NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Small Business

Business gloomy on outlook for the year ahead

Aimee Shaw
By Aimee Shaw
Business Reporter·NZ Herald·
17 Feb, 2020 04:42 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Businesses are more pessimistic about the domestic trading outlook than ever. Photo / Getty Images

Businesses are more pessimistic about the domestic trading outlook than ever. Photo / Getty Images

Pessimism among New Zealand firms has increased significantly, according to a new report, and is expected to be worse now following the coronavirus outbreak.

Businesses expect the 2020 year to be ho-hum, with pessimism about the year ahead up 9 per cent from 1 per cent over the past two years.

The latest Mood of the Sales Leader report conducted by sales and leadership consultancy Indicator, which surveys 130 sales leaders throughout a range of industries at the end of each year, found that just 77 per cent of companies are planning for growth in 2020, down from 81 per cent recorded in 2019.

READ MORE:
• Business confidence rebounds - 'the vibe is changing'
• Premium - 'It's a start' - business confidence starting to stabilise
• Business confidence continues to improve, but growth may still be sliding
• Business confidence falls to 'dismal levels' in latest ANZ survey

The 2019 year was harder than 2018 for most companies the survey revealed, with just 60 per cent of firms reporting growth, down from a recorded 65 per cent a year earlier.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

About 14 per cent of companies reported a decline in sales in the 2019 year compared to 12 per cent recorded a year earlier.

Sixty per cent of firms surveyed achieved growth in 2019 compared to 82 per cent which had expected growth in the year. In 2018, 65 per cent of companies achieved growth compared to 88 per cent that had expected it.

Expectation versus execution among firms has been on the decline since 2017, the report outlined.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When the survey was first conducted at the end of 2017, the economy and outlook was bullish, however, there had been a gradual decline across measures since then, Mike Stokes, chief executive of Indicator, told the Herald.

Increased competition - noted as the biggest challenge - was found to have disrupted businesses across all sectors, followed by clients with reduced budgets, Stokes said.

Discover more

Small Business

Small business confidence continues to slide

27 Mar 12:03 AM
Retail

Challenges ahead for NZ's retail sector

08 Apr 05:00 PM
Small Business

Small business confidence still down

16 Jul 10:24 PM
Small Business

Building confidence: What businesses can do to get ahead

16 Oct 04:55 AM

Businesses also reported "government", "the economy", "margin erosion" and "tech innovation by competitors" as the biggest risk to their organisation's sales success.

"Everyone is finding it somewhat harder," said Stokes.

"In the last couple of years there has typically been a slide across everything. Competition and disruption is happening more and more for companies."

Stokes believes the downbeat sentiment felt throughout the business community would be more pessimistic today, following the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus.

"We operate a sales leadership forum and we have about 70 sales leaders who we see every month, we've just seen them this week, and significant numbers of those members were talking about how Coronavirus is having an impact on their business," Stokes said.

The members spoke about Coronavirus affecting capacity restraints, operational logistics and getting product here as having a big impact on sales, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Sales leaders are typically an optimistic bunch, but I would say that they are cautiously awaiting outcomes. Everybody seems to be in wait and see mode."

Mike Stokes, chief executive of Indicator. Photo / Supplied
Mike Stokes, chief executive of Indicator. Photo / Supplied

While pessimism was at an all time high, Stokes said it was not "off the cliff". However, he said, the 23 per cent of companies that were not planning for growth in 2020 was a big number.

"What we're seeing is, particularly through competition and technology changes, that if [businesses continue] to do the same things [they] will be lucky to see the same results. For companies that aren't adapting or changing the way they sell, market or provide customer service then they will struggle."

No single industry stood out as more pessimistic that another in the survey, though, he said tourism operators were notably the most optimistic.

Stokes said he expected this to no longer be the case following Coronavirus, which had brought about mass booking cancellations to accommodation and tourism operators, and the temporary ban on travellers from mainland China.

The missed growth targets by firms over the past few years showed businesses were not adapting fast enough to competition and technological advances, he said, and as a result of tougher business conditions domestically, the survey showed more firms were looking to export to make up a larger portion of business.

"Exporting is on the rise ... because the New Zealand market has become more and more competitive, companies are looking more overseas to gain growth from there. Of those [surveyed] companies that were currently exporting, three quarters of them were looking to open new markets. Whilst the competitive element is making New Zealand harder, the overseas market, is becoming more attractive."

Stokes could not comment on whether the spike in pessimism among business leaders was the result of the Labour-led government taking over office or the subsequent changes to minimum wage and various employment regulation that had been implemented, but he said the 2017 survey showed sales leader were optimistic about a new government and growth prospects, but this had now dwindled.

Staff retention and securing staff remained a challenge for firms, the survey found.

"[Overall], this year sales leaders are more cautious. If you were to survey the average business leader you might get a somewhat higher level of pessimism."

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Small Business

Premium
Business|small business

'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

30 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Small Business

Small Business: Kiwi pickle brand processes 100 tonnes as business booms

29 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Small Business

On The Up: A royal new venture with King Bees Honey

22 Jun 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Small Business

Premium
'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

30 Jun 05:00 PM

Basis plans to install over 50,000 smart panels globally in the next 24 months.

Premium
Small Business: Kiwi pickle brand processes 100 tonnes as business booms

Small Business: Kiwi pickle brand processes 100 tonnes as business booms

29 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
On The Up: A royal new venture with King Bees Honey

On The Up: A royal new venture with King Bees Honey

22 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Controversial Kiwi start-up, once worth $38m, folds in New York

Controversial Kiwi start-up, once worth $38m, folds in New York

19 Jun 02:37 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP