Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Victor Harbour-Goolwa have been ranked as the best cities to start a business in Australia next year, thanks to the low cost of living and better access to talent, a report from payment solutions company WorldFirst finds.
The report, which analysed several key economic factors, highlights that South Australia is the best Aussie state to start a business, after three of its cities took the top spots.
Adelaide ranks first out of 50 cities, due to a higher-than-average business survival rate of 88.7 per cent and high access to talent of 79.9 per cent. Its low cost of living ($39,167.37 for a single person) also means residents have a higher rate of disposable income and therefore more purchasing power.
Mount Gambier and Victor Harbour-Goolwa ranked second and third, respectively, for similar reasons.
Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie-Boulder came in fourth place, followed by Tasmania’s Launceston, beating Perth and larger metropolitan areas like Sydney and Melbourne.
Searches for ‘how to start a business in Australia’ have increased by 50 per cent over the past year within Kalgoorlie-Boulder, suggesting that more entrepreneurs are looking to settle in the area, the report notes.
The report also finds that Wollongong, a town located less than 100km from Sydney, was in 18th place, much higher than Sydney at 40th.
Entrepreneurs in Wollongong can enjoy a 79.7 per cent lower cost of living while still maintaining a high business survival rate after one year (87.7 per cent), a high access to talent (64.3 per cent), all while being within driving distance of one of Australia’s largest cities.
The five worst cities to start a business are Bowral-Mittagong, Ballina, Tamworth, Morisset-Cooranbong and Coffs Harbour, all of which are in NSW.
“It was especially surprising to see how smaller areas such as Wollongong, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and Geraldton outranked major cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth – suggesting entrepreneurs should consider less well-known areas when starting their business,” said Jim Vrondas, head of commercial ANZ at WorldFirst.
“If you are currently operating in an Australian state where business success is proving difficult, one of the most important things you can do is mitigate risk.
“One way to do this is by expanding your customer base and logistics abroad, thereby helping you limit the effect changes in the local market will have on your cash flow over the next four years,” Vrondas added.
