10 Best Cities For Small Businesses
10. San Antonio, TX
Ahh sweet Texas. Receiving an A+ in business and networking opportunities gave this Texas city a spot in the top 10. The downside is there aren’t a lot of resources for small businesses to use.
9. Boulder, CO
Colorado is very friendly when it comes to new businesses, with plenty of resources being available. With an overall friendliness and networking both getting an A, Boulder looks like a great place to be. Don’t get fooled though, according to some small businesses Colorado can be challenging for businesses, primarily with taxes, regulations and difficulty in hiring.
8. Fort Collins, CO
“Colorado is one of the more progressive states when it comes to entrepreneurship,” said Thumbtack’s Lieber. Colorado is a very friendly state and is home to many tech start-ups. Improvement needs to come in areas like licensing, regulations and hiring opportunities
7. Houston, TX
Surprise, surprise….another city in Texas. Businesses applauded their ease of licences and requirements. Houston also got an A+ in friendliness. Downsides are expensive leases and difficulty getting a small business loan
6. Nashville, TN
Oh Nashville, a city where you can’t walk 10 ft without hearing some live music. Nashville is a great city with low taxes and a great sense of community. What kept it out of the top 5 is the B grade on hiring and a C- in networking. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of information about the licences you need either.
5. Knoxville, TN
Tennessee is rolling, 2 in a row!! Tennessee is a affordable place to live and has an overall friendliness rating of an A. Tennesse is also a small business heaven since there is no state income tax.
4. Austin, Texas
Texas hits big again with Austin coming in 4th. Businesses say it’s really easy to start up a business and the networking opportunities are there. This community is very local friendly because local consumers know to support their small businesses. The only drawback is the painful process of trying to get a license.
3. Richmond, VA
Richmond, VA scored in A in ease if starting, hiring and friendliness. With tons of free resources available to help new businesses, it makes for a great city to be in. One drawback is the cost of rent there, which is high.
2. Dallas, TX
The lone star state is no short of great cities for small businesses. Texas take a hand off approach to small businesses by making it pretty easy to comply to regulations. Texas also scored an A+ in overall friendliness but only knocked into #2 due to the “convoluted” licencing requirements and zoning.
1. Manchester, NH
If you’re like me you’re probably saying, “Manchester”? Yup, a place called Manchester claimed the number one spot. Due to low tax rates, ease of hiring and licencing this small town in New Hampshire leads the list. There is a great workers pool there and the cities agencies don’t mind helping out the small business owner. ThumbTack also graded the overall friendliness of each state and New Hampshire got an A+
Now that we’ve concluded our countdown it’s safe to say I’m moving to Texas. All jokes aside there are a lot of factors that go into running a small business and these cities make it easier. I want to thank ThumbTack for gathering all this information and I suggest you check it out and see where your state/city ranked.
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