Statistics

247 Small Business Statistics For A Deep Dive Into The Industry & To Understand The Growth Opportunities

Small Business Statistics

Millions of people around the globe aspire to be an entrepreneur for one reason or the other. Many do not have the correct insight into this industry to have a logical understanding. 20% of new businesses fail within the first two years and we will show you more of such small business statistics to give you an insight into the industry and more.

Starting a new business, setting up goals, predicting your ROI, and managing time may seem difficult and the challenges will be overwhelming. However, knowing how start-ups are doing around the world and the risk and opportunities associated with it will give you a better understanding, be it an e-commerce or a brick-and-mortar store.

If you are already running a small-time business or planning to do so in near future, the following 232 small business statistics will give you an insight into the previous and future trends for start-ups.

Small Business Statistics: Key Findings

  1. 90% of all global companies are small businesses.
  2. As a fact, 99% of American companies are small-time businesses.
  3. In 2022, there are 32.5 Million small & medium size (SMBs) businesses in the U.S. 
  4. There are around 582 Million entrepreneurs in the world, around 6.9% of the total population.
  5. Around 15 million Americans work for their own business full-time.
  6. Surprisingly, more than 50% of small businesses start at home.
  7. A total of 15.6 percent U.S. adult population in 2018 were entrepreneurs. 
  8. In the United States, small-time businesses create 1.5 million jobs every year and account for 64% of new jobs in the country.
  9. In America, small businesses occupy between 30% to 50% of all commercial space, which is an estimated 20 to 34 billion square feet.
  10. A large number of SMBs are micro-businesses with a maximum of 9 employees.
  11. The number of small businesses has doubled in the US since 1992.
  12. A small business can have anywhere from 250 to 1500 employees depending on the industry.
  13. When asked, 29% of people gave the biggest motivation for starting their own business as becoming their own boss.
  14. 17% of people start their own business because of dissatisfaction with the corporate US. 
  15.  As per the sales force, Millennials and Gen Zers are 188% more likely to aim for a side business than traditionalists (baby boomers).

What Classifies As Small Business Around the Globe?

Countries across the world have various definitions for small businesses. For instance, businesses with less than 50 employees in the European Union are considered small-time businesses. In Australia, companies that employ less than 15 people are considered small businesses.

In America, Small Business Administration (which supports America’s small businesses) describes small businesses as firms with less than 500 employees. As per current small business statistics, most new start-ups in America actually have way less than 500 employees.

There are around 23 million small businesses in the US with less than 20 employees. This means that majority of American start-ups fit in the small business category. So what does motivate these individuals to start a business?

Motivations For Opening A Small Business

Small Business Finance & Loan Statistics

Even though small start-ups require low capital, you may need more finance at some point. Whether you want to increase growth or need some support during a cash flow shortage. 

Funding can make or break small businesses at any given time. The following stats reveals interesting data about small business funding and loans.

Capital Cost & Funding Statistics:

  1. The average amount people borrow to start a business is $10,000.
  2. 39% of small businesses use cash to start a business making it the most popular form of funding
  3. Starting a retail business requires an average cost of $32,000 but small store owners can manage with only $5000.
  4. 77% of small companies in the US reinvest their earnings to fund the business.
  5. 66% of small businesses face financial challenges, and 43% find operating expenses the biggest problem.
  6. World Bank says that every year, small businesses deal with an unmet financial need of $5.2 trillion.
  7. With a capital cost of around $3k to $5k, micro-businesses (less than ten employees) are the cheapest to start.

Some good examples of micro-businesses are lawn & landscaping companies, street vendors, carpenters, shoemakers, small farmers, etc.

Loans & Debts Statistics:

  1. Institutional lenders have the highest loan approval rate of 66% compared to any other lending business.
  2. Currently, the average small business loan amount is $417,316, while the maximum is $5 million.
  3. 56% of small business loans are applied for business expansion or acquiring business assets.
  4. About 52% of small businesses in the U.S. fail to receive financing support. Usually, because of too much debt.
  5. 35% of small businesses with lower credit scores seek loans from online lenders while 23% take help from non-bank finance companies.
  6. Only 11% of small start-ups with higher credit scores seek loans from online lenders and finance companies.
  7. About 70% of American small businesses have outstanding debts.
  8. Due to the pandemic, only 38% of small firms took a loan for expansion in 2020.
  9. For a small business loan, the average interest rate ranges from 2.50% to 7%. 
  10. Small businesses had a 14% rise in demand for loans in 2020.
  11. In 2020, 14 million loans (over $750 billion) were approved by SBA for small and medium-sized enterprises.
  12. In 2019, 43% of businesses asked for new financing, and for SMEs, the loan approval rate was 65% that year.
  13. A survey says that 14% of small and medium enterprises in the US had outstanding debts of $50k to $100k.
  14. Meanwhile, 21% of SMEs in the U.S. didn’t have any outstanding debt in 2020.

