The nearly twenty-seven million small businesses in the United States generate about 50 percent of our GDP. They also contribute to growth and vitality in several important areas of economic and socioeconomic development. In particular, small businesses do the following: Create jobs.

What role does small business play in your life?

Small businesses are important because they provide opportunities for entrepreneurs and create meaningful jobs with greater job satisfaction than positions with larger, traditional companies. They foster local economies, keeping money close to home and supporting neighborhoods and communities.

What is the impact of business in our life?

Business can positively influence how society operates. It can build and maintain social capital through its core operations; the goods and services it provides; and the activities supported through increasingly global and complex supply chains.

Why are small businesses important in the United States?

Business ownership allows individuals, including women and minorities, to achieve financial success, as well as pride in their accomplishments. While the majority of small businesses are still owned by white males, the past two decades have seen a substantial increase in the number of businesses owned by women and minorities.

How many people are employed by small businesses?

Major Employers Small businesses account for 99.7 percent of all of the employers in the U.S. Small businesses employ over 56 million people in the United States, and, according to the Small Business Administration, that is equal to 57 percent of the private sector employees in the nation.

What are the problems and growth patterns of small businesses?

Categorizing the problems and growth patterns of small businesses in a systematic way that is useful to entrepreneurs seems at first glance a hopeless task. Small businesses vary widely in size and capacity for growth.

Who are the small business owners in the United States?

More and more, small business ownership is reflecting the diversity of the United States. As of 2012, 14.6 percent of small business owners were minorities, compared with 11.5 percent in 2007. This includes 2.3 million Hispanic-American-owned businesses, 1.9 million African-American-owned businesses, and 1.6 million Asian-owned businesses.