Small businesses contribute significantly to American economy and therefore, we celebrate “National Small Business Week” every year to acknowledge our small business owners and recognize their hard work, ingenuity and dedication. National Small Business Week in 2025 was celebrated from May 4 through May 10. Here’s a small take on why we should be celebrating our small businesses:
1. Contribution to Economy: Small businesses have a big economic footprint and so it’s vital to our country’s economy. They account for 5% of GDP. As per some recent statistics, there are about 34.8 million small businesses, which account for 99.9% of all businesses in our country. 1% of these businesses are women owned, 5% are veteran owned and 1% are racial minority owned businesses.
2. Trustworthiness of small businesses: There continues to be confidence in the trustworthiness of small businesses. 86% of small businesses have a positive impact on the country. Customer confidence in small businesses is reflected in the consumer spending done each year and continues to grow each year.
Look at small businesses in the US:
Small businesses loom large in our country. These businesses often defined here as those with 500 employees or fewer, account for 99.9% of U.S. firms. About 6 million small businesses have paid employees and account for just under half of total private sector employment (46%). Statistics from recent Annual Business Survey: Among the roughly 6 million small businesses with employees, 49% of them have just one to four workers per Annual Business Survey. About a quarter (27%) have between five and nineteen employees; 8% have 20 to 99; and just 1% have 100 to 499 workers. The remaining 14% have paid employees at some point during the year. Overall, small businesses employed an estimated 56.4 million workers in recent years and brought in over $16.2 trillion in revenue.
Demographic Sneak Peek – Who owns and runs small businesses?
Some small businesses are family-owned, but the vast majority are not. “Mom and pop shops” account for a relatively modest share of small businesses. Franchises aren’t very common among small businesses. Per recent statistics, close to 5% of small businesses that reported this information were fully or partially operated as franchises. In terms of demographics, men own a greater share of small businesses overall. About six in ten small businesses (61%) were majority owned by men in the recent few years, while 22% were majority owned by women. Another 14% were owned equally by men and women. Looking at small businesses where estimates of majority owners’ race and ethnicity are available, data suggests that most of them around 85% have white ownership. Smaller shares were majority owned by Asian Americans (11%), Hispanic adults (7%) and black or African American adults (3%).
How to grow small businesses?
Once a business gets past the startup phase, it enters the growth phase, and the growth is most achievable and sustainable once the “growing pains” of the startup phase are over.
Consequently, mature businesses are always looking for ways to improve and grow.
Here are some of the strategies:
1. Hire the right people: Onboarding the right set of people brings new skills and ideas that often can drive innovation and growth. Additionally, good hires can aid in fostering a positive work environment and create a healthy company culture, which can help improve morale and reduce turnover.
2. Risk reduction: Great businesses take risks, but they are generally calculated, smart risks. Best businesses look to reducing risks as much as possible as risks can hinder growth. By reducing risks, businesses can mitigate potential threats and minimize the impact of any unforeseen events.
There are several ways to reduce business risk:
– Be adequately insured
– Legally protect intellectual property
– Diversify revenue streams
3. Build sales pipeline: Building sales pipeline helps ensure growth because it works to turn prospects into customers. Doing so is essential to growing a business.
Building sales pipeline can be done in the following ways:
Defining market – Identifying target customers and planning to expand customer base in newer markets.
Attracting new leads: Creating awareness of newer products being launched leads to attracting new leads and increasing potential customers. Practicing different marketing strategies, such as content marketing, follow up phone calls and emails and social media marketing help get newer leads.Converting those leads into customers: this can be done by learning about the prospect and their needs and working to help them.
4. Strategic planning for the future: Growing business should look into the future, and plan for it. One must plan to incorporate SMART goals into the planning process. SMART goals are:
Specific – clearly defined and specific goals allow a business to understand exactly what it wants to achieve
Measurable- quantifiable goals for easier tracking purposes and measure success.
Achievable- realistic and achievable goals taking into consideration any limitations in business
Relevant- goals that are aligned to the overall vision and direction of the business
Time bound- Goals with a defined deadline provide a sense of urgency and accountability.
Closing Thoughts: Growing a small business is a challenge, but it’s still doable. The trick is to find and adopt ideas that align with one’s business and purpose to ensure its continued growth.