Small Business Success & Failure Statistics

Many factors play an important role when it comes to the success or failure of a new business, regardless of its size. The major ones are the availability of funds and the need for your products/services. The most common small business failures occur in businesses that are the easiest to start. Take a look at these below stats.

Failure Stats:

Why Small Business Fail

  1. Around 82% of all small businesses fail due to cash flow problems, making it the biggest reason.
  2. 29% of new businesses fail because they run out of money and cannot raise new capital.
  3. 42% close down because they fail because of a lack of market need for their products or services
  4. 23% of small firms fail because they face difficulties finding the right team.
  5. With such a competing market, 19% of small businesses cannot make it due to high competition.
  6. 17% of failed small businesses lack a business model or follow the wrong model. 
  7. 14% fail because they don’t even get noticed because of poor marketing. 

Success Stats: 

  1. 92% of small business owners don’t regret starting their business.
  2. 70% of people who run a small business reportedly work over 40 hours a week.
  3. About 80% of small businesses survive the first year.
  4. Half of the small businesses (52%) manage to survive for more than 5 years.
  5. One-third of small businesses (33%) survive over 10 years.
  6. Only 25.7% of small firms manage to survive for 15 years.
  7. New business firms with owners/founders aged over 55 years have more chances of survival but are less likely to have employees. 

Small Business Revenue Statistics: Profits & Income

When calculating your ROI, you need to have a general idea of how much you’re gonna make from your first investment. A positive ROI is essential for initial business success. 

But how should you pay employees and how much you as an owner would make? What’s the average small business revenue? The following stats explain it all.

  1. Around 40% of small firms around the world are profitable
  2. According to Payscale, the average salary for small business owners is around $70,000 per year.
  3. Small businesses that have zero employees have a $46,978 average annual revenue.
  4. 86.3% of small business owners make less than $100,000 annually.
  5. In 2018, 9% of small businesses generated a revenue of more than $1 million.
  6. Businesses run by women generate $1.8 trillion in revenue, which is impressive but it’s only 4.3% of total business revenue.
  7. In 2019, the construction industry showed the biggest revenue growth rate of 23.3%.
  8. When it comes to small businesses, about 85% of owners earn less than $100,000 per year.
  9. Interestingly, 30% of small business owners don’t take any salary from their business.
  10. As per the U.S. Census Bureau, employees of a small business earn approx $49,500 annually if the business has less than 4 employees.

Small Business Statistics for Use of Social Media

E-commerce changed the way how retail businesses work. You can check out some astonishing eCommerce statistics for better insight. Online businesses are integrating with social media in many ways. Some are good for marketing and brand building, while others also allow businesses to directly sell on the platform. Here is the insight into it.

Small Business Stats For Use of Social Media

  1. More than 4.55 billion people use social media which makes advertising on social sites crucial for small businesses.
  2. 63% of small businesses plan to invest more in social media in 2022.
  3. A 2021 Statista survey reveals that 66% of small business owners in America use Facebook while 42% prefer YouTube for advertising.
  4. 58% of small brands spend more on their website and social media.
  5. While only 35% will invest more in SEO techniques.
  6. 39% of small businesses invest in email marketing while 33% have their own mobile app.
  7. Little to no surprise, 86% of small firms use Facebook as their leading social media advertising platform.
  8. 73% of small firms invest in some sort of social media ad/marketing.
  9. 94% of small businesses post every month on social media, 79% of them post weekly, and 52% post daily.
  10. More than 85% of social media users follow one or more of their favorite brands.
  11. 58% of people follow a brand on social media for discounts and promotions.
  12. About 55% of B2B customers search for products and vendors on social platforms.
  13. 18% of users unfollow brands on social media that rarely post something.
  14. Every month, 130 million social media users click on shopping posts to learn more about products.

eCommerce businesses like promotional products is a booming industry and if you want to get a better look into it, here are some interesting promotional products statistics.

