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Business NZ

Business.govt.nz makes it easier for small businesses in New Zealand to understand and comply with government, and succeed. They do this by packaging content and advice from across government into tools and resources designed with small business in mind.

They work closely with small businesses across New Zealand, government agencies, and private sector businesses and organisations, to understand small business challenges and how to address them in the most effective way.

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Last updated 04 June 2020

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Date printed 14 April 2024

Were you looking for...

Find the support, information and tools to help you start job hunting and choose the next steps in your career.

Find information on the options available to learn and train beyond school.

Connect with places where you can look for work now.

Programmes and initiatives that create jobs.

Find information on financial support for education, training or to work.

Find information and support available to you as an employee.

Employment advice and tools to set up and run, or manage closure of your business.

Information for businesses to build capabilities of your workforce.

Find out about opportunities for different employment options.

Tools and services to find staff now.

Funding available when you hire staff, including apprenticeships, training and job creation schemes.

{{ 'Find the right support for you' | except-last-word }} {{ 'Find the right support for you' | last-word }} Find the right support for you

Getting started.

Advice and tools to help with setting up in business.

See 11 types of support on this page

Starting a business.

Getting started — business.govt.nz

Business.govt.nz has a package page with resources for getting your business up and running. From tips to templates, you’ll find it all in one place.

Business.govt.nz has tips, tools, visual guides, and case studies to point you in the right direction when starting a business. Find information on planning, getting set up, funding and finance on the getting started package page to help you get started on the right foot.

These resources are for all New Zealanders in business. They’re built with small to medium business owners at front of mind. No matter your geographical location, or your industry, Business.govt.nz provides information to help you thrive.

Start your own business

Ministry of Social Development

Work and Income have a range of supports to help you if you’re starting your own business.

Supporting people to develop and start their own business.

You can get help with:

• advice and training on how to start a business
• help with essential start-up costs
• subsidies for living costs while you’re getting started.

Each type of support has different criteria you need to meet, these are outlined on the Work and Income website.

Support for business

Inland Revenue

Inland Revenue are here to support you with understanding your responsibilities around tax and social policy obligations, helping you get it right from the start.

The website holds key information that will help when you’re looking to start working for yourself.

You can get support with:

• Starting your business
• Choosing a business structure
• Running your business – education seminars/webinars and videos
• Employing people

Anyone setting up a new business, support for those already in business and those wanting to close down an existing business. 

Help with costs while you set up your business

Flexi-wage — Ministry of Social Development

If you are out of work and want to start your own business but need some support, Work and Income may be able to help with Flexi-wage Self-employment.

If you’re out of work and want to start your own business, Flexi-wage Self-employment may be able to support you and help with costs while you get started.

You may be able to get Flexi-wage Self-employment if you’re:

• within New Zealand’s working-age population
• out of work
• disadvantaged in the labour market (which means you have, or are expected to have, difficulty getting or keeping a job), and
• at risk of long-term unemployment.

Flexi-wage Self-employment includes:

• $600 a week over 28 weeks, totalling $16,800 (pro-rated for those pursuing self-employment part-time)
• funding support through a Business, Training and Advice Grant, up to $5,000.

Employment New Zealand website

Employment New Zealand

The Employment New Zealand website provides a wide range of information and resources, to help employers and employees understand their rights and obligations. Employment New Zealand is part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The website provides practical, operational, and best practice employment information to help employers and employees understand what they can do and how they should do it.

The website is free to use for any member of the public. This includes both employers and employees, but also any other individuals and organisations.

The information on the website aims to support positive relationships between employers and employees, and to promote safe, fair, and harmonious workplaces.

Employment Learning Modules

The Employment Learning Modules on the Employment New Zealand website are free to access. These will help you and your employees learn about your rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

The Employment Learning Modules are short online courses on a range of topics relating to employment – working arrangements, employment agreements, pay and wages, etc. The new module, ‘An Introduction to Your Employment Rights’, comes in 8 different languages, and also comes with a voice-over function.

The modules are free to access, use, and sign up for, by any member of the public. This includes both employers and employees, but also any other individuals and organisations.

You and your employees will gain a better understanding of your rights and responsibilities under New Zealand employment law.

Digital Boost

Business.govt.nz

Digital Boost provides access to free, self-paced training to assist small businesses in gaining digital skills.

Learn the digital skills to boost your business. Whatever stage you’re at, use digital to do business smarter. 

See how other Kiwi business owners are using digital to boost their business and work smarter. Access free, self-paced training and tools and gain skills to launch your business into the digital world. 

Business.govt.nz assisted in creating Digital Boost for all New Zealand small businesses, no matter what stage or business structure you’re in. Digital Boost is free to use.

