WIN two free tickets to BUSINESS buddy’s cashflow management seminar
The BUSINESS buddies are so excited about our February seminar that we are giving away one double pass to help a local business keep the dollars running like a river, all year round.
Are you a business owner feeling financial squeeze this January? You are not alone.
The Value of Workplace Training
Training in the workplace is a very valuable and important component of running a successful business.
Shipping Musts and Must-Nots
Online purchasing has not-so-slowly and very surely become the way people shop. It is efficient, convenient and best of all can be done without any concern for traffic or trying to find dreaded car-parking at a mall.
The Five Elements of a Lean Business
If your business is doing well and you’re looking to expand, that can be a sign of success. However, moving to the next stage of business development can be a risky endeavour.
The Dance of Technology and Business
Conducting business is no longer as simple, and dare we say primitive, as being present in the store at the point of sale, making said sale, recording said sale and replenishing inventory stock – all in a very hands-on manner.
Dear Santa
You’re never too old to write to the dude in the big red suit and the BUSINESS buddies have scribed their wish list for something special they would like to find under the tree.
Of course, they are trying very hard to be good right up until Christmas Eve, which is more of a challenge for some buddies than others.
Money, money, money
Loot, dosh, cash, dollars, money, moola, coin… call it what you will but when there’s none in your pocket and none in the bank, it means one word – trouble.
The holiday season is a time when many businesses find cashflow diminishes to a trickle and it is the perfect occasion for BUSINESS buddy to advise entrepreneurs on how to unblock the dam.
The Basics of a Good Business Plan
Business plans help define goals and help you achieve them. If you take time to set concrete and achievable goals, you can then chart a plan to reach these goals successfully. Having tangible goals can make a business thrive.
Make sure you don’t overlook this critical step in your employee onboarding process
So, you’re doing your homework on employee onboarding and preparing new starter kits infused with your company’s values. You also want to mastermind an onboarding process that even the tech giants would be proud of.
6 Factors You Need to Know When Considering a New Supplier
The best suppliers will provide the most suitable goods or services at the right prices and within the right time frames for your business needs. Below we give you six factors you need to know when considering a new supplier.
Virtual Currencies: Bitcoin and other Virtual Currencies
Many virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin have emerged over the last 10 years but just how safe are they? We explain how virtual currencies work and the risks you take buying, trading or investing in them.
The Happiest Time of the Year? Holiday Pressures for Food Manufacturers
Holiday seasons are often just as exciting for food manufacturers as they are for consumers. Holiday seasons are big business for food manufacturers.
Making a Case for a Time and Attendance System
Having reliable rostering software, like goRoster, means that you know who is working in your business at any given time. It’s a great tool to help you manage your staff without having to be on site 24/7.
Happy Customers, Thriving Company: The Role of Inventory Management
If there were no customers, there would be no business. And with no business, there is no income. So, it would be safe to summarise that customers should be the point of business, would it not?
Buy Now, Pay Later Services
Buy now, pay later payment services allow you to delay payment or pay by instalments (often fortnightly) over a period of time.
Automation: Changing the Face of Inventory Management
Inventory control and supply chain management has evolved on a near continuous basis since the 1980s.
4 Questions to help you assess HR software costs
To manage people in fast-growing small businesses like yours, you need to streamline all areas of HR administration – which would be hard to do without HR software.
10 Tips to Help You Meet (and Beat) Your Retail Sales Targets
If you’re reading this, then you’re likely: a) not meeting your retail sales targets; or b) meeting your targets but want to find ways to blow past them.
Get your affairs sorted before Christmas
Have you ever stopped to think where would your family and next-of-kin start if the worst happens?
7 Ways to reduce your impact on the environment
Managing your business’s impact on the environment is not only good for the environment but it can also help to improve your business’s reputation and reduce business costs.
5 Types of Sales Promotions in Retail (and How to Implement Them)
Promotions are almost always part of a retailer’s sales and marketing mix, and for good reason — they can drive sales and help you move inventory.
What Retailers Should Know About Selling to Millennials (a Chat with Jasmine Glasheen)
Millennials. They’ve been called everything from entitled and lazy to fearless and empowered. But whatever you think about this generation, one thing is clear: Millennials (aka Gen Y) continue to have a significant impact on the economy and society in general.
Late payment reduces small business confidence to grow
Three quarters of small and medium sized UK builders say that late payment has directly hampered their business growth according to a recent Federation of Master Builders survey.
6 tips to help you create compelling content for your website
Don't cut corners when creating content for your website. So you’ve decided to start an online business—congratulations!
Tackling your cashflow challenges this Christmas
Most of us look forward to Christmas as a time for fun, festivities and spending time with the family. If you’re a small business owner though, it’s not always the carefree holiday you might hope for.
