OPINION: Kiwi ingenuity. The No 8 Wire mentality. Working smarter, not harder. Weve all heard the local jargon bandied around about improving business innovation, productivity and efficiency here in New Zealand. But as a country were still approaching it with that other well-recognised Kiwi phrase: Shell be right.

Productivity is a topic weve researched extensively at Xero and discussed at length with industry leaders and the Government. Prior to Covid-19, New Zealands GDP per capita was about 30 per cent below the average of the top half of the OECD.

We conducted further research that concluded last month and learned that 85 per cent of Kiwi small business owners think we need to operate smarter not just harder to rebuild the New Zealand economy.

RNZ

The Detail: From lockdown to recovery - tracking a small business during Covid-19 pandemic.

Smarter means having the right tools and real-time information at your fingertips to make the best decisions for your business. It also means getting the insights into your business to take proactive action not waiting till the proverbial hits the fan because you didnt see it coming.

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Thats why at Xero, weve been talking to the Government about the opportunity for a fiscally-neutral incentive to support small businesses to implement cloud-based technology.

Peter Meecham/Stuff

Anna Curzon is the chief product officer at Xero.

To be clear, cloud simply means accessing tools, information and insights through the internet think internet banking and online accounting. In the last decade theres been a proliferation of small business orientated cloud tools that have been developed across all industries and verticals.

Cloud-based tools can be accessed anywhere, anytime and in real-time so you can collaborate and make decisions quickly. Theyre also a fraction of the price of data stored on servers under the desk. Many cloud tools are subscriber based, so theyre flexible, available from anywhere and the quality is as good, if not better, than those available to large enterprises.

But is cloud technology simply a solution looking for a problem? Not at all. Small business research studies showed that time, money and lack of information were the main barriers small businesses faced. Despite this, since Alert Level 4, nearly two-thirds of Kiwi small businesses said they wanted to increase their business productivity and 42 per cent wished their business had better processes in place before the lockdown.

So we have a clear problem to solve, and a clear and present solution - that were not fully utilising. If we can help more small businesses become technology enabled we can not only remedy our long-standing productivity problem, but also improve our chances of opening up markets internationally and small business profitability. We have an opportunity to build on the momentum that Covid-19 has clearly provided for our small business owners and tackle our productivity issues head on.

And if youre still left wondering, here are a few examples of where cloud technology can help right now.

Focus on cashflow

There are few things more critical to a small business than cashflow. However, during lockdown, only 12 per cent of New Zealand small businesses leveraged the cloud-based cashflow tools available to them. That meant that at a time when managing cashflow was crucial to survival, they were walking in the dark.

For those not on the cloud, their business information was literally in lockdown on premise leaving them and their adviser without real-time cashflow forecasting to know if theyd be able to pay overheads and expenses and have insights to make informed business decisions.

Nearly four-fifths of Kiwi small businesses said they would have made better business decisions with access to real-time, accurate information about their business.

Even in more positive economic times purpose-built small business tools that can be accessed anywhere and anytime are one of the most important areas of investment. A growing business needs to know what cash it will have on hand, because if they cant measure it, they cant manage it.

Tighten up on inefficiencies

Many businesses waste countless hours manually transferring data.

Whether filing information from bills and receipts, inputting employee leave balances into payroll, or collating information for a bank loan, manual data entry is an inefficient way to work and could lead to errors and inconsistencies. At the very least its taking them away from something more important, or interesting.

If a small business owner has to manually import or collate data to run any aspect of their business, they are probably missing out on a piece of technology that can help.

Scenario-plan with your adviser

Working smarter requires a bespoke business strategy that is malleable to changing operating environments and economic circumstances.

For 60 per cent of small businesses owners Covid-19 helped them realise their business would benefit from time to create or update their business plan. There are thousands of resources to help develop business plans. The most important thing is to use accurate business information to inform decisions.

An accountant or bookkeeper who knows the business is best placed to help find the opportunities to build out a scenario plan for the ups and downs that will inevitably lie ahead.

As a nation, weve navigated Covid-19 so far with a strong strategy and by playing our individual part. Surviving the ongoing economic and wellbeing impact for our small businesses requires the same approach.

Lets throw out our shell be right attitude when it comes to tackling productivity and use every lever we can to give our small businesses the best chance of success through this time. Cloud-based technology is just one lever of many, but its only valuable if we all stare into this opportunity and take action.

No-one is coming to save us; well have to design our way out of this ourselves by making some big bets as a business community, with the support of the Government. My big bet on New Zealands small business future is that if we work together to become the most tech-enabled nation, well also become the most productive nation.

Anna Curzon is the chief product officer at Xero

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Greater use of technology key to improving the productivity of small businesses - Stuff.co.nz