In today’s era, most people try to create more than one source of income. This has given rise to the establishment of small businesses within the last few years. Businesses have become a resource for the increase in employment rates.
99.9% of the business in America fall in the category of small business. More than 80% of businesses worldwide are reported to be small businesses. More people in are taking the initiative to start their small businesses to generate another source of income.
In the following article, I have compiled all the necessary statistics related to the businesses. I have also included the details regarding the revenue generated by them, demographics, success rates, trends, etc. If you are a new business owner, these stats will surely benefit you and help you grow.
Business Statistics 2024 (Top Picks)
- There are 33.2 million small businesses in the United States as of the beginning of 2024. They contribute to 99.9% of the businesses in the country.
- Small business owners employ 61.7 million people in the United States. That’s 46.4% of all U.S. employees.
- 525,000 new jobs were reported to be created each year since the establishment of various small businesses in the year 2000.
- Due to covid 19 pandemic, 23% of small businesses were reportedly shut down.
- The average paycheck program loan in the year 2021 was reported to be $46,000.
- 20% of small businesses are at a high risk of failing within the first year of their establishment.
- Only 13.8% of the big banks approve loan requests made by small businesses.
- 56% of the small businesses in the US fall under the criterion of micro businesses.
- The majority of small business owners in the US are reported to be in the age group of 41 to 56 years.
- $2000 to $5000 is the average cost required to start a small business in the initial years.
- It was reported that the average earning by small business employees each year is $45,857.
General Business Statistics
Businesses have helped in the growth of the economy of the nations. Many new small businesses have grown over the years and are running successfully. Let us take a look at the general statistics related to small businesses and other statistics related to them.
- As of 2024, 99.9% of the business in the US are small
- More than 50% of the owners are over the age of 55.
- 66% of the small business owners reported that they started their small businesses to be their own bosses.
- 82% of small businesses were reported to survive just one year, while 50% of them were observed to survive five years, and just 35% of them were able to survive ten years.
- In the year 2022, 32.5 small businesses were recorded in the US.
- 64% of the new jobs annually are created by small businesses every year and have created 1.5 million jobs in the United States.
- More than 65% of the businesses were profitable in the year 2022.
- 64% of the small businesses stated that they started with $10,000.
- 90% of the companies around the globe are small businesses and account for 50% of the jobs.
- There are 400 million small businesses around the globe.
- The number of small businesses in the US has doubled since the year 1982.
- Small businesses generate 44% of the US economy.
- From the past 25 years, Small businesses have been responsible for every 2 out of 3 jobs created.
- 17.7% of small businesses in the US are owned by minorities.
- 41% of the non-employer small businesses in the U.S. are owned by Women.
- 40.6% of the small business wonders in the US are Republicans, while 21.9% are democrats.
- More than 15 million Americans work full-time for their own businesses.
- 19% of the business owners reported that they work more than 60 hours a week on their business to make it a success.
- It was reported that 16.3% of the Americas are over 65 years of age.
- There are around 400 million small businesses around the world.
- 600 million jobs must be created by the year 2030 to support the growing global workforce.
- Small businesses are less likely to get bank loans as compared to larger firms.
Sources: Statista, Semrush, Fundera, Zen business, McKinsey.
Small Business Industries
Small businesses have flourished in different industries throughout the world. The most contribution of small businesses was seen in the sector of food and restaurants. Let us take a look at the stats related to the small business related to the industry and their contribution to the industry.
- 12% of Small businesses are from the food and restaurant industry.
Here is a table that indicates the percentage of industries owned by small businesses:
| Industry | Percentage Of Small Business |
| Food and Restaurants | 12% |
| Retail | 11% |
| Business Services | 11% |
| Health, Beauty and Fitness | 9% |
| Residential and commercial services | 7% |
- 56% of small businesses reported that they struggle to find loyal employees.
- 63% of the small businesses had to increase employee compensation.
- 84% of the Entrepreneurs in the small business industry reported that they had to work overtime.
- There are 81% of the small businesses in the industry have no employees.
- It was found that flexibility is the reason to motivate approximately 29% of small business owners.
- The small businesses that use external accountants from the industry account for up to only 30% of the small businesses.
- 31% of the small businesses reported that they put CRM systems as the top priority of their tech requirements.
Sources: Scalable, Semrush, Embroker, Statista.
Small Business Trends
New trends in small businesses have changed the industry of small businesses. The small business industry has grown considerably and contributed to various industries. Here are a few stats related to the small business trends that affect the market.
- 56% of owners reported that digitalization is very expensive for small businesses.