Social Media: Popularity & Brand Discovery

  1. 60% of shoppers discover new products through Instagram.
  2. YouTube & Facebook have more than 2 million active users monthly compared to Instagram’s 1 billion users.
  3. About 33% of most-viewed Instagram stories are related to business.
  4. 80% of all B2B social media leads come from LinkedIn.
  5. About 55% of online shoppers discover new brands through social media.
  6. Of all customers, 78% of Gen Z look for new brands on social media.
  7. 61% of millennials and 56% of Gen X use social platforms to find new brands
  8. While only 35% of baby boomers (56 to 67 years old) surf on social media to find new brands.

This simply shows that small businesses that serve the younger generation and millennials can easily make it through by investing in social media marketing. Especially, popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are very helpful.

Small Business Statistics: Industry-wise

So what are the major small business industries? And how much growth are we going to see for them in the future? Knowing this is important for both owners and investors. Here is more about it in the form of some statistics.

Small Business Industries Stats

Leisure and Hospitality:

  1. 12% of small businesses are related to the leisure & hospitality sector.
  2. The estimated value of hospitality and food services in 2025 is $14.8 billion.
  3. More than 64% of millennials agree that food delivery & takeout are highly important these days.
  4. In 2021, food and beverage sales reached $789 billion in the US. Which was a 19.7% growth from the previous year.
  5. When it comes to restaurants, revenue improves by 5% to 9% when the average customer review improves by half a star.

Retail Businesses:

  1. 12.5% of small business firms are retail sector.
  2. In 2022, the current retail sector growth is 5% which is expected to grow at a slower rate.
  3. Retail sales worldwide are predicted to reach $31.3 trillion in 2025.
  4. 98.6% of all retail forms in the US are small retailers.
  5. In 2020 the total worldwide retail sales were $23.7 trillion which was a decline of 9% from the previous year. 
  6. The retail sector’s growth fell to 2.9% in 2020 but it also recovered in 2021 with 9.7% growth.
  7. In 2023, the retail sector growth is expected to be 4.8% which is a fraction lower than the current.
  8. Overall, between 2021 to 2025, the average growth rate of the retail industry is 4.3%.

Health, Beauty & Fitness:

  1. 9% of small businesses are related to the health, fitness, and beauty industry.
  2. After the pandemic, health services have had the most dramatic recovery rate at 16.6%
  3. In 2026, health services are expected to be valued at $4.32 trillion.
  4. The health sector is predicted to reach $38 million in revenue in 2026
  5. The beauty industry is expected to be valued at $14,8 trillion in 2026.

These small business industries’ distribution is fascinating and so is the startup statistics because these small businesses start from being a startup and further grow with sales and investments.

Small Business Customer Preference Statistics

Interestingly, customers do not tend to neglect small businesses for their favorite products or services. Here’s a fact that doesn’t need any statistics. “Customers love convenience”. They know the benefits of choosing small and local businesses around the town compared to large companies.

Moreover, offering convenience doesn’t need a big thought-out, or time-consuming plan. It could be as little as fast & free shipping, easy-to-access customer support, or curbside pick-ups. Here are some stats for the same.

Reasons To Prefer Small Business

  1. 91% of people choose small businesses when convenient while 74% find ways to support small businesses even if it’s not convenient.
  2. 42% of customers prefer small businesses to find unique products/services.
  3. 45% of customers prefer small businesses for personalized service and 48% for better quality.
  4. 77% of people would pay more to small businesses if they receive excellent customer support.
  5. 45% of Millennials and Gen Xers support local businesses by buying online.
  6. Customers who shop from a small in-store business are mostly (56% of the time) older than 45.
  7. 53% of people buy from small business to support local communities and adds purpose to their shopping habits. 
  8. A $100 purchase made from a small business contributes $48 to the local economy.
  9. 53% of people say they want to give back to their community and local creators.
  10. A 2021 midlife survey concluded that 57% of Americans buy from small businesses to keep the money local.

Creating a loyal customer base is one of the successes of a business that will be fruitful for a prolonged period. Here are some customer loyalty statistics proving its benefits.

Small Business Owner Age and Characteristics

The following statistics reveal some of the interesting characteristics of people who own small businesses. This includes things like their age, qualification, their beliefs, as well as working nature. You can also check out some amazing entrepreneurship statistics for detailed insight.

