Small Business
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Small Business Minister Jacqui Dean is looking forward to meeting with Chinese owned small businesses when the Small Business Roadshow travels to Auckland on 15 June.

“The Small Business Roadshow has been travelling New Zealand, connecting small businesses with government services,” Ms Dean says.

“There are a lot of government services that businesses can tap into and sometimes they are hard to navigate. Our aim is to increase understanding of what is available and give small businesses every opportunity to thrive and grow.

Jacqui Dean Small Business
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Small Business Minister Jacqui Dean, and Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell are looking forward to meeting with Māori businesses when the Small Business Roadshow travel to Kaitaia and Whakatāne later this month.

“The Small Business Roadshow has been traveling around Aotearoa, connecting small businesses with government services,” Ms Dean says.

Te Ururoa Flavell Jacqui Dean Small Business Maori Development
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Small Business Minister Dean has today welcomed the release of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s 2017 Small Business factsheet.

“The factsheet brings together statistics that relate to small businesses, and provides us with an overview of how valuable they are to the New Zealand economy,” Ms Dean says.

“Businesses with fewer than 20 employees make up 97 per cent of all enterprises in New Zealand, and contribute almost $65 billion to our GDP.

Jacqui Dean Small Business
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Small Business Minister Jacqui Dean today welcomed the launch of a digital assessment tool co-developed by social enterprise Digital Journey and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

“Digital technology brings a world of new opportunities to New Zealand’s small businesses, and as a Government we are focused on supporting them to get the most out of our fast growing digital economy,” says Ms Dean.

“This tool empowers businesses to take advantage of these digital opportunities with a personalised Action Plan of recommendations.

Jacqui Dean Small Business
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More than 100,000 employment agreements have been completed using an online tool refreshed by Business.govt.nz just over one year ago, says Small Business Minister Jacqui Dean.

“As a Government we are committed to helping New Zealand’s small businesses thrive, and the Employment Agreement Builder is just one way we’re helping small businesses get ahead,” Ms Dean says.

Jacqui Dean Small Business
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Small Business Minister Jacqui Dean has announced today she will travel throughout New Zealand in 2017 for Small Business Roadshows, starting with Kāikoura, Blenheim and Wellington.

“This is particularly important in Kāikoura, whose businesses may need added support following the devastating earthquake. Therefore we’ll be in town on 27 March to meet with businesses and help them navigate all the support that is available in the region,” says Ms Dean.

Jacqui Dean Small Business
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss says the Taking Care of Business roadshow has been so successful, more events are likely next year.

“Over five months, more than 2000 business owners and operators attended 22 Taking Care of Business events around the country, from Invercargill to Whangarei,” Mr Foss says.

“Every event got bigger and better and the feedback from attendees was outstanding.

Craig Foss Small Business
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An online tool enabling business owners to quickly and easily search their company name, domain name and trademark has been used more than one million times, Small Business Minister Craig Foss says.

ONECheck, available at business.govt.nz, helps Kiwi business owners make informed decisions about their name and branding by gathering all the relevant information into one free, easily accessible tool,” Mr Foss says.

Craig Foss Small Business
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Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse and Small Business Minister Craig Foss today welcomed a survey showing small businesses are continuing to spend less time on tax compliance.

“Inland Revenue’s emphasis on providing customer-centric services that enable businesses to spend less time on compliance and more on growth is paying dividends,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Craig Foss Michael Woodhouse Small Business Revenue
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A free Business.govt.nz online tool is proving extremely popular, generating an employment agreement for New Zealand businesses every 12 minutes, with a 95 per cent satisfaction rating, Small Business Minister Craig Foss says.

“In New Zealand every employee must have a written employment agreement outlining important contractual details such as hours of work and rate of pay,” Mr Foss says.

Craig Foss Small Business
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss says five more locations are being added to the hugely popular Taking Care of Business roadshow.

“More than 1200 business owners and operators have so far attended a dozen events around the country, from Invercargill to Hamilton,” Mr Foss says.

“Five new events will be held in Porirua, Masterton, Rotorua, Christchurch and Blenheim, in addition to those in Whangarei and Auckland already scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Craig Foss Small Business
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss today announced a new appointment to the Small Business Development Group (SBDG).

Jerry He has been appointed to the SBDG for a 33 month term, expiring 30 June 2019.

