When you think of thriving business centres in Australia, the first places that are most likely to pop into your head would be our biggest metropolitan cities, like Melbourne and Sydney. But what if we told you that the ideal place to start a fledgling business has been named as a town deep in the countryside of regional Victoria? A leading Australian accounting service has crunched some numbers and determined which towns across the country are the best for budding entrepreneurs to turn their big business ideas into reality, and Shepparton in northern Victoria came out on top. Who would've thought?
Bristax have published a list of the best entrepreneurial cities in Australia, naming the places that are thriving hubs for nascent businesses, after analysing 50 cities across the country. The top towns were based on a variety of factors, like the survival rates of new businesses, the growth rates of startup businesses, number of people who have founded businesses and the density of small businesses compared to the number of residents. The report states that location is an important factor for hopeful startup founders, and somewhat unbelievably, Shepparton topped the rankings in leading Australia for entrepreneurship.
According to the data, Shepparton has the highest density of small businesses in the country, with a significant rise in this number in the last three years, and also one of the top growth rates for new businesses in Australia. The humble country town with a population of around 53,000 people has a reputation for commercial enterprise as the home of beloved Campbell Soup Company and milk giant Pactum Dairy.
It turns out that if you're looking to start your own business, regional Victoria is truly the place to be, with the top three locations all in our home state. Coming in a close second was the regional metropolis of Ballarat, which has also experienced a large uptick in small businesses over the last few years. According to Bristax, the town has a robust local economy, a commitment to renewables and a supportive business environment that particularly welcomes innovators and tech business owners. In third place was Geelong, Melbourne's smaller sibling, which is an attractive hub for aspiring entrepreneurs due to its urbanity and proximity to the big smoke. Rounding out the top five towns was Busselton in Western Australia and Devonport in Tasmania.
You may be wondering, what about Australia's two biggest cities, Melbourne and Sydney? Well, according to the report from Bristax, our metropolitan hubs aren't the best places to start a small business. This is because the high population of the two cities actually creates an unsupportive environment for budding business owners.
So trusty Shep is apparently a dark horse in the business landscape – colour us impressed.
Here are a list of the best entrepreneurial cities in Australia:
- Shepparton, VIC
- Ballarat, VIC
- Geelong, VIC
- Busselton, WA
- Devenport, TAS
- Kalgoorlie, WA
- Traralgon, VIC
- Port Macquarie, NSW
- Adelaide, SA
- Launceston, TAS
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