Smart Business Magazine, February 2016

24 Smart Business Columbus February 2016 Columbus is the third friendliest city for black owned small businesses according to a recent study by Thumbtack The annual Small Business Friendliness Survey looks at what makes a state or local government work for small businesses such as the friendliness of local tax laws licensing rules and the regulatory environment But this year Thumbtack also singled out the responses from the 1663 business owners who self identified as black and ranked cities based on the response to three questions How friendly is your city How easy was it to start a business Would you encourage others to start a business in your city In general black owned businesses are on the rise In 2007 African Americans ran 71 percent of businesses in the U S Five years later that number has grown to 94 percent To learn more visit www thumbtack com blog smb Black small business owners rate Columbus as friendly Finding success FEATURE BLACK OWNED BUSINESS Black small business owners said the three most important factors when evaluating their local government were The presence of helpful training and networking programs Easy to understand tax regimes Licensing rules that were easy to follow and well enforced Grades for Ohio Grades for Columbus A Training and net working programs A Ease of starting a busine ss A Overall friendliness B Employment labor and hiring B Regulations B Environmental B Tax code B Health and safety B Licensing B Zoning C Ease of hiring A Training and net working programs B Employment labor and hiring B Environmental B Zoning B Overall friendliness B Ease of starting a busine ss B Regulations B Health and safety B Licensing B Tax code C Ease of hiring SMALL BUSINESS FRIENDLINESS SURVEY ALL RACES Black business owners are NATIONWIDE Black businesses are notably overrepresented in events primarily catering and DJs 26 and cleaning 15 as well as moving and professional services like tax preparation and computer repair Slightly younger More likely to work alone Cite inflation as a top concern for the federal government twice the rate of other business owners Top 10 Cities for Black Owned Small Business 1 Austin Texas 2 Dallas Texas 3 Columbus Ohio 4 West Palm Beach Florida 5 Richmond Virginia 6 Virginia Beach Virginia 7 Kansas City Missouri 8 Nashville Tennessee 9 Jasonville Florida 10 Raleigh North Carolina Three of the 10 had black mayors when the survey was conducted including Columbus www thumbtack com www facebook com Thumbtack @ thumbtack www pinterest com thumbtack