Small Business Statistics

Small businesses in the U.S.:

• Create 75% of the net new jobs in our economy.
• Start-up at a rate of over 400,000 per year.
• Make up 97% of exporters and produce 29% of all export value.
• Small businesses employ about 50% of all private sector workers.
• Create more than 50% of the non-farm private gross domestic product (GDP).
• Those with fewer than 100 employees make up more than 99.7% of all employers.
• 1 out of 11 people is a small business owner.
• Of the businesses that approach sustainability, over 70% "go down" with their founder

The most common measure of business success for small business owners is:

• The ability to balance life and work (39%), a goal shared by four out of ten small business owners.
• Making money takes second place as a measure of success for entrepreneurs (25%)
• Doing good for their community and employees (16%)
• Getting recognition for accomplishments (9%)
• Creating a legacy (4%)
• Combination of it all (1%)

With all of this excitement surrounding small businesses, there are a few very alarming facts:

• By the end of the first year, at least 40% of them will be out of business.
• 80% of all new business start-ups are out of business within five years.
• 80% of the 20% that survive the first five year don’t survive the second five years.