Te Pōkaitahi i te Pakihi iti | Certificate in Small Business

Before you apply

Worth seeing this next to the pakihi funding rather than on its own. Poutama want a business plan and financial statements. MWDI want a business plan. Work and Income send your business plan away to be independently assessed before they will fund anything. This programme has you build that plan, for your own business, for nothing.

The modules follow what a funder asks for — an operations and HR plan, a marketing plan with a research brief, small business accounting including GST returns and depreciation, a cashflow and profit forecast, a risk management plan, and a stakeholder presentation you can reuse.

Two things to weigh honestly. It is classed as full-time — 18 weeks, five hours a week of class plus around 28 hours of your own study. That is a real commitment alongside running a pakihi and raising tamariki. And you need a Level 3 qualification to enrol. If you do not have one, Smart Steps to Business at Level 3 is the feeder programme and is also fees-free.

There is an online version as well as in class, and over 80 campuses. Applications for 2027 open 28 September. 0800 355 553.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa also run a Certificate in Māori Business and Management for a kaupapa Māori approach, and a Level 5 Diploma in Small Business and Project Management as the next step.