I can buy all sorts of US made shit, that is profitably sold, at reasonable prices, overalls, jeans, mattresses, washing machines, boots, cars - its that the margin is lower in the states as it costs 2-5% more to make something here.
The issue is, many things here cannot be made here with any ease, because the ecosystem for them no longer exists.
I'm willing to pay 10% more for american made things - I suspect most americans would be too, given the option.
The real problem is that we absolutely suck at manufacturing anything other than items that only really make sense to manufacture locally (certain food items, detergents), where in terms of exports we only exceed at certain types of heavy machinery along with certain chemical and polymer products.
If US made was only 10% more, I would go out of my way to purchase only domestically produced goods, but when it's 100+%, it's really hard to justify.
https://lcking.com/collections/jeans-pants
All US made stuff, decent quality and long lasting too - first link is made in Oklahoma, second on in Tennessee.
Start there - good boots are expensive no matter where you buy them - I have 100 dollar cowboy boots though, that are US made.
Boots of various styles, mostly western though - all US Made: https://www.justinboots.com/footwear/men_collections_shop-ma...
Like what?
Just to give you an example - in Los Angeles, the county assess a tax on unsecured property that has absolutely no bearing on your revenue. That's a tax on your office equipment, furniture, machines, etc. The city also assess a tax on revenue, not profit, in excess of $100,000. And even if you don't make a dime in profit, Corps and LLCs still pay a minimum state tax. If you own a building for your business you're also going to pay property tax, and if you don't you're going to pay it in the form of higher rent as well.
To your last point, you need to add an "if" to make it accurate. California is a far better choice than the Midwest or South if you can start a small business with high enough margins to cover the much higher costs of basically everything.
The minimum LLC franchise fee is $800. A real business can afford that, a pretend business cannot.
Double-Irish structures don't work to shield US income. They never have, so US companies can't use them to reduce their US taxation either, regardless of size.
And finally, you chose a pass-through form of taxation, meaning you chose to be taxed as an individual instead of as a separate entity. That's on you--not on California. That same choice would screw you over pretty much everywhere there's a state income tax--meaning all the states where people actually want to live.
#4 somewhat relates to #2, where costs as often put on the employees to keep small businesses afloat. Large companies have the sizes to keep costs down. I would love to work for a small business, but it would mean x5 increase in healthcare and insurance costs.
That was mentioned along with a litany of other things in point 2.
These days you have to work like a maniac to get a 10% chance of success. It's not very motivating. It's better to save yourself the mental trauma, take a cushy job and get a 90% chance of being able to retire.
One of the undervalued skills in entrepreneurship is the ability to not only find, but successfully hire and retain, excellent employees. It's never been easy.
I agree on the point that you can't just say "kids these days..." as every generation blames the one before and kids are always "lazy".
1) Globalization has made it almost completely impossible to make things in the US unless they are massively overpriced goods (ex. luxury items or niche specialty goods). Customers simply won't pay enough to cover your costs. And there's a good chance that if you are successful, someone will copy your stuff, make it in China, and sell it for half your price within 12 months.
2) In California at least, costs are pretty ridiculous for small businesses. Between state, county, and city taxes, high labor costs, ridiculous healthcare costs, rent, insurance costs, etc. etc. It is far more expensive to start a business today as a percentage of expected revenue than it was a few decades ago.
3) The US IP protection and regulatory systems are out of control. Fending off patent trolls, tiptoeing around trademarks, dealing with licensing systems specifically designed to be too burdensome for small companies to bear, spending time and money to deal with regulatory compliance, etc. puts small businesses at a massive disadvantage.
4) Unpopular opinion, but I think today's workers are less suited to small businesses than they used to be. Many younger workers say they want to work for startups, but what they really want is a venture-backed cushy office with catering and perks completely untied to actual business revenue. These types of businesses account for a tiny percentage of actual small business starts in the US, which are often not places today's workers want to work at, let alone stay loyal to.