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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.”

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.

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.” 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Small Business Minister Craig Foss and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith are urging consumers and small businesses to keep themselves safe online this Fraud Awareness Week.

Fraud Awareness Week 2015, which runs from 15 – 21 November, is part of an international initiative to raise awareness of scams and promote safe online practices.

“It’s imperative for small business owners to get up to speed — and stay up to speed — on the types of scams doing the rounds,” Mr Foss says.

Small Business Minister Craig Foss today announced one new appointment to the Small Business Development Group (SBDG) and 10 reappointments. 

Alaina Teki-Clark, from Whanganui, has been appointed to the SBDG to replace departing members Jonathan Flett and Frances Valintine. The group’s remaining members have been reappointed for a term of 18 months.

“Ms Teki-Clark is an outstanding business leader with many years’ experience starting and growing small businesses,” Mr Foss says.

Small Business Minister Craig Foss today congratulated the team behind Business.govt.nz for winning the government category at the 2015 AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards.

“This is the second time in four years Business.govt.nz, the Government’s website for small business, has won this award. It’s a reflection of the talented people we have working on the site and the quality content they produce for the benefit of all small New Zealand businesses,” Mr Foss says.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay and Small Business Minister Craig Foss have welcomed a new initiative dedicated to helping small businesses better understand tax and finance.

“Business.govt.nz has created a new section of the website called Tax and Finance, which covers everything from tax types to payroll dedications, and offers sound advice on topics such as how to reduce your tax bill, setting budgets and getting paid on time,” Mr Foss says.

Small Business Minister Craig Foss will travel to the Philippines later today to represent the New Zealand Government at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Meeting on mainstreaming Small and Medium Businesses in the Global Economy.

“In New Zealand SMEs account for 97 per cent of our companies and they generate 27 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and thousands of jobs annually,” Mr Foss says. 

Small Business Minister Craig Foss today released Small Businesses in New Zealand — an online factsheet highlighting the significant contribution small and medium-sized firms make to New Zealand’s economy.

“This factsheet shows small businesses are consistently punching above their weight,” Mr Foss says.

“They generate 27 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and thousands of jobs annually — for the year ending September 2013, 42 per cent of all jobs created were in businesses with 1-19 employees.

Small Business Minister Craig Foss is welcoming an online initiative to help small businesses better understand and protect their intellectual property (IP).

“Business.govt.nz and the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) have teamed up to produce easy to understand advice on the importance and value of secure IP,” Mr Foss says.