Small Business Owner Demographic Based on Age

  1. Gen Z and millennials are 48% more likely to start a business because of their passion.
  2. 29% of people say that their motivation to start a business is to be their boss.
  3. 38% of small business owners consider discipline essential for having an entrepreneurial mindset.
  4. Most women (26%) start their business in retail & wholesale.
  5. 44% of small business owners are Gen X (40 to 55 years old).
  6. 41% are owned by baby boomers (between 56 to 67 years old)
  7. Millennials only own 12% of small businesses. (the numbers are growing.)
  8. More than half of the entrepreneurs (56%) don’t have any college degree.
  9. 32% of owners have a bachelor’s degree while only 12% have finished high school.
  10. 56% of owners face difficulties finding the right professionals to work for their small businesses.
  11. 35% of people (as per Indeed’s survey) agree that finding the right people for a small business is tougher than it was 5 years ago.
  12. Most small business owners work 40 to 49 hours a week.
  13. 81% of small business owners work overtime at night which is very common.
  14. Fundera’s study reveals that 89% of owners work during weekends because of their busy schedules. 

Small Business Statistics: Digital Tools & Technology

There is also a factor of how technology has affected small businesses. More precisely, to what extent, small business owners are taking advantage of technological advancements? Well, the following stats make things a bit clear.

  1. Nearly 55% of small businesses use technology to manage customer interactions.
  2. 80% of small businesses use at least one SaaS application.
  3. Nearly 33% of small businesses prioritize CRM platforms over other technology.
  4. 79% of small businesses use digital tools to interact with suppliers and customers.
  5. 84% of small businesses share their products and services on at least one digital platform.
  6. A small company that fully utilizes new technology offers 2 times more revenue per employee.
  7. Technology-driven small businesses experience 4 times more revenue growth every year.
  8. A 2021 report showed that 80% of small businesses fail to take full advantage of available technology.
  9. Small businesses make use of technology on three factors: ease of use (69%), trustworthy vendor (63%), and price (61%).
  10. On average, small businesses use around 25 to 50 SaaS solutions. 

Small Business Websites Statistics

Small businesses have a constant need to find new customers, and a website could make things much easier. Having a website where people can find your address and contact details could make a significant difference even if you don’t want to sell your products online. Here are some stats proving the benefits.

  1. About 46% of small businesses in America don’t have a website.
  2. 35% of owners feel that their product range/offerings are just too small to need a website.
  3. 28% of small businesses invest less than $500 to build their website.
  4. 72% of shoppers search for small businesses online and visit their stores within 5 miles. This shows how beneficial a website could be.
  5. 91% of customers visit a store because of a good online buying experience.
  6. 81% of customers research online before visiting/purchasing from stores.
  7. 11% of small businesses don’t sell any value in having their website.
  8. A Customer’s top 2 channels for research are the company’s official websites at 47% and online reviews at 55%.

Yes, there are some challenges with an online store but one can easily dodge pitfalls that could ruin sales and user experience. Some known issues are failure to complete transactions and bad website design.

Cart Abandonment Stats:

Users may just fill the cart, put their mobiles away, and forget about it. But that isn’t the only reason for the increase in cart abandonment rate.

Cart Abandonment Statistics

  1. The average cart abandonment rate is around 68.81%.
  2. 55% of customers leave their cart because of costly shipping, taxes, or other charges.
  3. 34% of shoppers tend to leave if a website asks to create an account and doesn’t provide a guest checkout option.
  4. 26% leave because of a complicated or long checkout process.
  5. 21% of online shoppers leave if cart value doesn’t mention the total order cost up-front.
  6. Mobile experience means a lot – 76% of online purchases are made on smartphones among which 58% are on mobile websites.
  7. 80% of shoppers do shopping research on mobile phones and 88% check online reviews before making a purchase.
  8. Mobile apps have 3 times more chances of conversion than mobile websites.

As an estimate, an efficient and quick check-out design can recover up to $260 billion of lost online sales every year.

User Behaviour Stats:

It’s true that a website should be compatible with most devices, especially smartphones. But user experience still matters the most. The following stats reveal what shoppers do when they come across a bad website.

