New Zealand consistently rates as one of the, if not the, best places to do business in the world. On a country-by-country basis, New Zealand is competitive with Singapore and America for entrepreneurs, and some local places even exceed the national performance. Auckland, lovely Auckland, tops the list of best places to own a business for a lot of reasons.
Geography
In business, as in real estate, it’s all about location. Auckland has one of the most advantageous places in the world, and even by New Zealand standards, it’s blessed. Auckland has a coast, and the associated port facilities, on both sides, since it’s substantially built on a neck of land with ocean to the left and right. That geography introduces the element of competition in offloading shipping, which is all but unheard of elsewhere. This competition drives down costs at the port, and those costs stay low for shipping into and around the region thanks to superb roads and a dense urban core. Simply looking at Auckland on a map tells a tale of easy imports, cheap transports and low-overhead exports.
Workforce
Auckland has a population of 1.6 million people. Many of the people here have university degrees in specialised fields, such as software engineering and professional services. In some cities, having a skilled workforce is a drawback. For example, in Silicon Valley where a studio apartment rents for thousands of dollars a month thanks to the tech workforce buying up limited space. In Auckland, however, the concentration of professional talent draws more of the same to a kind of high-tech mecca for employers and new startups.
The skilled workforce Auckland offers new employers is also a great help to established businesses, which rarely have to recruit from farther afield than Clevedon to find the right candidate for the jobs they have open. This snowballing effect of concentrated talent keeps labour cost down for even highly skilled workers, while their output can be sold worldwide — often over the internet — at a huge markup.
Quality of Life
One of the things that draws such talented people to Auckland is more esoteric than hard business numbers: It’s just a nice place to be. Auckland has been voted the third-best place in the world to live for major quality of life issues across the board. The city is in the top 10 for sanitation, housing costs (relative to wages), crime, education and several other factors that contribute to making a place livable.
This is an honour Auckland is used to winning. Consistently voted a top world city to live, Auckland has been attracting new business on its reputation alone for many decades. Recent university graduates flock to the city, and those who are originally from Auckland have a definite tendency to come back after their time in Oxbridge schools. Even established businesses from around the world have set up satellite headquarters in Auckland to take advantage of the good living to be had here. Some, such as Xero, have even relocated entirely and are now permanently based in the City of Sails.
New Zealand has a lot to offer entrepreneurs, and for a lot of reasons they’re taking the country up on it. Auckland has gone further than most in attracting and keeping new businesses, and the results speak for themselves. Relocation to or buying a business in Auckland has become one of the most promising ventures world entrepreneurs can look into today.
For those who are considering buying a business, Auckland is a great location to consider. Our business brokers can help you find a business in the right industry and provide you with all the tools and information you need to make the transaction easy. Contact LINK Auckland-Ellerslie for more information.
