Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 99.9% of the business population in the U.K. This totals around 5.9 million businesses.
Transforming your dream into reality by starting up a new small business can be both exciting and challenging. However, it’s entirely possible to do but requires some knowledge about what and how small businesses succeed.
Familiarising yourself with recent trends is a great starting point. We’ve put together these small business statistics, including the latest trends in 2019 just for you.
Facts & Statistics

• Small and medium enterprises represent more than 90% of the business population

• It is estimated that there are up to 445 million micro and small and medium enterprises in emerging markets around the world

• 99% of all businesses in the European Union are classified as SMEs

• 96.4% of manufacturing exporters in the US are SMEs

• There are currently 30.2 million small businesses in the U.S.

• 75.3% of private-sector employers are micro-businesses or those with less than ten employees

• 69% of American entrepreneurs start their businesses at home, and 59% of businesses continue to be home-based even after three years of operation

• The fastest-growing small business industries in 2018 (with the most number of startups) were business services and food/restaurant tied at 11%

• The majority of small business owners are over the age of 50, a fourth is in the 40-49 age range, and the rest are between 18 to 39 years old

U.K. Small Businesses

• There were 5.8 million small businesses at the start of 2019

• SMEs account for 60% of the employment and around half of turnover in the UK private sector

• In 2019, there were estimated to be 5.9 million UK private sector businesses

• 1.4 million of these had employees and 4.5 million had no employees

• Wholesale and Retail Trade and Repair accounted for 14% of all SME employment

• London (1.1 million) and the South East (940,000) had the most private sector businesses, accounting for 35% of the UK business population

• Nearly 1/5 of all SMEs were operating in Construction

• Between 2018 and 2019, the total business population grew by 3.5%

• Turnover in 2018 was estimated at £2.2 trillion for SMEs

• It takes roughly 13 days to start a small business in UK and Ireland

U.S. Small Businesses

• On average, it takes 6 days to start a small business in the U.S.

• 56% of small businesses think finding great talent is their biggest challenge

• 37% of business owners offer higher salaries to make their business more appealing

• 26% of people say their biggest motivation to start a small business is to be their own boss

• In 2018, there was a 34% increase in health, beauty, and fitness industries

• 73% of small business owners are male

• Only 26% of small business owners have a college degree

Small Business Growth

• Each month an average of 543,000 new businesses are started

• As of 2018, 99.9% of US businesses are small businesses

• Small businesses employ more than 47.5% of the private workforce in the US

• Businesses with less than ten employees are the most common, accounting for 75.3% of all private-sector employers

• 50% of small businesses survive five years or more

• The Small Business Association has stated that only 30% of newly founded businesses are likely to fail within the first two years

• 66% of small businesses will survive throughout the first ten years

• Every year 1 in 12 businesses closes

• 4 out of 100 businesses survive past the 10-year mark

• 82% of companies fail because of cash flow problems

• 50% of small businesses are home-based

• 60.1% of firms are without paid employees

• 81% of small business owners work nights

• 70% of small business owners said they work more than 40 hours a week with 19% working over 60 hours

• 86.3% of small business owners take less than $100,000 a year

• Technology, health, and energy are the most popular industries to start a small business in

• Real estate, retail, and hospitality are also among the industries that are set to have the most substantial growth in jobs in the future

Small Business Financials

• In 2018, the average SBA loan was $417,314

• 26.9% of small business loans get approved

• 12% of employer firms and one-third of non-employer firms use no startup capital whatsoever.

• The average amount of small business starting capital is $80,000 a year

• 1/3 of small businesses are founded with up to $5,000 of startup capital

Women-owned Small Businesses

• In the U.S., 12.3 million businesses are owned by women

• In 2018, 207,900 of women-led businesses (1.7%) generated more than $1 million

• 17% of all women-led businesses are Latinas

• 48% of women business owners are between the 45-65 age range

• 31% are age 25-44

Small Business Marketing

• 70-80% of people research a small business before visiting or making a purchase from them

• 64% of small businesses have a website

• 61% of small businesses invest in social media marketing

• 39% of small businesses use email marketing

• Nearly 50% of small businesses spend $10,000 or less on digital marketing each year

• 80% of small businesses don’t use content marketing

• 89% of small business owners believe that using SEO helps drive business

• 92% of small business owners think that having a website is the most effective digital marketing strategy

• 10% of small businesses engage in AR and VR technology for digital marketing

References
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/smefinance
https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/16-surprising-small-business-statistics-infographic-190434232.html
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition_en
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/advocacy/2018-Small-Business-Profiles-US.pdf
https://sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/advocacy/2018-Small-Business-Profiles-US.pdf
https://smallbiztrends.com/2013/07/home-based-businesses-startup.html
https://www.guidantfinancial.com/small-business-trends/
https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/29-small-business-digital-marketing-statistics
https://www.valuepenguin.com/average-small-business-loan-amount
https://www.biz2credit.com/small-business-lending-index/november-2018
https://www.wbenc.org/blog-posts/2018/10/10/behind-the-numbers-the-state-of-women-owned-businesses-in-2018
https://about.americanexpress.com/files/doc_library/file/2018-state-of-women-owned-businesses-report.pdf
https://www.merchantsavvy.co.uk/uk-sme-data-stats-charts/