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.
The impact of the pandemic on economic activity, employment, and the way we work has been far reaching. All of this has substantially impacted the world’s collective wellbeing and of course, this state of unease has flowed into workplaces. As workers grappled with a host of pandemic-related grievances, the duty of care employers have for employees, especially in relation to their wellbeing, suddenly assumed unprecedented levels of importance. One thing is certain: the past 18 months have placed employee wellbeing firmly on HR’s agenda. Fast forward to now and many countries around the world find themselves in a state of limbo. They are not yet clear of COVID-19 but are learning to live with it thanks to vaccinations and other
GoFi8ure Executive Director Lisa Martin shares some business management fundamentals to encourage owners still experiencing the fallout from Covid’s disruptions.
New software developed in Australia aims to give New Zealand businesses confidence that their Covid-19 testing programmes are keeping employees safe while reducing the risks of disruption. “The rampant spread of Omicron, and risk of further variants is putting pressure on businesses to strengthen surveillance testing of their workforce,” says Graham Gordon, CEO of medical technology company Gardian. “The Gardian Test Tracker solution and Self Check app provide a business peace of mind that they are staying on top of the problem and can keep operating. “We’ve seen this in Australia, and now in New Zealand – as Omicron spreads, the threats to businesses and staff are growing significantly,” says Gordon. “It’s why ABC was an early adopter of our
Maybe you are bored, wish to retire, or over it and it’s just time to get out! There are many reasons people may choose to buy your business. When looking to sell your business it pays to spend some time considering who is likely to buy your business – put yourself in their shoes and detail what they are likely to be looking for. You may have considered selling your business to a suitable employee or family member, but finding a buyer with the necessary skills, interest and money isn’t always that straightforward. The “list my business for sale” option gives you a great range and a bigger pool of prospective business buyers. There are many types of buyers –
SheEO NZ, an economic model created to support wāhine and non-binary entrepreneurs is already delivering strong results and is ready to support a new crop of start-ups. The selected New Zealand ventures that SheEO has backed to date have achieved remarkable growth, with an average revenue growth per venture of 684 percent since being selected. In total, the ventures now employ 134 people, averaging 15 employees per venture, and they collectively generated $20 million revenue, up from $11.9 million in 2020. SheEO was launched in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2017 by Theresa Gattung (pictured), a renowned advocate for women in business. Gattung is thrilled with the results and encouraged with the local success of the model. “Considering we were still reeling
Senior and diverse Christchurch female leaders will ‘walk and talk’ with aspiring female leaders when Mentor Walks launches its first New Zealand event in Christchurch on Thursday 19 May. Mentor Walks is a simple idea designed to have a big impact on women’s careers – a one hour walk and conversation with an exceptional female leader – to help women get clarity on career and business challenges and opportunities and build networks. Christchurch is the first city to launch a Mentor Walks programme in New Zealand, with the support and partnership of Christchurch-headquartered global software company Seequent. “When one of our team members reached out about Mentor Walks, we jumped at the opportunity to partner with them,” says Lisa Wall, Chief
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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