  1. 25% of users tend to leave websites that take more than 3 seconds to load.
  2. 57% of users avoid buying from a business with a poor mobile website design.
  3. 85% of online shoppers believe that a company’s mobile site should be as good or even better than its official website.
  4. 88% of customers who have a bad experience on a site are less likely to return.

Small Business Cybersecurity Statistics

Cybersecurity shouldn’t be taken lightly regardless of the size of your business. especially for small businesses that don’t have enough resources to survive in that situation. Big companies can dedicate separate investments and resources to cybersecurity. 

Large companies have more media attention regarding cybersecurity issues. But actually, it’s small businesses that are more often times at the target of hackers. Know that running a small business doesn’t protect you against these threats.

The following stats reveals some harsh details about cybersecurity issues for small businesses.

  1. About 45% of cybersecurity attaches are targeted at small-size businesses.
  2. 61% of small and medium businesses have reported a cyber attack in 2021.
  3. Of all small firms that get cyber attacks, only 14% are prepared to secure themselves.
  4. Online retailers roughly lose $175 per every data breach impacted record.
  5. Despite these numbers, about 91% of small businesses don’t purchase cyber liability insurance.
  6. 52% of SMBs don’t have any IT security experts in place to mitigate the risks
  7. This is why 60% of small businesses close their doors within 6 months of a cyber attack.
  8. As per a Forbes report, 45% of small firms say that their techniques are ineffective at preventing cyber attacks.
  9. At 57%, phishing is the most common type of cyber attack targeted at small businesses.
  10. 30% of small companies consider phishing attacks as the biggest threat.
  11. 33% are physical cyber attacks related to stolen devices/assets of the infrastructure.
  12. 30% of cyber attacks aimed at small businesses are credential theft.

Use of Digital Marketing & Social Media for Small Businesses

So you’ve started your new online business and want people to know everything that you do. How’d you do that? Well, a simple answer is marketing. However, marketing is not so monotonous anymore. Just like how e-commerce has a major impact on how businesses around the globe, the internet, and social media have also revolutionized marketing.

For small businesses, an effective digital marketing strategy can create amazing opportunities to sell their products/services and eventually overcome the competition.

Top Sources of Sales and Marketing Leads

  1. When it comes to digital marketing, referrals are the top source of leads (73%), followed by trade shows/events (46%), email marketing (33%) and SEO (28%), and social media (24%).
  2. Reportedly, 76% of small firms face difficulties implementing digital marketing strategies. 
  3. 47% of small firms spend up to $10,000 on digital marketing each year.
  4. Almost 20% of (1 in 5) small businesses don’t utilize digital marketing to sell their products.
  5. 10% of small firms (1 in 10) don’t invest in any kind of digital marketing strategy.
  6. 47% of small business owners handle marketing on their own without assigning any professional.
  7. Almost 50% of small businesses spend less than 2 hours per week on digital marketing efforts.
  8. 75% of small businesses find digital marketing an easy and effective way to attract new customers. 
  9. 64% of small business owners use social media platforms for business advice.

Why is Social/Online Presence Important for SMBs?

  1. About 92% of SMB owners say that having a website of their own is the most effective digital marketing strategy.
  2. Email marketing is the most famous digital marketing tactic with 78% of SMBs using it.
  3. In 2022, social media ads account for 33% ($134 billion) of all digital marketing expenses.
  4. In 2021, social media generated around 95 billion USD in ad revenues which is almost double compared to 2018. 
  5. As per Statista, around 302.25 million people in the U.S. are on some type of social media.
  6. In 2021, about 53 million (77.9%) of the UK population were on social media. 

Social Media Marketing Statistics:

  1. In 2022, 61% of small businesses invest in social media marketing.
  2. 41% of small firms depend on social media platforms to drive revenue.
  3. 96% of small businesses say that social media is an important part of their marketing strategy.
  4. Nearly 90% of owners say that marketing on social media increases their business’s exposure.
  5. 81% of customers make an online search before purchasing anything.
  6. 74% of customers use social platforms to finalize their purchase decisions.
  7. 41% of brick-and-mortar shoppers read reviews on social platforms before purchasing something.
  8. Customers who interact with businesses on social media spend 40% more money with them in the long term.
  9. 31% of small businesses prefer social media platforms instead of a website.
  10. The most widely used social platforms among B2B marketers are LinkedIn (90%), Facebook (77%), Twitter (63%), and Instagram & YouTube (34%).
  11. The most often used social platforms by B2C marketers are  Facebook (97%), Instagram (78%), Twitter (57%), Youtube (54%), and LinkedIn (46%).
  12. After offers/promotions, images on social media have the most influence on people to click on a link (25% of users) followed by videos (16%).

Search Engine Marketing Stats:

  1. Almost 90% of mobile & tablet search traffic comes from Google.
  2. SMBs using Google AdWords earn about $3 for each $1.60 they spend.
  3. Around 70% of mobile search traffic is generated on google, followed by Baidu (13.31%) and Bing (12.53%).
  4. Google processes more than 40,000 search queries per second. This accounts for 3.5 billion searches per day.
  5. The top-ranking organic search result on Google has an average click-through rate of 31.7%
  6. only 0.78% of searches get a click on something ranking on Google’s 2nd page.
  7. And 28% of them actually purchase that business.
  8. 46% of searches made on Google have local intent.
  9. 60% of shoppers search for a product directly on Google before selecting a particular online store. Small businesses that offer good value have higher chances of conversion.

Search engine marketing has become a crucial marketing channel for online businesses. To take advantage of this for your small business, you must keep up with Google algorithm updates and new SEO trends.

Mobile Marketing Statistics:

  1. 71% of marketers say that mobile marketing plays a vital role in their business success.
  2. Mobile advertising is expected to reach around 413 billion USD by 2024.
  3. In 2022, the number of smartphone users has reached the 6.64 billion mark.
  4. About 76% of people who search for nearby services on mobile phones visit the business within 24 hours.
  5. In the final quarter of 2021, smartphone users generated 54.4% of global internet traffic.
  6. In 2021, businesses spent around 266 billion USD on mobile marketing, which is record-breaking.
  7. 77% of online shooters prefer purchasing from companies whose mobile app/website allows quick purchases. 
  8. According to Statista, android smartphones hold an 87% share of the global e-commerce market, while iPhones (ios) have only 13% of the global market share.
  9. 89% of smartphone users use apps from businesses while only 11% use their websites.

Email Marketing Statistics:

  1. As of now, 4.3 billion people around the world have an email, which is nearly half of the world’s population.
  2. About 81% of all small businesses use email marketing as their customer 
  3. Through email marketing, SMEs and big companies can generate an average ROI of 122%.
  4. For every $1 spent on email marketing, the expected average return on investment is $42, says Oberlo.
  5. Online shoppers receiving cart abandonment emails are 2.4 times more likely to come back for the purchase.
  6. For every 16-30 email campaigns per month, B2-B companies have a median click rate of 6% while B2C has 5.6%.

Blogging & Content Marketing:

  1. Approximately, 409 billion people on the internet view over 20 billion pages each month.
  2. SMBs who upload related blogs get 97% more links to their website and twice as much email traffic than those who don’t.
  3. Blogs are considered the 5th most trustworthy online source of information with 77% of all internet users reading blogs.
  4. WordPress users publish around 70 million blog posts every month.
  5. About 71% of WordPress websites are written in English.
  6. About 76% of SMBs use inbound marketing as their primary content marketing strategy.
  7. Businesses/marketers who prioritize blogging have 13 times more chances of seeing positive ROI.
  8. Businesses use on average 32% of their total marketing budgets on producing content.
  9. 88% of total B2B marketers use content marketing as a part of their digital marketing strategy.
  10. 47% of small & medium businesses emphasize content marketing as their top growth strategy.
  11. According to Statista, video content generates about 57% of online traffic for businesses.
  12. 67% of business owners say that Facebook is the most important platform to share content and 60% believe that videos drive the most engagement.

Many small businesses currently implement and execute their digital marketing, but given the possible returns, it might be worth it to consider hiring professional assistance.

Effect of Covid-19 On Small Business Statistics:

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular after the pandemic. As Covid-19 seems to have some positive impact on businesses with a strong online presence. Although, we can not forget the majority of industries struggled in one way or the other, Here are some business failure statistics also showing the effect of covid-19.

