Phoenix, AZ eh, sorry we only got as far as Palm Springs in our Kiwi quest for desert (we don’t have such cool things here in NZ).

But I have Phoenix on my wish list for our next US trip, after all I have gotta see the Suns play.

There’s a lot to be said for keeping your life simple, and even your business simple, as long as you make an income you’re happy with. Sometimes it’s easier and less stressful to keep it small.

Thanks for commenting.

that with a general election coming up in 7 weeks (the closest race in years), the entire country isn’t talking about this topic.

Good points though. Kiwis do have different goals both culturally and economically for their business. Of course they wish to be successful, but many choose to live in parts of the country where lifestyle is more important than the pursuit of the dollar. For instance I run my small design business from Dunedin (pop 125.000), not the main city Auckland (pop 1.5m), nor the capital Wellington (pop 350.000). The reasons are purely and simply lifestyle, the cost of living in this beautiful harbour city are less than half that of the main centres, with all of the trappings of the big smoke.

I know this isn’t a purely Kiwi thing, but in this day in age of ecommerce and ecommunication, this lifestyle while running a business option has been made more accessible.

But Kiwis being a land of small businesses (average length of new business lifespan is 3 years), we are innovative and driven, if not willing / ready / or wanting to take on the world.

We’ve got a similiar issue in South Africa, in that the Gov. is trying to get more and more people to start businesses. I’m not sure what the stats are, but it would be interesting to find them out…