Choose business structure

business.govt.nz

Each different way to structure your business has different legal and financial obligations. Most businesses in New Zealand are sole traders, companies, or partnerships.

There are different ways to structure your business, depending on how you plan on running it.

Anyone thinking of starting a business

Answer three quick questions to see which structure is best suited for your business idea.

Workplace Policy Builder

Policies set out the rules for your workplace. They tell your workers what you expect from them, and what they can expect from you.

Workplace policies, together with employment agreements, are a great foundation for employment relationships.

All employers.

Build a workplace policy to let your workers know what to expect at work.

Going contracting

Business.govt.nz has tips, tools, templates and case studies to help you get set up to go contracting.

You’ll find information about:

• setting up as a contractor
• managing finances
• different business structures
• finding work
• tax and expenses
• checking your contracts
• government help.

Business.govt.nz is free to use by any member of the public. The content is designed with New Zealand small businesses front of mind.      

Employment Agreement Builder

Create tailored employment agreements for your staff. Employment agreements are a legal requirement and a great foundation for an employment relationship.

Employment agreements are a legal requirement for all employees.

Create tailored employment agreements for your staff.

Last modified: 19 February 2024

Related content

Find a range of employment advice and tools for businesses to support staff.

Business capabilities

A business capability is what an organisation needs to deliver its business strategy and achieve its outcomes. Business capabilities encompass people, processes, information, and technology.

Another term for business capability is organisational capability. Business capabilities help agencies understand and structure what is needed to support their operating model and services.

Collectively, business capabilities are what an organisation needs to deliver its business strategy and achieve its outcomes.

A business capability is what an organisation needs to deliver its business strategy and achieve its outcomes. Business capabilities encompass people (competencies), processes, information, and technology. Another term for business capability is organisation capability.

Principles for working with business capabilities

Principle 1: useful.

In general, we expect the business capabilities to be defined to a level which is useful to the stakeholders. The set of high level business capabilities for any organisation should clearly align with the purpose of the organisation, and what it needs to be able to fulfil that purpose. It helps to be able to distinguish core supporting capabilities from value producing and strategic capabilities.

Principle 2: Self-contained

It is helpful to think about business capabilities as self-contained pieces of a business that potentially could be sourced from another business unit or agency, or an external provider. Can they be logically separated and shifted? If not, we may be getting too detailed.

Sourcing of capabilities is something that is worth thinking about. Some questions to ask are:

• Is this something that potentially could be out-sourced from the agency or is it core to the agency?
• If something could be outsourced why would you do it? Is it because it is a commodity function that could be done more effectively by a specialist provider? Is it something you need to be able to do well but currently don’t have the right skill sets?

Principle 3: What and why

The ‘what?’ and the ‘why?’, not the ‘how?’, ‘who?’ or ‘where’. A business capability is about defining what needs to be delivered and why it needs to be delivered; it does not define how it will be delivered. Capability is conceptual, it is used to simplify.

For example, a small business owner with staff needs a “Pay staff capability”. The how is not part of the capability; the owner could implement it by pulling out their wallet and giving staff money, through to having an accounting and time-keeping software package that direct credits pay into staff accounts.

Principle 4: Categorised

Capabilities should be categorised to allow gaps and overlaps to be readily identified and any duplication avoided, or explained and justified. The government enterprise architecture reference taxonomies can be used for this purpose.

Business capabilities terms

1. capability gap.

A capability gap is the difference between the current capability and what the stakeholders want the capability to be. Once the gap has been agreed and defined, explore options to close the capability gap.

In some cases, the gap may be so big that a new capability is required to replace a current one.

2. Capability heat map

A capability heat map is a simple visual technique tool for highlighting where the focus areas are for an organisation. The capabilities on this should align with the focus areas of the stakeholders, using terms that are well understood. Often the heat map will show the current state on the left and a desired state by a target date on the right. More sophisticated heat maps may show the related capability increments needed to reach the desired state.

3. Capability increments

A capability increment is the result of some action taken to improve a capability. There may be a number of capability increments needed to get from the current capability to the desired capability. These will often be in the form of change programmes and related projects.

4. Capability maturity model/capability maturity assessment

The Capability maturity model (CMM) is an approach for assessing, measuring and tracking the evolution of a capability over time. It provides a framework for organising these evolutionary steps into 5 maturity levels that lay successive foundations for continuous process improvement.

CMM was developed and is promoted by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) . It was originally developed for software development but over time has come to be used for all aspects of organisations with many industry specific models now available.

