BNZ sees "encouraging signals" businesses are preparing to move beyond survival mode, but says those who want to thrive need to think more strategically.
Brandon Jackson, BNZ's GM Growth Sectors, said a study of six high-growth companies shows they combine operational excellence with more strategic decision-making.
A broader survey, of more than 1,000 businesses across the country, asked respondents which of 10 "growth levers" had contributed most to their success so far, and which they believed would matter most in the next three- to five-years.
Around 10% of those surveyed had turnover of $100,000 to $250,000 and 11% had revenue of $10 million+, with the remainder spread evenly between.
BNZ's first Growth Levers Insight Report shows customer focus was cited as the top critical success factor, at 49%, followed by operational efficiency at 38%.
Jackson says those two were "genuine strengths" that had served companies well through challenging times.
Less encouraging were low ratings for innovation (13%), use of professional advisors (9%), and macro and micro market understanding (6%).
"The fundamentals are strong, but sustaining resilient growth requires broader capabilities," Jackson says.
Many business owners are getting caught up in daily management and firefighting, working 'in' the business instead of 'on' it.
This operational focus might help explain New Zealand's poor record of productivity growth, which has averaged 0.2% a year for the last decade. Owners need to "break free" to focus on strategy, innovation and long-term planning.
"While our businesses may run efficiently by local standards, we're competing globally against companies with access to deeper pools of capital and larger market scale," Jackson says.
"We need to be more strategic about innovation, which increasingly means technology and automation investment, to compete on the global stage."
One of the advantages of a small country like New Zealand is that we can access and share information "with only two or three calls," Jackson says.
Some of the best growth companies he'd seen - including those among the six companies studied for the report - gave high priority to researching markets.
Kiwi companies could also be reluctant to use advisers because they saw them as a cost rather than as an investment.
While "microbusinesses" might get by no more advice than they can get from their accountant, those wanting to scale and grow quickly could find specialists and consultants of all kinds.
"The investment's worth doing."
Jackson says "significant underinvestment" in innovation is a national-level "cultural thing."
Where it takes place, it can take many forms; new business models, breakthrough products, smarter processes, or fresh ways to engage customers.
But what set the six case study businesses apart from the general survey was that they saw it as an important part of their business plan.
The survey shows "funding and capital" moving up as a critical lever from 21% "to date" to 28% over the next 3-5 years.
That's one of the "encouraging signals" BNZ sees that businesses are starting to move out of their survival bunkers.
"It reflects the economy," says Jackson. "As people build plans, it will move up."
"The bigger businesses are thinking about it, the smaller ones less so."
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