COVID-19 Business Update – 9 April 2021

09/04/2021

New Zealand-Australia Bubble Confirmed

Starting 19 April 2021, travellers from Australia and New Zealand can enjoy quarantine-free travel between the two countries.

Travel, Bubble

This new arrangement comes with caveats including ‘green zone’ airports and flights, wherein flights into New Zealand will have only travellers from Australia on board, and not from other destinations, and the flight crew will not have previously visited any COVID-19 ‘hot spots’.

According to Tourism New Zealand, the travel bubble could bring in $1 billion to the economy by the end of the year. Before the pandemic, Australians made up almost 40% of international arrivals to the country and contributed 24% or $2.7 billion of annual international visitor spend.

Over 85,000 Pfizer Doses Administered

Since starting its vaccine rollout at the end of February, New Zealand has administered more than 85,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The government has purchase agreements for 30.3 million doses of four different vaccines: Pfizer, Novavax, AstraZeneca, and the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. This is enough to cover the population of almost 5 million people more than six times over.

However, Pfizer is the only vaccine provisionally approved by NZ’s medical regulator MedSafe. To date, the country has a stockpile of 450,450 Pfizer vaccine doses.

MedSafe is also evaluating approval applications for both AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines.

Non-Bank Lenders Join Business Finance Guarantee Scheme

Finance Business Finance Guarantee loans can help small and medium businesses access credit for cash flow, capital assets and projects related to, responding to, or recovering from the impacts of COVID-19.

If you borrow from a bank, it will determine the amount you can borrow and the length of the term up to a maximum of $5 million payable in five years.

Meanwhile, if you borrow from a non-bank, the maximum amount is $3 million payable in five years. More information on eligibility criteria and how it works can be found here.

This loan scheme is now available to five non-deposit-taking lenders including these Financial Services Federation Members:

UDC Finance Limited
Prospa NZ Limited
FlexiGroup (New Zealand) Limited
Speirs Finance Group Ltd

Applications for Business Finance Guarantee loans are open until 30 June 2021. If you need help or have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop us a message.

Five Startup Killers To Avoid

If you want your new business to succeed, you need to make smart decisions and be strategic. In this Forbes article, a business coach shared five business killers that you should avoid if you want your startup to be successful.

Too much overhead– Start with the bare necessities and focus on surviving your first year in business. By keeping your business lean in the early stages, you may have a positive cash flow.
Limited cash flow– The main reason new businesses have to close is because they don’t have enough money. Avoid making significant cash purchases and use other financing options so you can have sufficient cash in your bank.
Too much planning– Don’t overwhelm yourself with all the little details because there will always be little details.
Too little planning– While it’s better to start with version one than never start at all, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan at all. You need to have a business plan, including processes and systems in place in order to succeed.
Not getting involved in the community– If you’re not networking within your community, you’ll be missing out on vital business connections. Your website and social media are great, but you may also need people in your community to establish your credibility when you’re just starting out.

Need more focused business advice for your startup? Get in touch with us today and let’s work out a plan together!

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