To help mark National Small Business Week, which is underway through May 11, here are five facts about the enterprises that form a bedrock of the U.S. economy.
1. Most American businesses are small. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as an independent firm with fewer than 500 employees. This means 99.9 percent of all firms in the United States — or about 30.2 million businesses — are small.
2. Small businesses create most jobs. These firms accounted for 66 percent of new jobs in the United States from 2000-2017, according to SBA.
3. Small businesses have customers around the world. The SBA’s most recent research, compiled in 2015, shows that small businesses comprise 97.6 percent of U.S. exporting firms.
4. Women and minorities own millions of small businesses. Almost 10 million small businesses are women-owned, while there are about 8 million minority-owned small businesses. Among the latter group, 3.3 million are Hispanic-owned, 2.6 million are African American-owned, and 1.9 million are Asian-owned.
5. USPS serves small businesses. The organization offers many services for small businesses, including Click-N-Ship, Schedule a Pickup and Every Door Direct Mail.
Got ideas for future editions of “The List”? Email them to uspslink@usps.gov.