As Alfred E. Neuman famously said, “What, me worry?” In October, I facilitated a discussion with Bruce Sheppard (CEO of Gilligan Sheppard) and Evana Lithgow (Managing Partner of Working Minds) to add to our series on life and business post-lockdown. The discussion centred around how do we deal with, and face the uncertainty of the […]

We all know New Zealand is a country with a high number of small to medium businesses (SMEs). This may mean we are entrepreneurial, value working on our own terms rather than those dictated by employers, wish to utilise our skills or turn our ideas into action or a myriad of other options.  How then […]

I was recently listening to the audio book ‘Game of Thrones’ and the saying “A Lannister always pays his debts.” struck me and reminded me of the incidents of two entities: both were from overseas, both engaged New Zealand professional services and both neglected to manage their debts. It was so easy walking into an office having a lengthy talk […]

Imagine if you will, a boxing ring. The arena is dark, there is no audience and there are only four people present – the guy in the red shorts, the one in the blue shorts and a second for each boxer. The second for the boxer in the blue shorts has had many years of […]

Gilligan Sheppard’s Michael Vukcevic facilitates a discussion with Evana Lithgow (from Working Minds) and our own Bruce Sheppard. Optimism can be dangerous, but so can panic which tends to leave you in a situation where you do nothing…

At the time of writing this article, we’re about to go back into Level 3 lockdown in Auckland. As much as I hope it’s the last time, there’s every chance that this will become a recurring situation. So when it’s all shut, and the only businesses doing well are the essential services, what can you […]

Emotional intelligence (also known as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. Emotional intelligence helps you build stronger relationships, and succeed at school or work, and achieve your career and personal […]

Bruce Sheppard, CEO of Gilligan Sheppard and Damien Grant, Principal of Waterstone Insolvency, who have both featured in recent articles on the wage subsidy, hash out their points of view. Who’s side do you agree with most?

Within the coming months there will be a lot of discussion in the media about the macro-economic policy and direction of the country. They can be deceptive, as individuals in the media, politicians and policy advisors tend to discuss the outcomes of any particular action in average terms. Usually this is based on level 100 […]

Available to business owners, are many services who advocate that numbers beyond historical end-of-year compliance is important for your business. Some providers will delve into why these are important citing profitability, cash flow management, ability to fund growth, keeping overheads under control, etc. Some of these will go further and offer book-keeping / virtual CFO […]