America: Still the Land of Great Opportunity

America: Still the Land of Great Opportunity

In August my husband started his first business. He first went on the internet and registered with the state and federal government, which cost him $120. He then got his business name approved, and the application was mailed to the city. A couple days later he received his business license in the mail and that afternoon, he went to work.

The approximate time it took my husband to start a business: three days.

This would never be the case if he didn’t live in the U.S.

Bill Van Dyke is a Huntsman student who traveled to South America on a study abroad last fall. One of the biggest things that shocked him was the difficulty he encountered when starting a business in South America.

“In the U.S. we can get online and start a business within a few hours, but in South America it can take weeks or months to start a business legally,” he said.

He explained that in those countries there is a lot of paper work and “red tape” to go through in order to start a business.

According to the website doingbusiness.org, it takes over 38 days to start a business in China.

In an article by Allen Hall, a business column contributor for the Standard Examiner, he explains that we are the generation of entrepreneurs. He stated that “in 2012, 29 percent of entrepreneurs are ages 20-34.”

I’m putting two and two together here. Not only are we as college students, at a prime time in their lives to start a business, but we are also blessed enough to live in a country that makes these opportunities so accessible. So be bold and start that business idea you have. We live in the United States, home of the free because of the brave.

I hope every has a happy 4th of July.

Klydi Heywood