Eftposhire.co.nz

28/09/2026

I once had a conversation with a seasoned business owner who proudly told me that he never bothered with formal employment paperwork.

He hired his team based on instinct, looked people in the eye, and believed that a firm handshake was all the contract he would ever need.

He argued that small businesses operate on trust, and that introducing formal legal agreements would only create an atmosphere of unnecessary suspicion. In his mind, corporate bureaucracy had no place in the fast-paced environment of his retail operation.

That philosophy worked flawlessly for him for several years—right up until the day a major dispute arose over a misunderstood conversation regarding holiday pay.

Within a matter of weeks, the trust that he so deeply valued completely evaporated.

It was rapidly replaced by highly stressful mediation sessions, mounting legal costs, and a severely damaged reputation within his local community.

Read more on my blog post on https://EftposHire.co.nz

27/09/2026

23/09/2026

Everyone’s talking about AI.

Half the articles you read will tell you it’s going to transform your business overnight.

The other half will tell you it’s going to steal your data, replace your staff, and generally bring about the end of western civilisation as we know it.

That is, of course, if it doesn’t kill off humanity altogether.

The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle. (Except maybe the bit about killing humanity. Let’s just hope that’s not true!).

I’ve been using AI tools in this business for a while now. Some of them have been genuinely useful. Some have been a waste of time.

So here’s a practical rundown of what’s actually worth your attention as a small business owner, and what you need to watch out for.

Read more at https://eftposhire.co.nz/

15/09/2026

Small-business cybersecurity doesn’t need to be complicated—or expensive.

A few practical habits can make a big difference:

✅ Use unique passwords and multi-factor authentication
✅ Double-check unexpected payment or login requests
✅ Keep devices and software up to date
✅ Protect and regularly inspect EFTPOS terminals
✅ Back up essential information—and test the restore process
✅ Have a simple plan for responding to an incident

Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Building these checks into everyday business routines can help protect your customers, reputation and ability to keep trading.

Read the full article at https://eftposhire.co.nz/ for practical steps every small business can take.

11/09/2026

Getting an Eftpos merchant number from a bank can be an uphill battle.

It often takes weeks and costs anything from $100 to $150.

The bank will ask for all sorts of documentation and information. One of our customers told us recently that they were setting up a food truck and before the bank would issue a merchant number they had to send a photograph of the food truck and a copy of the menu!

There's an easier way

If you are dealing with us at EftposHire.co.nz, there is an easier way. In fact there are two easier ways.

You can either use one of our merchant numbers or we can apply for a merchant number on your behalf.

If you want or need to get your own merchant number we gather all the necessary information from you and pass it on to a bank that we have partnered with. Most applications are approved within a couple of days.

We cover the application fee as part of our normal rental charge.
It's all done online and processed by an associate company.

If you'd like to do that, send an email to [email protected] and I'll send you a link to the application website

To find out more about merchant numbers and how they work, go to the blog post on our website, EftposHire.co.nz

04/09/2026

How electronic and card payments are changing the way we buy:
As a business owner are you keeping up to date?

Electronic and card payments used to be a fairly simple story: cash was declining, cards were rising, and online banking was gradually becoming normal.

That story is now much more complicated.

The payments landscape is being reshaped by digital wallets, contactless cards, account-to-account transfers, open banking, real-time settlement and stronger security expectations. Cards are still central to everyday commerce, but they are no longer the only symbol of convenience.

The biggest change is that payments are becoming invisible.

Consumers increasingly expect to tap, click, scan or approve a payment without thinking about the infrastructure behind it.

Businesses, meanwhile, have to manage more payment choices, more technology partners and more fraud risk while trying to keep checkout simple. The result is a market where speed, trust and flexibility matter as much as price.

Read the full article at https://EftposHire.co.nz

28/08/2026

AI’s Hidden Weakness – GIGO

AI is the techno darling of the day. It’s predicted to either bring a new world of wonder or the end of civilisation as we know it.

Take your pick.

There’s no doubt, however, that if deployed intelligently it can make huge productivity gains.

Amongst all the AI hype and enthusiasm however, everyone seems to have forgotten what is possibly the oldest computer formula in the book.

GIGO.

Garbage in. Garbage out.

Automating a badly designed system will merely result in getting rubbish output at much higher speeds.

Read more on my website https://EftposHire.co.nz

05/08/2026

What's the received wisdom about the state of the New Zealand economy?

It's on its beam ends, right?

Then how come, according to Xero, in the June quarter small business had its best quarter in nearly four years with sales rising 8.6% year on year?

Unsurprisingly agriculture was the standout, with sales up 16.3%, helping drive the national result.

Construction rose 11.0% and manufacturing increased 8.6%. Retail trade grew 6.4%. Even hospitality, supposedly in a death spiral, was up. 2.9%.

All this suggests that the New Zealand economy has at last turned the corner.

The data suggests a “two-speed” recovery. Rural and agriculture-linked regions performed especially well, with Canterbury up 12.3%, Manawatū-Whanganui up 11.9%, Waikato up 10.0%, and Southland up 9.6%.

Auckland and Wellington also improved, but at slower rates of 7.2% and 7.1% respectively.

Despite the stronger sales, the recovery has not yet flowed through into jobs or wages. Small business jobs rose just 0.7% year on year, while wages were up only 1.5%, the weakest increase in the Xero series dating back to 2017.

Hospitality, retail, and other services recorded fewer jobs than a year earlier.

Xero country manager Bridget Snelling described the figures as a reason for cautious optimism, but said more confidence was needed before stronger sales translated into hiring and pay growth.

24/07/2026

I once had a businessman say to me, "Nobody ever went broke making a profit."

It's just not true!

Profit is theory. Cash is reality.

If your business is largely invoice-based, you can be making good profits but if people are not paying the invoices, you're going to go broke.

One of the absolute rules in business is "Cash is king".

If an invoice gets more than a week overdue, you should be sending a polite email requesting payment.

An accounting program like Xero will automatically do that for you. It will send out three reminders. If they don't result in payment, you need to be more aggressive.

At that point I send out a polite but firm email asking if there is a problem and suggesting that if there isn't then could we get payment by the end of the week.

If that doesn't work, you have to get on the telephone and have a chat. I know, it's one of the least enjoyable parts of running a business but if you don't do it, you're working for nothing.

There are scumbags in this world who know perfectly well that for small debts collection options are limited. Usually it's not worth putting them in the hands of a debt collector. Collection companies' fees often exceed the money collected.

And those ratbag debtors know it.

The owner of a failed restaurant called Morocana owed us $7,800. We eventually got an award from the Disputes Tribunal but didn't get any money. When I suggested to my solicitor that we institute bankruptcy proceedings, she looked into the case and came back and told me it's not worth the time, trouble, or money. He has a string of debts a mile long and others are seeking bankruptcy proceedings.

Unfortunately with slow payers your only option is to get on their case and stay on it until they pay up.

08/07/2026

Why do businesses fail?

New business survival statistics are grim. One in ten businesses will not survive its first year, and after five years fewer than a third of start-ups will still be trading. Some of those that do survive are limping along rather than thriving. So why does so much effort, hope and money end in heartbreak?

Read more on the latest blog post on our website https://eftposhire.co.nz/blog/