It may not sound revolutionary, but a new information sharing tool is set to transform the way many Kiwis do business.
The New Zealand Business Number (NZBN), a single, unique number assigned to companies, sole traders, partnerships and businesses with less than 20 employees (SMEs), will allow quick and efficient sharing of business information.
Every registered company in New Zealand has an NZBN (they were allocated in 2015) but director Jo Hogan says there is limited awareness of how useful they can be for smaller businesses.
"An NZBN links to information that's been provided by the business itself, so you know these are the most accurate, up-to-date details available. The information is held online, it's secure, it's free to access, and it's quick and easy to use," she says.
NZBNs allow businesses to quickly share their business information (legal name, trading name, website, contact details); they also allow business owners to efficiently complete online forms (including those used by government agencies) so they save time when tendering, applying for permits or registering for various services.
The NZBN is currently being used by eight major government agencies, including IRD, ACC, MBIE (Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment), and Customs – and by the end of this year it is expected all who deal most often with businesses will have the NZBN system in place.
Stuart Nash, the minister for Small Business, says 97 per cent of all businesses in New Zealand are small businesses.
"NZBN is an important part of the work the government is doing to make it faster and easier for those guys to do business," he says. "We want to help small businesses thrive to grow local economies and provide jobs. Digital innovations like NZBN are going to help us achieve that."
Many business people will testify to the frustration of having to fill in the same information over and over again, especially when working across government agencies and Hogan says the NZBN will give businesses back significant amounts of time.
Big companies such as Air New Zealand and Ricoh have also taken on board the NZBN, and as awareness is raised, Hogan believes it will become the standard for business identification.
There's been a general perception that NZBNs are just for big companies, but Hogan says that any business, big or small, can benefit.
She refers to an example of a friend of hers who recently moved his business from Auckland to Wellington to show how it can work.
"He was able to change all his business details online through the NZBN website and anyone wanting to find out current information about the business simply needed to search for the business name online."
In the past businesses had to let every organisation they dealt with know if they had changed address, email address, phone number or company name, but now the NZBN allows people to search on the website for this up-to-date detail.
Businesses who work alongside each other are immediately notified if NZBN details are changed, ensuring no time is wasted trying to connect with businesses who have altered any of their vital information.
Sole traders and those with limited administration capacity will find the NZBN particularly useful.
Greg Wallace, Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers New Zealand CEO, says his members have taken NZBN onboard and find it frees up their time considerably.
"With the NZBN it's really efficient for our members [plumbers] to update their information in one place," he says. "It means they're more efficient on the job and spend less time in the office doing unnecessary paperwork."
Hogan says it is free to register for an NZBN and expects the benefits of it will continue to grow as its potential is realized.
"The NZBN is already enabling new services and ways of doing things and making it faster and easier for businesses to deal with the government," she says. "Business will drive demand for the NZBN because it is really going to benefit them and save money."
For more information go to www.nzbn.govt.nz