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.
Christchurch’s Tait Communications has been named PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year at the 2026 NZ Hi-Tech Awards, capping a record-breaking night for New Zealand’s third-largest export sector.
Full-scale loyalty programmes are expensive, complex and slow to roll out, but a gift card programme can deliver many of the same benefits in a fraction of the time, and customers pay you upfront for the privilege.
Inside MOXX Brands, the Kiwi FMCG company growing at 512 percent and rewriting the export playbook in the process.
Hawke’s Bay’s Rockit has landed one of China’s most bankable celebrities as its brand ambassador.
Demand for Tapuwae Roa’s Tupu Accelerator keeps climbing, with a new cohort of ten high-growth Māori-founded ventures welcomed for the programme’s third consecutive year.
A new Christchurch start-up wants to turn the security cameras already watching your warehouse into a real-time safety system that spots risk before it becomes an incident.
As New Zealand businesses face mounting productivity pressure, new research from 2degrees shows AI is already delivering measurable gains for SMEs. From streamlining operations to unlocking new growth opportunities, the challenge now is turning early experimentation into lasting business impact.
Acron Plastics, a New Zealand thermoforming manufacturer, had been running as a fully paper-based business before adopting MRPeasy. We sat down with Business & Sales Manager Mark Wong to see how the company uses the system to structure orders, manage purchasing and inventory, and reduce the risk of missed jobs.
Auckland Council recently celebrated its ongoing partnership with Papatoetoe-based charity and social enterprise Will&Able with an event at Auckland House. Will&Able, which provides cleaning products for Auckland Council’s offices, kitchens and cafeterias, is a charity dedicated to employing people with disabilities, who struggle to find permanent, fully paid employment elsewhere. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says the partnership will provide employment and livelihoods to people who might otherwise be excluded from the labour market. “Auckland Council’s support for Will&Able is part of our broader social procurement programme, which enables us to support wider social, economic, cultural, and environmental outcomes that go beyond the immediate purchase of goods and services, to generate positive outcomes and improve quality of life for our
A new report has identified four key ways to expedite New Zealand’s progress towards an efficient circular economy. The Sustainable Business Network (SBN) and Grant Thornton New Zealand have released their joint report into the barriers New Zealand’s current financial system creates for meaningful progress towards a low carbon circular economy. The Circular Revolution backs the movement towards a circular economy in Aotearoa. However, their research reveals a lack of incentives for businesses to switch to more sustainable circular business models, and how our financial systems help perpetuate the country’s current linear economy. James Griffin, General Manager, Projects and Advisory at SBN explains: “The vast majority of businesses operate on a linear basis with a take, make, waste mindset. We take
Leanne Berry shares some steps for leading change management in your business, and it goes beyond digitisation. The operating environment for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) is in a constant state of change. From global pandemics, environmental disasters, and now rising inflationary pressures to name a few, the business community has had to move from one set of challenges to the next without much time to catch a breath. The one constant in all of this? Change. Business adaptability is essential to keep up with the changing world. However, it’s not just a one-time thing. Sue Inkersell, Managing Director at 3rd Arm Admin, was on a Change Management panel I hosted at Bookkeepcon22 in Christchurch and suggested we should approach
Southland’s Auld Farm Distillery took out the Innovation Award at the inaugural 2022 Arable Awards, recognising the best grain growers in New Zealand. Hosted by Federated Farmers, the awards recognised some of the best food producers in the country and Auld’s win cements the distillery as one to watch. Auld Farm Distillery produces single malt whisky made from nine different grains grown on the farm – from the traditional barley, wheat and oats, to purple wheat, black oats and black barley. The land has been growing grain since 1883 and is owned and run by Rob and Toni Auld (pictured below), third generation farmers on the land. By combining grain from the paddocks, pure water from their own spring and
Tech exports now make up New Zealand’s second biggest export sector. Graeme Muller highlights a remarkable success story. Covid’s long tail continues to wreak havoc on the tourism sector, while at the same time super charging New Zealand tech exports. In the first half of 2021 New Zealand’s tech exports exceeded tourism, meat, wood and fruit exports to become the second largest export sector behind dairy. Massive growth in global demand for technology solutions is being driven by multiple factors. As people around the world stayed at home during the Covid-driven lockdowns demand for interactive media and online games delivered $276 million in new revenue and 222 new jobs across the Aotearoa game development sector in 2021. However, while Kiwi
The Mindful Fashion New Zealand Climate Action Programme is an initiative designed to catalyse action and support the local industry on its decarbonisation journey. With the New Zealand clothing and textile industry predominantly made up of SMEs, Mindful Fashion has designed its programme to address common barriers to action these businesses typically face. Currently each business needs to embark on emissions measurement and reduction independently, with cost, time and knowledge significant barriers. The Mindful Fashion programme provides industry specific guidance and tools, support to participants during the measurement process, and workshops to collaborate on developing reduction strategies. One of the key takeaways from recent analysis is the New Zealand fashion industry’s desire to address its climate impact. Mindful Fashion Programme Director
Upcoming event
Thursday 30 July 2026 | 7:00am – 9:00am
📍 Covert Theatre, 51 Mackelvie Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Everyone talks about the importance of business strategy, but what does it actually mean in practice? Strategy trainer Ryan Sproull cuts through the jargon to give SME owners a clear, practical framework for thinking strategically about their business.
Latest issue
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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