Gearing up: Preparing your Kiwi business for an uncertain future

Abstract

What a difference ten years makes -- a lot has happened in the world since we wrote Changing Gears: How to take your Kiwi business from the kitchen table to the Board room (AUP 2009). We felt that it was now time to reflect on and respond to the challenges facing owner-managed businesses in the present-day context as they prepare for the future. Much has changed in the decade following the publication of Changing Gears. Writing it during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), we were keenly aware of the tentative nature of business success and the vulnerability of New Zealand businesses to the global economic environment. ... As we go to press (this time), we remind ourselves that business growth cycles are just that, cycles; they change, and they can change rapidly. Thus, we have written this book with an eye towards a future that seems far from predictable, though is not without hope.