“As Sales Director at Auckland food technology company New Zealand Green Wave Limited, Mr He has skills in business and entrepreneurship, as well as sound knowledge of exporting, particularly to China,” Mr Foss says.

Craig Foss Small Business
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The government is committing $100,000 to help Havelock North Village get back on its feet following the gastroenteritis outbreak, Small Business Minister Craig Foss says.

“Two weeks ago the village was nearly empty — our business owners, their staff and customers either too unwell to venture out or too busy caring for sick loved ones,” Mr Foss says.

Craig Foss Small Business
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Cabinet will consider a recommendation to allow Inland Revenue to waive interest on late payments of taxation for businesses affected by the Havelock North gastroenteritis outbreak, announced Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse and Small Business Minister Craig Foss.

“Inland Revenue already has the ability to waive penalties for late payments, but due to the impact of the outbreak on businesses, Cabinet will consider enabling interest to be waived for late PAYE and provisional tax payments, due later this month,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Craig Foss Michael Woodhouse Small Business Revenue
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss is visiting the United States this week for the annual International Council for Small Business (ICSB) conference.

The conference, held in New Jersey, brings together the world’s foremost policy-makers, non-government organisations, scholars and social entrepreneurs to discuss issues facing small businesses.

Craig Foss Small Business
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss is today launching a small business roadshow series to help business owners engage with government agencies more effectively and efficiently.

Taking Care of Business: Government Supporting Your Business is a series of 16 events to be held around the country from June to October this year.

Craig Foss Small Business
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss today released the Government response to the latest Small Business Development Group report. The response outlines how the Government is creating an environment that makes it easier for small businesses to succeed.

“I welcome the report from the Small Business Development Group and thank the members for their work and expert advice,” Mr Foss says.

The 2015 Small Business Development Group report recommends:

Craig Foss Small Business
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss today released the latest Small Businesses in New Zealand factsheet, giving a detailed snapshot of how small businesses in New Zealand are making an impact across all industries.

“Small and medium-sized firms make a huge contribution to New Zealand’s economy and this factsheet really illustrates that,” Mr Foss says.

“It reinforces other reports which show that smaller businesses dominate our industries and play a vital role in generating jobs, innovation and overseas income.”

Craig Foss Small Business
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Statistics and Small Business Minister Craig Foss is welcoming a new online data tool that will help businesses grow and thrive by providing easily accessible and understandable data.

Officially launched today, Business Figures is the result of an innovative public-private partnership between Figure.NZ, ASB Bank and Statistics NZ.

Craig Foss Small Business Statistics
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Small Business Minister Craig Foss says changing the provisional tax system is yet another way the Government is helping small businesses grow and thrive.

“The tax system is a key issue for New Zealand’s small businesses — it’s consistently raised with me by business owners, local chambers and business associations up and down the country,” Mr Foss says.

“The changes announced today show the Government is focused on helping small businesses get ahead by saving them even more time and money.” 

Craig Foss Small Business Budget 2016
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Small business owners are now able to quickly and easily create employment agreements online with the launch of a refreshed Employment Agreement Builder tool, Minister for Small Business Craig Foss says.

“Hiring an employee can be stressful for a small business but, with the updated Employment Agreement Builder, we’re making the process easy. This means less time working on contracts and more time working on your business,” Mr Foss says.

Craig Foss Small Business
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The Government has committed to a further five and a half years of support to help small businesses grow through its Regional Business Partner programme, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Small Business Minister Craig Foss announced today.

Regional Business Partners are local hubs of business development know-how and research and development (R&D) expertise for companies.

Craig Foss Steven Joyce Small Business Economic Development
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New Zealand businesses with good cyber security practices could receive a “cyber security tick”, as part of a suite of initiatives to help protect small businesses against cyber attacks.

The cyber credentials scheme is just one initiative proposed in the Government’s new Cyber Security Strategy and Action Plan.

Craig Foss Amy Adams Small Business Communications
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A leap forward in the use of existing tax data means Statistics New Zealand has been able to halve the number of businesses being surveyed for important economic information, Minister of Statistics and for Small Business Craig Foss says.

Until now, 1800 businesses around the country have been surveyed for the manufacturing, wholesale trade, and services information.

But an improved survey design made possible by better use of existing tax data means that number has been trimmed to 900.

Craig Foss Statistics Small Business