I think it's safe to say that Missoula loves its small, locally-owned businesses - and over the last few years, it's been getting tougher and tougher out there for them. Between staffing shortages, supply shortages, lockdowns, and more, we've unfortunately lost a lot of our favorite places.

It's not all bad news, though - some businesses in Missoula are actually thriving. We love hearing about how Cambie was able to open a second location, or about how Ragheef and Kamoon have expanded their food trucks and were able to set up shop in a brick-and-morter building.

But if you're somebody in Montana who's thinking of smarting a small business, what's the line of work that you're most likely to find success in?

Montana's Favorite Kind of Small Business Is...

A survey from SurePayroll offered a state-by-state breakdown, detailing every single state's favorite kind of small business The results were based on the volume of Google searches per capita.

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So this is by no means a purely scientific study, but according to the results, Montana's favorite kind of small business is... daycare!

Which makes a lot of sense, especially if we're basing this on Google searches. I'm betting a lot of parents in the last two years needed to figure out a new daycare situation for their kids at some point during all the craziness surrounding the closing and re-opening of schools. I'm actually surprised it didn't pop up as the number one spot for more states - the only other one that selected daycare was Delaware.

So if you're in Montana and you're unsure what your next business venture should be, could be a good time to invest in some diapers!

24 Missoula Businesses That Have Closed in the Last Two Years

A large amount of Missoula businesses have closed over the last couple of years for a variety of different reasons. Retirement, COVID-19, changes in ownership.....here's a list of 24 businesses that we've lost.

The 14 Best Places in Missoula to Take Visitors From Out of Town

We asked locals where they like to bring visitors when they take a trip out to Missoula - and here's what they came up with.

I Bought an Old House in Missoula: It's My First Time Renovating

As with any renovation project, we ran into a few mishaps when we began renovating the 1952 ranch-style home we bought in Missoula, but some of the changes we made were easy and immediately rewarding.

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