Businesses phone for help

More businesses are picking up the phone and making use of government resources to help confront the challenging economy, says Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee.

In the government’s SME package announced in February a range of enhanced business support programmes were announced, including the www.bizhealth.co.nz website and 0800 42 49 46 Biz help line for small and medium sized enterprises.

“When I’ve met business owners they’ve all said getting good advice is crucial and I’m pleased they are making use of what the government offers”, said Gerry Brownlee.

In Parliament today Mr Brownlee reported that 980 phone calls were made to the free Biz help line in March, which is a 60% increase on the average call rate for the previous eight months.

209 firms have been referred to the Business Mentors service with an offer for NZTE to pay the $100 registration fee.

So far 110 of those firms have registered with Business Mentors New Zealand to receive mentoring assistance.

The advisers at the Biz help line have also made 4,200 referrals to other services and assistance for SMEs - such as the dozens of Enterprise Training courses, the Escalator service and the E-business guide.

The www.bizhealth.co.nz website is free to users and offers a simple questionnaire that can help a business identify any issues and access information and services to help.

Approximately 400 firms have completed online bizhealth checks since the new website was launched in February.

About 60% of bizhealth checks completed online are from firms in the Auckland region.

Each firm that completes a bizhealth check has nine areas for improvement identified, and the relevant information is then sent to them.

“The need for these services is increasing as the business environment gets tougher”, said Gerry Brownlee.

“I hope business owners continue to make use of these advisory services while the government continues to work and make available other initiatives that are emerging from the Jobs Summit,” he said.