CMM's five maturity levels

• Initial level – processes are ad hoc. Success is based on individual efforts. It is not considered to be repeatable, as processes are not sufficiently defined and documented.
• Repeatable level – basic project management techniques are established, and successes could be repeated. Supporting processes would have been established, defined and documented but are not necessarily followed.
• Defined level – an organisation has developed its own standard software process through greater attention to documentation, standardisation and integration.
• Managed level – an organisation monitors and controls its own processes through data collection and analysis.
• Optimising level – continuous process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the process and from piloting innovative ideas and technologies.

Depending upon the model, the definitions may vary but the concept is the same. Maturity levels are often “1” to “5”. In the generic government capability assessment tool “0” is used as a null value where there is no data.

5. Parent capability/child capability

Capabilities can be organised so that a capability has multiple sub-capabilities. This would normally be done when focus is needed on some aspects of the capability.

Related resources

Government business capability model.

The government business capability model provides a candidate set of business capabilities that could be found in a typical government agency as a quick start for agencies wanting to use business capabilities as a tool to link strategy to their resources and assets.

Government Business Capability Model

Generic capability maturity assessment tool

This tool is intended as generic tool for assessing the maturity of unique capabilities for which there may be no readily available maturity assessment tools.

Generic capability maturity assessment tool (ZIP 315KB)

Protective Security Requirements Capability Maturity Model

Provides a simple checklist to help your organisation's security leaders to review your organisation’s security capability.

The Open Group

The Open Group is a global consortium responsible for developing the TOGAF® (The Open Group Architecture Framework) standard, certification, and a range of free guides for enterprise architecture.

A related whitepapers is:

Capability-Based Planning: The Link Between Strategy and Enterprise Architecture

Reference: W16C

This White Paper describes how a Capability-Based Planning (CBP) method is a solution for the alignment between business strategy and Enterprise Architecture. It includes a detailed example using ArchiMate 3.0 notation.

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Last updated 11 November 2021

Date printed 14 April 2024

• About digital.govt.nz
• Accessibility
• Terms of use

All content is now available on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) website: Better for Business (external link) — MBIE

Understanding NZ businesses and their dealings with government

• Digital capability of New Zealand businesses in 2023
• Digital Boost Evaluation Research
• Business health and motivations research
• Business resilience in New Zealand

Part of B4B’s role is to understand and support the diverse needs of New Zealand businesses. Stats NZ’s annually updated business demography statistics and MBIE’s small business factsheets (see below) provide a useful introduction to understanding New Zealand’s unique business landscape.

On this page

Mbie small business factsheet.

The Small Businesses in 2022 factsheet is good as a reference guide. It brings together previously released data from a range of Stats NZ business surveys and summarises the results as they relate to small businesses specifically.

Small Businesses in 2022 — Factsheet [PDF, 236 KB]

Published: 2022

Beyond business demography

B4B’s ‘Beyond business demography’ factsheet aims to build on these resources by incorporating behavioural data from our own research, adding an additional layer of insight into what NZ business look like and how they operate. This is a snapshot of the information we consider when seeking to better understand the diverse situations and needs of NZ businesses.

Better for Business – Beyond business demography [PDF, 220 KB]

Business dealings with government

Our second factsheet provides a short introduction on how businesses engage with government based on findings from our bi-annual business Research Monitor.

Better for Business – Business dealings with government [PDF, 245 KB]

Date published: March 2024 – Based on data collected during 2023.​

The B4B Business Research Monitor

Running since 2013, the bi-annual B4B Research Monitor provides a unique system-wide view of how Kiwi businesses experience government (both local and central).

The research provides insight into the world of government from a business’ perspective and is the only research of this type in New Zealand.

For more information about our Business Research Monitor or to request a copy of any of our reports, please contact us at:

[email protected]

© Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

https://www.betterforbusiness.govt.nz/resources-2/understanding-nz-businesses-and-their-dealings-with-government/ Please note: This content will change over time and can go out of date.

Economic development

We focus on improving the well-being of New Zealanders by supporting our economy to become more productive, resilient and sustainable. We use our expertise in funds management, tourism, major events, firm-level investment, SMEs, digital technology impacts and other priority sectors to support the government’s objectives.

Events Transition Support Payment scheme (ETSP)

The Events Transition Support Payment (ETSP) scheme was designed to provide assurance to organisers of large-scale events, so they could continue organising our much anticipated events over 2022.

• General events
• Business events
• Additional information for applicants, suppliers and vendors
• ETSP recipients
• Terms and conditions

Reactivating Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland package

This support package helped to revive economic, social and cultural activities in New Zealand’s largest city over the summer of 2021/2022 and provided relief to those in hardship.

