Growth by digital design

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.

Small goals, global ambition

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.

Hospitality with heart

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.

The IP paradox: When IP helps and hinders entrepreneurship

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.

Forget the AI hype, follow the data

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?

Getting your SME business AI-ready

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.

Turning personal experience into purpose

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.

Beyond survival

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.

Glow and grow

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.

When hard work stops creating value

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.

open banking nz

Kiwibank flips the switch on open banking for SMEs

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.

Mark Knoff-Thomas sml

Newmarket gears up to celebrate its best

Newmarket is preparing to celebrate its best businesses from across its precinct – with a wide range of enterprises among the finalists announced for the 2022 Newmarket Business Awards. The rigorous judging process whittled down entries to an elite group of finalists across 12 categories. The 2022 awards look to be the most competitive in the awards’ ten year history.  The independent judging panel includes some of New Zealand’s most prominent business leaders and influencers. Among the line-up is Anne Norman (James Pascoe Group), Stewart Sherriff (Former CEO 2degrees), Anthony Hoy Fong (Celebrity Chef), Cameron Bagrie (Bagrie Economics), Kelly Bennett (One Plus One), Koro Dickinson (Poutama Trust), Elena Kim (PWC), Michelle Vogt (Mint Consulting), Wynnis Armour (Armour Consulting), and four expert mystery shopper judges.

Workers above sign

Is a culture of compliance an obstacle to workplace H&S?

A culture of compliance does not necessarily make a safety culture, as evidenced by the ongoing problem of workplace accidents – a local workplace health and safety provider is warning. Jason Braithwaite, the General Manager of New Zealand health and safety training provider Besafe Training, says permits and signs do not protect workers, but actual health and safety measures are often forgotten in the rush to complete the paperwor “We have a culture of paper health and safety, but proper measures like assessing risk, putting in place appropriate controls and ensuring they are enforced does not get the attention it deserves.” Braithwaite says that in 2022 there is a lot of data and information to help improve how work is performed and

Flexible working

Flexibility rules among employee benefits

Kiwi job seekers and employees are prioritising flexible working hours over any other benefits companies may be offering, according to a new report. In Frog Recruitment’s 2022 Employment and Salary Trend report more than 1,000 job seekers and employees were asked what matters most to them in terms of salary packages, flexibility, learning and development and other benefits like bonuses. The results were equally in favour of flexible work hours and the ability to work remotely , while career development and training, bonuses and company-paid training rounded out the top five. Frog Recruitment 2022 Employment and Salary Trends Report: Top Ten employee benefits 1.     Flexible work hours                           

7 stages - square

7 easy stages to make your business thrive

Business and marketing strategist Judy Celmins explains the seven stages that can develop the heart of your business and grow it. If blood flow is restricted to your heart, you’re straight off to the specialist – it needs urgent attention to keep you alive! Your business heart is no different, and a timely diagnosis can be a life-saver. Especially as we navigate the tough times. Essential Fuel: First, you have to understand what’s driving the heart of your business. And the easiest way to identify that is to ask yourself, what can’t the business do without? And I’m pretty confident most of us would agree it’s customers. You can always find a new product or service to satisfy your customers, but

Leading Lights sml

West Coast ‘Leading Lights’ celebrated

Franz Josef-based Waiho Hot Tubs took out the Supreme Award at the 2022 Development West Coast Leading Light Business Excellence Awards, held at Shantytown on Friday May 20th. Adam Haugh’s business also took out top honours for the Greymouth Star Rising Star Award. The creation of Waiho Hot Tubs was a response to COVID-19. With two other businesses in Franz Josef, having to batten down the hatches during the first lockdown was tough and could have been a very negative journey for Adam. He took the brave decision to start something new and something that would support other struggling businesses, not just his own. “Franz Josef’s isolation creates a special community spirit and strong interdependence between businesses. We need each

Running Beyond empty

Running beyond empty

If you’re a Kiwi business owner, you’re be glad to see the end of the past two Covid-ravaged financial years. This stress-busting wellness guide can assist you in recharging and refocusing. I take my hat off to New Zealand’s business owners. Collectively, and individually, in recent times they have navigated and endured the trickiest of economic waters. Sadly, for many, Covid’s fallout has forced them to walk away from their livelihood. Others  battled on through multiple disruptions. It has not been easy. A terrible personal toll has been extracted. Business coach Leone Evans, a mentor with Business Mentors New Zealand (BMNZ) since 2012, says small business owners especially have been hit hardest. “Not only have they taken the brunt of