Having an online business means you can reach almost every market in the world, but some places are better than others to run these business. The new survey from Frontier Business, titled “10 Friendliest States for Online Business” looks at what makes these locations so great.
In addition to the obvious technological infrastructure, Frontier Business also measured other factors business owners look for in a location. The metrics were then combined to come up with the list for 2018, which saw newcomers while others dropped off the 2017 top 10.
Whether a small business is established as an online company or has a strong ecommerce platform to support its brick and mortar operations, a location has to offer more for today’s businesses. Without the tools outlined in the report, a business will be greatly limited.
The analysts for Frontier Business looked at technology, which started with average megabits-per-second (Mbps) speed and public access to broadband internet along with technical support for the services. The other criteria were demographic and population, workforce and education, economic climate, and cost of living.
Based on the data, here are 2018’s 10 Friendliest States for Online Business
10 Best States for Online Businesses
Washington came in at number one, moving up to the top spot after last year’s second place. The research says the state has an impressive broadband-internet service span along with higher than average national household income and no personal or corporate income tax. It is also home to some tech giants, such as Amazon and Microsoft.
Washington’s neighbor, Oregon moved up two spots from number four to get to number two in 2018. The state also has great infrastructure in addition to a renowned outdoors and art and music scene.
Utah remained at number three and last year’s number one state, Virginia, dropped to number four, with Colorado rounding up the top five on the list as a newcomer.
The remaining five states are California, Delaware, Minnesota, Maryland and Massachusetts in chronological order. The other newcomer is Massachusetts. Meanwhile top 10 locations DC and Arizona were dropped from last year’s list.
Online Business Opportunities
An online business provides unlimited opportunities and incredible scalability. No matter how small you start, you can continue to grow. The technology allows you to start an ecommerce business with low overhead while providing access to a worldwide market to deliver incredible margins.
If you are in the US, the Frontier Business report gives you information on the best states to make your online business thrive.
You can look at the infographic below for the friendliest states by region.
Images: Frontier Business
Love seeing Utah still high on the list and pleasantly surprised by Minnesota.
I think that it is very important to also consider the area that you plan to build your business for this can also dictate your rate of success.