Circular Economy and Bioeconomy

MBIE is undertaking research on how Aotearoa New Zealand can reduce emissions, and lift the value derived from our biological resources.

Startup Advisors Council

We help to identify and address the opportunities and challenges facing high growth startup businesses in New Zealand.

• UpStart Nation
• Assessment of the New Zealand Ecosystem
• Terms of reference

COVID-19 data resources

We have been gathering data and information on the economic impact and recovery options of COVID-19, and data and statistics about managed isolation and quarantine in New Zealand.

• Managed isolation and quarantine data
• Latest COVID-19 economic data
• COVID-19 economic data - pre-August 2021

Economic Plan

The Economic Plan describes the Government’s vision for a productive, sustainable and inclusive economy. It articulates the key economic shifts we need to make to improve the wellbeing and living standards of all New Zealanders.

Equitable Transitions Strategy

Achieving a low emissions Aotearoa New Zealand that is better for everyone.

Te Rautaki Whakawhiti Tautika

Ki te kotahi tātou, ka taea tātou te ārai atu i ngā mate āhuarangi i runga i te tōritenga me te kauawhinga. Mā ngāi Māori tonu tātou e ārahi.

Just Transition

We have established a Just Transitions Unit to help share and coordinate the work of transitioning New Zealand to a low emissions economy.

• The Just Transition Partnership team
• Regional Hydrogen Transition
• Just Transitions for Taranaki
• Just Transitions for Southland
• A guide to just transitions
• Resourcing just transition processes

Industry policy

The Government has launched a new approach to industry policy, aimed at growing more innovative industries in New Zealand and lifting the productivity, sustainability and inclusivity of our key sectors.

• Industry Transformation Plans

Digital economy

The Government is enabling New Zealand to become a thriving digital nation — where our people, businesses and government are all using technology to drive innovation, improve productivity, and enhance quality of life for all New Zealanders.

• Digital economy work
• Digital economy research
• Game development sector rebate

Screen sector

We support the continuing success of New Zealand as a destination for screen activity, including film, television, digital effects and post-production work.

• The benefits of the New Zealand screen industry
• New Zealand Screen Production Rebate
• Economic trends in the screen sector
• Information about the New Zealand Screen Sector

Growing the food and beverage sector

New Zealand is a major food and beverage exporter, with the industry accounting for 46% of all goods and services exports.

• Food and Beverage Information Project
• Food Innovation Network

Māori economic development

We are the lead government agency responsible for coordinating the Crown Māori Economic Strategy and Action Plan.

• Our Funding Partners
• He Kai Kei Aku Ringa: Strategy and action plan
• Supporting Māori business

Regional economic development

Government is investing in regionally focused initiatives to enhance economic development opportunities. Kānoa - Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit (Kānoa - RDU) has been established to support delivery of these commitments. We also have a suite of Regional Economic Activity Tools that present social and economic data on our regions.

• Kānoa - Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit
• Modelled Territorial Authority Gross Domestic Product
• Regional Economic Activity Tools

Sector reports series

The Sectors Reports Series and the New Zealand Sectors Dashboard provides up-to-date information on all the industry sectors that make up the New Zealand economy.

• Forestry and wood processing spotlight report series

Major events

The Government works in partnership with the event sector to support New Zealand’s growing reputation as an attractive destination for major events of global significance.

Long-term Insights Briefing on the future of business for Aotearoa New Zealand

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is pleased to share with you our Long-term Insights Briefing: 'The future of business for Aotearoa New Zealand: An exploration of 2 trends influencing productivity and wellbeing – purpose-led business and use of blockchain technology'. Thank you to everyone who shared their knowledge and insights to inform the development of the Briefing.

• A3 Summary - The future of business for Aotearoa New Zealand
• The future of business for Aotearoa New Zealand
• Summary of consultation on the draft Long-term Insights Briefing: The future of Business for Aotearoa New Zealand
• Response to in-hearing request for further information

Sustainable and resilient economy transformation

• Resilience – definitions, concepts and measurement approaches
• Which analytical tools are suited to transformative change?
• How effective are resilience-focused policies?

Tūhoe economic worldview: mapping to an orthodox framework

A report comparing Ngāi Tūhoe’s interpretation of the economy against orthodox economic frameworks, by economist Shamubeel Eaqub (of Sense Partners).

© Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/economic-development/ Please note: This content will change over time and can go out of date.

Go to homepage business.govt.nz business.govt.nz

Business.govt.nz, in association with, grants and help for your new business.

If you’ve launched a new business or become self-employed, help is at hand. Government support such as grants, low-cost business advice and mentoring will help you get off the ground.

Help from the government shouldn’t be mistaken for free money. If your business is still young, most government assistance focuses on building your skills and knowledge, and linking you with advisors and networks.

There are many free or low-cost opportunities available if you’re in the early stage of business.

The more fully formed your business idea is, the more help you’ll be able to get. Whether you’re self-employed, own or run a business, it’s a good idea to do some business planning before you approach any advisors, mentors and funding officers.

Tips on how to write a business plan

Grants and help for your established business

Beware of funding scams, in which fraudsters trick you into paying fees to find grants

If a company claims to be able to help you get grants, do your research first. Try the Commerce Commission for information on bogus grant-finders.

Support for Māori business owners

Agency: Te Puni Kōkiri

Aimed at: Māori business owners and entrepreneurs

How to get it: Register online

The Māori Business Growth Supports aims to help Māori business owners and entrepreneurs starting out.

To be eligible, the majority ownership of your business must identify as Māori. You must also have a business plan and have attended Inland Revenue’s Introduction to Business workshop.

You’ll be paired with an account manager who will work with you to identify your needs. Account managers are located throughout New Zealand.

Māori Business Growth Support (external link) — Te Puni Kōkiri

Agency: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Aimed at: Māori collectives

How to get it: Apply in the annual call for proposals

The Māori Innovation Fund seeks to build the skills and knowledge of Māori collectives and trusts.

Under the fund’s Commercial advisor scheme, collectives are given co-funding to work with an advisor who can help identify opportunities and support new ventures.

Read the 2017 Commercial Advisors Scheme: approved commercial advisors [PDF, 140KB] (external link)

Find more on Support for Māori business (external link) — MBIE website

Start-up and founder support

Agency: Callaghan Innovation

Aimed at: Tech start-ups

How to get it: Explore programme openings and submit an application with the programme suited to your business

Callaghan Innovation has partnered with a number of leading organisations that specialise in supporting promising start-ups during their early stages.

They provide a series of accelerator and growth programmes, led by experts, designed to help start-ups grow and reach a point where they’re prepared to approach investors.

The programmes offer access to expert mentoring, advice, and an opportunity to learn from like-minded founders.

Startup and Founder Support (external link) — Callaghan Innovation

Agency: Business Mentors New Zealand (BMNZ)

Aimed at: People with a new business idea or those who want help to start a new business

How to get it: Register online and pay a one-off registration fee

BMNZ mentors are experienced business people with expertise in new ventures. They have an understanding of the steps needed to validate a business idea or get a new business off the ground.

Over a six-month period, volunteer mentors work alongside a person with a new business or idea to:

• offer guidance
• test thinking
• step through a feasibility assessment
• support you to build a robust business plan.

Start-up mentoring programme (external link) — Business Mentors NZ

A mentor acts as your guide to business

Map out clear goals at the start to get the best out of your mentoring relationship.

Grants and funding

There are few government grants or funding schemes available to the self-employed and businesses just starting out. If you’re eligible, you might have to match any funding you get. Your Regional Business Partner will help you find suitable grants.

Here are two funding schemes specifically for new businesses.

Aimed at: Deep tech innovators, researchers or entrepreneurs

How to get it: Contact the Deep Tech Incubator Product Manager to find out whether the programme is right for your business

Deep Tech refers to advanced technologies that are based on significant scientific or engineering breakthroughs. These technologies often require extensive research and development, high levels of expertise, and significant investment.

The Deep Tech Incubator programme was created to fund and support New Zealand innovators with big ideas, to advance Aotearoa in the scientific and technological space.

Deep Tech Incubators (external link) — Callaghan Innovation 

Contact details (external link) — Regional Business Partner Network

Agency: Work and Income

Aimed at: People on benefits who want to start a business or become self-employed

How to get it: Speak to a case manager at Work and Income to discuss how to apply

The Flexi-wage programme provides advice and some financial support. 

Who can get it

You may be able to get Flexi-wage for self-employment if you're:

• Jobseeker Support
• Sole Parent Support
• Supported Living Payment
• start up a new business, or
• need help to become self-sufficient in an existing business.

Who can't get it

You won't be able to get Flexi-wage for self-employment if you're:

• re-starting a business that you've owned before
• currently bankrupt.

If you qualify for Flexi-wage for Self Employment you could get help with set-up costs and other financial support while you’re getting started in business.

Also a Business Training and Advice Grant may be available to help pay training costs associated with starting your own business. It can also be used to pay for business advisor costs.

Flexi-wage programme (external link)   — Work and Income

Business training and advice grant (external link)  — Work and Income

Related content

Start-up business plan.

Use this template to help write a great plan for your new business.

Who to talk to and when

News for business.

