RALEIGH, N.C. — During the pandemic, many people’s lives changed in a variety of ways. For some, that was turning a hobby or a passion into a business.
What You Need To Know
- More than 47,000 new businesses registered with the state in the first quarter of 2022
- It's an 80% increase over Q1 in 2020
- The daily average was 700 new businesses a day in the beginning of the year
Two years out from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, that hasn’t changed in North Carolina.
One of the people turning a passion into a job is Emily Wallace. Earlier this year, she opened Dose Yoga and Smoothie Bar in downtown Raleigh.
Wallace had co-owned studios in the Triangle in the past, but Dose is the first studio in which she holds 100% of the equity.
Her business was the first to open in the newer Smokey Hollow development.
“It’s really cool watching Glenwood South, Peace Street, this whole area start to revitalize,” Wallace said.
Dose is one of tens of thousands of new businesses in the state this year.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said in the first quarter of 2022, January to March, 47,000 new businesses registered with the state.
That beat last year’s Q1 record of 45,000 new businesses, and the 2020 number of 26,000.
It’s an 80% increase over 2020, and an average of 700 businesses a day.
Wallace said it was an easy decision for her to open a Raleigh business.
“You’ve got the mountains like two hours away. You’ve got the beach two hours away, the location of Raleigh's unlike any other,” Wallace said. “You get the four seasons, which people love. Obviously the best colleges in the county are here.”
It’s not just the location either. She said it’s the people that make the area so great for business owners.
“Entrepreneurs in Raleigh do a really good job of supporting each other, and we are a community and we do just want everybody to be successful,” Wallace said. “I don’t think that’s always the case in cities. As we grow I hope we continue to support each other.”