Millennials Changing the Landscape of the Alcoholic Beverage Industry
Millennials have a significant influence in consumer trends in a wide range of industries. The alcoholic beverage industry, for example, is becoming increasingly conditioned by trends among millennial consumers.
Lean manufacturing and the coffee roast
The coffee category of the hot beverage industry is thriving, with the number of coffee drinkers growing each year. Cafes and coffee vans are everywhere, meeting our seemingly unstoppable need for a regular caffeine fix.
5 Current cloud computing trends in business
For most businesses the question is no longer whether it is appropriate to adopt a cloud service, but rather when is the right time and what services to move.
13 practical ways to make your job ads stand out from the crowd
Writing great job ads is often more difficult than it looks. As well as selling the key requirements of the role, and presenting your company in a positive way, the job ad has to attract the right talent, and drive a response from suitably qualified candidates.
How Small Businesses Can Use Peer-to-Peer Lending
A new trend is rising, changing the way people can are securing financial needs. This new trend gives both individuals and businesses an alternative source of financing.
9 Tech Trends That Are Rapidly Changing How Businesses Do Business
As technology and digital marketing tools continue to improve, businesses will have to adapt to trends in marketing and consumer behavior.
Save the date for cash flow workshop
The next few months can be financially challenging for business cash flow.
BUSINESS buddy is hosting a workshop on February 19, 2018. Yes, it’s nearly next year already!
Tips and tricks to operate a mobile office workforce
For more than a year, BUSINESS buddy has operated a mobile office system on Fridays and with some experience of this initiative – we have tips to help it work in your workplace.
On Fridays, the Allens Road office doors are locked tight and our team works from where it best suits their needs, which could be at a client’s workplace, at home, in a hotel – virtually anywhere.
3 Simple signs your business is ready for a payments platform
At a certain point, every growing business needs to take a leap and invest in new technology. It can be daunting and expensive, but the rewards can greatly outweigh the costs and stress.
Four signs it’s time to systemise your staff roster
To be successful in business, you need to be organised, have a clear plan for where you’re headed and be confident with the processes you have in place.
9 ways to squeeze more profit out of every business day
It’s the Holy Grail of business: increasing the number of profitable hours in a day.
8 top tips to manage bad debts
BUSINESS buddy knows that in any business, cash flow is king.
When clients fail to pay on time it makes things toe-curlingly awkward for all involved.
Business owners struggle with chasing clients for money, and it requires awkward conversations and wastes a lot of precious time.
Is Ecommerce Really Killing Brick and Mortar Retail?
Let’s get straight to the point: ecommerce is NOT killing brick-and-mortar retail.
Brewery Inventory Management Up In The Cloud
Brewery inventory management can be done in a variety of ways. Often, companies will rely on a combination of methods, including web apps, written notes and spreadsheets.
Action Planning for client success
When I designed the first Spotlight Reports, I usually included an Action Plan to close the circle between great data analysis and goal-setting.
Workplace training – what’s in it for the company?
Workplace training is an important part of company work life which, as expensive as it may be, is a necessary means to a skilled workforce.
Digital marketing made easy
Learn how to scale your business online at an exciting new BUSINESS buddy workshop on 12-1pm Tuesday, October 31 2017.
You gotta dig the No Dig method
Dennis Yarrow began Yarrow Plumbing back in 2003. Before that, he cut his teeth in the plumbing industry working in Papua New Guinea where he learned how to manage a team of 50 (and some other life skills he hadn’t bargained for).
The Best Xero Add Ons for Business Funding
Whether you’re trying to bridge a cash gap or secure funding to grow your business, the Xero marketplace offers a suite of apps that can help
3 Forecasts Your Business Needs To Succeed
Forecasting is the process of estimating the effects trends, costs and external factors will have on your business in order to give yourself time to prepare.
To Airbnb or to not Airbnb, that is the question
The idea of renting your accommodation through Airbnb seems like the perfect way to turn empty holiday homes or spare bedrooms into income earning assets.
Why profit isn’t the problem and cashflow is king
What is cashflow management? In its simplest form, cashflow management is doing everything possible to ensure that money flows into your business as quickly as possible, and leaves the business as slowly as possible.
Should Your Business Give Trade Discounts?
Many businesses use trade discounts to simplify variable pricing, protect a market recognised price point, stimulate sales or reward customer loyalty.
Encourage teamwork in the workplace to enhance stock control
In any business, large or small, good teamwork is essential for morale, productivity and efficiency.
5 Subtle Signs That Your Retail Store Is in Trouble (and What to Do About Them)
Have you ever heard about the parable of the boiling frog?
