Is South Dakota a Good Place to Start a Business?

If you have ever started a business you know how scary and risky it can be. But are we in South Dakota in a good spot to start one?

Years ago I tried to start a small one that didn't really cost me anything and I made zero from it. Like nothing. I think I lost a little bit buying a booth at a trade show (I'm being vague on purpose). But five years ago I started a little service based side hustle that also didn't cost me a lot to get started and has gone quite well in that time. I'd say if you have a good idea, yeah it probably is. But what do Internet experts say?

According to WalletHub.com, South Dakota is indeed a pretty good place to start a business, ranking sixteenth on their list of Best States to Start a Business.

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How did they come up with this? Three main factors were looked at: business environment, access to resources, and business costs. Within that things like five year business survival rate, job growth, industry variety, even COVID infection and death rates were factored in.

The top state in the country to start a business was Texas, followed by Georgia, California, Florida, and Idaho.

North Dakota was eighth on the list, the highest of any of our neighboring states. Nebraska was 20th, Iowa was 27th, and Minnesota came in the bottom half at #30.

The worst place to start a business was New Jersey, followed by Conncticut, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming.