Business.govt.nz
Business.govt.nz is the New Zealand government's online resource for small business, bringing together information from across the public and private sectors, packaged into tools and resources designed with small businesses in mind. It exists to make succeeding in business easier for New Zealand businesses.
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2007 |
| Jurisdiction | New Zealand |
| Headquarters | Wellington |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment |
| Website | http://www.business.govt.nz/ |
Business.govt.nz is managed and maintained by a dedicated team working in the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Background
The previous government business site, biz.org.nz, was launched in 2003. Business.govt.nz was launched on 15 August 2007 and replaced biz.org.nz. It was originally developed by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in consultation with a range of government departments and ministries, business groups and business service providers.
In 2014 business.govt.nz adopted a policy of customer centred design and delivery, developing all new products in partnership with designers and small businesses, testing all ideas, concepts and prototypes with small businesses. At the same time continuous business improvement practices were implemented. These new policies led business.govt.nz to win the AUT Excellence in Business Support Award in 2015.
Business.govt.nz tools and resources
Business.govt.nz focuses on topics and issues that cause small businesses the most problems, or have the potential to create the greatest positive impact.
Business topic covered by the site include
- Getting Started
- How to Grow
- Tax and Accounting
- Hiring and Managing People
- Risks and Operations
- Business Performance
Tools and resources
Business.govt.nz has more than 50 tools, quizzes, visual guides and videos, and infographics, most of which are listed on its Tools and Resources page. They include:
- ONECheck - first released in 2012 and refreshed in 2018, this tool allows users to check the availability of a business name on the trade mark register, domain name register, NZBN, Companies register and social media in one search. As of November 2018 it was being searched 1600 times a day.
- Choose Business Structure - in three questions this tool helps users decide which business structure is best for their business. Released in 2018.
- Employment Agreement Builder - this tool helps users create employment agreements tailored to their business and staff. First released in mid-2016, by September 2018 it had been used to create over 500,000 employment agreements.
- Workplace Policy Builder - this tool helps users create policies tailored to their workplaces.
- Compliance Matters - this tool helps users understand which laws apply to them.
- Employee Cost Calculator - this tool helps users understand the cost of hiring a new employee, using up-to-date, job specific data feeds.
New Zealand Business Performance Panel
In 2018 Minister Nash, the Minister for Small Business, officially launched the New Zealand Business Performance Panel, a group of business performance experts from around the world brought together to help business.govt.nz create world-leading resources designed to help small businesses improve their management capability.
At the launch Minister Nash stated "The Business Performance Panel is a way to share knowledge from local and overseas experts through the website business.govt.nz. It means Kiwi businesses will have access to advice from some of the world’s thought leaders on business performance, tailored to suit a New Zealand business environment.”[1]
The first sections created with the help of the Panel are Strategic Finance and Management and Leadership. These pages have been used by over 40,000 businesses since launch.
Users and growth
Business.govt.nz's tools and website content is used primarily by small New Zealand businesses and business advisors.
Following the adoption of customer-led design practices in 2014, business.govt.nz's usage has increased more than five-fold. In October 2018 the website recorded over 318,000 user sessions with an average session time of 4 minutes 15 seconds, amounting to 1.3 million minutes on site. (In October 2014 the site recorded just over 100,000 sessions with an average duration of 2 minutes 20 seconds.)
Over 350,000 small businesses receive the business.govt.nz newsletter each month. In October 2018 over 96,000 businesses opened this newsletter.
References
- Nash, Stuart (26 March 2018). "Launch of NZ Business Performance Panel". Beehive.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018.
External links
New Zealand Government website
New Zealand Companies Office
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
NZTE Media Release about business.govt.nz usage numbers
Business.govt.nz official website