Teamwork: A Key Ingredient For A Successful Business
Aside from efficient inventory management, teamwork is an incredibly important component of the ‘successful business’ recipe and if left out, the result can be a real flop.
4 Tell tale signs that you need a new HR system
These days, managing HR in a growing business is a constant task. As an HR manager, you’re probably overloaded with work and you never seem to get to the bottom of it all.
Unleashing the Huge Power of Small – Building an Amazing Business in Amazing Times
It was great to see so many SME operators play truant from the office Monday morning and head along to our Business buddy business-building sponsored event at the Howick Club, and what an event it was.
To receive ideas and inspiration from one of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, mentors and public speakers was truly special.
How Cloud Technology Has Transformed the Role of Accountants
The role of a tax accountant has continuously changed over the course of the last 50 years, and it is currently undergoing yet another transition period with the growing popularity of cloud accounting.
Five ways to build a happy team
We have spoken to hundreds of business owners and thousands of their employees over the last twelve years.
Common Inventory Management Mistakes: A Closer Look
Inventory management can be overwhelming. There can be an incredibly large amount of tangible inventory, which can translate to a huge amount of responsibility and pressure to manage this inventory properly.
9 Expert Tips To Instantly Improve Your Business’ Cash Flow
There are many reasons why you may want to improve cash flow in your business. Maybe you’re looking to free up some cash to put towards growth, or maybe you’d like to build up your cash cushion to protect yourself from any bumps in the road.
Last days for David Awards voting
Have you shown your support for BUSINESS buddy?
The people’s choice for the David Awards 2017 closes on Friday September 15 and we would love you to vote for our team.
Four fab networking tips
If the thought of business networking gives you sweaty palms and a pounding chest then you are not alone.
Often people imagine it involves public speaking or standing in a room making toe-curling small talk with strangers…. cringe…but this fear is usually unfounded.
How to take your business to the next level
You’ve done the hard work by setting up your business and establishing solid foundations with a good client base – congrats! So how do you expand, and do so profitably?
UNLEASH the HUGE Power of Small
BUSINESS buddy has pulled off a HUGE coup and have arranged for one of the world’s leading business thinkers and speakers — Paul Dunn — to present a stunning business-building event right here in our region.
We're bursting with excitement and we want to share that excitement with you.
The Best Xero Accounting Add Ons For 2017
How do you know which Xero Accounting Add Ons to use?
We’ve done it again
Not that we like blowing our own trumpet too loudly…. But BUSINESS buddy has made the finals for another award and we need you to exercise your voting fingers, again.
Using data to drive innovation
We live in a data-driven age - so why not use data in your business to solve problems, be more efficient and invent new products?
Should Your Business Consider Discount Pricing?
Choosing a pricing strategy is a difficult decision, but one that every business needs to make. Pricing strategy affects most aspects of a business, including its revenue, market share and profitability.
Penny pinching? Here are some ways to reduce costs
With global recessions, increasing oil prices and increasing competition, saving money wherever possible and thereby maximising profits is the name of the game.
Ditch the smart device
BUSINESS buddy loves technology. However, let’s throw it out into cyberspace that to really get the most out of apps, notifications and those bings and bongs – every now and then you should turn off your smart device.
Accurate Inventory Costing: Why It’s Critical for Success
Even if a business has some other, high value, assets such as factory plant, inventory is likely to essential to the business’ ability to trade profitably.
Work from Phone: 5 Ways to Use Your Mobile Device to Run Your Retail Business
Mobile technology has revolutionized the way modern society does business and permanently changed the retail landscape.
Supply Chain Risks and Inventory Management
There are a multitude of things that can go wrong throughout the supply chain, exposing the firm to different kinds of risks.
Handheld devices in field service
More than just dispatching machines, handhelds have become as ubiquitous to field service as the screwdriver and wrench.
Get ready! The millennials are coming…
Millennials – young people born between the 1980s and early 2000s – make up an increasingly large proportion of drinking-age customers. It’s important that good hospitality businesses understand that.
6 warning signs that your business is outgrowing your ecommerce platform
There are many factors to consider when you’re selecting an ecommerce platform, and when you first start selling online, it can be hard to find one that’s the right match.
4 tell-tale signs you need an HR manager right now
No one ever starts a business with the intention of spending most of their time tied up in the administrative tasks that come with operating one.
Vote for BUSINESS buddy
BUSINESS buddy has entered The People’s Choice category of The David Awards 2017. With just one click, you can vote for us.
The BUSINESS buddy team is small and determined. They are relentless about delivering their promise to their clients, recognising success comes from its clients' success and their key principle is “Growing your business is our business.”
