By Chris Cannon
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A new national survey highly ranked Nashville when it comes to the ease of starting a small business.
Thumbtack.com ranked Music City the fifth best in the nation for entrepreneurs.
"After a two-month survey of over 6,000 small business owners nationwide, Nashville comes out on top as one of the nation's best cities to start a business," said Sander Daniels, co-founder of Thumbtack.com.
Cake baker Lorie Burcham said she can agree with the new ranking for Nashville.
"We had to find a place we knew there would be a better opportunity and we had heard Nashville had a really great economy," said Burcham, owner of Crumb de la Crumb Cakes in Bellevue.
She had a successful cake business on the coast of North Carolina. Her husband worked in the construction business. The recession put him out of work and the family needed a new option and that became Nashville.
"When we moved here, I mean immediately, the business started growing," according to Burcham.
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said he understands how important successful small businesses are to a city's economy.
He said entrepreneurs put their faith in Nashville when looking to pursue their dreams.
"To say this is the place I want to make the biggest investment of my life, this is the place I want to succeed and the place where I want to raise my family," Mayor Dean said.
Recently the mayor streamlined the process a person goes through within in city hall to start their business.
"The idea is to basically do one stop shopping so you can go through the regulatory process and to break down walls that government may inadvertently put up," the mayor said.
The ease of licensing showed up in the Thumbtack.com survey. The city scored an A+ in that category. That was the second highest ranking in the nation.
At Crumb de la Crumb Cakes, the owner knows she and her family made the right decision to relocate to Nashville.
"This is a city where there are so many good people that, they just look out for you," Burcham said.
The owners may soon look to expand their business even to another location in Nashville.
email: ccannon@newschannel5.com
