Raleigh, With Favorable Business Environment, Sees New 30 Small Businesses In 2023

Since the start of 2023, Raleigh has been home to nearly 30 small business owners, showing the growing importance of Raleigh as an investment destination for small business owners. Financial information and news site WalletHub has ranked Raleigh the 11th best place in the country to start a business, and the growing number of businesses well justifies this ranking.

“In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs — from restaurant owners to high-tech movers and shakers — maximize their chances for long-term prosperity in the current difficult economic situation, WalletHub compared the relative startup opportunities that exist in 100 U.S. cities,” WalletHub said. “We did so using 19 key metrics, ranging from the five-year business-survival rate to labor costs to office-space affordability.”

A thorough look at the data from the state of North Carolina shows that startups in the state have registered significant growth since the end of the covid pandemic. Significantly, companies in the food and beverage sector have shown growth when compared to pre-pandemic levels. Raleigh performs quite well when it comes to business environment, with a score of 45. It also fares well in access to resources and costs associated with business. Overall, Raleigh scored 56.6, just behind its economic development competitor Austin, Texas, at 56.86.

How the scores for best places to do business were arrived at

To arrive at the scores that determine the best cities for launching a new business, WalletHub did a comparison of 100 cities across three key parameters: Business Environment, Access to Resources and Business Costs. These three dimensions were further evaluated using 19 relevant metrics, with weights on relative significance being assigned to each of them.

Footfall down on weekdays, but high on weekends

The city has seen a strong spurt in investments, with a number of new businesses being confident of its high growth potential. Change in work conditions triggered by the pandemic have led to a shift in footfall specially for food and drinks, with weekends witnessing a higher footfall.

Anthony Piazza, owner of a chain of restaurants in Johnston County, is convinced of the high growth potential in the city. He has recently invested in a new project, whose location is the ground level of the AC Hotel on Glenwood South.

“Even on Memorial Day when we expected everybody to be gone for the weekend, we had a pretty tremendous amount of foot traffic,” said Sorena Dadgar, Owner of Hippo Wine.

In keeping with the growing demand, Raleigh’s downtown social district is expected to expand in August 2023. The city Raleigh will expand the boundaries and the hours for its downtown social district, to accommodate more visitors, thereby giving a boost to businesses.

Summary

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in the US, as an increasing number of Americans are aiming to become their own boss. Small businesses have been looking for new opportunities to grow, and states with good business environments and investor friendly policies have witnessed a growth in new business set-ups. With the pandemic being almost a thing of the past, new business activity is on the rise, especially in the food and beverage segment, as consumers look to venture out and enjoy themselves. Investor friendly states with business-friendly environments and policies will witness strong growth.