When it comes to setting up a business for success, choosing the right place to base yourself is an important part of the process. Making the wrong choice can easily result in a business owner creating insurmountable problems for their new company.

For example, being too far away from component suppliers adds costs and leads to delays. If the additional costs are too high, it is impossible to be competitive. While delays can easily lead to a business not being reliable enough.

Most entrepreneurs are aware of this danger so factor things like that in when deciding where to locate themselves. But many of them miss the fact that location matters for recruitment and retention. When a business cannot attract and retain the right talent it will fail.

Basing your new business somewhere that is highly desirable makes things a lot easier. The housing and schools need to be of good quality and there should be easy access to leisure and fitness facilities. Studies show that all of these factors play a big role in whether a city or town is a place that people want to live in. Increasingly, people are seeking out a healthier lifestyle.

The data that revealed where Australia´s healthiest cities are

For a company owner who is looking for a health-friendly city to base themselves in, a recent study carried out by Mandoe Media is of particular interest. Utilizing data from various sources including Yelp, Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, and Google´s Keyword Planner. Mandoe Media´s researchers identified the top Australian cities for health and fitness services. They analysed the following indicators:

•       Level of interest among residents in attending gym facilities
•       The availability of gyms in the area
•       Availability of healthy dining options
•       Quality of healthy restaurants in each city
•       Availability of outdoor activities including parks, adventure sports, walking trails, bungee jumping, etc.

The analysis was carried out for the 20 most populous cities in Australia. However, because of a lack of information, it was only possible to properly analyse 16 of them. So only 16 of the 20 ended up with a ranking.

You can find the full-length study here, or, if you prefer read the headline findings, below.

Adelaide and Gold Coast tie in position one

Currently, Adelaide and Gold Coast offer the best opportunities for healthy living in Australia. Both cities were in the top ten for all the metrics. Once the scores were totted up, they drew, so both secured the top position.

Brisbane ranks first for gym availability

Despite not being one of Australia´s biggest cities Brisbane offers its residents more gyms to choose between.

Chris Shaw, the director of Brisbane gym Club Bunker said:

"It's fantastic to see Brisbane getting recognition for taking health and fitness seriously and it doesn't surprise us that we've beaten out some of our southern friends. Better luck next year, Melbourne,"

Smaller cities offer better access to outdoor activities

Taking part in outdoor activities is particularly good for health and well-being. Being outside, on a bright day, triggers the release of serotonin, which immediately dampens down stress. When it is sunny enough the production of vitamin D takes place.

When it comes to health and well-being, having good access to outdoor activities is an important metric. Surprisingly, it was the smaller cities that ranked in the top 3, they were:

•     Cairns
•     Hobart
•     Darwin

Sydney is No. 1 for healthy restaurants

Using TripAdvisor Mandoe Media was able to establish how many healthy eating restaurants were available in each city. Unsurprisingly, Sydney ranked first. The city has a big resident population which is swollen by 300% by tourism, so demand is strong.

Melbourne offers the best quality healthy restaurants

However when it comes to quality, Melbourne won out. The reviews healthy restaurants got in 

this area were better than for those located in other cities.

The above is just a taste of what the Mandoe Media study revealed. It is full of interesting insights into the way Australians view health and fitness.

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