Mosgiel Business Association chairman and NZ Travel Brokers Mosgiel owner Blair Arthur said the Mosgiel community tried to shop locally and businesses became known for their service, which could be a good and bad thing.
''You can get a good loyal client base, as long as you do things right,'' he said.
Mr Arthur had been a travel agent in Mosgiel for 13 years, after 25 years in the industry.
When he started, his was the only travel agency in Mosgiel.
The lack of competition meant he would miss out on customers wanting to shop around, who would often go to Dunedin agents.
Now there were more travel agents in Mosgiel, people had more choices and he was seeing more customers.
''To a degree, we still do battle with Dunedin,'' he said.
Mr Arthur wanted to see more businesses in Mosgiel.
He believed some Dunedin business owners felt they did not need to be in Mosgiel because Mosgiel residents would ''come over the hill'' to use their service.
However, this worked both ways and Mr Arthur believed Dunedin businesses with loyal client bases could come to Mosgiel, save money in rent and have their customers follow them.
Sarah Nitis has been in business in Mosgiel since 2010, when she owned the Blackstone Cafe.
She now owns accounting support firm MadDog & Me.
''I've found it [owning a small business] quite rewarding. It's quite a close-knit community and word of mouth is very important,'' she said.
Mrs Nitis was originally from Mosgiel, but after leaving for study and work, she found she had to reintroduce herself to the community when starting a business.
This had been made easier by joining the Mosgiel Business Association and getting involved in community groups.
There were many small businesses in Mosgiel and they were eager to support each other, she said.
There were challenges but Mrs Nitis believed these were ''small-business-specific'' rather than ''Mosgiel-specific''.
One was balancing the demands of running a small business with raising a family, she said.
Rosie's Gifts & Homeware owner Rosie Young said she had not struggled too much running her business as she was in a niche market.
Agora The Good Food Shop manager Stephen Gill said the business had three staples: retail, wholesale, and home kill. Selling home kill had always tided them over when things were tough, he said.
''Mosgiel people are very loyal to their own,'' he said.
Mosgiel success stories
Three Mosgiel businesses have been recognised recently with awards.
• Agora The Good Food last month won a gold medal in the flavoured category of the Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition for its beef sausage.
• Rosie's Gifts & Homeware won an Otago-Southland Top Shop Award in September.
• NZ Travel Brokers Mosgiel owner Blair Arthur won the Preferred Supplier Broker of the Year 2013 and a High Achievers Award at the NZ Travel Brokers annual awards held recently in Auckland.
