Where Should I Buy My Business?

[Sushisushi]

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking of selling up in the UK and making the big move. I have a business in the UK and would be selling that to finance buying a cafe in NZ. We'd be coming on my LTBV but we're not sure where to go for:

Auckland for the fact it's a big city with a cafe culture and is warm (a must, one of the reasons we're sick of the UK!)

Tauranga - Mainly weather, a bit more space and nice beaches

Wellington - More cultured, better cafe culture but not so good weather.

We're lucky that we can choose location but we're stumped as to what to choose. Any help on where the best place to own/buy a cafe is would be much appreciated.

Stu

[Lesly]

Hi Stu,

Having lived in Auckland for 7 months, having visited Wellington and living in Te Puke near Tauranga I personally vote for Tauranga.

Auckland too busy for me, too much traffic, I instantly felt that we had to get outta there, definitely not what we came to NZ for.

Wellington, I only visited Welly for 5 days, it was my favourite place to eat, drink, go out and shop but the weather seems a bit cold and windy to me.

Lived in Te Puke for nearly 4 years now. Loving it, love the weather, love going out and shopping in Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa,...

All my personal opinion though, there are more fantastic places I can think of: Coromandel, Napier, Northland,...

Good luck!
Lesly

[IanW99]

...
Wellington - More cultured, better cafe culture but not so good weather.

We're lucky that we can choose location but we're stumped as to what to choose. Any help on where the best place to own/buy a cafe is would be much appreciated.

Stu

Just to be clear, the weather in Wellington is still way better than the weather in Sheffield.

Ian

[Sushisushi]

Just to be clear, the weather in Wellington is still way better than the weather in Sheffield.

Ian

The weather in Norway is better than Sheffield! Good Snooker though!

[Sushisushi]

Coromandel, Napier, Northland,... etc. Are there many things to do in these smaller towns? We're quite a young family, 30, 31 and a baby. Not really used to rural / small town living?

[Lesly]

When you say 'Not really used to rural / small town living' does that mean you are just not used to or is it that you really wouldn't want to live in smaller town?

Napier is actually really nice, lots of people around so I didn't really have the rural feeling when we visited. You still have the choice there to see rural scenery as it is surrounded by great smaller towns and lovely countryside, orchards,.....

Northland and Coromandel are indeed more rural and small. I guess it depends on what you prefer.

[Sushisushi]

hi lesley,

looked at napier on google street view and it looks nice. In the summer anyway! How do you find the cafe scene in Tauranga area? Tauranga looks great to be honest.

We actually live in Barnsley right now (250,000 people) but we're sandwiched in between Leeds (750,000 people) and Sheffield (750,000). So it's not a big city where we live.

I'd like to hear a bit more about what it's like living there and if you were to open a cafe where abouts in the BOP area would you do it?

Thanks!

[IanW99]

...
We actually live in Barnsley right now (250,000 people) but we're sandwiched in between Leeds (750,000 people) and Sheffield (750,000). So it's not a big city where we live.
...

But compared to NZ you live in a very large city now.

Ian

[norma]

We're lucky that we can choose location but we're stumped as to what to choose. Any help on where the best place to own/buy a cafe is would be much appreciated.

Stu

Do you need to decide where you're going to settle before you get here or could you afford to travel a little to suss out locations?

If employment hadn't been a factor in our location, I wouldn't be in Auckland or indeed any of the larger urban areas. There are so many wonderfully scenic places to live in NZ and, as long as you have a reasonable size population to draw from, you could have the pick of some great locations to set up shop. Only you can tell if a location can offer the things that will sustain you and your family, so a recce could be worthwhile.

[Sushisushi]

I'm thinking Tauranga, as it's up and coming (as I think most places are in NZ comparative to the UK). Small enough to offer lifestyle but large enough to make money out of a business.

We're going to do a recce trip at the end of next year (I know it's ages away but my baby is due in 6 weeks, gulp) 3 weeks to try out a good few places as I mentioned above. Then when we get back having decided on location, the Visa ap is in and the business for sale sign goes up!

Lesley: Any ideas on location around tauranga? I like the look of Papamoa but on streetview (!!) but not sure if anywhere will support a cafe hot spot outside of the mount?

Thanks again for all your help!