- 70 -80% of the small businesses globally lost between 30 to 50% of their revenue during covid-19.
- 15.1% of the small businesses in the year 2022 were reported to be retail.
- More than 50% of the businesses plan to increase their staff in the year 2022.
- According to 92% of the owners, the website is the most effective strategy for digital marketing.
- 31% of the owners reported that sales are their top marketing goal.
- 47% of small business owners reported that they run marketing entirely on their own.
- 50% of small businesses are reported to be operated from home.
- 91% of the consumer support small businesses when they find it convenient and affordable.
- 28% of data breaches occur due to small businesses.
- 65% of the investors reported that they are more likely to invest in startups involving technologies like AI.
- 39% of the business owners reported that they are very happy with their work and small business.
- 92% of small business owners reported that they don’t regret starting their business.
Sources: Semrush, Statista, US small Business Administration, Forbes.
Small Business Demographics
Most of the business owners are males and above the age of 50. The businesses are mostly owned by adults that have bachelor’s degrees. Let us take a look at the demographics related to small business owners in the industry.
- Only 20% of the small businesses are owned by females, while 80% of the small businesses belong to males.
- 70.8% of the businesses are owned by white people, while Hispanics and Latinos own 14.4% of the businesses.
The following table indicates the percentage of small businesses owned by
different races and ethnicity.
| Race/ Ethnicity | Percentage of Small Business Owners |
| White | 70.8% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 14.4% |
| Asian | 6.2% |
| Black or African American | 6.0% |
| Unknown | 2.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
- Adults above the age of 40 own 63% of the businesses.
The following table indicates the percentage of businesses owned by adults in different age groups.
| Age Group | Percentage of Small Businesses Owned |
| 20-30 years | 7% |
| 30-40 years | 30% |
| 40 + years | 63% |
- 52% of the businesses are owned by adults with bachelor’s degrees, while only 9% of the adults with master’s degrees own small businesses.
Here is a table providing details about the small businesses owned by adults with different education levels.
| Education level | Percentage of Small Business owners |
| Master’s | 9% |
| Bachelor’s | 52% |
| Associate | 21% |
| High School | 10% |
Sources: Semrush, Statista, US small Business Administration, Oberlo.
Small Business Revenue
The revenue generated by small businesses contributes to the development of the country. The revenue generated by small businesses is the factor that contributes the most to decision-making while starting your own business. Let us take a look at all the statistics related to the revenue generated by small businesses.
- 27% of the small business estimated that their annual sales in the year 2020 would exceed $200,000.
- The average annual sales for the small business without any employees was $46,978.
- 45% of the non-employers had a revenue that was less than $25,000.
- More than 86% of the owners take a yearly salary that is less than $100,000.
- 65% of the entrepreneur reported that they don’t think they have enough cash to start a business.
- Around 34% of the businesses started with less than $5,000.
Sources: Semrush, Statista, Guidant Financial, US small Business Administration,
Small Business Success And Failure Statistics
- 65.3% of the small businesses are profitable as of record in the year 2022.
- More than $1 million is made by 9% of small businesses.
- 77% of small business owners reported that they feel optimistic about the future of their business.
- The healthcare businesses and the social assistance businesses have the highest survival rates as compared to that the other industries.
- 62% of small business owners reported that their businesses are in good health, while 30% of the owners reported that their business is in very good health.
- 20% of businesses fail within the first year of establishment.
- 70% of businesses fail before completing 10 years in the industry.
- More than 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years of establishment.
The following table indicates the failure rates of the businesses after the years of establishment:
| Years in Businesses | Failure Rate |
| 1 year | 20% |
| 2 years | 30% |
| 3 years | 50% |
| 4 years | 70% |
- 82% of the businesses claimed that the reason for their failure was the lack of proper cash flow.
- 42% of the businesses reported that the reason for their failure was the lack of demand for their products in society and industry.
- Here are the reasons for the failure of small businesses, as reported by business owners.
| Reason For Failure | Businesses Failed |
| Poor marketing | 14% |
| Poor product offering | 17% |
| Being outcompeted | 19% |
| Lack of talent | 23% |
| No market need for their products | 40% |
| Cash flow issues | 82% |
- 23% of small businesses fail because they lack the right team and the right support.
- 46% of small businesses are clear about their marketing strategies and if they are working.
- 66% of small businesses encounter financial challenges.
Sources: Semrush, Statista, US Small Business Administration, Fundera, Guidant Financial.
