Every farmer in the world prays for good soil and a fair climate. Every entrepreneur prays for low costs and skilled labour. Every business owner prays for opportunities to grow without prohibitive investment costs. Wellington has, almost by accident, answered all those prayers at once, making this place a hot spot for industries as diverse as agriculture and insurance. Here are some of the hottest businesses to buy right now in Wellington.
Organic Farming
Regular farming is so Bronze Age. In New Zealand generally, and in Wellington, in particular, organic is the place to be. True, most people don’t think of vast fields of organic maize when they think of the urbanized mountain terrain of Wellington, but the special nature of organic and boutique farming makes the rich volcanic soil here far superior to flat floodplains for some kinds of growing.
Much of the soil under cultivation in Wellington is not actually in Wellington proper, but a little off to the northeast, outside Johnsonville. Here, organic farms of less than 10 acres can produce grapes, herbs and some outdoor vegetables and fruits that command a premium in local markets. New Zealand consumers have reached the level of sophistication necessary to support a pesticide- and herbicide-free organic culture, and locally sourced organic produce can fetch a premium over and above the fruits and vegetables grown on more commercial farms, negating the bigger players’ economies of scale.
Retail
All over the world, the received wisdom is that the internet is driving traditional brick-and-mortar retailers out of business. Maybe that’s true in Texas, but in New Zealand — Wellington in particular — the story is very different.
The government of New Zealand is alert to the challenges for retailers, especially the smaller stores, which compete with not just the internet for sales, but bigger competitors down the road. As a result, some very promising tax incentives and aid programs are in place to protect small retailers for the foreseeable future.
Wellington goes a step beyond this by encouraging residents to shop and buy locally and has relaxed rules for land use by retailers (for example, if you wanted to sell produce from a small garden in your own shop). Combined with a tourist economy showing signs of picking up and a still-strong trade in Chinese and American goods, Wellington retail shops may be some of the few in the world to successfully buck the otherwise tight market in selling from a physical building.
Graffiti Abatement
One way to turn a tidy profit is to specialise like a Malaysian toothbrush beetle. The tighter your focus, the smaller your market, but the less competition you’re looking at in general. Graffiti abatement is one such option in Wellington, and this highly specialist market might actually be growing.
Much of the work graffiti abatement does is occasioned by local teens, but it can also be paid for by the local government to remove unlicensed adverts on public walls, damage caused by accidents and other miscellaneous defacement caused by either the citizens, the birds or the elements. Start-up costs are relatively low, a single person can do roughly half the work, and as you grow, the opportunities for big or complex jobs increase. Maybe even better, graffiti abatement is one of those specialties that naturally lends itself to other, related fields. These include earthquake rehab, custom exterior work, roofing and other trades-related areas. Any such business almost has to grow, and grow rapidly, making it a splendid choice for an early buy-in.
Wellington has done a lot to encourage the spread of small businesses, and the result is a local economy dominated by them. Whether you’re trying to introduce the avocado to New Zealand from your organic hydroponic farm in Johnsonville, or you’re selling souvenirs from a shop near the airport, or even if you’re scraping the spray paint off the walls of that shop with a sandblaster you picked up with a government-backed loan, Wellington continues to be a promising place to buy-in.
If you’re looking to buy a business in Wellington, contact the brokers at LINK Wellington. They understand how to match buyers with potential business opportunities and have networks of owners looking to sell their companies.
