Key takeaways

You may have a key selling point for your product but there might be something else that resonates with customers.

When pitching for business, sell on service and product longevity rather than price.

In an uncertain market, double down on areas where your product is already working.

Kiwi business owners could be forgiven for feeling fearful of what is ahead in 2025 given the local and global economy, but four forward-looking SME business owners are getting on with strong growth plans for the year ahead and have every intention of achieving them.

Mutu: learning how to sell is about finding what resonates

For construction tech startup founder Ben Redwood, after launching his business Mutu, in March 2022, he believes 2025 will be his biggest year yet.

Mutu helps large construction companies with multiple sites around the country manage their internal resources - the aim to reduce waste and encourage a circular economy.

Mutu has a SaaS business model and the entrepreneur targets construction companies with 50 plus staff and five sites or more, accumulating a 45 (and growing) client list to date.

The Mutu app has redirected more than 800 tonnes of surplus materials back into other projects and saved customers more than $1.5 million in procurement costs by avoiding buying things they already had, says Ben.

By year end April 2026, the Mutu founder wants to have doubled his customer base and to have increased revenue by 140%. He also wants to double his Auckland-based team, bringing in someone to manage the customer side of things, a product manager, another sales person and someone in digital marketing.

The plan is also to expand to Australia - major new NZ customer, Downer, has 700 sites across Australasia.

Ben is meanwhile actively promoting Mutu to the closeknit construction industry, sponsoring events and shaking hands with people.

The key part in learning how to sell, is finding out what resonates, he says.

“In this really tough market some customers are saving $60,000 a month in procurement costs by sharing resources. That’s a staff member’s salary a month.”

J & D McLennan: winning contracts on service and product

For Upper Hutt mechanical engineering business, J & D McLennan Engineering, which specialises in building airbridges at airports, (the tunnel that you come out into when you disembark the plane) it knows the work that’s coming in well ahead of time.

The company owns new 8000 sq m premises which it had built in Upper Hutt, upsizing from its former base in Lower Hutt.

“We’re working on a number of contracts which have required us to expand,” says James McLennan, a director of the family business.

In Wellington, J & D McLennan employs 25 in the workshops and 13 in the office. A site in Auckland has another 14 employees and a sister company has been set up in Australia to take on the servicing and maintenance work at Sydney airport, and to help with the installation of 13 new airbridges for the new Western Sydney airport.

The Australian business has also expanded to Brisbane which is gearing up to host the 2032 Olympic games and J & D McLennan is pitching for 14 new airbridges at Brisbane airport.

The established business doesn’t try to pitch on price against the competition which tends to be from China, says James.

“The feedback we get is customers like our back up and servicing, and the quality of the product we send over. We don’t try to win on price. We go in and sell on how much better we do our job and on the longevity of the product we supply,” he says.

Antipodes natural skincare: doubling down on existing markets

Founder of natural skincare business, Antipodes, Elizabeth Barbalich, is targeting 15% year on year growth in her next financial year.

Her company is headquartered in Wellington and the skincare brand is exported to markets including France, UK, Japan, China and Australia.

Elizabeth says she doesn’t wait for economic developments to shape her growth plans.

“Our strategy is to double down on existing markets where we see significant growth potential,” she says.

Antipodes is launching three new products this year and Elizabeth has hired three new team members recently in PR, digital strategy and national sales.

“Our approach to talent acquisition is to find individuals who provide clear value to the business and can be both strategic and executional,” says the Antipodes founder.

Mana Communications: expanding its offer to move with the times

Wellington brand, digital and PR firm Mana Communications has taken on three new staff members in the past six months.

It is partly because founder Caleb Hulme-Moir has closed his Sydney office, wanting all his staff under one roof in Wellington - there are eight in his NZ team now.

Mana works with all sectors around the country and in Australia, with a number of clients in tourism and luxury, hospitality and the biotech startup space.

In the next year, the Mana founder plans to do more in the B2C market, for instance in fast moving consumer goods which he sees as a key area for growth.

“There’s some absolutely world class food and beverage companies operating in Aotearoa but often these fantastic products lack awareness, which impacts sales, the oxygen for any growing company. That’s where we come in,” says Caleb.

One of Mana’s responses to the changing media landscape has been to bolster its offer to clients, recently hiring a senior digital marketing lead.

“We now provide brand, PR and digital support, and having all services housed under one roof is proving popular and effective,” says the company founder.

For the full article go here on Stuff.

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Physical vs Digital

Four Kiwi SME owners lay out their ambitious growth plans for 2025