Tamihere keen on proposals

By ELLEN READ

Extending business mentoring, opening up access to financial support and improving the regulatory environment are among the suggestions made this week to help small businesses.

The Small Business Advisory Group (SBAG) presented its first annual report to Small Business Minister John Tamihere this week.

It included 19 specific recommendations and a set of performance targets for the minister.

Among them are helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to establish advisory boards to help with governance. These would consist of two to four people who would bring an impartial, experienced eye to the business.

Other recommendations include a help sheet or checklist for businesses, showing them what they need to do to start or grow a business, a checklist of employment issues, a review of tax deduction rates for depreciation, efforts to harmonise the New Zealand and Australian borders and simplifying fringe benefit tax on vehicles.

One likely to gain support with small-business owners is making sure all business-related legislation and regulation comes into effect on only one or two predetermined dates a year.

This could help with compliance costs and would give SME owners a focus for when they had to change procedures.

Tamihere said he would present the report to the Cabinet and seek support for the recommendations.

"The group has produced a well-reasoned and practical set of recommendations. Some, like the tax measures, are specific. Others, like removing barriers to trade with Australia and making enterprise education a core curriculum subject for all fourth formers [Year 10], show the group has thought beyond the immediate and is looking forward strategically."

Tamihere said he would try to implement as many of the recommendations as possible, including the controversial call for small-business owners to make it easier to remove non-performing staff.

Specifically, the group is seeking to "rebalance the legal procedures for dismissing non-performing staff and provide qualifying periods for personal grievances for probationary staff".

The nine-member advisory group said it believed these were important changes and would lead to employment and business growth.

Tamihere may be "up for it" but others were more sceptical.

Private sector small-business support specialist Sarah Trotman scored the report at 19/38. Although she agreed with many of the suggestions, she said the report was "do more of the same but better" and was hardly going to encourage a step change.

"I believe, given the calibre of the SBAG and the resources available, that they are capable of much more."

Most small-business owners the Business Herald spoke to had not fully digested the report, but the general impression was that although it contained some good ideas, they were sceptical of practical outcomes.


Small Business