Small Business Social Media Marketing Stats
Small businesses use various marketing methods to boost the performance of their sales. The most prominent method to boost sales is using social media sites. Social media platforms have proved to boost businesses in a considerable way. Let us take a look at all the statistics related to social media marketing done by small businesses.
- 96% of small businesses use social media strategies to drive the attention of their audiences.
- 24.41% 9f local businesses depend on social media platforms to drive their revenue.
- 40% of businesses depend completely on social media for their revenue generation.
- 55% of the social media owners reported that they were advertising on social media.
- 94% of small businesses reported that they post monthly on social media.
Here is a table indicating how often small businesses post on social media:
| Posting Period. | Percentage of Small Business Owners |
| Daily | 52% |
| Weekly | 79% |
| monthly | 94% |
| Less frequently | 6% |
- 86% of social media users follow a brand to receive updates about deals and promotions.
- 17.9% of social media users unfollow a brand that doesn’t post frequently.
- 55% of the consumers reported that they learn about new brands from social media.
- 63% of the companies reported that they are planning to invest more money in social media.
- 47% of small business owners reported that they handle their brand’s marketing by themselves.
- 20.77% of the small enterprises reported that they spent more than 10 hours or more on social media to promote their brand.
Here is a table indicating the time spent by small businesses on social media:
| Time Spent | Percentage of Social Media Users |
| 0-1 hour | 27% |
| 1-2 hours | 23% |
| 3-5 hours | 28% |
| Less than or equal to 10 hours | 20.77% |
Sources: Semrush, Statista, Guidant Financial, US small Business Administration.
Small Business Finance Statistics
- In the United States, the average amount of loans taken by small businesses was equivalent to $71,072.
- 77% of the small businesses in the US reported that they use business earnings as their primary source of funding.
- In the year 2020, 73% of the small employer forum reported that they received financial assistance from the Paycheck protection program.
- The most approved loan for small businesses was auto or equipment loan applications.
The following table indicates the number of loans approved.
| Loan Type | Approval Rate |
| Auto or equipment loan | 79% |
| Merchant cash advance | 84% |
| A business line of credit | 71% |
| SBA loan or line of credit | 65% |
| Business loan | 57% |
| Personal loan | 43% |
- 35% of the Businesses with low credit scores reported that they took help from online lenders and while 23% of them took help from non-bank finance companies.
- 11% of the business owners reported that they had higher credit scores and were allowed to submit loan applications to online lenders, and 11% of them submitted them to finance companies.
- In the year 2021, 39% of business owners utilized cash for financing.
The following table includes details about the most popular financing methods for small businesses.
| Financing Method | Percentage of Small Business Owners |
| Cash | 39% |
| ROBS | 20% |
| Family, and friends | 10% |
| SBA Loan | 9% |
| Line of credit | 95 |
| Unsecured Loan | 5% |
| Equipment Lease | 3% |
| HELOC | 3% |
Sources: Semrush, Fundera, Statista, US small Business Administration, Oberlo.
Online Small Businesses.
Small businesses have started to open their store online during the pandemic. Most of the sales of the small business were boosted on online platforms. Here are a few statistics related to online small businesses.
- 71% of the small businesses reported that they survived the pandemic through digitalization and starting their products online.
- In the next three years, the growth rate of artificial intelligence is projected to reach 310% in the next three years.
- 30% of small business firms reported that they plan to use technology to provide customers with automatic recommendations.
- Up to 80% of the people reported that they research small businesses and their products before purchasing from them.
- 70% of the consumers reported that they support local businesses by shopping online from them or by purchasing from the store.
- 42% of the small businesses have developed new digital products, and functions have reported maintaining them even when the pandemic ends.
Sources: Salesforce, MintLife, Semrush, Fundera, Statista, US small Business Administration.
Challenges For Small Businesses
Starting a new business itself is a great challenge. While business owners carry out sales and marketing, they face a lot of challenges and issues. Let us take a look at the statistics related to the challenges that small business owners face.
- 67.8% of small business owners in the US reported that they were affected negatively by the covid-19 pandemic.
Here are the other impacts of covid-19 on small businesses.
| Impacts On Business | Percentage Impact On Small Businesses |
| Loss of revenue | 23% |
| Reduced budget | 11% |
| Temporary closure | 11% |
| Cut own wages | 10% |
| Temporary pivot | 7% |
- 44.9% of small businesses experienced moderate negative effects on their small business.
- 67.6% of the new businesses were reported to survive at least two years, while 25.7 businesses reported having survived at least 15 years.
- It was reported that 43% of the cyber-attacks targeted small businesses.
