How Business Friendly is Delaware and how easy is it to Start a Business in Delaware?
Interesting find from the CRI:
State Regulatory Burdens: How Does Delaware Compare?
Noteworthy:
Delaware compares well on many measures but several areas stand out for remedial action: ease of starting a business, environmental regulations and zoning regulations.
So what does all that mean exactly?
The information is based on somewhat recent Thumbtack and the Kauffman Foundation surveys of business friendliness. Thumbtack’s membership is an Internet-using small business community so the sample is not random. Moreover, adequate sample size after 2012 does not exist for Delaware. So the conclusions here are based on results for Delaware (from 2012) and nearby states (from 2014). That’s worth pointing out. Particularly since many businesses didn’t even start to recover from the Great Recession until 2013, and their attitudes about State and Regulatory burdens were likely at all time lows in 2012. Moreover, while regulations designed to protect the health and character of the communities and the people of the State (such as environmental and zoning requirements) can sometimes result in the need for skillful business leadership, it would seem that it could be up for debate as to whether or not it really contributes to a region or Sates ‘business friendliness’. It may be more accurate to say that certain locations are more friendly to certain industries and types of business than others. It’s not always just about money and jobs. Sometimes it’s about the right kind of money and the right kind of jobs for the right place. No judgement intended. Just a simple observation. And the debate about the ‘right’ kind of money and jobs is a whole different article…
All that aside, it seems hard to understand how that the actual ease of starting a small business here is ranked so low. The survey doesn’t go into that, and the are entire industries in this State designed to help folks start a new business- more than any other state I would venture to say. They range from professional, regulated industries such as attorneys and accountants, and commercial registered agents, to general business consultants and organizations like SCORE Delaware. The Delaware Division of Corporations even has page on how to form a new business entity in Delaware which includes links to Delaware’s own One-Stop Business Registration and Licensing portal.
In order for us to seriously question claims that question the ease of starting a business in Delaware, we’d need to have some specifics. We just don’t get them in this article, or the survey that it relied upon. In fact, the Thumbtack survey seems to be more of a well drafted lead generator designed to improve the website’s SEO value and bring clients into their business than a helpful assessment of the actual business climate in Delaware, let alone any State.
- Immigration Seminar: Visa Options for U.S. Employers and Foreign Workers
- The Delaware Business Weekly Round Up – October 17, 2014