Whenever possible, we shop at small, locally owned businesses.  Not only do we love to support the owners and the workers, but we’ve found small businesses to be much more responsive to our needs and desires.  We’ve often found the products to be of much higher quality and the customer service to be excellent.  

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who support Goat Milk Stuff.  We truly appreciate your encouragement!   I recently received a comment on my podcast that said,

“I prefer shopping with small businesses whenever possible. I’m learning that you get the best items (better for you and many times better prices) when shopping small business. Plus, it helps our local economies. I think the dedication and passion it takes to have your own small business is typically a good sign that people actually believe in what they are selling, and it’s not just mass production to become rich (like many big businesses).”

I think this sentiment is growing in popularity as American citizens seek to support American businesses and improve the American economy.  “Made in the USA” is a growing symbol of pride and something that many Americans are willing to pay a bit more to support.

As a small business, we have found that the Small Business Administration has been helpful in our development and growth.  They provide a lot of information for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to start a business.   I found this list that they compiled on their website and thought I’d share it.  I thought many of the statistics were very interesting.

Ten Reasons To Love Small Business

10. Small businesses make up 99.7 percent of all United States employers.

9. Small businesses create more than 50 percent of the American nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).

8. Small patenting firms produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

7. The more than 24 million small businesses in the United States are located in every community and neighborhood.

6. Small businesses employ 50.1 percent of the United States’s non-farm private sector workers.

5. Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses.

4. Small businesses are 97 percent of America’s exporters and produce 26 percent of all export value.

3. United States saw an estimated 580,865 new small firms with employees start-up in the last year measured.

2. There are approximately 4,115,900 minority-owned businesses and 6,492,795 women-owned businesses in the United States, and almost all of them are small businesses.

1. The latest figures show that small business creates 65 percent or more of America’s net new jobs.

So keep on supporting your favorite small businesses!  I can tell you that it is something that Goat Milk Stuff and many other small business owners truly appreciate and need!

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues.

For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy website at archive.sba.gov/advo.