r/nzbusiness

Hi everyone,
I'm an NZ-based accountant looking to launch a specialised, completely judgment-free service tailored purely for digital creatives and online freelancers.
Traditional accounting firms often don't understand how modern digital income streams work. I want to build a service that fixes that, but first, I need to understand who is struggling the most.
If you earn money online full-time or as a serious side hustle, I'd love to know your thoughts on any of these:

• Platforms & Payouts: Do you deal with multi-currency headaches from international platforms?
• GST: Are you stressed about hitting the $60k GST threshold, especially with income that fluctuates wildly?
• Write-offs: Are you confused about what you can actually claim (home-studio space, tech gear, wardrobe & makeup, software subs)?
• The "Traditional" Barrier: Do you use a standard accountant, or do you hide away and DIY because you're worried a traditional firm won't understand (or will judge) your work?

My goal is to find out where the biggest knowledge gaps and headaches are in the Kiwi creator world.
Please drop your thoughts below!
If your niche requires absolute privacy, my DMs are wide open and completely confidential.
Thanks for your time!
EJ

At the beginning of the year I started to build an online advertising marketplace.

A host business lists a space to advertise in, and the advertiser books it. Putting their business on display in a space they would never of had the chance.

I just hit 100 hosts throughout New Zealand! And we have had 50 bookings accepted!

Each booking we take a very small fee which is paid by the advertiser.

60% of the fee goes to the hosts charity of choice and we keep 40% of the fee to cover costs.
I make very little if any after everything, which was never my intention anyway. But I’ve been contacted if I would sell it already 😅

How would this work? And is there anything I need to have teed up before an offical offer can be written up/made?

Update: for anyone interested the website is www.prittyghood.com

Cheers

Hiya,

I have a small online business. It’s a side hobby to my full time job, so doesn’t make a lot of money atm due to it not being my main focus. I’m wanting to expand the business into a small store that I would run till it got off its feet. I want it to be my full time job.

I don’t necessarily have the funds to do this, but wondering if there any loans out there I can possibly get?

Any advice people may have in terms of waiting till I have the money and then making the leap to open a small store?

Any how-to-guides?

And any other advice from people who have done a similar thing?

I will of course talk specifics with my accountant, but I don’t even know what I don’t know, yet, hoping you will have some ideas!

I’m planning to open a bricks and mortar shop, part of the model is based around local makers selling their products through the shop for a commission.

The shop is GST registered, but I can figure out how that interacts with maker sales.

Regular stock, the sale price on the ticket includes GST

A makers’ product, the sale price should? Should not? Include GST (or is that dependent on whether the maker is GSTregistered ?)
What about the commission?

I cannot even!

Hey everyone! I’m a uni student currently building a small NZ startup called Loyaltee, and I’d love some brutally honest feedback from local consumers and business owners.

The idea is pretty simple: instead of carrying around paper stamp cards or downloading another app, businesses can give customers a digital loyalty card that sits directly in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

I'm also in the process of building a program that allows businesses to personally follow up on low-star reviews, to either give a second chance, solve a problem, or just ensure that the negative experience doesn't happen again.

Before I build too much based on what I think people want, I’d rather ask actual customers/business owners:

• Do you actually use loyalty cards? Why/why not?
• As a consumer, would having one in your phone wallet make you more likely to use it?
• What rewards would actually make you come back to a business?
• Do you prefer things like “buy 9, get the 10th free”, points, discounts, freebies, or something else?
• What annoys you about current loyalty programmes?
• Is there anything that would make you not want to use something like this?

And if you think the whole idea is pointless, please tell me that too...

I would really appreciate any thoughts!

Thank you :)

Has anyone in New Zealand successfully received payment from a Pakistani company in the last 12 months?

We are dealing with a Pakistani business that says it is having difficulty making payment to us due to banking/regulatory requirements.

The payment is a legitimate commercial transaction and we are trying to understand whether this is a common issue or whether there are specific banks, payment methods, or documentation requirements that make the process easier.

If you've successfully received funds from Pakistan:

What payment method was used? (SWIFT, Wise, etc.)

Were there any special documentation requirements?

Which Pakistani bank was involved?

Did you encounter any delays or restrictions?

Feel free to comment below or send me a private message.

Thanks in advance.

Anyone else on here have issues in regard to pallet management / reconciliation.

We have been using loscam but it’s getting out of control the amount of pallets not being accounted for by the freight companies, we are having to pay for rental on pallets that have been/should be picked up and taken off our account.

Curious to know if it’s just us or does anyone else have this issue? Or know of a fix

Appreciate any advice

For those who employed as full time worker and have a registered business, how do you do it? How you manage your time?

My husband is looking to break into the finance industry. He is currently pursuing his level 5 certification in financial services. He is applying for entry level roles in finance companies and banks with no luck so far. Is there anyone that can help getting into this industry it’s been 2 years since he’s been trying. Please reach out as we would appreciate it greatly.

I'm building a small NZ project around a question I've become increasingly interested in:

There seems to be a lot of work inside small businesses that isn't really a “workflow” and isn't difficult enough to justify hiring another person — but someone still has to keep doing it.

Things like:

• checking emails against jobs or records
• chasing missing information
• comparing quotes, invoices or paperwork
• preparing something before the owner can approve it
• following a case across multiple systems
• dealing with the exceptions when something doesn't match

I'm curious about the real version of this in NZ businesses.

If you could permanently hand one repetitive operational responsibility to someone tomorrow, what would it be?

I'm especially interested in what happens today — who does it, what information they have to look through, and where it usually gets stuck.

Not selling anything in this thread. I'm trying to understand which problems are actually worth solving before I build further.

Would love to hear examples from owners/operators.

Hello guys!! Aman here from Mumbai, India. I have been running my automotive spare distribution business here for almost 11 years. It’s been successful throughout but i feel it’s time for a change. I am desperately seeking for a better work like balance along with better quality of life. I am really good with sales and management as I have been operating it myself for a decade now. My business is still going on as I’m typing here and still running successfully. If any of you guys here can help me find a lead to a job or a business proposal(I am willing to invest as well, 180k nzd), i’d be delighted and grateful! Looking forward to some positive messages!