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LA: A Not Very Smart Small Business Mecca
Photo by Mark Luethi via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Planning to open a small business this year? If you live in L.A., you're in the right place. New federal data shows that Los Angeles ranks second nationally with 339,782 private sector businesses and that the vast majority of those businesses had 99 or fewer employees, making it quite the small business mecca, according to Biz Journals.
New York City led the small-business-friendly pack with 526,063 small businesses. Chicago ranked third, Miami-Fort Lauderdale ranked fourth and Philadelphia took the fifth spot.
What makes L.A. an ideal climate to pursue your small business dreams? It's not as rosy as it sounds. The key reason there are so many small business in Los Angeles is because we rank second (behind NYC) in population. One thing we don't rank highly on? Brainpower. According to the same study, L.A. only ranked 111th in smarts. Doesn't bode well for those small businesses staying in business, does it?
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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