Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Revenue's up but your own pay still isn't? Mike Michalowicz's Profit First method flips the order so growth finally reaches your pocket.
Optimism is not revenue. The latest New Zealand survey shows businesses feeling much better about the future while their actual trading over the last three months barely moved. If that sounds like your year, the gap between mood and money is where your next decision should start.
NZIER's Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion for the September 2026 quarter was summarised by Westpac IQ on 6 October 2026 (survey run 9 to 28 September). All figures are seasonally adjusted net balances, with the previous quarter in brackets.
Source: Westpac IQ, NZ first impressions: NZIER QSBO, Sep quarter 2026. Net balances measure the share of firms reporting an increase minus the share reporting a decrease, so they describe the direction of the whole economy, not your business.
When confidence runs ahead of trading, many owners react by spending ahead of the recovery: more staff, more advertising, more stock. Sometimes that is right. Often the real constraint is somewhere else, and extra spend only makes the constraint more expensive.
Notice also that firms still expect to lift prices. If most of your competitors raise prices at the same time, being slightly cheaper stops working as a reason to be chosen. You need a reason that is not price.
You can find these in your accounts or CRM in under an hour.
Then run the five checks in Revenue Flat For A Year? before you hire or advertise.
In our case study on PhysioACTION, an Auckland clinic built its positioning around "A better experience" and then redesigned the experience to match. The limits of what we can claim are stated in the post. The method, five questions answered in an afternoon, is in Big-Brand Positioning on a Small-Business Budget.
Pick one of the three numbers and get it by Friday. If you want a second pair of eyes on which constraint to fix first, book a free 30-minute call with Kevin.
Source checked 6 November 2026. We summarise Westpac IQ's reading of NZIER's survey and have not opened NZIER's own release for this post.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Most leadership teams spend less than an hour a month on strategy, and half spend none at all. Here is the protected-time system that fixes it, and why accountability is the missing ingredient.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
93% of small business owners expect growth this year — but 75% no longer trust their own bank to fund it. Here's the Cash Flow Runway Check to close the gap.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most strategic plans die quietly by March — not from a bad plan, but from no system to keep it alive. Here's the 90-minute review that fixes it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Nearly half of buyers already ask AI platforms to recommend a business like yours. Here's how to make sure you're the one they mention.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most SME owners discount before the buyer even objects — and call it good negotiating. Here's the sequence that stops you giving margin away for free.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Your Q4 plan will likely be forgotten by February unless something forces it back into view every week. Here's the 15-minute ritual that keeps it alive.
Friday, September 25, 2026
The smartest owners often have the biggest blind spots, because nobody around them dares to point them out. Here's how to find yours before they cost you.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Growth is supposed to make winning customers cheaper. For most SMEs it does the opposite. Here's the audit that catches it before it erodes your margin.
Friday, September 25, 2026
97% of entrepreneurs grew through a new partnership this year — but half can't see what's actually happening inside it. Here's the 3-step Partner Visibility Audit that closes the gap.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most SME strategy fails not from bad ideas but from changing course before the last one had a chance to work. Here's the 90-day commitment framework that fixes it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
85% of marketers feel confident about ROI — only 32% actually measure it. Here's the simple source-tracking system that tells you which marketing really works.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Existing customers are 60-70% more likely to buy again, yet most SME sales teams never ask the second question. Here's the add-on framework that fixes it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most SME owners plan Q4 revenue without planning the capacity to deliver it. Here's the one-hour Capacity Reality Check that catches the gap before October does.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Waiting to hire a coach until you're "big enough" doesn't save money — it delays the point where the advice starts compounding. Here's the payback framework.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Fewer than 0.5% of businesses ever reach $10M. Here's why growth stalls again at $5-10M, and the infrastructure audit that breaks through the second plateau.