A brief look at some of the statistics related to starting a small business.

1. Entrepreneurship Statistics 101
Dr. Michael Edmondson

3. Category
Firms
Percent of all
Firms with 1 to 4 employees
Firms with 5 to 9 employees
Firms with 10 to 19 employees
Firms with 20 to 99 employees
Firms with 100 to 499 employees
Firms with 500 employees or more
Firms with 500 to 749 employees
Firms with 750 to 999 employees
Firms with 1,000 to 1,499 employees
Firms with 1,500 to 1,999 employees
Firms with 2,000 to 2,499 employees
Firms with 2,500 to 4,999 employees
Firms with 5,000 employees or more
Firms with 5,000 to 9,999 employees
Firms with 10,000 employees or more
3,617,764
1,044,065
633,141
526,307
90,386
18,469
6,060
3,038
3,044
1,533
904
1,934
1,956
975
981
13.3%
3.827%
2.321%
1.929%
0.331%
0.068%
0.022%
0.011%
0.011%
0.006%
0.003%
0.007%
0.007%
0.004%
0.004%
Percent of
employer firms
61.0%
17.6%
10.7%
8.9%
1.5%
0.31%
0.10%
0.05%
0.05%
0.03%
0.02%
0.03%
0.03%
0.02%
0.02%

8. •The SBA defines a small
business as an enterprise
having fewer than 500
employees

9. There are almost 28 million
small businesses in the US
and over 22 million are
self employed with no
additional payroll or
employees (these are called
nonemployers)

10. Over 50% of the working
population (120 million
individuals) works in a small
business

11. Approximately 543,000 new
businesses get started each
month (but more employer
businesses shut down than
start up each month)

12. To classify as a
“nonemployer” business you
must have annual business
receipts of $1,000 or more
and be subject to federal
income taxes

13. Nonemployers had average
revenues of $44,000

14. Around 80% of nonemployer
businesses for 2011 (or 18
million businesses) reported
less than $50,000 in
receipts
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/09/09/16-surprising-statistics-about-small-businesses/2/