If you read our most recent article about the ALG Vacations® approach to Small Business Saturday, you might have found yourself overwhelmed (in a good way!) with the enormous range and effort we’ve put into supporting small businesses like your travel agency. You might wonder, Why go through all that when you have access to big businesses? Who am I?
Today, we want to answer that question by addressing one single topic in a plethora of ways: why you matter.
99.9% of American businesses are categorized as small businesses.
We didn’t need this statistic to know that small businesses are the core of our country, but it’s an impressive number nonetheless! As of March 2023, there are 33,185,550 small businesses in the United States, and that number fluctuates daily as people embark on their ownership journey. And while the elite percentage fraction of large businesses hold tremendous clout and have substantial funding, our ethos of kindness centers around individual success and turning “dreams into lifelong memories,” whether that means supporting an amazing vacation or seeing a small business thrive.
Any business with fewer than 500 employees are considered a small business, but most don’t even come close.
While that number may sound quite large, it’s only the technical cap. In reality, according to Forbes, only 650,000 small businesses have more than 20 employees, and most small businesses have no technical employees at all – these businesses are solely owned and operated by entrepreneurs and independents paving their own ways. In fact, only 16% of small businesses have between one and 19 folks on payroll, which means that even if your agency is a lean team of two, you’re already ahead of the game.
Small businesses employ 61.7 million Americans – 46.4% of private sector employees.
Yep, even with headcounts as low as a lonely only, your small business is still part of a powerful collective of nearly half of the workforce in this country. In fact, from 1995 to 2021, small businesses created 17.3 million net new jobs, accounting for 62.7% of net jobs created since 1995, paying 39.4% of private sector payroll and contributing 43.5% of our nation’s gross domestic product. So when we say your small business is the heart of American economy, we’re not only saying it emotionally. It’s a simple fact.
Sources: SUSB, NES, ITA, SBGDP, Advocacy US Profile
Small business owners define the best of the best.
According to Business Employment Dynamics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only an average of 48.9% of new businesses make it to the five-year mark. In the period between 1994-2020, 67.7% of new employer establishments survived at least two years, but the rate drops exponentially after the half-decade: 33.7% at ten years and 25.6% at 15 years. Because the odds are stacked against small businesses, ALGV is committed to doing all we can to get you to the milestone you want to reach. We invest heavily in helping small businesses grow and progress even despite these underdog statistics, because we feel that the courage to strike out on one’s own already makes you worthy of beating the odds, and – particularly with our emphasis on spreading kindness – we love being part of a success story.
ALGV supports working women – and equality – in America.
Did you know that women owned 1.2 million employer firms and represented 21.7% of all employers in this country back in 2019? And that in 2018, they owned 10.9 million or 42% of all non-employer firms here? The U.S. Census Bureau shared this number via a Business Dynamics Statistics report, along with the good news that this put them closer to parity with men – important progress given the ongoing struggle for equity, representation, diversity, and equality socially and professionally. And of the total employer firms in the U.S., 19.6% were owned by minorities during that same time period. Again, our prioritization of kindness and progress makes it a no-brainer to support these efforts and growth in this area.
As you can see, small businesses have major impact.
You matter. Your work matters. Your success matters. And ALGV is betting on it. That’s the simplest reason we can give you for putting in as much year-round effort as we do. The more small businesses that succeed, the better, smaller, and kinder this world is. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what truly matters?
For more fun stats about and useful resources for small businesses in America, check out the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy website. And for a useful reference infographic on Frequently Asked Questions About Small Businesses, download this PDF. Happy Small Business Saturday, travel partners!
