How important is small business? It?s engine behind U.S. enterprise

I love small business stories. Why? First, I run a small business myself. And I know there?s a good chance you?re part of a small business, too, since small business represents more than 99.7 percent of all employers, according to the Small Business Administration.

I also like small business stories because every one is an exciting survival tale of battling the odds. Only about half of new firms survive past four years.

When we interview new startups, there?s always this ?can-do? attitude. I admire their determination, but wonder if they have enough funding to weather the storm or how long it will be before key employees are lured to a larger competitor.

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So what if Wal-Marts are everywhere, the small retailer always seems sure he can win with great customer service.

When we report on new businesses, we ask about their strategies against those much bigger competitors. Now fighting for online customers as well, is there any company where a big corporation isn?t trying to steal their customers? On the other hand, small companies know they can survive by grabbing just a tiny slice of a big market.

It?s worth knowing that the SBA defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees. But that?s not my definition. Any business with more than 100 workers starts to look pretty big to me.

For 2005, The Business Report is launching six new Small Business sections, starting with this issue.

We?ll be writing about how the successful small business rises above others. What are the biggest small business headaches, and how do they deal with the problems?

But it?s not all 60-hour weeks. We want owners to tell us what?s fun about running a small company. We?re looking for some secrets to success, ideas you might apply to your own business.

To no one?s surprise, the National Federal of Independent Business reports that cost and availability of health insurance is still the No. 1 concern for small business owners, with taxes next in line.

The SBA?s statistics on small business are astonishing. Small businesses create 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually. They pay 44.5 percent of the total U.S. private payroll. Some 39 percent of high-tech workers are employed by small businesses.

Niche markets are filled by innovative small businesses, as about 500,000 new small firms start up every year.

Some small businesses are driven to become bigger, and the Boulder Valley is full of entrepreneurs who?ve doneit. Others are happy just to maintain a profitable company, and many small businesspeople have no desire to expand at all.

One thing nely every successful entrepreneur ranks high is cash, with more cash coming in a close second. No business plan succeeds without it. The SBA says about 82 percent of small firms depend on some form of credit ? credit cards, credit lines, vehicle loans and business loans from banks and other finance companies.

I tell writers the main thing I want to know after reading a business story is where did the business get the money to start up, how much money is it making now, and how much money will it need to survive. Some may think our reporters are nosey, and you can blame me for that. A good business story always finds the money.

If you run a small business, you can take some pride in the fact that big business wants you. The numbers add up fast, and large corporations like Microsoft and eBay are drilling down aggressively even to one-person home businesses to win you as a customer.

Bob Morehouse, creative director of Vermilion Inc. in Boulder, agrees that his clients like Boulder-based Webroot, a fast-growing company with anti-spyware software, and University of Colorado executive development programs look for ways to reach the small businessperson. ?They feel there is a lot of potential in smaller businesses,? he says.

I also found a Web site at Bizstats.com that lists the safest and riskiest small businesses.
Surveying and mapping ranked the safest with the largest percentage with profits, followed by optometrists, dentists and CPAs. Hunting and trapping had the highest percentage of losses ? I guess the anti-fur activists are getting their way. But fourth from the bottom was computer and electronic products.

To my surprise, publishing industries ranked rather high, No. 33 above engineering services, real estate agents, podiatrists and even forestry and logging.

And after 16 years of publishing a local business newspaper, here I was thinking about how maybe I really should have become a lumberjack.