Survey: Miami Area Only Average When It Comes To Business Friendliness

Date: August 27, 2015

Thumbtack Survey Gives City C+ For Business Environment

 

According to the 2015 annual Thumbtack Small Business Friendliness survey, the Miami area gets a passing grade when it comes to overall business friendliness – but just barely. The city received a C+ grade from the annual survey, which polled 18,000 small business owners across the US, including 155 in Miami-Dade county and 1,709 across the state of Florida. The survey gauged business owners’ responses to questions ranging from their local city’s tax policies, to licensing, training, and ease of navigating government websites. Miami scored particularly poorly in terms of the ease of starting a business, where it received a D+ ranking. Though Miami improved its overall grade to a C+ in 2015 from a C in 2014, Florida’s state average is a B, meaning the city is one of the more challenging areas to do business in the state. The city did best in environmental regulations, where it scored an A-, and in zoning and tax regulations, where it scored a B+. According to the Miami Herald, Thumbtack chief economist Jon Lieber explained Miami’s poor rankings by saying the average rankings mean “the city could focus more on easing regulatory burdens and improving the environment.” Lieber said that nationwide, “small business owners on Thumbtack have consistently told us that they welcome support from their governments but are frequently frustrated by unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles.”

What This Means For Small Businesses

Though Miami has improved its business ranking on Thumbtack’s survey over the past year, there are plenty of indications the city has a long way to go to help small businesses thrive. Small business owners quoted in the survey results cited a common theme of frustration in the amount of paperwork and minute details they needed to stay on top of to start and maintain a small business, suggesting the city’s regulations have become overly-complex and onerous to the average small business owner.

Additional Reading

NFIB previously noted the Thumbtack survey’s results for California.

Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.

Related Content: Small Business News | Economy | Miami, FL

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