1. Business mentoring
Under the Capability Building programme, you can apply for co-funding of up to $3,000 to employ a mentor to work within the business or alongside it for a set period of time. A business mentor is a coach not a consultant. From their own experience they should be able to advise you, act as a sounding board, stimulate and challenge you.
You will need to demonstrate:
- what you want a mentor to assist you with
- how the mentor can help your business to develop
- why the mentor you have chosen is qualified or experienced to help your business.
Read more about accessing business mentoring services, including how to apply for free mentoring services.
2. Management and technology-based training
Capability Building co-funding of up to $3,000 per year is available towards NZQA or internationally accredited courses that develop owners’ or senior managers’ management capability.
3. Business advisory boards
Under the Capability Building programme, you can apply for co-funding of up to $3,000 per member per year to assist with fees used to engage an advisory board for your business.
Co-funding for advisory board members can be for up to three years. You will need to submit a new application for each year of co-funding.
All applications for this category must include for each member of the advisory board:
- a signed copy of the contract or agreement
- a curriculum vitae detailing at least five years relevant experience.
To ensure that you are aware of all liabilities and potential risks associated with advisory boards, please refer to the Small Business Advisory Board Guide before applying.
Download the Small Business Advisory Board Guide at the bottom of this page.
If you need assistance identifying suitable advisory board members, please phone Biz on 0800 42 49 46 or contact your local Economic Development Agency.
Please be aware your consultant must be able to provide, on request, documentation to support the strategic initiatives in categories 4 to 8.
4. Strategic business development
This category includes the following areas of activity:
- Business/strategic plan development - developing a new plan or extending an existing plan to include a new project.
- Human resource strategic plan development - designing HR practices that help staff to realise their potential and increase performance; developing quality training and ways to use the skills and knowledge gained from the training; employee recognition schemes; employee involvement in the business.
- Financial viability planning - developing financial systems to assist the project and/or its longer-term commercial production; assistance with break-even points, establishing product price, cash-flow forecasts, budgets and cash projections.
- Strategic design advice – expert advice or market intelligence to assist with the management of design strategies, brand development or product positioning.
5. Feasibility studies
This category includes evaluation of whether a project or concept is commercially viable - this may involve:
- evaluating a new idea
- investigating whether a product or technology developed overseas is applicable in New Zealand
- preparing a report assessing the business’s capability to implement the project.
6. Business and operational excellence
This category includes the following areas of activity:
- International quality standards certification - costs relating to the company achieving certification including advice, manual development, audit, accreditation and the first year’s certification expenses for:
- ISO Q-Base, HACCP etc (TGA approval for market entry into Australia is not covered)
- internationally recognised environmental standards or certification (e.g. ISA 14000 or organic certifications such as Bio-Gro)
- please note: Certification relating to products only qualifies for co-funding when applied the first time.
- Systems evaluation and development - operations management evaluation and improvement.
- Environmental management systems - developing management systems that will enable businesses to identify and reduce their environmental impacts.
7. E-commerce and e-business strategies
This category includes development of a strategy to maximise electronic opportunities for the business - this is at the strategic level only and could involve the development of a business-to-business e-commerce strategy and/or an internal e-business management plan.
Website development activities are ineligible.
8. Market development - strategy development
This category includes the following areas of activity:
- Market research/new market investigation (domestic and international markets) - costs from organisations other than New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) will be considered.
- Marketing plans - development of a marketing strategy for the project.
If you have a question that is not answered here
If you have a question that is not answered here, please call NZTE on 0800 555 888, email us, or contact your account manager (if you have one) for more help.
