What is considered a Small Business?
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the United States economy. According to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses are:
- Any business with fewer than 500 employees.
- 99.9% of all U.S. businesses (30.2 million); all but ~30K have less than 500 employees
- Responsible for the employment of 47.5% of all U.S. workers and 60-65% of net new jobs each year.
- Significant wealth creation vehicles for minorities, who own 24.5% of all small businesses.
- Becoming increasingly being run from business owners' homes, with 52% being home-based.
- Franchised businesses are a major growth engine of the U.S. economy, totaling 733K establishments and accounting for 7.6 million jobs.
The ability of these small businesses to form, grow and survive is highly dependent upon access to funding, whether it is a small investment from a family member, working capital loan from a bank or business credit card.