Tauranga’s Study Nook named Supreme Winner at The David Awards 2026
In under two years, Dani Archer went from no clients to eight schools. Now the Tauranga sole trader has taken out the top prize at The David Awards 2026.
In under two years, Dani Archer went from no clients to eight schools. Now the Tauranga sole trader has taken out the top prize at The David Awards 2026.
Growing past a handful of staff brings more customers, more systems and more revenue. New research suggests it also makes a business a bigger cyber target.
Many tradies and salon owners already spend money on marketing. The harder question is which of that spend actually brings in paying customers, and Thryv says its new platform can answer it.
Franz Josef’s West Coast Wildlife Centre has been named the West Coast’s top business for 2026, winning the Development West Coast Supreme Award at the Leading Light Business Excellence Awards.
Finding the right funding for any business is never easy, but if you are the founder of an early-stage business pursuing a new, or perhaps untested, market the challenges are particularly complex. But, as Kiwibank’s General Manager of Business Banking Rod Morris tells NZBusiness, Kiwibank has stepped up to change the game for early-stage business founders with its new funding pathway, built to unlock opportunity and foster sustainable business growth.
Finalists are in, and with entries up nearly 50 percent on two years ago, The David Awards judges have never had a harder job.
Eric Clark, CEO of Manhattan Associates, believes complexity is becoming a permanent part of the operating environment. Clark discusses why that can create opportunity, what other industries can learn from retail, and how technology and AI can help businesses manage it.
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.
Rachel Klaver explains how to create a successful trust-building content strategy by looking after the five main stages in a customer journey. As a marketing strategist and trainer for small businesses I have taught everything from how to change the colour on a Canva design, write a caption, or create a Tiktok. These are all skills we all need to magically know to market our own small businesses (or at least know enough to be able to brief someone else), and often they are far easier to do once you’ve been given a few tips here and there. The hardest part of creating content is to trust. Trust that you will attract your ideal customers and they will want to
Peri Finnigan reveals the warning signs, the fundamentals of business liquidity and cashflow management, and what happens when a company ultimately fails.
Lauren Parsons shares her nine signs for recognising when things aren’t going well for your employees’ mental state. As a leader it’s vital you stay aware of how your staff are doing and know the signs to look for that could indicate mental distress. In 2021, researchers at AUT found that burnout had tripled – from one in nine Kiwis in early 2020, to just one in three. Depression is also on the rise, with one in four New Zealanders now experiencing a mental health challenge. So, it’s clear that you’ll highly likely have staff within your team who are struggling at times. Putting your head in the sand and ignoring this only exacerbates the challenge. Withdrawal, sadness, anger and
YEN is a young Christchurch gin distiller utilising NFTs to market its product internationally. It’s a disruptive strategy and it’s already succeeding beyond initial expectations. By editor Glenn Baker. In 2020 3D-artist and creative director Blue Hamel, recently returned from New York, along with gin bar co-owner and mixologist Luke Dawkins hatched the idea of producing not just a new gin brand, but also a uniquely millennial/Gen Z-oriented consumer experience based around the emerging NFT digital asset class. Despite many people still playing catch-up on the potential of cryptocurrency, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have already made a mark on the world. Stored (or ‘minted’) in a crypto digital wallet, these tokens exist permanently, each with its own unique digital serial number.
InternetNZ’s interim CEO Andrew Cushen sheds some light on business Internet usage, domain name trends and emerging Internet-enabled technologies. NZB: From your recent discussions with the business community, what are the main concerns they have around Internet usage in 2022? ANDREW: Lockdown and Covid-19 have changed a lot of expectations. Two particular trends show through in the conversation. Firstly, that it is leading to a new wave of digitisation in business. We’ve seen an increase in domain name registrations as more organisations look to establish or revitalise their online presence. As a result of that, there are now more than 740,000 .nz domain names registered. This growth during lockdown is similar to many other countries, as businesses looked to retain
Sébastien Michel and business partner Carole Zink are busy ramping up their tourism business. They’re also finding things are now very different to pre-Covid times. Imagine you own an inbound travel business turning over $4.5 million in sales per annum, when suddenly New Zealand’s borders are slammed shut overnight on you, indefinitely. Such was the nightmare faced by Auckland-based Sébastien Michel and business partner Carole Zink on March 19, 2020. Covid had terminated Frogs-in-NZ, the business they had grown out of a travel blog Sébastien created in 2001. To appreciate the gravity of the situation they found themselves in, you first need to examine why the now renamed Frogs was travelling so successfully before the Covid catastrophe. The journey to
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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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