Covid-19 Impact on Small Business

  1. As a result of Covid-19, only 63% of businesses were profitable in 2020 and 41% suffered bad business operations.
  2. 81% of businesses reported a decrease in sales due to the pandemic.
  3. 70% of American small businesses shut down in March 2020 when the U.S. became a new epicenter of Covid.
  4. 60% of these businesses were closed under the orders of the US government and health authorities.
  5. Of all small businesses that closed due to the pandemic, 60% were permanently shut down.
  6. According to Facebook, nearly 30% of small businesses in the U.S. remained closed during 2020.
  7. A Salesforce survey says that 71% of small businesses used digitization to survive the pandemic.
  8. 51% of these businesses had increased interactions with their clients through the internet.
  9. 36% of businesses that started using online platforms during the pandemic are still doing sales online.
  10. Even today, 88% of small businesses haven’t reached their pre-pandemic sales levels.
  11. Salesforce survey says that small businesses increased by 24% between 2020 and 2021.
  12. However, their outlook surely changed as 30% of pandemic entrepreneurs never wanted to open a physical store.
  13. Regardless of problems caused by the pandemic, 72% of SMB owners feel optimistic about the future.

Future Predictions for Small Business Statistics:

You may now have a good idea of the effect of the pandemic on small businesses and how they’ve continued to grow after that. But what about the future? What are the biggest predictions for small businesses? Here are some interesting small business statistics for the future.

  1. The prediction is that 80% of owners who invested in personalization will reduce/stop funding due to a lack of ROI.
  2. Online businesses and technology like contactless cards and mobile payments will continue to grow
  3. About 65% of SMBs will continue to invest in artificial intelligence technology for the automation of certain processes.
  4. Shopping on social media platforms will increase sales to $1.2 trillion by 2025. Which is 3 times faster than how traditional e-commerce grew.
  5. 28% of small business owners say that cash flow will be their biggest problem in near future followed by a lack of demand from shoppers.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many employees does a small business have?

It depends on the region. In the U.S. a small business is one with less than 500 employees. In Europe, businesses with less than 50 employees are small-time. While Australia considers firms with less than 15 employees as small-time.

2. Which is the most popular social media platform for small businesses?

Over 80% of small businesses use Facebook to market their business online. This accounts for more than 90 million small businesses on Facebook.

3. Do small businesses need cyber security?

It is a known fact that small businesses often lack resources to secure themselves against cyber attacks and that’s why they are at the target of 45% of all cyber attacks.

4. Which digital marketing technique is popular among small businesses?

With over 80% of small businesses relying on emails to find and retain new customers, it is by far the most popular among small businesses.

5. What percent of small businesses fail?

Research has shown that about 80% of businesses survive their first year. But only half of them survive after 5 years.

6. What are the major reasons for small business failure?

The three major reasons why small businesses fail are lack of funding, cash flow problems, and low demand for products/services they offer.

Conclusion

All in all, starting your own business is always going to be a challenging task. There is a lot to handle like funding, loans, the strategy for ROI, success rate, finding the right individuals, etc. However, developing proper skills, and knowledge and keeping track of current small business trends will be rewarding enough to pursue your passion. 

We hope the small business statistics gave you clear insight and a plan for starting your own business. Use the important data and capitalize on it for the long time success of your dream business. 

References

  1. www.oberlo.in/blog/small-business-statistics
  2. www.semrush.com/blog/small-business-stats
  3. digital.com/small-business-statistics
  4. thrivemyway.com/small-business-stats
  5. www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/digital-marketing-statistics/#gref 
  6. findstack.com/small-business-statistics
  7. www.hostinger.in/tutorials/small-business-statistics#Small_Business_Finance_Statistics
  8. www.fundera.com/blog/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail
  9. www.fundera.com/resources/small-business-revenue-statistics
  10. www.fundera.com/resources/small-business-lending-statistics
  11. optinmonster.com/blogging-statistics
  12. blog.hubspot.com/marketing/state-of-content-marketing-infographic
  13. devrix.com/tutorial/small-business-marketing-statistics-trends
  14. wpforms.com/digital-marketing-statistics
  15. financesonline.com/crucial-small-business-statistics
  16. learn.g2.com/small-business-statistics
  17. www.zippia.com/advice/small-business-statistics
  18. www.zippia.com/advice/small-business-statistics
  19. www.bankrate.com/loans/small-business-loan-amounts
  20. www.oberlo.in/blog/email-marketing-statistics
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About Sam Carlson

He is a journalist and an expert in in-depth research in his field of marketing, branding, e-commerce, and much more. He backs his knowledge and love for writing with many accolades in his field. He joined Shopsavvy in July 2018 as a brand journalist and has been working towards creating awareness through thorough research and listening to people’s opinions.

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