Survey findings and summary
After a two-month survey of over 6,000 small business owners nationwide, Thumbtack.com has released new data showing that small businesses gave Charlotte an 'A-' for its overall business friendliness. The city's small business owners were also the third-most optimistic about their prospects in 2012 and enjoyed the second-lowest cost of hiring new employees nationwide.
Some of the key findings for Charlotte include:
- Charlotte struggled with creating awareness for its training and networking programs for small businesses, earning an 'F' and 'C,' respectively, for those categories.
- Metro Charlotte is the state's stand-out region, receiving #1 rankings for 6 of the 17 categories rated by small businesses. In contrast, Eastern North Carolina fails along multiple dimensions, is the states's second-most difficult for starting a small business, and has the state's second-least healthy small businesses. Small businesses rated Metro Raleigh as being the state's easiest region for starting a business, but the region was the third-most costly for hiring a new employee.
