Opinion

  On 1 October some of the most significant changes to taxing land and property transactions since the abolition of stamp duty, came into force. Philippa O’Mara says the legislation has ramifications for all individuals, whether in business or not. The purpose of the new legislation on land and property transactions is to clarify existing rules and create a mechanism to collect information to enforce the rules. Although lawyers will be filing the required documents, all parties to transactions need to be geared up with the right information. There’re two separate pieces of legislation that apply from 1 October 2015: Capture information on overseas buyers of property. Clarify when a profit on residential property is taxable. Provision of tax number

  In a unique case before the Employment Relations Authority, it was ruled that an employee’s secret recording did not amount to serious misconduct. By Sarah Gedge. Isn’t technology wonderful? It seems the moment something is invented, we find new and interesting ways to let it complicate life! With modern smartphones, recording a conversation or a meeting can be quick, simple, and very discreet. A question often asked by employers is: can you dismiss an employee for secretly recording a conversation at work? The answer is not simple, as the following case illustrates. But it may surprise you. The case involved Ms Cliff, a registered nurse at a large hospital. Ms Cliff was employed by the Bay of Plenty District

  At ExportNZ we believe it’s important to celebrate Kiwi exporters’ success, which is why, once a year we get to hold export awards in our various regions. At this year’s Air New Zealand Cargo Auckland Export Awards there were 25 finalists in seven categories. They traversed the widest range of New Zealand enterprise, from homebrew and robots, to marine winches and self-service payment systems. I was lucky enough to chat to Peter Eastwood, founder of Imake Ltd, who won the BDO Food & Beverage Exporter of the Year Award. This small Kiwi company supplies ingredients, equipment and know-how for people to make their own craft beer, cider, spirits, liqueurs, cheese, yoghurt, sausages, and more, all at home. What made

  Brian H Meredith reminds us that a brand relationship is driven by the sum total of every behaviour, however large or small, that your organisation engages in. So, the logo is great; the visual identity programme that brings the logo to life is in place. That’s it. Brand done. Really? But you do know (don’t you?), that your brand is so much more than its visual identity. But then, perhaps, many businesses still don’t know that. Based on what we see and experience as customers of those businesses. If the logo and visual identity is in place, can you now articulate the identity, character and personality of your brand? Does the majority of the people in your organisation know,

  To succeed in franchising, you need good people skills as well as a good model, says Simon Lord. Let’s say you have a great business. You’ve developed it carefully, understand what drives it, and know how to reach potential customers effectively and economically. You have good cashflow, you’ve grown in the good times and survived the bad. Now you’re ready to take the next step and start franchising. If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that it’s not a simple do-it-yourself process so you take advice. You appoint a good consultant, listen to them, give them access to the information they need, work with them on feasibility studies, business plans, manuals and create a sustainable

  Philippa O’Mara reminds us that systems need to be documented so that everyone involved can deliver a product or service efficiently. I’ve talked at length about the sales equation to grow your business in previous columns. The only other way to grow your business and improve profit is to make sure that you have systems that are consistently applied in your key activities. Here I’m referring to the systems and procedures that you use to make and deliver your core products or services. The objective is to increase the effectiveness of each key business process so that the ‘cost per unit’ is at an optimal rate. This isn’t necessarily about doing this cheaper. It’s more about doing it the