It’s all well and good to want to pack your bags and move to Byron Bay, but I’d like to see the stats on those who try and fail. I already need both hands to count those I know about, and I’m only clocking up my fourth year in the bay.
We live in a spectacularly beautiful and refreshing part of the world, but it’s not without sacrifices. The average wage is just shy of $31,000 $25,000 (Updated, via Census 2011!) which is well below the regions average, which is well below the state average. Coupled with an average house price that bests Sydney, it’s easy to see why so many give in and leave.
And yet, here we are! A stubbornly vibrant community refusing to budge just because of some stupid data from the ABS about money. Screw you, man.
Like many of you, I came here with a plan B, in case plan A (a job), didn’t work out. My plan A started to go all weird and wobbly so I started putting some more fertiliser onto plan B – my business. Thankfully it’s still doing well, but I work two jobs, just in case. I know I’m not alone.
Byron Bay has a long history of entrepreneurship that goes right back to killing whales and selling sand. Thankfully, these were quickly replaced with selling colourful clothing and herbs of many uses in the 1970’s before becoming an exporter of the most sustainable commodity of them all – culture.
More recently, a younger crop of web-savvy, internet startups has started to flower here. The region now shares mindspace with tech companies and innovators like Inventor Ric Richardson, Total Travel (which sold to Yahoo for about $17M), Munch Crunch Organics, Fling Finder, Community Engine and more. I’m still not 100% sure of what Community Engine is yet, but it sounds impressive.
Many of these people straddle two worlds – one of serene natural landscapes & a coastal lifestyle, and another filled with IT jargon, social media trends, development platforms and venture capital investment. There is a growing internet bourgeoisie here.
Claire McGarry of the Northern Rivers Business Enterprise Centre agrees. “The diversity of Byron Bay’s businesses means that the business events we host there are always very well attended, usually by people who are really looking to really connect with other businesses, learn from each other and build a community.”
Some of the local business ideas that cross my desk (I make websites) aren’t all great. I do my best to pull some clients down from the clouds as I don’t like taking money for ideas I have little faith in. Their tenacity is admirable though and the enthusiasm and self determination of our local population is unparalleled.
There’s a line in “The Social Network” movie where Zuckerberg says to the Winklevoss twins who are suing for their slice of his fortune – “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.”
You may indeed be working a job or two, but don’t forget your plan B, and remember to actually do it. It’s more than most can say.