Upstate region rated state's friendliest towards small business

Small businesses award South Carolina A+ as nation's #1 least costly state for hiring new employee

"I enjoy using the South Carolina one-stop business website - I can see all my business details, add licensing information, and maintain my taxes all in one place. "

- Auto mechanic, Greenville

Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, has released new data showing that small businesses gave South Carolina mostly high marks.  The state earned an 'A' for the business-friendliness of its regulatory system, though it did receive a 'C+' for the availability of its networking and training programs. Within South Carolina, the Upstate region's small businesses were the financially healthiest - and the region was rated as the most friendly towards small businesses.  

There are a lot of “business climate rankings”, but there aren’t any that draw upon considerable data from small business owners themselves. The Thumbtack.com Small Business Survey is the only survey to draw data from an extensive, nationwide universe of job creators and entrepreneurs themselves in order to investigate the best places in the country to do business.

"After a two-month survey of over 6,000 small business
owners nationwide, South Carolina comes out on top as one of the nation's best states to do business,” said Sander Daniels, co-founder of Thumbtack.com. “Although there is room for improvement in some areas, the small businesses in Upstate South Carolina seem to feel that they have an environment in which they can succeed.”

Some of the key findings for the region include:                                               

- Within South Carolina, small businesses in the Upstate Region were most optimistic about their economic future over the coming year.

- Here's how South Carolina's regions ranked, from friendliest to least friendly for small business: 1. South Carolina Upstate, 2. South Carolina Midlands, 3. Southeastern South Carolina, and 4. Northeastern
South Carolina.

- South Carolina has the second-best rating for the cost of hiring an additional employee.

- As compared to their male counterparts, female small business owners were nearly 15% more likely to rate their companies' financial situation as likely to improve over the coming year.

- Although South Carolina was in the top-third of states in the Southern region for current economic health, small businesses were bearish on its future prospects, rating it ahead of only Mississippi.

The full survey results can be seen here and include full sets of rankings, dozens of easily searchable quotes from South Carolina small businesses, regional comparisons within states, and Census data comparing South Carolina's key demographics against those of other states.

"I think it's very easy at the moment to do business
here in South Carolina--I just wish there were more programs to help small business owners."

- Landscaper, Westminster

Survey methodology

Thumbtack.com surveyed 6,022 small businesses across the United States. The survey asked questions about the friendliness of states towards small business and about small business finances, such as:

“In general, how would you rate your state's support of
small business owners?"

"Would you discourage or encourage someone from starting a new business in your state?" and

"How would you rate your company's financial situation
today?"

Thumbtack.com and Kauffman ranked states and cities against one another along 15 metrics.  The full methodology paper can be found here.

What is Thumbtack.com?

Thumbtack.com is a place where you can hire help locally. Need a DJ, carpenter, boot camp instructor, or hot dog truck caterer?  Tell us what you need, and we’ll bring you 3-5 bids on that job to your email inbox within 24 hours. More than 275,000 small businesses and freelancers have listed their services on Thumbtack nationwide.