When you own and run a small business it often means you need to be on top of a wide range of issues. A single day can have you dealing with employee problems, customer complaints and cashflow issues. Often before your first coffee! Luckily, there is a lot of guidance available on the internet, if you know where to look. My top 10 recommendations are: business.govt.nz consumerprotection.govt.nz guidance for businesses worksafe.govt.nz employment.govt.nz ppsr.govt.nz ird.gov

A lot of people operating small businesses aren’t keen on wordy contracts, and prefer to “keep it simple” by minimising documents or even doing deals on a handshake. As a naturally easygoing person I have a lot of sympathy for this approach, and as a service provider I certainly don’t like to put customers off with complicated paperwork. But. There’s always a but isn’t there? The reality is that eschewing the paperwork in favour of trust and “she’ll be right” carries with