Starting a business.

The following are some of the many sources of help available to both start-ups and established businesses looking to grow.

Free tools and mentoring

• Find out more about Westpac's series of workshops on Managing Your Money¹. They have experienced business managers who can help identify ways to improve your business's cash flow
• Download Westpac's checklists, templates and worksheets² on set-up costs, cash flow, and profit and loss forecasts to help with money management
• Business.govt.nz is an excellent source of information on starting, managing, and growing your business, and compliance issues. It offers free tools, resources, relevant news and articles, information on workshops, events and more, all in one place
• Business Mentors New Zealand offer free mentoring.

Government support

• New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) has offices in New Zealand and abroad. They help with exporting, and offer a variety of programmes and services to businesses at all stages to support them in growing and succeeding internationally
• Te Puni Kokiri offers information and help for mentoring to new and existing Maori businesses. They have offices throughout New Zealand
• The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) offers free tax workshops all over New Zealand. They also have a range of videos to help get you up to speed on issues like GST, employer obligations and business structures.

Funding

• If your business is looking to innovate, find out more about grants from Callaghan Innovation, a government agency for research and development
• NZTE offer Capability Development Vouchers to businesses, to help partially pay for training costs. Find out if your business is eligible, what sort of training the vouchers can be used for, and how to apply.

Training

• There are a number of industry training organisations (ITOs) in New Zealand covering groups of industries. For example, the Building and Construction ITO covers joinery, glazing, interior systems and more. Find out which industries the ITOs cover and contact the one relevant to your business to find out about training options
• Workshops and seminars are a great way to get training and ideas, and network. Your local Chamber of Commerce is a good place to find out about these
• Find out more about numerous sources of training at Business.govt.nz.

Industry support

• To find out if there is an association for your industry, check out the Affiliated Industries Group.

¹ The content of the Managing Your Money workshop is general in nature and is not intended to constitute financial advice or an offer of any financial products and services by Westpac.

² These tools are intended as a guide only and are not intended to constitute financial advice.

The material on this webpage is provided for information purposes only and is not a recommendation or opinion.

The material on this webpage is does not take your particular financial situation or goal into account. We recommend you seek independent legal, financial and/or tax advice.

Links to other sites are provided for convenience only and Westpac accepts no responsibility for the availability or content of such websites.