According to the Thumbtack Small Business Friendliness Survey, New Hampshire is the best state for a woman to open a small business. New Hampshire also ranked as the second friendliest state for both male and female entrepreneurs. Texas took the top spot overall and came in second for women-owned businesses.
The researchers surveyed 18,000 small business owners across the United States, and using responses to questions about local tax laws, regulatory environments, licensing rules, and training and networking opportunities for businesses, they ranked all 50 states in terms of how “friendly” they are to small business owners.
Based on the research results, the top 10 states for women-owned small businesses are:
- New Hampshire
- Texas
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Colorado
- Oregon
- Indiana
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
- Missouri
The top 10 states for small businesses overall (owned by men or women) are:
- Texas
- New Hampshire
- Utah
- Louisiana
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Georgia
- Kansas
You can check out the interactive map to see how your state ranked.
The survey also ranked the top concerns that women business owners have. According to the data, the top three issues are tax regulations, training opportunities, and labor rules. And when asked what the top priorities for the federal government should be, women ranked federal budget deficit, health care costs, and unemployment and the job market in the top three spots.
What state is your business in? Are you satisfied with the local tax laws, regulatory environment, and licensing rules in your state? What has your experience been with the opportunities for training and networking in your state? Are you satisfied? Leave a comment and share your opinion.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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I live in South Carolina but am very active in the North Carolina business environment as well. There is no way that South Carolina could possibly be ranked higher than North Carolina. South Carolina Governor Haley is well aware of the fact that the current State W/MSBE Certification laws/regulations are not in compliance with the Federal laws the statutes reference and it is hurting women & minority owned businesses. She knows this because I specifically told her about it when she was boasting that WBEs in South Carolina were #6 in the US. She failed to mention that the same report that ranked us #6 for STARTING small businesses confirmed that we’ve had 0% growth in employment and other pertinent financial matters. This is a survey of business owners, not real numbers and real data and it’s very misleading. In South Carolina small businesses are being crushed by some of the tax regulations that no one, but the NFIB, talks about. Governor Haley has focused 100% on bringing large corporations to South Carolina while completely ignoring the needs of micro and small businesses.
Vilma, Thank you so much for sharing your experiences in South Carolina. I agree that these survey results only tell one side of the story. What’s happening in South Carolina to WBEs based on what you shared is horrible, and more people need to know about it! Kudos to you for speaking directly to Governor Haley about the problem. I’m sorry you’re not seeing the right changes happening though. Don’t give up!