Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Doing every bit of marketing yourself with no plan? Learn Donald Miller's StoryBrand method for making your customer the hero, not your business.
You can pay a few hundred dollars for an AI workshop in New Zealand, or several thousand. The price tells you very little. What matters is whether you walk out on Monday with one task handed to a tool, or with a folder of notes and a faint sense of guilt.
Disclosure: Simple-Growth publishes this guide and runs AI sessions for owners, so we have an interest. We have not claimed any option is better. Prices below are the public ones we could open, checked 6 November 2026. Confirm with each provider before you book.
Two published examples show how wide the range is.
That is roughly a 36 times difference. Neither is right or wrong. A short session suits an owner who wants to try the tools. A longer programme suits a leadership team that needs to change how work is done.
The ticket price is the small number. The large one is the tool you pay for every month and never use. Before you compare workshops, ask what you want to stop doing by the end of the month. If you cannot name a task, any workshop will feel interesting and change nothing.
Two public schemes are worth asking your Regional Business Partner about.
Funding rules change, and a workshop is not automatically eligible. Ask before you pay, not after.
If you want to start before you spend anything, the free two-minute ME4SME AI audit at me4sme.com shows where an AI tool is most likely to save you time. If you would rather talk it through, book a free 30-minute call with Kevin.
Prices and funding rules were taken from the pages linked above on 6 November 2026. We have not independently verified provider claims.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Sales closes the deal, then delivery loses the customer within a quarter. The one-page Handover Brief that carries the promise, the anxiety, and the customer's real definition of success forward.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Every interruption costs roughly 23 minutes of refocus time, not seconds. The Protected Block system that stops "always available" from quietly destroying your most productive hours.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Coaching doesn't feel like steady progress — it dips hard around week five before the real structural change lands. Here's the 90-day curve nobody warns owners about, and why it matters.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
The instincts that built your first million will cap your next five if you don't replace them. Greiner's Growth Model explains why — and the Stage Check that shows if you've already outgrown your playbook.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
A new NielsenIQ study found 58% of shoppers don't care if it's your brand or the store's own. Here's the 3-step test to see if your FMCG brand earns its price premium.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Chasing every dollar of revenue isn't a growth strategy — it's a collection plate. Here's the four-question filter Kevin uses with clients before any deal gets signed.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Most SMEs treat marketing spend like rent — fixed, tolerated, never questioned. Here's the 70-20-10 test-and-learn loop that turns it into compounding evidence instead.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Same-day response feels fast — it isn't. Here's the five-minute speed-to-lead system that turns warm enquiries into customers before a competitor gets there first.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
A blocked calendar isn't the same as a productive one. Here's the Energy Mapping System for matching your highest-stakes decisions to your real energy peaks, not just free time.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Ticking off every task on your action list isn't the same as changing how you actually run your business. Here's how to test whether coaching is producing real behaviour change.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Past $5M, the real growth ceiling usually isn't the market — it's the org chart. Here's the readiness test for hiring the second-in-command you don't have yet.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Gallup's newest global data shows manager engagement has crashed to 22%, barely ahead of the people they lead. Here's the weekly reset SME owners need before it costs them a decision.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Your five-year plan and eleven-metric dashboard weren't built for a business your size — they were borrowed from one ten times bigger. Here's the Right-Size Test to fix it.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Boosting posts feels like marketing, but without a capture step behind it, every dollar disappears into likes. Here's the three-step Minimum Funnel that fixes it.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Category managers don't buy on story, they buy on rate of sale and margin. Here's the Buyer-Language Pitch that gets FMCG founders ranged instead of politely declined.