Business day a qualified success

By ELLEN READ

Yesterday's Small Business Day was declared a success by those attending - with a few reservations.

"[The ideas being raised] will be good providing they listen to us - and I'm not confident they will," said Graham Liddell, of Kotuku Outdoor Furniture.

The Greymouth businessman was part of the expo held alongside the Government information day in Wellington. It was the first of 24 small business days that will take the pulse of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) nationwide.

Jane Stanton, of the Seriously Good Chocolate Company in Invercargill, was more enthusiastic, saying the event was much-needed and positive.

She is keen for the Government to listen to SMEs and address their concerns, but said work already done to simplify tax and address compliance costs was helpful.

SMEs make up 97 per cent of New Zealand companies, employing 43 per cent of all workers and producing 39 per cent of goods and services.

More than 100 people attended the Wellington event, where they received free mentoring sessions, networked and listened to seminars and Small Business Minister John Tamihere.

He told them that holiday provisions, tax, employment relations and compliance costs were top of the list of SME complaints, according to feedback received during nationwide visits by politicians to small businesses in the past month.

An analysis of issues raised is still being worked on but he addressed the top issues.

No new policies were announced but Tamihere said the Government was working in all the areas.

The 2007 implementation date for four weeks' paid leave was an effort to give small businesses enough time to plan, he said.

Some tax simplification measures had been introduced - although a corporate tax cut was not on the cards - compliance costs were being addressed and a progress report would be released soon.

The online "employment agreement builder" aimed to help employers draw up employment contracts that were legally sound.

"We will shortly add to the site a guide to the use of probation periods for new employees - another issue that businesses have raised with us."

Tamihere touched on criticisms from business lobby groups that the Government's visits were unnecessary as they already represented small businesses, saying that kind of attack was unhelpful.

His speech notes went further. "I'm actually getting a bit tired of hearing their knee-jerk responses and a tendency to view everything by way of victimhood, with the Government to blame," he wrote, though the comment went undelivered.

While those attending the Wellington event seemed positive and supported the Government's initiatives, not everyone was impressed.

"If the Government is really serious about encouraging small businesses, it needs to do more than pose for the photographers," Business New Zealand wrote in a special update to members.

Ten questions were offered for business owners to pose to Government representatives during the regional days.

They ranged from rising electricity costs to the rates burden, the need for skilled workers and the RMA holding back development.

Business New Zealand also attacked the Government's planned changes to employment law and holidays, saying they were costly and would hinder jobs growth.