Small Business Council welcomes unfair practices paper

11 December

Small Business Council welcomes unfair practices discussion paper

Small Business Council chair Tenby Powell says a new discussion paper aimed at better protecting consumers and businesses from unfair commercial practices makes a valuable and timely contribution to small business sector.

“Small businesses can be particularly vulnerable to some of the practices this paper tackles, the consequences of which can be very serious for smaller enterprises,” Mr Powell says.

“One-sided contract terms, unfavourable payment practices or even pressure tactics can make life difficult for small businesses which may have limited resources. With the sector amounting to 97 per cent of Kiwi businesses and employing over 600,000 people, these sorts of issues can cause major cash flow problems and stress, and reverberate throughout the wider economy.”

The Small Business Council was formed in August to advise the government on strategic opportunities for improving the performance of the sector, and to develop a small business strategy to provide real solutions and support for small businesses in the future.

Mr Powell says supporting businesses so they can improve their performance will have a real impact on those running them, their staff, families, communities and the wider economy.

“Achieving better processes and outcomes for small businesses could require action on a number of fronts, including ways to counter the worst business practices. The Small Business Council supports this work and encourages firms to have their say.”

The Small Business Council has identified four key themes to focus on in the development of a strategy. These are:

• capital and access to finance;
• people and skills;
• compliance and enablers; and
• innovation and sustainability.
The Council is set to meet again this month and is looking forward to engaging with the sector directly in the coming months.

ENDS

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