☆ Waite: SJ's business climate leaves entrepreneurs frustrated, eager to move
Pat Waite, president of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (CFR) in San Jose, unravels a Biz2Credit report that drops the City from #1 best city for small businesses in 2022 to #7 in 2023. He attributes our dismal new ranking to a business-unfriendly regulatory climate. But what's more boggling: San Francisco has made its way to the nation's top spot—and Waite isn't quite buying it. An Opp Now exclusive.
Opportunity Now: Let's talk about SF first. Why on earth, given its near-daily business exoduses, would SF be #1 as a small business-friendly city?
Pat Waite: I can't wrap my head around the fact that SF is now ranked #1. As long as Biz2Credit is calculating this consistently year to year, I can't argue with their results. Still, SF is experiencing mass population and business losses and has high vacancy rates. So I'm baffled.
ON: Fair enough. Does SJ's fall to #7, after years spent at #1, seem justifiable?
PW: That doesn't come as a surprise to me. We weren't a business-friendly city to begin with. There are so many hoops to jump through to open a business or build out places, and a lot of people are saying “screw it” and leaving.
The pandemic destroyed so many businesses. Take, for example, my favorite Mexican restaurant, Maria Elena's in Alviso. They managed to hold on for a few months during the Covid shutdown. However, their main customer base was the lunchtime business from companies in northern SJ; and since many people now work from home and don't eat out, Maria Elena's was devastated by the pandemic. They used to have a steady stream of customers, but now they don't exist anymore. Several other restaurants suffered similar fates for a variety of reasons.
ON: What can SJ do to encourage more small business growth?
PW: The best thing the city can do is reevaluate all the requirements and regulations they impose on small businesses. And they need to justify every single one, and eliminate those that no longer make sense or are overly burdensome. I understand that regulations were implemented for valid reasons at some point, but maybe those reasons no longer exist.
Really, I don't know if they ever go back and review these things. Every regulation becomes someone's job in the government to enforce, and they are hesitant to cut regulations because they don't like putting their employees out of work. But that's what they need to do.
Ultimately, the issue of excessive regulations isn't limited to small businesses; it extends to housing and construction as well. There's so much bloat, red tape, and requirements that hinder people from getting things done. Many people I know have thrown up their hands and decided to move out of state because they can't deal with it anymore.
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