Michelle Brittain's business has taken off since lockdown. Photo / Supplied
Demand from people looking to buy businesses in the Bay is outstripping supply as economic confidence in the region bounces back post-Covid-19.
Experts say owners were in recovery mode - there had been fewer insolvencies - and some businesses had reported they were busier than the same time last year and needed more staff.
They say the Government's support package, including wage subsidies, and strong consumer spending in the region have no doubt played a part in the bounceback.
The biggest challenge for business owners now was a shortage of stock heading into the festive season and the New Year.
Chris Small, managing director at ABC Business Sales, said the Bay of Plenty was following national trends of a strong bounceback.
"One of the reasons is because the wage subsidy did its job and kept people employed."
ABC Business Sales, which has offices in Tauranga and Rotorua, sold more than 300 businesses in the past 12 months and only 1 per cent of those were because of pressure after the Covid-19 lockdown.
Figures for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region showed the company sold about 100 businesses in the year to October 2019 and sales dropped 10 per cent in the year to October 2020.
"Less people have come to the market to sell their business and are more focused on trying to sort their business out after Covid rather than coming straight to the market."
Small said the company's website viewings had jumped from about 1500 a year ago to a monthly average of about 25,000.
"There are so many people looking for businesses," he said. "As soon as a good business comes up it goes so quickly and we're getting multiple offers just like the housing market.
"But at the other end of the scale, our new business listings are down 20 per cent. We've got a lack of supply but a massive demand."
Every sector, including manufacturing, sales and childcare were "going well".
"The bounceback has been really strong," he said. "Insolvency and receivership are no longer words spoken anymore."
He called it a V-shaped recovery, with things grinding to a halt in April and May but picking back up in June. Some businesses, he said, were performing even better than they were this time last year.
"Business sales that are happening are people looking for a new challenge ... but it's certainly not because of Covid.
"People have got their confidence back."
The rural sector and the Port of Tauranga were the key drivers of the Bay's economy, he said.
"The housing sector is going really well in the Bay, jobs haven't dried up and you've got people coming in their droves."
Small said many people were moving from Auckland and looking to buy businesses in the Bay, including Tauranga and Rotorua.
Tauranga-based insolvency specialist Tom Rodewald said business had been quiet and he put it down to businesses recovering better than expected from the Covid-19 lockdown.
Rodewald said for every 10 enquiries there might be able two or three jobs that were businesses in receivership while the others needed assistance in turning their business around.
"There is a hell of a lot of money in the economy. New Zealand's is awash with money. People are spending it in New Zealand because they can't go overseas.
"That has meant a lot of businesses have got through the lockdown a lot better than anybody thought."
Rodewald said his workload this year had been "patchy", with very few enquiries.
"Probably the worst in my insolvency work life," he said.
"There's been very little work coming through the door until about three weeks ago."
The managing director of Rodewald Consulting Limited said there seemed to be a lot of people in the marketplace "cleaning the decks".
He said nothing major had come in since discount retail chain Pricewise was sold to its former major shareholder and Smiths City owner Polar Capital.
Price Wise Limited, trading as Pricewise with 16 stores nationwide - including in Mount Maunganui - and its major distributor, Zenith Distribution Limited, was placed into receivership on August 21.
But Rodewald said there was a "rush" of enquiries in May when the lockdown ended.
"It certainly hasn't been the busiest year. But in saying that, we've had a couple of busy periods. Prisewise was a big job."
BDO Tauranga Ltd director Paul Manning said many businesses have recovered incredibly well from Covid-19 lockdown.
Manning said many will be paying a significant amount of provisional tax on January 15 next year based on "fantastic" trading results post-lockdown.
He said there had been practically no business wind-ups as a direct result of Covid-19 to date.
"The liquidations/receiverships we have undertaken since lockdown are for businesses, which were already struggling pre Covid-19."
Love Your Business founder Phil Holland said he helped about 45 business owners one on one during lockdown and about 90 per cent of them were now doing "incredibly well".
Some businesses, he said, were struggling to find enough staff to cope with the demand.
"The other 10 per cent of people were solely tied to international travel but we have been able to pivot and move them to getting ready for when the borders open."
Holland said business since lockdown had "massively" increased but he admitted the level of the business bounceback surprised him.