Get updates for small businesses from across government about new services, law changes and more.

Common business milestones

Highs, lows and speed bumps — here are 20 milestones small businesses often face, plus tips and tools to help.

5 Tips for Your New Zealand Business Plan

By Dan Kim Associate

Updated on September 8, 2023 Reading time: 5 minutes

This article meets our strict editorial principles. Our lawyers, experienced writers and legally trained editorial team put every effort into ensuring the information published on our website is accurate. We encourage you to seek independent legal advice. Learn more .

What Is a Business Plan?

• Keep It Relevant 
• Keep It Concise – And Nail Your Pitch
• Do Not Make Empty Claims 
• Be Conservative 

Include Payout Options for Investors

• Have Your Key Legal Documents in Place 
• Key Takeaways 

Frequently Asked Questions

A good business plan guides you through each step of  setting up and managing your business . It can help you find a new direction for your business or test the financial viability of your idea. Every business is different, and therefore you should tailor your plan to your needs and audience. No matter how small your venture is, your plan should include, at a minimum key strategy points, crucial milestones and essential projections, sales, spending and cash flow analysis. You should prioritise substance and leave out any empty gimmicks or unrealistic financial projections or milestones. This article shares tips and best practices to help you write a thorough and accurate plan for a New Zealand business and win investors and other stakeholders. 

A business plan is a crucial document for your business. You should not start running your operations without a business plan as this will help you avoid common causes of failure, such as not having enough capital or an adequate market. Your business plan should explain: 

• the nature of your business;
• details of your offering, target market and competition;
• sales and profits forecasts;
• how much capital you require for startup or expansion and how you are planning to use it; 
• your legal business structure, ownership details and key personnel; and
• whether you have obtained any patents, prototypes, or essential contracts regarding product development or conducted any marketing tests.

If you are putting together a plan for the first time, it is essential to understand how to write and present your content effectively. You want to engage your readers early in the process and be able to communicate succinctly what you need and why. For example, you may need a loan to buy new equipment, so how will you repay this loan and over what term?

Keep It Relevant 

As with most content that you will produce throughout the life of your business, you need to write for your audience and therefore understand their needs. Your business plan’s target audience may include your potential investors, lenders, potential partners, employees, customers and suppliers. 

For example, if you are writing a version of your business plan for a  venture capital (VC) firm , you want to be concise, clear and convincing. VC investors are often busy, so your plan will likely only get a few minutes of their attention. You may want to use some visual representations of your data for impact, such as charts and graphs. If you are writing for an angel investor, prepare a brief, less formal plan to avoid sounding imposing. They are generally more informal and tend to trust their instincts over your pitch. Think like an investor, and write what they would want to see.

Keep It Concise – And Nail Your Pitch

When it comes to length, your business plan should convince your readers that you truly understand your market and have a strong execution strategy. Most business consultants agree on a minimum of 15 pages, and it should not take longer than 15 minutes to skim through. 

Your plan should start with a one-page pitch that summarises your business, the problem that you are solving, your target market, and financial highlights. A concise and punchy summary can help you get your reader’s attention early on in the document and pique their interest in your business.

The New Zealand business.govt.nz website provides a  free business plan template . Make sure you tailor it to the needs of your business and audience, and ask a consultant or mentor to review it before you present it to your investors.

Do Not Make Empty Claims 

Your prospective investors have likely read thousands of business plans and can easily recognise empty claims and gimmicks. If you state that your product has the potential to get 10% of the market in a specific timeframe, you have to support your assertion with carefully analysed data. Otherwise, prospective investors are likely to dismiss your business. For example, you should provide evidence of your customers’ acceptance of your product or service and the rate at which you can likely sell it.

Be Conservative 

Be conservative and realistic when making financial projections and forecasts in your business plan. You should include five-year profitability forecasts to help your investors decide how much they want to commit and at what price. You should avoid relying on over-optimistic figures, as investors can quickly see through these. Talk to your accountant if you need help preparing your financial forecasts and presenting them in a standard format. 

You should also be conservative when defining milestones. Being realistic will make your presentation more credible. Before you start, research and add a 15% buffer to your key milestones to avoid missing important deadlines.  

Your investors need to feel comfortable that they can make an adequate return or when and how they could cash out. As a general rule of thumb, many investors want to get their money back within three to seven years. Therefore, you should briefly describe your plans to pay them out.

Have Your Key Legal Documents in Place 

In conjunction with putting your plan in place, key legal documents such as documents recording your business structure, employment agreements with key staff members, contracts with third parties, terms and conditions of trade, and intellectual property must be properly recorded and registered in the background. Having these legal arrangements properly documented will minimise the risk for businesses. In the event of a dispute with other parties or customers, if there is no contract in place, this will create a lot of uncertainty for the business trying to navigate what process is to take place.

