Small Business Facts
Montana Small Business Facts -
Nationally, half of U.S. non-farm private output and employment is generated by small firms with 500 or fewer employees. In 2006, 97.8% of the states employers in Montana were considered small businesses.
In 2006, employer businesses numbered 31,544. There has been an increase of the number of small businesses in Montana of approximately 2.3% since 2005. According to the U.S. Census 2008, the number of non-employer establishments in 2006 totaled 80,969.
Women-owned businesses represented 22% of the state's small businesses in 2006. In 2007, self-employed women totaled 26% of self-employed workers in the state.
Minority-owned businesses represented 3.6% of the state's businesses and generated $400 million in revenues in 1997.
Source: the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2008
According to data from 2002 County Business Patterns, Nonemployer Statistics, approximately 69% of private business establishments in Montana have no paid workers, and about 18% have 1-4 employees. Only 13% have five or more employees (see the Montana Census & Economic Information Center map for a graphical breakdown by county).
United States Small Business Facts -
Did you know small businesses. . .
- represent more than 99.7% of all employers in the U.S.
- employ 50% of private-sector workers and 39% of workers in high-tech jobs
- generate 60-80% of the net new jobs annually
- produce 50% of private-sector output (GDP)
- represent 97% of all exporters of goods
- obtain 22.8% of federal prime and subcontract dollars
- are 53% home-based and 3% franchises
- pay 44.3% of total U.S. private payroll
What is a small business?
U.S. Small Business Administration has established a size standard for most industries in the economy. The most common size standards are as follows:
- 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries
- 100 employees for all wholesale trade industries
- $6 million for most retail and service industries
- $28.5 million for most general and heavy construction industries
- $12 million for all special trade contractors
- $0.75 million for most agricultural industries
For other industries, use the following link to find the standards: http://www.sba.gov/size/indextableofsize.html.
More small business facts -
There were about 22.9 million small businesses in the U.S. in 2002.
In 1997, women owned 5.4 million small firms in the U.S.
Of U.S. firms in 1997, 5.8 percent of all small businesses were owned by Hispanic Americans, 4.4 percent by Asian Americans, 4.0 percent by African Americans, and 0.9 percent by American Indians.
About 82.5% of small firms use some form of credit in 1998 to get them started in business. Small firms use many different sources of capital including family, savings, and commercial business loans.
The survival rate for start-up business is two-thirds after two years and half after four years.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of the Census; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration; U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Government Contracting, Updated December 2003, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2004.
For more information about the SBDC Program and business resources that are available to you, please contact (406) 841-2747.
