NZBusiness+Management

Welcome to 2023. Are you ready for all the challenges it will inevitably bring? I'm writing this a few days before Christmas, so some weeks before you read it (a sincere thank you, by the way, for taking the time to!). However, without a crystal ball it's still rather obvious to me that the New Year is going to bring more than a few trials and tribulations for the country's business community to deal with. If you're a business owner, you have my utmost respect and admiration. The past three years have been difficult enough with all the havoc caused by Covid and other disruptive world events, such as the war in Ukraine (I'm assuming there was no Christmas peace deal?) and other geopolitical tensions. We'd all love to have dealt to the…

Kiwi start-up Earshots, which makes the world's first sports headphones with a patented ‘EarWrap’ system, has been globally recognised on TIME'S list of best inventions for 2022. The unique product is included as one of the most extraordinary innovations changing lives. TIME describes Earshots as a ‘small company from the bottom of the world’ innovating in a category dominated by billion-dollar budgets. Earshots has been included in the design category alongside the likes of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. They also follow in the footsteps of Allbirds, another Kiwi company previously recognised by TIME for its global leadership in design. Founded and designed by athlete and adventurer James Bell-Booth, Earshots are wireless sports headphones with an ‘EarWrap’ system that keeps them in place no matter the activity. They also rotate up to 40…

There are many benefits to using a credit card to manage your business's finances, says Mark Dawes, CEO of fintech business RewardPay. “However, these are all contingent on responsible use and your ability to pay off the balance each month. “Ensure you research the best card for your needs and read the fine print to determine if a credit card is right for your business,” he advises. Advantages of credit card usage includes interest-free spending (typically 44 to 55 days). Having additional cashflow during this interest-free period can be more cost-effective than a business loan or overdraft facility, says Mark. Many credit cards offer rewards programmes – a great way to get something back on every spend. RewardPay enables payments to be made to the IRD and ACC using American Express Membership Rewards…

Frog Recruitment surveyed 1107 workers and revealed that 54 percent of recipients aged 50-plus believe they ‘go above and beyond in their job’ compared to just 17 percent of those under 25. Forty-three percent of those aged between 25 to 50 years said they are doing more than they need to at work. Before anyone starts chastising Gen Z for their lack of work ethic, the survey drilled down further to reveal that 41 percent of workers below 25 prioritise their work and life balance, compared to the 25-50 year generation (36 percent) and those over 50 (32 percent). Frog Recruitment MD Shannon Barlow (pictured) applauds our workforce's youngest workers for prioritising their well-being at work. “After what we now know about burnout in the workplace, it's vital people protect themselves from exhaustion…

Ever looked at all the plastic wrapped around houses being built and wondered how it is disposed of when the building is finished? Auckland's construction and demolition sector currently sends the equivalent of around 26,615 shipping containers of rubbish to landfill. But now Hamilton upcycling company saveBOARD can recycle 90 percent of soft plastic wastes on-site back into reusable building products. The construction industry is one of New Zealand's biggest waste to landfill contributors, but saveBOARD provides an innovative solution that diverts soft plastic waste from landfill by recycling it into high-performance building materials. Building company Naylor Love now uses saveBOARD for site hoardings, replacing plywood. It has an equivalent cost to plywood and the best thing is that it can be recycled back into new boards – closing the loop and making…

Fresh Kiwi brands with unique product offerings, wanting to establish a foothold in the highly competitive Australian market can learn a lot from the example of sustainable cleaning products company Good Change. Since 2019 its founders Kristy Hunter and Stine Smith have built up a considerable business from their Tauranga base, and although they admit to not really knowing how they would crack the Aussie market, they went ahead and set a date anyway. Fortunately, while attending the largest B2B trade show for natural brands in Australia, Ethique founder Brianne West helped introduce Kristy and Stine to Unique Health Products, which they describe as “the most sought-after and trusted natural health product distributor in Australia”. That meeting resulted in UHP handling all B2B distribution for Good Change in Australia, with a Melbourne-based 3PL…