Frequently Asked Questions

We help New Zealand Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs) thrive by providing core services: 1) Designing and implementing custom workflow automations to save time and reduce errors. 2) Securely integrating practical AI solutions tailored to your needs, including private on-premise options. 3) Building high-performance, conversion-focused websites and providing reliable hosting solutions.

We primarily work with NZ-based SMEs who are looking to improve efficiency, leverage technology securely, enhance their online presence, and ultimately grow their business. If you're feeling overwhelmed by manual tasks, unsure about AI, need a performant website, or reliable hosting, we can likely help.

DIY tools are powerful but require you to design, build, and maintain everything yourself. Freelancers can be great for specific tasks but may lack the breadth of expertise or focus on long-term strategy and security. Pounamu Creative offers a 'done-for-you', holistic partnership. We handle the strategy, secure implementation across workflows, AI, and web, integration, and provide ongoing support, focusing on solutions tailored precisely to your business goals and security needs.

It begins with a free, no-obligation consultation. We'll discuss your current challenges, goals, and existing systems. Based on that, we'll propose a tailored solution (which could be a specific workflow, AI integration, website project, hosting plan, or a combination) along with a clear implementation plan and pricing options.

Almost any repetitive, rule-based task! Common examples include: automating customer onboarding sequences, streamlining data entry between different software, generating reports automatically, managing lead follow-ups, simplifying invoicing processes, automating social media posting, and much more. We tailor it to your specific bottlenecks.

Security is fundamental. We use robust platforms, secure authentication methods, data encryption where applicable, and follow best practices. For highly sensitive data, we can design workflows using on-premise solutions where your data never leaves your control.

Highly likely. Our solutions are designed to connect with hundreds of popular applications, including CRM systems (like HubSpot, Salesforce), accounting software (like Xero, MYOB), email marketing platforms, project management tools, databases, and more. We'll confirm integration capabilities during the discovery phase.

While tools like Zapier/Make empower you to build automations yourself, we provide a comprehensive service. We don't just connect apps; we analyze your processes, design the optimal custom workflow, build it securely, handle complex logic that DIY tools might struggle with, and offer maintenance. It's the difference between buying tools and hiring an expert architect and builder.

This is a major concern, and why we prioritize security. Unlike relying solely on large, opaque AI platforms, we offer solutions like secure cloud integration with strict controls, and importantly, fully private on-premise AI models. This means your data can be processed entirely within your own infrastructure, eliminating risks associated with third-party data handling.

We focus on tangible benefits: AI-powered chatbots on your website for 24/7 customer support and lead qualification, automating the categorization and routing of emails or documents, analyzing sales data to predict trends, generating draft marketing copy or reports based on your inputs, and intelligent process automation where AI makes decisions within a workflow.

Our goal is augmentation, not replacement. We implement AI to handle repetitive, time-consuming tasks, freeing up your valuable human team members to focus on strategic thinking, complex problem-solving, customer relationships, and higher-value activities that AI *can't* do.

We start with your business goals. We don't implement AI for its own sake. We identify specific problems or opportunities where AI can provide a measurable improvement – saving time, reducing costs, increasing sales, or improving customer satisfaction. We track results and refine the solutions.

Speed directly impacts your bottom line. Slow websites frustrate users, leading to higher bounce rates (people leaving immediately). Search engines like Google penalize slow sites, hurting your rankings. Critically, studies consistently show that even a 1-second delay in load time can decrease conversions (leads/sales) by 7-10% or more. Speed equals revenue.

We build SEO best practices into the foundation. This includes clean code structure, fast loading speeds (using frameworks like Astro), mobile-friendliness, proper use of headings and meta tags, optimized images, and setting up tools like Google Analytics and Search Console. While content is key for ongoing SEO, we give you the best possible technical starting point. Our Managed Growth Plan specifically includes ongoing SEO work.

Often, yes. We can assess your current site. However, if the underlying platform is outdated, slow, or insecure, we usually recommend rebuilding on a modern foundation (like Astro) to achieve the best performance, security, and long-term results. We'll advise the best approach for you.

Absolutely. For websites we build, we can integrate them with various user-friendly Content Management Systems (CMS), including headless CMS options. This allows you or your team to easily update text, images, blog posts, or other content without needing technical expertise or contacting us for simple changes.

Email Starter is purely for professional email hosting using your own domain (e.g., [email protected]). It includes email accounts and webmail access but does not include website hosting or building. The other packages (WordPress Hosting, Website & Email Pro, Managed Growth) include website hosting, and the Pro/Managed plans also include the building of a bespoke website.

This package is specifically designed for businesses that already have a WordPress website and need reliable, optimized hosting for it. We provide a managed environment tuned for WordPress performance and security, including migration assistance, scans, and backups. It also includes email accounts. It does *not* include building the website itself.

Yes. The Website & Email Pro, Managed Growth Plan, and WordPress Hosting packages involve significant initial setup, including website building (for Pro/Managed), server configuration, migration assistance (for WP), and dedicated resource allocation. Therefore, they have a one-time setup fee in addition to the ongoing monthly hosting/management cost.

VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting gives your website its own dedicated slice of server resources (CPU, RAM), leading to better performance and stability compared to shared hosting where resources are split among many sites. A Dedicated IP Address means your website has its own unique internet address, which can improve email deliverability and is sometimes required for specific security features.

This transforms the Pro package into a fully managed service. Beyond the initial website build and hosting, we handle regular blog article creation to keep your site fresh and attract visitors, maintain your Google My Business profile for local visibility, perform ongoing SEO monitoring and optimization to improve search rankings, and implement regular site updates or refreshes based on performance data and your goals.

We offer flexibility. For services like Email Starter or the base hosting part of website packages, we use monthly subscriptions. For larger projects like the bespoke website builds (included in Pro/Managed plans) or WordPress hosting setup, there's a one-time project fee. The Managed Growth plan combines the setup fee with a higher monthly subscription covering ongoing services. We also offer custom quotes for unique requirements.

The main factors are complexity and scope. A simple website is less complex than one with e-commerce. Email hosting is simpler than managed WordPress hosting. A basic workflow is simpler than one with custom AI. The Managed Growth plan costs more monthly due to the included ongoing SEO, content, and maintenance work. We provide clear, detailed quotes after our initial consultation.

You do. For project-based work (websites, custom AI development, on-premise workflow setups), you own the code and intellectual property upon final payment. For subscription-based hosting/email services, you own your data and domain name.

Support varies by plan. Email Starter includes basic email support. Website/Hosting plans include technical hosting support. The Managed Growth plan includes priority support covering the website, hosting, and ongoing management tasks. We can also create custom support retainers if needed.