Risk averse? Not NZ firms, says Sir Ray

Research suggesting owners of New Zealand’s small businesses are risk averse has been rejected by entrepeneur Sir Ray Avery.

The research by UMR for giant insurer Suncorp showed eight in 10 business owners valued worklife balance as much as growing their business.

‘‘There’s not that many people utterly focused on growth,’’ UMR consultant Stephen Mills said.

When businesses got to a certain size, their owners looked to buy a boat and head out onto the harbour, rather than doubling the stakes and pushing for more growth, Mills said.

Many business owners were risk averse, and only one in 10 had taken what they described as a large, or very large risks, Mills said.

But Avery said on Wednesday that New Zealanders compared well globally for taking risks and going into business.

‘‘We have got all these really cool people out there doing all this really cool stuff.’’

Business owners need not fear taking risks, Avery said.

‘‘Fear of something that didn’t happen is a weird notion to me, so don’t give in to it.’’

UMR surveyed 435 companies about what was important to them, what might be holding them back, and how they felt about risk.

It found most business owners felt confident about their enterprises, though 13 per cent were doing it hard and described the state of their business as bad.

More than a third said they were not looking to grow at all, while 58 per cent said they would rather focus on productivity and efficiency over growth.

A quarter felt there was a lack of ambition among business owners.

Suncorp chief executive Paul Smeaton said the research indicated many business owners’ view of success was not defined by growth.

‘‘The businesses we surveyed told us very clearly that they think growth comes at the expense of quality of life, which we know is a prized asset for New Zealanders,’’ Smeaton said.

‘‘This attitude is likely to be limiting the aspirations of some businesses. However, we question whether things like success, growth and lifestyle really need to be mutually exclusive.’’

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said work-life balance could be achieved, and many technology startups were opting to locate in places such as Gisborne where that balance was easier to achieve.

But he said small businesses often lacked the capital to invest in becoming more productive.

Pushing for growth could allow business owners to achieve more work-life balance, as larger businesses could hire talented people to spread more of the load, Hope said.

Meridian boss to retire

Mark Binns, the chief executive of Meridian Energy, has announced he is retiring at the end of the year. Binns, who has been at the helm of the company since 2011, said it had been a hard decision to leave. Meridian chairman Chris Moller thanked Binns for his hard work, which included overseeing the company’s shift onto the New Zealand stockmarket, in what was the country’s largest initial public offering, worth $1.9 billion. Binns will leave on December 21 and the company has embarked on finding a replacement.

Dick Smith back on Trade Me

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Kiwi steps up at Bauer

The chief executive of publisher Bauer Media Australia, Nick Chan, has left the company barely a year after taking the helm. Senior executives have denied there is any connection between Chan’s departure on Tuesday and Australian actress Rebel Wilson’s legal victory against the company last week over defamatory articles it published of her. The German-based company publishes a raft of Australian magazines, including Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly Harper’s Bazaar.