Endeavor

18 The entrepreneur must understand his business' profile and characteristics when evaluating where to open the company. Businesses that require a lot of investment probably would benefit from doing so in São Paulo, for example. The framework outlined throughout this report stimulates entrepreneurs to think of the dimensions, avoiding that they make a hasty decision when picking a location only taking into consideration one variable. It also assists public man- agers and development institutions to reflect where else they can contribute to further expand economic and social development in these cities. The strength and dynamics of São Paulo's economy guaranteed the city the second place in this index. The city with the most first places leads the way in market conditions, capital access and innovation. But the study reveals that, in more ways than one, the great city centers do not always offer the best condi- tions for entrepreneurs. The bigger scale has positive and negative influences, sometimes helping and other times creating problems. High level education for the population, accessible prices, and a better quality of life are some examples of the challenges these cities face. Cities like Curitiba and Vitória occupy the leading positions in two of the major indicators in the study — Paraná's capital tops the list in infrastructure, and Vitória tops human capital. They might not lead the ranking in most of the ana- lyzed indicators, but they do present solid results in most of them, guaranteeing them the top spot on the overall ranking. THE BEST BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT MAy NOT BE THE BEST FOR EVERyONE. BIG CITIES, BIG OPPORTUNITIES, BIG CHALLENGES. THE IMPORTANCE TO FOCUS ON kEyS ASPECTS.

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