"I think particularly in Tauranga we've got a bit of a unique bubble. We're not so reliant on international tourism, we had quite a robust economy anyway and it's growing as well.
"One of the reasons for the bounceback is the Kiwi innovation spirit. We're certainly seeing a lot of that in the marketplace."
He said the next few months were going to be interesting.
"There's definitely some cash-flow issues arriving now," he said. "The big issue in the New Year is going to be supply of stock.
"But on the flipside, some are creating a bit of innovation as well."
A total of 780 Bay businesses had registered for the second round of the Covid-19 Business Advisory Fund, which rolled out last year, and there was still $500,000 up for grabs.
About $2m has already been allocated to a variety of expert providers delivering business support to local businesses impacted by Covid-19 since August.
Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said he had not seen the number of medium-to-large businesses going under that seemed likely at the start of the pandemic.
"The Government's support package has no doubt played a part in this, along with the business confidence levels that have pervaded and strong consumer spending."
However, he said he had seen some small-to-medium businesses closing down.
Heard said 2021 will present some new challenges, which will become clearer as the "new norm" takes shape during the next 12 to 24 months.
"The effect of the big public spend in 2020 will have positive carry over into 2021, but it is difficult to forecast how long this will endure.
"Some industries will have a longer recovery and some have unexpectedly benefited already. There is not one hat fits all outcome in this, it is highly variable across different sectors."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the Government's spending and "quantitative easing" had achieved its goal of supporting the economy through turbulent times.
"Many sectors have bounced back strongly, but the accommodation and tourism sectors are reliant on Kiwis travelling to other regions.
"We will always have good and bad economic cycles. The silver lining of bad economic cycles is that it sharpens business strategies and provides new opportunities for new and nimble businesses to take advantage of."
Cowley said he had heard various companies reliant on international tourists had gone into hibernation while the borders were closed.
"We have also had members leave the Chamber as their local branch closes to focus back in their original region.
"Some other businesses have sold the businesses as Covid accelerated their exit strategy."
Michelle Brittain's Rotorua business took off in the Covid-19 lockdown.
Her two-and-a-half-year-old business, Koa Organics, sells handmade body products that use 100 per cent natural and certified organic ingredients.
When the country went into lockdown in March this year, Brittain registered as an essential business. Since then, her business has grown from strength to strength.
"It took off in that time," she said.
"Most of my products have a healing or calming effect. I think that really resonated with what we needed at that time. Plus everyone was at home and spending more time on their computers."
Brittain said there became a lot more room for smaller retailers, like herself, in the marketplace.
"The reach became bigger and the audience became bigger."
Despite a slight drop off once people returned to work, Brittain said business had returned to a traditional Christmas period turnover.
In November, Brittain celebrated a milestone with her 2000th website order marking two years since she started the business.
"It's almost back to the levels it was in level 4 lockdown. It continues to grow."
Business was so busy that Brittain was looking for new staff to help cope with the demand.
Her ideal candidates were a mother who could work part time while their children were at school and someone who could work weekends at the farmers markets she was struggling to attend because she was that busy.
The biggest challenge now, she said, was stock levels and shipping.
"We are completely at the mercy of shipping at the moment. We've all been battling to get all the products we need."
Brittain admitted she did not think the economy would bounceback as well as it did and encouraged people to keep spending locally.
"That will keep the economy going," she said. "It's even more crucial we continue to spend and travel within our own country."
Meanwhile, Mount Classic Tours heard the call to pivot to the domestic market earlier this year and expanded its operations in the face of Covid-19.
The company bought Tauranga-based domestic group travel business Hinterland Tours in July to move from its cruise ship shore excursion offering to more of a focus on domestic travel.
Managing director Ian Holroyd said they have run four trips around New Zealand so far and he was currently researching a fifth called "Christmas on Waiheke".
"We've got a lot of work on the go," he said.
Although he admitted there were going to be some "uphill struggles" going forward, Holroyd planned to move the business from the Bay to nationwide and eventually international once the borders opened.
"It's going to grow. We've already grown from one man in a van to a much bigger operation."
Holroyd said there was no choice but to adapt to life after lockdown.
"We had to work our way through it. We know we are going to lose money this year but it's about keeping the cash flow positive."
Armed police stood guard as the patched members were led out in handcuffs.