Show Notes
It might be a bit late in posting, but David and Rob came back after the summer break to kick off 2026 with a look under the hood — reflecting on what's worked, what's ahead, and how you can help shape the conversation. With 31 episodes now in the wild and a growing audience, the highlights from the past year include some standout guests, a government minister on the show, a top-rated episode with Dave Bunting becoming compulsory listening at a local marketing firm, and a column in NZ Manufacturer Magazine. But this episode is really about what's coming. The guys share their BHAG — getting 100,000 New Zealand SMBs on a high-performance journey — and the practical tools being built to make that happen. Backed by Setseed, a new online diagnostic capability was launched on March 4th at the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, giving businesses a way to benchmark their performance, compare themselves to industry peers, and chart a roadmap for growth. There's also a new team member — Danielle Hancock — joining as General Manager, plus exciting guests already locked in for the first half of the year and a push to get all major political parties on the show ahead of the election. The message? New Zealand's productivity problem is real — and the solution isn't coming from Wellington. It starts with businesses getting better, one decision at a time. Got a guest suggestion? Know someone who should hear this? Share it with three business owners you know. The rising tide lifts all boats.
More from The Better SMB Podcast
Part of Better SMB's Election 2026 series — sitting down with each major party's small business spokesperson ahead of 7 November. Before two decades in the NZ Army and now Parliament, Dan Rosewarne struggled at school and found his path through vocational training. He walks David and Rob through Labour's Small Business Action Plan ("A Fair Go") and its follow-up, Small Business First — and what it would actually mean for a tradie, a café owner, or a sole trader. In this episode: The real story behind the 15-day payment rule: a $15k materials bill, a 90-day wait, and why "paid on time" isn't yet the law Scrapping Investment Boost for a $10,000 instant asset write-off — and Labour's answer to the "$5 billion tax grab" criticism Raising the GST threshold to $80,000, taking 35,000 of the smallest operators out of GST altogether The 15% target for government contracts going to small business — and who's accountable if it's missed Capability, AI support, and the case for "earning the right to automate" before pushing adoption What two decades in the military and a cancer diagnosis taught Dan about leading under pressure
With hosts David Altena & Rob Bull | Guest: Qiulae Wong, Leader, The Opportunity Party New Zealand has been unable to meaningfully lift productivity for 40+ years, despite inquiries, restructures and reforms. Qiulae Wong — leader of The Opportunity Party, with a career in sustainable and ethical business including the B Corp movement — joins David and Rob to test her party's policies against one simple question: not whether they sound good, but whether they'd genuinely help SME owners build capability, capacity and confidence.
With hosts David Altena & Rob Bull and special guest: Dr Paul Wood, author of Better Never Stops.
With hosts David Altena & Rob Bull | Guest: Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia & New Zealand Three-quarters of NZ business owners think their online presence is strong. Only about half their own customers agree. Elise Balsillie draws on Thryv's 2025 Business Index — 2,000+ SME decision-makers and customers across Australia and NZ — to unpack that gap, and what it now takes to get found when customers are asking AI, not just Google, who to trust. In this episode: The confidence gap: why owners rate their own online presence far higher than customers actually experience it GEO vs SEO in plain English — what changes now that AI tools do the "searching" on a customer's behalf What ChatGPT or Google's AI Overview actually looks at when it recommends a plumber, accountant, or bookkeeper Why reviews and response speed matter more than a flashy website redesign The one hour a week that moves the needle further than a full rebrand A simple starting point: 15 minutes a week Googling your own business and three competitors, from your phone Key quote: "Being listed is not the same as being discoverable." — David Altena 🔗 Thryv — Small Business Marketing Software: www.thryv.com📊 Benchmark your own business with PerformIQ: www.thebettersmb.com/nz-manufacturer-signup/🌐 The Better SMB: www.thebettersmb.com🎙️ The Better SMB Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/0VmzaRqeU5g94kzfPRKQlq Proudly sponsored by Setseed — www.setseed.com #BetterSMB #Thryv #GEO #SEO #SMBMarketing #NZBusiness
Smart people, sensible ideas, real effort — and yet the business isn't moving as fast as it should. David and Rob unpack why: it's rarely a strategy problem, a people problem, or a technology problem on its own. It's a connection problem — and it's quietly cancelling out good work in businesses everywhere. In this episode: The All Blacks analogy for misalignment: brilliant forwards, brilliant backs, no shared game plan Why only half of NZ SMEs have a documented plan — and why the rest run on reactive management The "hamster wheel" trap: teams return from training or conferences inspired, then slide straight back to status quo How to actually get a team to own the plan — devolved, military-style leadership over top-down mandates Why throwing technology at a broken process just makes chaos happen faster A simple test for your own business: ask your three most senior people to write down their top three priorities, independently Key quote: "The behaviours of your people are the result of the system that you built." — Rob Bull, quoting W. Edwards Deming 📊 Find out where your dots aren't connecting — benchmark your business with PerformIQ: www.thebettersmb.com/nz-manufacturer-signup/📰 Read the article this episode is based on — Connecting the Dots, NZ Manufacturer, The Last Word, June 2026🌐 The Better SMB: www.thebettersmb.com🎙️ The Better SMB Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/0VmzaRqeU5g94kzfPRKQlq Proudly sponsored by Setseed — www.setseed.com #BetterSMB #NZManufacturing #Leadership #BusinessAlignment #SMBNZ