More than one-fifth of business startups fail within their first year of operation, and nearly half won't make it to their fifth anniversary. Needless to say, starting a business comes with immense risk.
Entrepreneurs can give their business the best chance at success by insuring it properly. In today's risk landscape, business owners should speak with their insurance agents about all available coverage, including:
- Property coverage
- Business interruption coverage
- Cyber risk and data protection
- Employment practices liability
- Auto exposure and fleet management
- Umbrella and excess liability
- Workers' compensation
- Climate-related exposures
In a recent study, WalletHub evaluated each U.S. state across 25 key indicators of business startup success to determine which offer new entrepreneurs the best shot at success. The factors considered in their rankings included the share of engaged workers, five-year business survival rate, industry variety, financing accessibility, share of college-educated population, working age population growth, office space affordability, labor costs, corporate taxes and cost of living.
The states WalletHub determined to be the best places to start a business in 2026 are:
- Florida
- Utah
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Idaho
- Mississippi
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Nevada
- California
In the slideshow above, we'll look at the ten states WalletHub found to be the worst places to start a new business in 2026.
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