Additionally, if you are looking at approaching, for example, a VC firm, the VC will want to ensure that the key legal arrangements of the business have been properly recorded before making their investment. If the structure of the business and ownership of the business’s intellectual property is not legally sound, this can be a continual risk for the business and may dissuade a VC from investing. Although these legal documents do not need to be part of the plan itself, these arrangements must be properly documented so that your business plan is not subject to any unforeseen legal risks.   

To protect your business, ensure supplier contracts meet your business’ needs. Our free Commercial Contracts Checklist will help.

Key Takeaways 

Your marketing, operational and financial issues are unique to your business. Therefore, your plan should be tailored to your business needs and focus on areas of concern to your audience. Your investors rely on your plan to understand your business objectives and the capabilities of your management team and determine whether they can earn an adequate return for their investment. Your investors will also want to see that the business has its key legal documents in place, which minimises the risk of the business and, in turn, their investment. Therefore, you should keep your business plan relevant, concise, realistic and conservative to win your investors and other stakeholders. 

If you need help defining your business’s regulatory environment or reviewing your business plan before presenting it to investors, our experienced  business lawyers  can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0800 005 570 or visit our  membership page .

Your plan should start with an executive summary that summarises your business, the problem that you are solving, your target market, and financial highlights. Think of it as a one-page pitch that will help your audience decide whether they want to continue reading or not. You should then go into more detail about your business, strategy, current and planned team, market and competitor analysis, strategy and budget, assets, financial plan, business continuity plan and legal and regulatory requirements. As a rule of thumb, your plan should not take longer than fifteen minutes to skim through.

You will use your business plan to test the commercial viability of your idea or to plan the next stage for your business. It will help you decide how much capital you need to fund your venture and whether you want to get funding from investors or a loan from a bank. Your plan can also help you attract talent for your management team or secure a deal with a new supplier.

From financing your operations to attracting talent, you will write your business plan to help you define and meet your goals. Therefore, your target audience will include investors, lenders, potential partners, employees, customers and suppliers.

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• Preparing your business plan

If you are applying for an Entrepreneur Work Visa, you need to provide a detailed business plan that meets our requirements.

Starting a business: Entrepreneur Work Visa

• Points indicator for Entrepreneur Work Visa

What your business plan must include

Your business plan must include information about the business you will operate in New Zealand.

Business information

Business information must include:

• the industry
• the location
• whether you will set up a new business or buy an existing one
• details of any occupational registration you have, if you need it to run your business in New Zealand
• details about the business environment and market you will work in, as you understand it
• how your business will meet at least 1 of the business characteristics identified in the Entrepreneur Work policy objective.

Occupational registration

Entrepreneur Work policy objective

The Entrepreneur Work policy objective is to contribute to economic growth by helping experienced business people grow or establish high-growth and innovative businesses that have export potential.

Financial information

You must include financial information, including:

• realistic financial forecasts
• evidence you have enough money to finance your business, and support any family who come to New Zealand with you.

Optional business track record and character information

In your visa application you must include information about your business track record and character, including details of any:

• past bankruptcy
• business failure, fraud or financial wrongdoing.

You can also include this information in your business plan.

Supporting evidence for your business plan

You must also include evidence that:

• supports any claims you made about your business in the Entrepreneur Work Visa points scale
• you have business experience relevant to the proposed business
• your business will meet at least 1 of the business characteristics identified in the Entrepreneur Work policy objective.

Points Scale for Entrepreneur Work Visa

If you are buying an existing business

If you are buying an existing business, your business plan must also include:

• evidence of the value of the business, for example a sales and purchase agreement or independent valuation
• evidence of the profitability of the business, for example profit and loss statements or audited accounts for the last 2 years
• information about how many people the business currently employs
• information about the benefit your business activity will provide New Zealand.

Our Entrepreneur Work Visa Guide has information about how to set out your business plan.

Entrepreneur Work Visa Guide (INZ 1221) PDF 284KB

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Government continues to deliver for New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has launched the Government’s next action plan to deliver for New Zealand – setting out key steps to be taken by June 30 to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and improve public services. 

“I am proud to lead a government of action. We are delivering big changes that are already making a real difference to the lives of New Zealanders,” Mr Luxon says.

“Kids are more focused on learning after we banned phones in schools, farmers and tradies finally have tax relief after we got rid of the Ute Tax, and hospital emergency departments saw a reduction in violence after we added more security.

“There is always more to do and that’s why we are backing up the 100-Day Plan with our next action plan for New Zealand.

