Small Businesses Give Oklahoma A+ | i2E ? Innovation to Enterprise

In a new survey of 6,022 small businesses across the U.S., Oklahoma, Idaho, and Texas earned A+?s for their overall friendliness toward small businesses. Top performing cities included Oklahoma City, Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Oklahoma earned As in 10 of 12 graded categories, ranking third in overall friendliness, fourth in ease of starting a new business, and sixth in least costly state for hiring a new employee.

Oklahoma also ranked sixth in optimism about the future, 11th in current economic health, and 18th in growth rate last year.

Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (EMKF), conducted the Thumbtack.com Small Business Survey, which draw on considerable data from small business owners themselves.

California, received an F in friendliness and Fs and Ds in 10 of 12 categories. Massachusetts earned Ds in nine of 12 categories, including overall friendliness. New York also earned a D in friendliness and Ds or Fs in seven other categories.

Survey respondents ranked licensing requirements were nearly twice as important as tax-related regulations in determining over all friendliness. An important predictor of small business friendliness was where small business owners are aware of the state of local government offering training programs for small businesses.

While it?s great to get a top ranking compared to other states in terms of friendliness and easy of doing business, it remains a fact that a huge percentage of the entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. continues to occur in Boston, New York, and Silicon Valley.

According to the Halo Report, published by the Angel Resource Institute, CB Insights, and Silicon Valley Bank, California, New York, and New England account for nearly 50 percent of angel group deals and dollars invested.

So, it seems to me that the results of a survey like this gives Oklahoma a little something to crow about and something larger to think about. For example:

• How can we capitalize on our reputation as a state that is friendly, cost effective, and an easy place for small companies to do business, to create jobs?
• What are the additional ingredients in California, New York, and Boston that cause entrepreneurs to continue to start companies and investors to keep investing in spite of an environment is deemed so unwelcoming by some many? A highly educated workforce? Ready sources of capital? Cashed-out entrepreneurs who mentor their juniors?
• Is there some kind of a trend developing? Are friendliness and ease of doing business starting to matter more to entrepreneurs?

For full survey results and methodology, click here.

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