LOW INCOME ENTREPRENEURS NEED A CHANCE TO BREATHE …
|| By COLIN ROSS || It’s tough being in the lower income bracket. It’s really tough being an entrepreneur in the low income bracket.
Occupational licensing makes things even harder on entrepreneurs – and South Carolina happens to be among the most heavily-licensed states in America.
This anti-competitive climate is causing serious damage – and there’s real data to back that up.
According to a recent study by the Goldwater Institute, the Palmetto State has the sixth-highest level of occupational licensing in careers that have elevated levels of low income entrepreneurs.
Here’s a table from that report …
(Click to enlarge)
(Cap Goldwater Institute)
In other words, government in South Carolina is suffocating low income entrepreneurs – which means if you want to make it in the Palmetto State, you’d better know somebody in government.
Most don’t, though. Which is why South Carolina ranks 45th nationally in terms of its low-income entrepreneurship rate. In fact South Carolina’s rate of 0.19 percent is half the national average of 0.38 percent, according to the Goldwater Institute report.
Entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to lift oneself out of poverty – and states which encourage it are thriving. Colorado and Vermont have more than four times as many low income entrepreneurs and have among the fewest licensing requirements.
Our solution is simple: Stop strangling new business to protect old business. Licenses are supposed to protect consumers – however, we now have companies like Uber that do a far better job of that on their own.
If the government is serious about fighting the war on poverty, it must take steps to reduce the red tape for those who have the least ability to deal with it.
Colin Ross is a South Carolina entrepreneur and a proud member of the rebel alliance.