Knowledge is power
As business owners, we can all get so busy focusing on the day-to-day running of our businesses that it can feel impossible to find time to analyse what we’re doing and planning for the future.
BUSINESS buddy realises that there is always something on the to-do list that just can’t wait, however exercising your business skills you will improve your entrepreneurial fitness.
Want to Create Amazing Customer Experiences? Learn From These 4 Homeware Stores
The homeware and furniture industry has been doing well for the past couple of years, and we expect this trend to continue. The annual expenditure on furniture per US consumer was $502 in 2015 (up from $386). Meanwhile, a report by Furniture Insights found that furniture orders for February 2017 were up 4% from last year.
Bitcoin adventure for BUSINESS buddy
In a bold move, BUSINESS buddy has opened a bitcoin account and now we can accept and make payments with the digital currency.
We have done some homework and discovered the background of bitcoin and how businesses can use it.
It is, to say the least, confusing. Here, BUSINESS buddy has a go at explaining and simplifying the futuristic currency.
How to ensure your jobs are profitable
If you’re in business, making decent money is important. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t always work out the way you’d planned...
The Benefits of Cloud-Based Software for Manufacturing Businesses
More and more manufacturing companies are beginning to use cloud-based manufacturing systems to improve the way their business functions.
SMEs and Globalization: A Changing Landscape
Advances in technology over the last two decades have shrunk the world; travel is inexpensive, cross border payments are fast and businesses communicate in real-time.
Let’s make it clear – Good mobile staff communication is vital
Many small business owners don’t give a second thought about the need for clear communication.
6 Tools Businesses Need to Get Their Finances in Shape
You need to keep track of transactions for the tax office, lenders, but most importantly for yourself, as a business owner.
6 Retail Books You Need to Read
Helpful and informative retail books abound everywhere you look these days.
No dedicated hr team? You need these essential hr tools and solutions
Every business owner knows that as soon as you start hiring people, there’s a whole heap of important and must-do HR related tasks and compliance requirements that goes with them.
Machine learning in field service
Machine learning has the power to change how we look at field service – what it means to contractors and customers alike.
Inventory Management: Five Key Tips for Distributors
Due to the nature of the distribution model where distributors profit by selling inventory to their customers, failing to manage inventory well can be a major liability for distributors.
Goal: Successful supply chain management
Have you ever sat back and wondered how giant companies such as Apple, Walmart and Ikea became so successful both in their reach and their inventory turnover?
Empower your ecommerce customers with a branded mobile app
Over the past five years, mobile devices have begun to dominate the consumer landscape around the world.
Are you getting the most out of digital working practices?
Businesses today are quickly adopting cloud software as the benefits become more apparent and even necessary to keep a competitive edge – benefits like less paperwork, greater efficiency, and time savings.
Impact of immigration changes on Kiwi businesses
It’s an election year and immigration is a hot topic. Migration to New Zealand is at a record high and while it has significantly boosted the economy, some say it has contributed to Auckland’s housing crisis and pushed infrastructure to breaking point.
In April 2017, the Government announced changes in criteria for people applying for residency under the skilled migrant category (SMC), to stabilise immigration numbers.
The Best Xero Accounting Add Ons For 2017
How do you know which Xero Accounting Add Ons to use?
HOW IMPROVING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT CAN BOOST YOUR BOTTOM LINE
Look at a company with a reputation for strong employee engagement and you’ll find a high performing business. We’re not making this up.
Common mistakes made when calculating payroll costs
Knowing what your payroll costs are – daily, weekly, monthly and yearly – is an important part of running a successful business. It allows you to forecast future wage costs, ensures you don’t have any surprises come pay day, and gives you confidence in the stability of the business.
But do you know the TRUE cost of your roster?
Thanks for the PJs
That’s the Jammie Army done and dusted for another year. Thanks to the generous people who sent snuggly pyjamas into BUSINESS buddy headquarters.
7 ways to block ransomware
With the recent spate of cyberattacks causing havoc to businesses and individuals around the world, it has become evident that hackers are more threatening than ever before.
Number Nurses wins
When Number Nurses won the marketing innovation award at the New Zealand Bookkeepers Association conference we nearly needed some CPR to control our racing heartbeats.
THE HAPPINESS FACTOR: 6 TACTICS FOR IMPROVING WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY
Remember the old (and slightly misogynistic) phrase Happy Wife, Happy Life! ? Well, it turns out there is a workplace equivalent: Happy workers, productive business! (and no – we couldn’t make it rhyme).
Why Accurate Costing is Vital for Success
Inaccurate information about your company’s expenditure can greatly inhibit your capacity to make and maintain a successful business.