West coast blues sound good to Florida

California's anti-business climate continues to provide an economic development boost for Florida, one entrepreneur at a time.

The latest Golden State defector is Julie Karubian, CEO of Brilliant Business Insurance Solutions. She recently moved the firm, which had 11 employees and did $5 million a year in premiums at its pre-recession peak, from Northridge, Calif., to Sarasota. “There are so many fees and taxes and hoops to jump through there,” Karubian says of her former state and town, an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood. “They make it hard for a small business to flourish.”

It's more than anecdotal evidence that stacks up against California. The state ranked 48th in the Tax Foundation's 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index, for instance, ahead of only New Jersey and New York. And the state regularly holds bottom-five status in several other best and worst states to do business in surveys, including ones from Forbes and Chief Executive magazine.

Brilliant Business is an insurance brokerage. It connects clients to life, health, auto and homeowners insurance policies, in addition to commercial insurance for businesses. The firm focused mostly on construction industry clients in California, and Karubian intends to target that niche in Florida.

Karubian imports something else to Florida, beyond her business: perspective. She's already done many of the things new business owners in Florida might complain about, from obtaining a business license to leasing an office. But the process in Florida, she says, was a breeze compared to California.

Karubian has no family connections in Florida. She chose the state because she wanted to escape California, but still live near the water in a warm place. “It's getting very difficult to operate in California,” says Karubian. “Even for a family the cost of living was outrageous.”