows the ins and outs of your business almost as well as you do, and many business owners rely on their bookkeepers to make suggestions and give advice on how to expand or cut costs. According to Coco Hou, CEO of Platinum Accounting Australia, the number of bookkeepers being exposed for theft is on the rise. “Unfortunately, many business owners do not know their bookkeeper is stealing from them until it is too late. Even worse, some cases go undetected altogether,” Ms Hou says. “What
One of the most critical relationships that exists across all business sectors is the one between business owner and accountant.
Andrew Fairgray believes there are lessons to be learnt from New Zealand’s most successful businesses for organisations of all sizes that want to thrive within the current tumultuous landscape. The past few years have been unlike any before for business leaders. Having weathered more than two years of pandemic-related disruptions remarkably well, business leaders are now facing a whole new set of challenges – staff-related issues are compounding with rapidly rising costs to create a new kind of turbulence. The latest Shaping Business Study at 2degrees paints a picture of the state of play for Kiwi businesses, and it’s a mixed bag: large businesses with more than 50 employees are largely feeling optimistic and anticipating revenue growth, while the picture
Once there was a baker, a chef and a barista who all dreamed of opening a standout destination bakery for Auckland’s North Shore community. Turns out Rollers Bakery produced exactly the right recipe for start-up success. Walk into Rollers Bakery in Northcote mid-morning or lunchtime and you’ll immediately see why it has become one of the destination bakeries to die for on the Shore. It’s a busy place. Rollers Bakery has only been going eight months, but even its three founders are surprised by the support they’ve received from the community. It has a lot to do with the ‘to-die-for’ baked goods all made on the premises. Quick commercial success has also been a result of the close bond between
New Zealand’s talent shortage may be due more to employer bias than reality, says a leading employment coach and recruitment company director. The country’s talent shortage may be less ‘a shortage’ than a tendency to overlook the hidden potential in people who don’t fit within the narrow bias that has dominated employer thinking for decades. Change is needed. Employment coach and director of recruitment company M2M (Move To More) Kathryn Sandford (pictured) says some employers’ obsession with finding the right ‘fit’ is a significant reason behind much of New Zealand’s so-called talent shortage. “In a so-called talent shortage, the best strategy is to become more conscious of how quality talent may be hidden from sight due to personal bias and
The winners have been chosen and Hamilton’s renowned CBD Awards have delivered another hugely successful year. “The night of October 12th was a fantastic evening packed with celebration and recognition of our fantastic central city businesses and what they have achieved,” reports Vanessa Williams, GM of the Hamilton Central Business Association. By all accounts the evening was a stunner – kicking off at the Ferrybank Park band rotunda with live jazz by the Trenwith brothers, Good George cocktails and canapes from River Kitchen, before heading across the road to The Meteor for the awards ceremony where guests arrived to a beautifully dressed venue created by Royal Lab and a delicious banquet of food provided by SkyCity Hamilton. “The entertainment mid-ceremony
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Wednesday 11 November 2026 | 7:00am – 9:30am
📍 New Zealand International Convention Centre, 101 Hobson Street, Auckland
One week after the election, Ready to Rise returns for ‘After the Result’ to help Kiwi SME owners plan ahead for their next bold move, and hard-won growth. Get your tickets for this must-attend business breakfast.
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Practical AI insights, Kiwi tech innovators, and the tools helping Kiwi SMEs compete on a global stage. It’s all packed into this special tech issue of NZBusiness.
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