Māori businesses planning for change

Māori businesses in Tairāwhiti that work with whenua are looking at ways to do things differently, says BDO Gisborne managing partner Kylee Potae.

Ms Potae has a specialist focus in whenua Māori, and a personal passion for strategic planning.

Over the past six months, te Tairāwhiti has been working to recover from the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle as well as figuring out new ways to use land.

The 2023 BDO Māori Business Sector report has been derived from an online survey conducted in July among more than 160 Māori business leaders across Aotearoa.

It has found that Māori business leaders are focused on short-term financial performance, collaborating less, and finding it more difficult to successfully manage businesses.

Also, 61 percent of Māori business leaders feel that it has become more difficult to successfully manage a business in the current market, according to the fifth edition of BDO Purongo Pakihi Māori, the BDO Māori Business Sector Report. Only 8 percent state it has become easier.

There is a focus now on short-term financial and performance benchmarks.

A majority (79 percent) of Māori business leaders are focused on planning for the next one to five years. Only 9 percent stated they had made significant progress in relation to environmental, social and governance principles over the past 12 months — down from 27 percent in the previous report in 2021.

An employee growth mindset is evident among business leaders. The significance of prior experience for a role is diminishing, while emphasis is growing on areas that foster employee growth in line with the evolving business landscape.

Eighty-four percent of Māori business leaders rank self-motivation as the most important quality in employees, yet 34 percent rate this as the skill that is most often lacking.

The aspects of wellbeing rated by Māori business leaders as most important to support and develop the future Māori economy include: knowledge & skills (58 percent), cultural identity (55 percent) and job and pay (51 percent).

“For me it’s interesting — the findings weren’t surprising. I think in the Māori sector there are elements where we have a uniqueness, but it’s not that different to the general business sector,” Ms Potae says.

“Everyone is finding it tough in these current financial times.

“Being financially responsible is at the front of mind for everybody. That’s about making sure the income line is nurtured and looked after, but equally looking to reduce costs where you can as people can’t maintain the continued and increasing costs.”

Kylee says what businesses are experiencing is similar to what is happening within the whānau home, where whānau are trying to just make it through while being mindful of spending.

“I think that because of the uncertain times with rising costs, there is an element of being very cautious and careful in the short to mid-term.

“One thing we know is that the recession won’t last forever — these cyclical phases come and go. So, it’s about holding tight and waiting for good times to come again.”

Ms Potae says that some economists say this will be a nine-month stint, but the high costs and interest rates can be around for about three years.

“So planning for the next three to five years, and being careful with your money while really focusing on your business and your people, whether that is staff or customers, is important.”

Over the past six months, there are two factors that have been popping up for Ms Potae as she has worked with whenua Māori businesses.

“One is around the sense we can’t keep doing what we always have done — we have got to change, and if we don’t, we will keep getting more environmental disasters.

“The other is the planning around the change, which can come at a cost. So how are you going to fund the change and the gap of income from going from one source of income to another? How do you weather that storm?

“We do have the challenge of how we do sustainable change, and change for the future. Most of my clients own land and are land-based businesses, so they are thinking about how they can continue to earn a revenue stream from their whenua but in a more diverse way.

“There are good conversations to be had around the ways to use land.”