In August, the Kauffman Foundation’s 2016 Index of Startup Activity listed Miami in the No. 2 spot among major cities for start-up culture in the United States.
It’s the second year in a row that Miami landed the coveted position, and cited reasons like strong immigration culture — and, of course, attractive weather and locale. These factors may have contributed to the launch of new businesses and expansive job opportunities in relative population density. Miami followed only behind Austin, Texas.
It’s not only an important boon for immigrants; four out of 10 entrepreneurs on this year’s survey were minorities, including a 40% increase in female business leaders. In fact, Small Business Trends analyzed which U.S. cities were best for minority entrepreneurs and ranked Miami No. 5 (citing opportunities in travel, tourism, retail, and food service) this May.
However, contrary to the Kauffman Foundation’s report, the city didn’t break the Top 10 for the Small Business Trends survey focusing on female entrepreneurs. That may be because, while female-led businesses show great promise when they start, they have a hard time remaining open and staying competitive over time.
Two Ways to Boost Female-Led Businesses
That’s a featured topic of the Women’s Success Summit, which returns to Miami in November for its seventh year and champions the rise of female businesswomen and CEOs. Meanwhile, the Women Innovating Now Lab kicks off this fall in Miami. Its purpose is to ensure that female leadership in in the metro area (which is already the fifth-highest in the country) continues to scale up as male leadership also continues to rise.
Obviously, as a female-owned and female-led business for over 25 years in Fort Lauderdale, Mad 4 Marketing is thrilled to hear this amazing news and looks forward to the continued growth of start-ups and the rise of minority business owners and entrepreneurs of all kinds in South Florida.