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- Small businesses employ about half of the American private sector workforce and generate about half of nonfarm private GDP. The average small employer has one location and 10 employees, while the average large employer has 61 locations and 3,300 employees.
Read more facts - During the period 1989–2004, small business owners realized increases in wealth of more than 73 percent and 144 percent for single and multiple small business owners, respectively.
Read more facts - During the period 1998–2003, small businesses produced nearly 14 times more patents per employee than large businesses, and those patents were twice as likely to be cited.
Read more facts - Small firms are less likely than larger firms to have business savings accounts. Less than 20 percent of firms with four or fewer workers had savings accounts compared with more than one-third of firms with 20 or more workers. Lack of savings can affect a firm’s cash flow and liquidity.
Read more facts - One in four small business owners cite cash flow issues as something that “keeps them up at night.” Nearly half of entrepreneurs report experiencing cash flow issues.
Read more facts - Among small businesses with cash flow concerns, 22 percent will access their personal or private funds, while others will obtain and use lines of credit (20 percent), delay purchases (14 percent), use credit cards (12 percent), or obtain short-term loans (10 percent).
Read more facts - Low-income entrepreneurs reduced their reliance on public assistance by 61 percent during a five-year study. Both the dollar value of welfare benefits and the percentage of respondents who received them decreased.
Read more facts - A University of Texas study of companies that suffered a catastrophic data loss found that 43 percent never reopened, 51 percent closed within two years, and only six percent survived.
Read more facts - The exit rate for African American-owned businesses in the Gulf Region following hurricanes Katrina and Rita was 110 percent higher than for white-owned businesses.
Read more facts - The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, which contains more than 360,000 small businesses, has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years. In January 2004, the number of manufacturing jobs stood at 14.3 million, down 17.5 percent since July 2000, its lowest level since 1950.
Read more facts - More than 24 million microenterprises are operating in the United States, representing slightly more than 18 percent of all private employment in nation.
Read more facts - Despite the importance of microenterprise employment across the country, government programs that exclusively support microenterprise have seen funding decline by more than 34 percent since 2001.
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