If you run a business and you have put something off until after 7 November, you are in good company. Hiring, a new vehicle, a lease renewal, a conversation with the bank. It is a sensible instinct. Why commit when the settings might change in a fortnight?

The short answer: some decisions genuinely do depend on who forms the next government. Most of the ones that keep a business safe do not. Business finance in New Zealand takes longer to arrange than people expect, and the cover that protects a business from losing a key person does not change with a change of government. Those are the ones worth sorting now, because the cost of waiting lands on you, not on Wellington.

Why do business owners wait before an election?

Because uncertainty is uncomfortable, and a decision made on settings that then change feels like a mistake even when it was the right call at the time.

There is also a practical reason. Some policy does shift. Tax settings, investment incentives and support schemes are the kind of thing that moves from one government to the next. If a decision hinges on one of those, waiting is reasonable. Your accountant is the right person to walk through it with you, and we would always point you there for anything tax-related.

The trouble is that "wait until after the election" quietly spreads from the decisions that depend on policy to the ones that do not.

Which decisions do not change whoever wins?

Four of them come up again and again in conversations with business owners on the Hibiscus Coast.

Finance you arrange before you need it

A business lending facility is not something you organise in a week. A lender wants financials, a clear picture of cash flow, and time to assess the application. business.govt.nz has a plain guide to borrowing money that covers what lenders look for. Arranging it while things are calm means it is there when you need it. Arranging it in the middle of a cash squeeze means doing the paperwork at the worst possible moment, with less room to negotiate.

No election result changes how a lender reads your accounts. If you think you will need a facility in the next six months, the time to start the conversation is now.

Working capital for the summer slowdown

For most New Zealand businesses, the quiet patch runs from mid-December into February. The bills do not slow down with the revenue. Business owners who get caught by this usually knew it was coming. They just did not get the working capital arranged in time.

Put the numbers in a forecast rather than a feeling. Once you can see where the gap falls, you can plan for it. Working capital arranged in November is easier, cheaper and less stressful than working capital arranged in January.

Cover that protects the business from losing a person

Most small businesses in New Zealand depend on one or two people. If one of them cannot work for six months, the business has a problem that no policy announcement will fix.

Key person insurance pays the business a lump sum if a named person dies or becomes seriously ill. It gives you time and money to cover the gap, bring someone in, or keep paying the bills while things are sorted. business.govt.nz lists it among the types of insurance a business should think about. It is the business equivalent of life or trauma cover, and it does not change with a government.

An agreement between business partners

If you own a business with someone else, there should be a written agreement about what happens if one of you dies, becomes unable to work, or wants out. Many business owners mean to sort this and never quite do. A buy and sell agreement, backed by insurance that funds the buyout, means the remaining partner is not suddenly in business with their partner's estate.

This is one of the quietest and most important pieces of business protection, and it is entirely unaffected by who wins on Saturday.

What does waiting actually cost?

Nothing dramatic, which is exactly why it is easy to keep doing. The cost is a facility that is not in place when the quiet patch arrives. A key person who gets sick with no cover in place. A partnership that ends badly because the agreement was always going to be sorted next quarter.

None of those are election outcomes. They are the ordinary risks of running a business, and they are happening at the same rate in October as they will in December.

What is worth doing in the next two weeks?

Three things, in this order.

Sort the decisions that depend on policy into their own pile. Put the tax and incentive questions with your accountant and leave them there until the result is in. That is the right place for them.

Look at your cash position through to March. Use a forecast rather than a feeling. If there is a gap, start the finance conversation now rather than when the gap arrives.

Check the cover that protects the business from losing a person. If you have it, check the sum insured still reflects what the business would need. If you do not, find out what it would cost. It is usually less than people assume.

Whatever the result on 7 November, those three decisions are yours to make, and none of them is waiting on Wellington.

Want to talk it through?

Riaan Wilson handles business finance and home loans at DormFIN, and Duane Dormehl looks after business cover, including key person insurance and buy and sell agreements. If you would like a plain-English conversation about where your business sits, get in touch with the team in Silverdale. No pressure, and no jargon.