“Just like our 100-Day Plan, this next action plan is focused on three key areas to make life better for Kiwis:

• Rebuilding the economy and easing the cost of living
• Restoring law and order, and
• Delivering better public services.

“Having a clear plan with specific actions and timeframes for delivery creates momentum and drives focus.”

Commitments in the Government’s action plan for New Zealand include:

• Deliver a budget that reduces wasteful spending while investing in frontline services.
• Deliver tax relief to hardworking New Zealanders.
• Set targets for improving public services, like education and health.
• Launch an Attendance Action Plan to get kids back to school.
• Restore Three Strikes to hold serious, repeat offenders to account.
• Establish a Regional Infrastructure Fund to boost economic growth in our regions.
• Reform the CCCFA regime to make it easier for home-buyers to access credit, and introduce legislation to improve the rental market.

“Much of the action plan is focused on rebuilding the economy – like measures to increase investment in renewable electricity, and RMA reform to cut red-tape on farmers. It is only through a strong economy we can reduce the cost of living, lift incomes and afford the public services Kiwis deserve.

“New Zealanders expect and deserve delivery from their government, and that is exactly what they are getting from us.”

The Spinoff

The Bulletin April 3, 2024

Taking decisions and raising the energy: the government’s new action plan.

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With the novelty factor of a 100-day plan expended, the prime minister has once again moved to align government with familiar territory, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday,  sign up here .

Taking decisions and raising the energy

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon released the government’s new priority list yesterday, aligning it with a more familiar quarterly rhythm rather than the political 100-day timeline. The novelty of the “next xx-day plan” routine has likely worn off. It is clear this is the rhythm of the new government — a tidy device to create a sense of regular short-term momentum in clear contrast with the previous government, which also underscores Luxon’s corporate credentials. There are 36 actions , all due to be completed by June 30, which marks the end of the financial year for parliament. The Herald’s Derek Cheng  has the most astute analysis to date (paywalled), noting half of the items could be easy ticks or mere formalities. Others involve “taking decisions” on things already fixed in place by coalition agreements. In fresh new language, possibly designed to generate the exact pick-up it’s getting (guilty), number 18 on the list is “Raise the energy New Zealand brings to key relationships through international engagements”.

‘Bloat begins at the Beehive’

The set pieces are obviously delivering the Budget on May 30, making good on the tax cut campaign promises and continuing to make cuts to the public service. Stuff’s Susan Edmunds takes a look at some of the year-on-year increases in public service roles  this morning. It’s useful to have these comparisons rather than just raw numbers. It’s also useful to remember  these are real people  possibly losing jobs whose existence isn’t just rooted in perception about the public service in Wellington but attached to services across the country. This morning, Politik’s  Richard Harman picks up research  (paywalled) done by New Zealand Initiative research fellow Max Salmon that argues that public service bloat starts in the Beehive.  Salmon’s study says  that the more ministers a government has, the more it will spend and the more difficult it is to cut some bureaucratic functions. As Harman points out, despite “vows to cut waste from within the government, it has created seven new ministries and abolished only two left over from the Labour government.”

‘A country is not a company. A prime minister is not a CEO’ — Swarbrick

More reading.

Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has penned an opinion for the Herald this morning pushing back against the embrace of corporate-speak and managerial leadership styles. Swarbrick writes, “ A country is not a company. A prime minister is not a CEO. ” Two themes emerge, she says: “The first is that these bullet points wouldn’t even hold up in the corporate world: vague, immeasurable and untethered from reality and evidence as they are. The second is that the long-term costs of all of these decisions ultimately far, far outweigh the short-term benefit.”

Urgency will be used if required

Despite criticism of the government’s use of urgency, with more bills passed under urgency in its first 100 days  than in any of the past five terms of parliament, Luxon didn’t hesitate to say urgency would still be used in the next quarter where appropriate. “There is a lot that we also want public consultation on and we want proper process around – which is important,” he said. The Herald’s  Fran O’Sullivan  (paywalled) suggests a short-term view of achievement would run counter to advice Luxon would receive from his mentor and former prime minister, Sir John Key, who O’Sullivan says “strongly believes a new prime minister should think about delivering a political change programme by taking a three-term view, not a three-year view.”

How to get yourself back on track

In case all this talk of action plans has you feeling motivated, The Spinoff’s Gabi Lardies has a guide to writing your own 90 or 100-day plan . She is 100% correct in pointing out that one of the main ways to feel accomplished is to add things you’ve already done or know you’re going to do. I hope my recommendation to read Gabi’s piece raises the energy I bring to key relationships (mine with you and mine with Gabi).